An eBay observation...

[markg]

I have been noticing something recently, when it comes to knives... There are very few actual "auctions" for knives on eBay. Most all items are "buy it now."

Case in point... I enter Spyderco. There are nearly 1400 entries, however only 400 are actual auctions!!!

Benchmade Knives, there are 409 entries, 100 of which are auctions

Emerson Knives, 165 items, of which only 32 are auctions (and one of them is an old Emerson Lake and Palmer 45!!!)

It seems that (from a knife stand point) eBay has simply become a remote storefront and not an auction place.

Could it be the economy? Maybe sellers are tired of seeing items selling for pennies on the dollar.

Anyone else notice this?

[purple95]

Yep, I've been seeing that also.

It seems it's that way with almost all listing on eBay now, is it not?

I stopped buying off eBay when they went to their policy of requiring PayPal for most everything. I had a PayPal account once and once was enough.

I purchased several knives and other items off eBay years ago with good results. The last two transactions went sour, so I'm done.

This has resulted in not being able to purchase some interesting knives, but maybe that's not a bad thing at this particular time.

I still go to eBay now and then just to window shop but will never spend a dime there again.

Sorry, I may have just hijacked your thread with my rant.

dan :)

[The Deacon]

Mark, I don't think anyone who uses eBay regularly could fail to notice it. I think you've hit on one of the main reasons, low selling prices in auctions for knives currently in production. But there may be others as well. For example, I've never sold on eBay, but perhaps there have also been shifts in eBay's pricing structure that makes BIN listings more economical for the seller than auctions with a starting bid that is high enough to make selling the item profitable. There may also be more people, looking to make up for lost income, or just make a few extra bucks, getting involved in one of the "no investment, no risk, you sell, we ship" schemes.

[markg]

Good so it is not just me!!!

I have sold knives on eBay, a bunch but in batches, and it has been a year or more since I have done so.

Benchmade's MAP policy has virtually shut the door on the majority of Benchmade sales and auctions of NIB items. That would explain why the number of knife auctions has dropped for that manufacturer.

I got some really great deals a few months back, my hunch is that knives were just not selling for a fair price. Frankly, if I had knives to sell I would not sell in this environment. I got a few knives for really insane prices, and I am sure sellers have noted that.

I would have expected a lot more knives for sale from private collections, this has not been the case. Maybe they are being sold in other venues?

There really is no cost benefit in (fee wise) between a BIN and an auction. So I don't see that as an issue. I think the eBay storefronts have learned that an knife at auction is a knife sold at a loss in this economy.

Which sucks, because part of the fun is being part of an auction.

[MountainManJim]

I have also seen some knives going for very low auction prices on the Bay. It's part of the reason I started watching the auctions more. I missed out on a Jumpmaster that went for ~$73, dang it. I doubt if I'll be that lucky, but I can always try. My guess is that other people are seeing these price too and the interesting in bidding will increase.

Jim

[spyderdog]

I've sold a few on ebay lately, and all of them have been by way of fixed auction. I didn't feel liek I could take a chance on a low final auction bid, which seems to be a lot more likely in todays economy than it used to be. I think the economy plays a big role in it

[JspyEDC]

I see a definite difference in the past year or so with knife auctions. I had to adjust and quit auctioning some non-profitable items. But with eBay its a mixture of the all methods.. auction, BIN, and eBay store/web-site. This week I have 155 items on auction, over 100 are Spyderco auctions.

There is no question I will lose money on some items sold by auction. But auctions get people to BIN and shop the eBay store and web-site. It's a mix of all your possible sales channels. It's at the end of the month that it has to work for you. Dealer incentives and distributor incentives also play a role in the number of auction items I am able to list. Without these it would be very tough.

Markets change all the time, and it's not fun when your market is the one fluctuating. Experiment, adjust... whatever you have to do. You just can't sit there and go down. It's not as easy this way, but I have to say it is more interesting.

[MCM]

"I missed out on a Jumpmaster that went for ~$73, dang it"

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D:

[Mightyquinn]

I got one off eBay about 2 weeks ago for $86 :D :D :D :D

[MCM]

My best deal to date..... 71.00


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0332309447

[MountainManJim]

My best deal to date..... 71.00


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0332309447

I think that's the one. Man what a deal.

JspyEDC: Thanks for the great auctions. I have gotten some deals from you and it's appreciated. Without good prices, I wouldn't be buying anything.

Jim

[Caly E]

JspyEDC: Thanks for the great auctions. I have gotten some deals from you and it's appreciated.
Jim

+1. He has made my day on several occasions.

I enter Spyderco. There are nearly 1400 entries, however only 400 are actual auctions!!!

When I started keepin track of Spydies on ebay (2003-4), there was consistently 9-11 pages of 50 auctions per page(about 400-500 listings), both regular/short term(7-10 days) BIN style and open auction style combined if I recall correctly. Id say it was equally split between BIN and regular auctions. Each year after, it would grow until recently when it nearly doubled.

Today, maybe it seems like there is an over-whelming amount of BIN's since ebay does not any longer separate the store/long term auctions from the main search. I honestly believe there are many more open auctions then their use to be in the past. As a whole, their are MANY MANY more spydies available. Now that ebay allows you to list a BIN style auction at any price for only $.35 for 30 days, it makes it much easier for people to list stuff and sit on it. It can really clutter things up if you dont hit the auctions only tab.

[JspyEDC]

I think that's the one. Man what a deal.

JspyEDC: Thanks for the great auctions. I have gotten some deals from you and it's appreciated. Without good prices, I wouldn't be buying anything.

Jim

You're welcome. I get a specific number of new releases when they first go out and usually just put them up for auction to get them into the marketplace. The JumpMaster auction prices made for an an unusual situation. It just was unable to get past "cost", which is good for the few buyers who got one at a very low price, but bad for the model. It is now only available in my eBay store, and obviously priced higher than it was bringing in the auction arena. A shame too, because it is one incredible fixed-blade knife that can be utilized for many different purposes, and probably would be a valuable addition or "favorite" to those that own one.

Very similar to the Mariner Salt. When they were first out auctions were very low, selling for way under the wholesale cost. So, off it went into BIN only and now I sell about one a week. Funny how that works, but what I hate about it is when they can't bring enough via auction, fewer Spydie lovers will own one. I carry my Mariner Salt at least two days per week, and I haven't even put it on the Sharpmaker yet.

You can't go wrong with either of these H1 models, but I understand when so many new models are on the horizon it's tough to make choices.

[MCM]

It all evens out for me.

I have no problem paying almost double MSRP for a model I REALLY want that's been discontinued.
(Temp, Lg Persian, Blue & Black Dodo, Yojimbo's, Gunting, Salsa's, Ronin, Etc.)

Or paying too much on one I "Need" as soon as it comes out.
Temp II for example. Their going for much less on the Bay now over what I paid the 1st few days they were released.


I seldom get lucky. Out of the 100 Spyderco's I have purchased over the past year or so, maybe 2 or 3 were really great deals.
Was not sure I should even post the anomaly auction I won, but it has brought out some interesting issues.

[Clawhammer]

I recently bid on a Boker Subcom on Ebay that was on auction. After being ripped off before I have a rule to only bid on sellers with lots of sales and a 100% rock solid rep.

The Boker's seller was 99.7% but I read the neg rep complaints which seemed mostly from buyers being a little malicious about shipping times. It was only ~$30AUS, so I weakened and put in a bid.

I lost the bid at a reasonable price and was immediately offered a 2nd chance!!!! Obviously there was a phantom bidder jacking up the price! Well, that'll teach me for breaking my own rules...I was lucky this time though and wsn't out of pocket.

I was told by a dodgy trader that ebay don't give a ****, they just want a cut. If you get caught, just start up under another name and they won't chase you down.

Ebay (Trading in Australia at least) were forced to reverse the mandatory PayPal scheme because it was a conflict of interest and stifled competition, but it only lasted a little while.

And they wonder why no one uses ebay any more.

[bohica1998]

Do you really want to know the answer to this? OK, here it is:

After waiting around for 9 DAYS with the high bid, I get sniped within seconds of the auction's end,

After waiting around for 7 DAYS with the high bid, I get sniped within seconds of the auction's end,

After waiting around for 7 DAYS with the high bid, again I get sniped within seconds of the auction's end,

Gee, after a few of these, a Buy It Now auction looks pretty Darned good!

Sorry, but that's the truth of it. People get tired of being undercut while trying to use the usual auction method. And Ebay doesn't care one little bit! So, why do people prefer to use Buy It Now? You can probably answer that question now.

(This is just a personal observation based on experience) (I know, this just sounds like sour grapes on my part, but in reality, this IS the main reason most folks just use BIN)

After re-reading my post, it seems to come across a bit harsh. It was not meant that way. I just wanted to get it out of my system, LOL! But it really is why some folks just use the BIN feature. It is just getting to be too much of a PITA to try and do it the traditional way.

[bohica1998]

HOLEY COW!!! And this is just the starting price!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0346116871

[Free Radical]

Is it really that rare or is it trumped up a bit?

[Peter1960]

A Harpy SS with VG-10 and PE isn't really rare, as it's a production for the Japanese market and still available.
BTW the offer on Ebay is overpriced - IMO.

[The Deacon]

A Harpy SS with VG-10 and PE isn't really rare, as it's a production for the Japanese market and still available.
BTW the offer on Ebay is overpriced - IMO.

While I'd agree they are not really rare, I'm not sure I'd agree with the rest of your observations Peter.

The one US dealer who self-imported them, and currently shows them as "temporarily out of stock" was asking $190 for them, although they sometimes sold for less when he put them on eBay.

G Sakai and Hamonoichba, the two Japanese dealer whose websites have listed the VG-10 PE Harpy in the past, currently do not list it. That may be a temporary thing, or it may mean there will be no more, G Sakai is probably the only one who could answer that.

When they were available from those sources, the price + postage from Japan, came out to just about the same as that auction listing, at least for US buyers. There may be other dealers, in Japan or elsewhere, with them in stock at lower prices, but I'm not aware of them.

Bottom line, that listing price is not really out of line with what one would have been required to pay from any of the sources I've mentioned. Whether a SS Harpy is worth that much is, of course, a personal judgment call.