Noticed a thing or two on eBay...

I "collect" other things. Maybe that's too strong a word - let's just say I have other interests besides razors which mysteriously guide me to eBay a lot . Hey, I like to look at ALL interesting collectibles. Always have. I don't really collect razors, per se, but I do enjoy looking at them - I have for a while - and like to bid on the occasional new razor experience if the price is right. Here's my point (after this long preface). I've noticed a kind of unsettling pattern with razors that I don't see in my other eBay interests of late: the sheer rapacity with which other people interested in razors - collecting or otherwise - "act" on the merchandise. This seems different than it did, say, even a year ago. Currently as I watch, when a razor gets put up it is - WHAM! - bid on sometimes immediately, as if a crumb has been dropped into a pondful of sharks. And often, too, there's a quasi-heated and almost venomous back and forth on some razors, where the bidding becomes something tantamount to road rage.

Now I don't know if there's anything I can extrapolate from any of this but I have come to this conclusion: The tone, for lack of a better word, seems to have changed with regard to razors and eBay. And it seems kind of offputting too me. There's been introduced a certain aggressiveness, I think. I used to see this at old sales with books - dealers would push and shove just to get in first and grab the good ones (one person even took a book OUT OF my wife's hands!). Whatever the case, this tenor seems to be new, which is a bit of a shame but seems to happen with "collecting."

Like I said, I don't really collect old razors - but I love to shave with them. So for my part, I think, summer's coming - so I'll soon be thinking about those outsde flea markets.

interesting comment...

i was just thinking about the comments that a year or 2 ago, the prices were way lower and how it seems to get something not in need of some work is kind of pricey. maybe it's the speculation from straight shavers, many of us new , (or collectors) that prices will only continue to increase and supply is very limited and ebay flippers will only serve to increase those prices dramatically.

just look at the $200+ BINs that don't get bought... from a couple of sellers.. they look nice, but pricey

I am all over throwing my hat in to what i think is a reasonable price, but haven't won anything over $25 bucks in a while.. I am going for the $75-$175 quite a bit... apparently someone else thinks they are worth more. same thing for the few Plisson brushes on the bay.. someone just wants them more than me...

The 'bay has become a "wretched hive of scum and villany".
But I do love it so.
Unfortuantely for us, the heat is on with razors. I don't know who's buying all of these $200+ razors but it's not me.
I remember a few years ago when you could pick up a Fatboy in a case for under $35 shipped.

On the plus side, it's becoming a good place to sell off a collection for top dollar.

I completely agree with you. It amazes me when you're looking through and there's multiple bids on razors with days left. I understand the draw and attractiveness of some razors but if people would just wait until the end of the auction to put in their bid then overall prices would come down. The constant back and forth is what, I believe, is causing the higher end prices when in reality, there's no need for it.

I noticed this not too long ago when I listed a couple cased razors I had. No sooner had I pushed the button to list it that I had someone bid on both of them. Same person too. I don't know if it was just good timing but it couldn't have been up more then 5 minutes.

I collect both razors and vintage fountain pens. I have stopped looking at E-Bay altogether. For sereval reasons it has become ruthless as mentioned, there seems to be more less than honset sellers. I just can not seeing overpaying for something that is junk. There is over abundance of junk on E-Bay that drawing high prices.

Buyers are adapting. You lose out on a razor a few times because a BIN is added after you see it, and you start bidding on them as soon as they're listed to prevent it.

Ebay is set up that way on purpose. If you understand the marketing principal behind online auctions (or most any marketing strategy actually), it seems obvious that they are intended to drive prices as high as possible. By putting things up there at ludicrously low minimum bids, you hook those looking for a bargain, then give them lots of time to think about that thing they want, and they'll be wanting it more and more and getting more and more excited about the idea they are going to get it for a bargain. Then someone else comes along and outbids them and they are disappointed. Now is someone is capable of remaining logical at this point they'll tell themselves someone else just wanted it more than they did, and that will be the end of it, but it's designed to elicit an emotional response, and it only needs to do that to 2 guys for things to get crazy. It might not matter to these 2 guys that another one just like this one will turn up in a week or so, they want this one and they want it now, and they're not going to let some other guy beat them, they are going to WIN dammit. At this point all the bidders with any shred of logic have moved on, and the seller is whistling all the way to the bank.

It happens all the time, ebay is set up for that, and as long as you go into it with that awareness, you can find the occasional deal without getting sucked into the bidding wars. I've been buying quite a few razors on there lately, and had pretty good luck. From what I can see there is no scarcity of old Gillettes, even "rare" models like Toggles are actually quite plentiful. They ARE scarce enough to command high prices on ebay, but I count 13 of them that have sold on ebay in the month of March. That's not "rare". Unless you're willing to pay ebay prices for them though, you'd better shop somewhere else, it's not a buyers market. "Flippers" attempting to speculate on the flavor of the month like Fat Boys and Toggles, buying them all up, and then attempting to sell them with silly BIN prices, may have an effect on the impression of prices on ebay, but I don't think they'll effect the overall market price long term. Again, the stuff they're selling simply isn't that scarce, they can try and make it seem so by buying up all the stock they can find and then marking it up, but they'll keep turning up in grandmas attic, because they were made by the millions. The latest fad will die down and these guys will be stuck with big piles of cased Fatboys, and this week no one cares. So unless you're very impatient, it makes no sense to pay high ebay prices for razors. Me? I've got more than enough razors to last me through the shavepocalypse, I may want more, but there isn't anything out there that is worth what Toggles are commanding on ebay lately, and Fatboys are nice, so when the market settles down, or when I find one somewhere other than ebay I might just buy one.

Pioneer said:

Now I don't know if there's anything I can extrapolate from any of this but I have come to this conclusion: The tone, for lack of a better word, seems to have changed with regard to razors and eBay. And it seems kind of offputting too me. There's been introduced a certain aggressiveness, I think.

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I don't have a problem with people bidding early or getting into bidding wars. A different way of interpreting it is that, rather than aggression, there is an increase in interest and enthusiasm. The only problem is with the sharks who contact the seller privately hoping to convince them into letting a desirable razor go for a low price. When I bought a razor on Ebay some time ago, the seller told me that no less than eight people had e-mailed him about it... Fortunately for him, he had the sense to realise that something was going on.

bmc1979 said:

... there's multiple bids on razors with days left. I understand the draw and attractiveness of some razors but if people would just wait until the end of the auction to put in their bid...

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I think what you're seeing is the result of the Maximum Bid feature. Sometimes, I might not be around for a couple days near the end of an auction. So I place my maximum bid some days early. When someone tops my current bid, it automatically increases. As a result of my single offering, it then appears that I'm bidding unreasonably early, and unreasonably fast, when neither is actually true.

I'm confused. I don't understand how entering a dollar amount, pressing the bid bottom followed by pressing the confirm bid button can have emotional content.

I don't know how placing a bid early can be seen as aggressive. Does that mean placing a bid later is whimpy?

The only time I get emotional is when I lose out to Amishmotorboat by a dollar.

Actually, I can see the bidding process as forming emotional attachment. You begin to imagine that product as yours, that it will complete your collection, and in some way make you happy. The fact that's it's just a razor - and you have a whole bunch of very similar ones already - is beside that point at that time. (When you look at a picture in the newspaper it's really a bunch of dots, but to you it's a beautiful girl or devastation in Japan, or whatever.)

Personally, I don't find mulitple people bidding on something to be aggressive. It's an auction - that's what happens at auctions. I find sniping obnoxious, but I don't see how eBay can prevent that.

I have bought Gillette razors in the last month as the single bidder, and I've failed to bid on a couple of interesting items that have gone for less than $10. It seems the crazy bidding is for slims and fatboys.

In all honesty, the chase is better than the catch. I quite enjoy the bidding process, but that's because I don't take it personally.

After years of playing on ebay with various hobbies, now I just decide what I would pay, bid and walk away. If I get it great, if not either another will come along or I can live without it. Years ago I let myself get caught up in things and always regreted it.

drews50 said:

The only time I get emotional is when I lose out to Amishmotorboat by a dollar.

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Terribly sorry. Which one was it, maybe I can keep an eye out for another?

amishmotorboat said:

Terribly sorry. Which one was it, maybe I can keep an eye out for another?

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Just kidding. Like I tell my son, there are a million razors out there. Another will come along.

But that seven day set is coming up fast.

Pioneer said:

And often, too, there's a quasi-heated and almost venomous back and forth on some razors, where the bidding becomes something tantamount to road rage.

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I think you're reading too much into it.

mattface said:

....it's designed to elicit an emotional response, and it only needs to do that to 2 guys for things to get crazy. It might not matter to these 2 guys that another one just like this one will turn up in a week or so, they want this one and they want it now, and they're not going to let some other guy beat them, they are going to WIN dammit. At this point all the bidders with any shred of logic have moved on, and the seller is whistling all the way to the bank.

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Yup.

bmc1979 said:

if people would just wait until the end of the auction to put in their bid then overall prices would come down.

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You can enter your max bid at any time. A max bid entered early on gives you the chance to think rationally about what the item's worth to you, instead of getting caught up in the heat of last minute bidding and inadvertently overpaying.

AlanL said:

I think what you're seeing is the result of the Maximum Bid feature. Sometimes, I might not be around for a couple days near the end of an auction. So I place my maximum bid some days early. When someone tops my current bid, it automatically increases. As a result of my single offering, it then appears that I'm bidding unreasonably early, and unreasonably fast, when neither is actually true.

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Yes!

drews50 said:

I'm confused. I don't understand how entering a dollar amount, pressing the bid bottom followed by pressing the confirm bid button can have emotional content.

I don't know how placing a bid early can be seen as aggressive. Does that mean placing a bid later is whimpy?

The only time I get emotional is when I lose out to Amishmotorboat by a dollar.

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Exactly! Thank you!

When I bid on something in eBay usually I enter the highest I'm willing to pay and then leave it.

If I win cool. If not no harm done.

I've been on eBay since it started, and I've noticed that many of these frenzies come and go like waves.

Some years ago people were paying hundreds for vintage cast iron frying pans (especially the enameled ones); now that whole area is quiet. Same thing with catalin radios a while back; people would routinely pay > $5,000 for a Fada. There's one page of Fadas now, and the most expensive one anyone is bidding on is $202.

This not to say the razor craze will go away; no one can predict that. I wouldn't be surprised to see it fade out a bit though.

I can match every "feeding frenzy" sale on eBay with another one where a razor went for a fraction of it's value.

franz said:

You can enter your max bid at any time. A max bid entered early on gives you the chance to think rationally about what the item's worth to you, instead of getting caught up in the heat of last minute bidding and inadvertently overpaying. . .

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You can rationally decide on a maximum bid early, and then put in exactly one bid toward the end of the auction, either manually, or using a sniping service. Or you may think better of it by the end of the auction, and not bid at all. Putting in a bid early only gives the more impulsive would-be buyers something to react to, and gives you more time to regret bidding on something you didn't really want. There seem to be a lot of eBayers out there who either do not understand the way automatic bidding works, or keep changing their minds about how much they're willing to pay. Putting in a bid in the closing seconds of an auction gives them less time to react.

AlanL said:

I think what you're seeing is the result of the Maximum Bid feature. Sometimes, I might not be around for a couple days near the end of an auction. So I place my maximum bid some days early. When someone tops my current bid, it automatically increases. As a result of my single offering, it then appears that I'm bidding unreasonably early, and unreasonably fast, when neither is actually true.

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Actually, it's pretty easy to tell the difference between automatic bidding and people manually raising their bids a little bit at a time; they display differently in the bidding history. There are plenty of people who will raise their bid just a little bit more after they see that their last bid wasn't enough to take the lead. Each of these bids shows separately. If you put in one bid, then every time someone raises the price on you, only your current maximum will show, not all the incremental ones that came in between. At least, that's the default. You can set it to show all the increments if you want to, but there doesn't seem to be much point in it.

drews50 said:

I
The only time I get emotional is when I lose out to Amishmotorboat by a dollar.

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Probably wasn't by a dollar anyways. Your pile o' cash stopped and his didn't. It only took that dollar extra.

-jim