Empire 11x14 on eB*y

[Randy_5116]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7583535026&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEBI%3AIT&rd=1

currently 5 hours left and 35 dollar bid

[Thomas Cierzo]

Now it's over $300. I had been watching this camera for a while. So much for the deal.

Are you the seller?

[Ralph]

Shhh. It's okAy to say "EbAy"!

Not sure where this notion started, but specific references by name to "that large auction site" (as another euphemism often has it) ARE allowed here.

[Dean Tomasula]

You can post about eBay. You can even provide links to eBay auctions. So why the hell is everyone so afraifd to say eBay. This is ridiculous. The name of the auction site is eBay. It's not "that auction site" or "eB*y." It's eBay. Repeat after me. eBay. eBay. eBay.

Sheesh.

[David Richhart]

I am so in amazement

Whenever there is a chance to score a decent deal on EBAY

Someone, for some reason, feels the need to post a link to guarantee that the price will be driven up.

Randy, are you personally involved in thia auction???

[Terence McDonagh]

The fear of saying eBay (eBay , eBay , eBay , eBay !!!) is a holdover from this forum's time as part of photo.net where Phil Greenspun had a bizarre rule about not mentioning companies that didn't sponsor the site.

[Wayne]

I agree with Dave and Thomas. Happens all the time, and all in the frustrating name of public service I guess. I dont get it. Well in this case I do get it, since clicking on "Randy" gives "No name available" and zero posts so it seems pretty likely a plot by the seller .

[Wayne]

OK Moderators what gives? This is the second time in as many weeks that I have put my foot in my mouth about someone not posting here before, and ten seconds after that suddenly their posts show up. Do I need a special access code or something? I checked every name in this thread just to make sure it wasnt a temporary glitch like last time (cuz I dont enjoy foot in mouth, though I am good at it), and everyone's posts showed up except Randy's. Sorry bout that Randy.

[Bob._3483]

I agree with the others: it has never happened to me, but I would be very annoyed if it did.

It's simple: if someone is looking for a particular item, then they will have already seen the auction. If they are not looking, then all telling them about it does is encourage them to put in a speculative bid, driving up the price for the eventual buyer. Whatever the price is at the time is totally irrelevant as there are almost certainly several snipes ready to trigger in the last few seconds of the auction.

The only person this helps is the seller, not any of the serious prospective buyers.

[Ralph Barker]

Wayne - sorry about the "no name available" situation you encountered. I'm not clear on what might have caused it (other activity on the server, perhaps?), but if the software, for whatever reason, can't find the name, it won't find the associated posts, either. So, if you encounter that, all I can suggest is to try again in a few seconds.

[Sal Santamaura]

"The fear of saying eBay (eBay , eBay , eBay , eBay !!!) is a holdover from this forum's time as part of photo.net where Phil Greenspun had a bizarre rule about not mentioning companies that didn't sponsor the site."

Let there be no mistake or unwarranted denigration of Philip Greenspun, whose largesse was combined with Tuan's hard work to start this forum in 1997, and who provided assistance when it was reconstituted as an independent entity in 2003. The "dirty words" ban at photo.net was emplaced by someone else *after* control of that site had been wrested from Philip.

See this page (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/lf-photonet.html) for a full history of this forum.

[Randy_5116]

No, I am not/was not in any way, associated with this item. Wish I was though. Damn sure wouldn't have sold it. If you loof at any previous postings from me, I am currently striving to afford a restore of an 8x10 Conley view. Was not personally interested in this item. It was just a good price on a nice camera, thought I would pass it on in case someone on this forum may not have been looking at EBAY EBAY EBAY EBAY and may have been interested. Even after posting, if memory serves me, it still went for a fair price. Drive up the price for the potential buyer??? I thought it was an auction. Isn't the point of an auction for interested buyers to BID on items until the high bidder gets it? Always worked that way at every auction I ever went to, be it cars, cattle..... or even cameras.
I sincerely apologize if I stepped on the toes of any prima-donnas in this forum. Just thought somebody may be interested. If you weren't, then what does it matter?

[Wayne]

Ralph, as I said the software WAS working for every name in the thread except for Randy's. I double-checked it, having been burned by the software just s few days ago. Randy's name showed up as a link that I had already clicked on, which I hadnt, but when I did it said "zero posts" and "no name available" for email address. As soon as I posted my reply, I noticed that Randy's name now showed up as an unfollowed link and suddenly the link worked exactly as it should. I'm sure there is a lesson in here somewhere, either dont put foot in mouth or dont trust the software. I dont see #1 happening so I'll take #2.

[Donald Brewster]

I bought it for a price I was happy to pay. Thanks for the heads up Randy. I hope everyone's OK about it, because I am.

[Thomas Cierzo]

I am glad someone on this forum got it, yes. Another Empire (with extras, though) 11x14 went for over a $1000 last night

However, without this turning ugly, there is no need to be calling people primadonnas because they did not appreciate the heads up. Auctions by their nature are competitive and therefore get everyone's emotions going on an otherwise helpfula and friendly forum like this.

Randy, I understand why you got so defensive but look at it like this. If that auction was at $35 with a few hours to go and YOU were interested in the item, would you have made the same post?

[Randy_5116]

Yes I was, and yes I did. It just got above my means. I did bid, and was high bidder for a period of time. No defensive attitude. But why not give a heads-up to others in this forum? This same post was placed on another forum by some other party (definitely not me), a little later in the auction, and the responses were positive and appreciative. Why the diff?

[Wayne]

Some people spend a lot of time doing ebay searches, setting up automatic notifications, and following auctions. Most of them amount to nothing. They work hard, and expend a lot of time and effort. I searched and monitored ebay and other places for years looking for the exact rare item that someone announced on another forum recently (I'm not looking anymore, fortunately). To have someone waltz in and annouce to thousands of people who havent put in that same research and legwork "hey guys look at this, get it while you can" is sort of a slap in the face of all the people who have worked hard searching. Why is that hard to understand? Yes, it may do one person a favor (the lucky one who finds out that way and wins it) but its doing a disservice to many others at the same time. That is how I look at it. Everybody knows where ebay is, and everybody has equal access to it. The people who appreciate these announcements are those who havent put in the work.

[Juergen Sattler]

Wayne hit the nail on the head! He is absolutely right - I collect vintage cameras and I would really hate it if someone decided to make a post like that. I check 5 different country's ebay sites every day for rare vintage cameras, put those that interest me on my watchlist and try to find a decent bargain - an announcement like yours would put all that time invested at risk. People need to do their homework if they want to be succesful on eBay.

[Wayne]

Most of the people who make these types of announcements mean well, as I'm sure Randy did. They want to share a possible bargain with their forum friends who share their interests. I'm sure it doesnt occur to most people why other forum friends might not appreciate it so much.