Some musings regarding eBay...

[hvychev]

Wow where do I start. Well first I can say that I agree with you Garnet about a few things. First as we all know prices for muscle cars/supercars and their memorabilia have gotten out of control. I am a young muscle car enthusiast and love the cars but am growing to love the memorobilia even more. I have collected a respectable number of things and have aspirations to collect even more rare and neat peices of history.

With that said, I contribute the current "state" of our passion to the internet and especially e-bay. The days of advertising cars and parts to a small local audience are over. When a new car or part is advertised now you have a captive audience of the whole WORLD. Wow isn't that weird to think about? When you advertise lets say a NOS Nickey Chevrolet parts catalog now anybody that is sitting in front of a computer can just do a general search under Nickey and come up with anything that has the word Nickey as a keyword in the auction and could bid on it. The reason you get an inflated price is lets say that I want that particular catalog I saw on e-bay while surfing the web in Chicago to complete my collection of Nickey catalogs and bid a large amount (to me at least which would be my opinion of market value) of $200.00. Now you sitting on your computer across the big pond look up that same catalog and may be in a better financial postion than me and need that peice to add to your collection and say "man that catalog is worth $300.00 to me" so you bid on it. Now I am out and you are the high bidder. Now to even add more to this rant that I am on, another jerk is sitting in let's say for conversation California and sees that same catalog as he is chilling with his dog surfing the web [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] and decides that he could pay $400.00 for that darn catalog that was originally $1.00 brand new! HE WINS NOW WE HAVE A REDICULES INFLATED PRICE! I think that you all get my point! This stuff pisses me off but that is the modern age that we live in. I just hope that I can keep up with the inflation so I can keep doing what I love.

Now for the private auctions. I have seen public auctions do harm lately. I myself hated private auctions since their are a few rotten apples that have spoiled the whole bunch. Did you guys look at the bid history for the now "infamous" Berger plate frames auction? I think that almost if not all of the bidders were members of this site one way or another. Now we are all competeing for the same stuff and grudges may form because you outbid me. That sucks. I lost a neat Nickey poster board that I REALLY wanted to camarojoe and even spent stupid money IMO. But like I told him "All's fair in love and war." He was just willing to spend more. Thats life.

Guys bottom line is we have to be careful what we say on this site sometimes. That person that we bash could be a friend and we don't even know it. Camarojoe is one of our friends. He contributes a lot to the supercar hobby by lugging 20 tables of memorabilia across the country on his own buck to The Supercar Reunion just for our enjoyment. We all love to see all that neat stuff we have probably never seen before. He isn't a vendor selling anything at the show, just a guy like us that loves supercars and wants to share his part of them with the rest of us. If he buys a part and makes profit god bless! I am sure that he justs reinvests it back into lets say for example $610.00 Berger plate frames. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img] I for one bid with confidence when I participate in his auctions. Like supercar kid said. If you don't like the way an auction looks, or the current price, don't bid on it!

[KLONECO]

GEE FRANK ................WHAT IS THE POINT.....FROM THE HEART? YEA [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif[/img]I BELIEVE SO

[JoeG]

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Sometimes.....words make sense if you read it twice...(KINDA LIKE MAGAZINES IN A BATHROOM!!!!!!!!!!)

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KLONECO,
That is deep----,also very funny!

[Jeff Murphy]

Your points are well taken and not inconsistent with my own.

Perhaps there has been so much bashing of people like camarojoe (who I assume is your brother from the way you wrote your comment?) and yountto that people are a little raw around the edges?

If you read carefully the way I wrote my original comments, you should notice that there is no actual slur against him -- "Check out the value arbitrage that camarojoe has set up between these two auctions."

I merely point out of a fact -- namely he bought something at one price two weeks ago and has now been able to sell it (or at least get a bid for it) at roughly double the price and that he believes someone might pay 5x the cost he bought it for. Good business.

You'll also note that in my response to Steve (68l30) that I said the following "Also, not bashing camarojoe or buy low/sell high, but I'm amazed at how prices can ratchet so quickly. Guess it's all in what you know vs. the other guy..."

If people actually took the time to read what was written before reacting we might have a bit fewer contentious postings (on the other hand the board would be a bit boring...) [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img] For example, my life, at least, would be incomplete without the Jack Douglass*Yenko COPO (or is it Jack Douglass*COPO Yenko) debate... [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

You should also know that I have a good trading relationship with yountto and frank dihartce, two people that certainly know how to find the rare parts and mark 'em up to an appropriate market price. I've got no problem paying them for their services as I wouldn't have paying camarojoe for his should he have something I need or more likely WANT!!! As I stated earlier, it's all in what you know (or have stored in the garage) vs. the other guy.

BTW I am an investment banker (which means I help companies raise money or buy/sell themselves to others) and pray daily at the alter of capitalism. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/flag.gif[/img]

Tough for me to get where I've gotten without being primarily driven by the desire and ability to increase the value of the product I sell -- namely the intellectual capital of me and my colleagues backed up by the deep pockets of my bank and the broader capital markets (ie. you and your mutual funds).

[img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/burnout.gif[/img]

[Jeff Murphy]

I like your point -- did you notice the difference in P/E multiples?

GM = 6.5x
eBay = 102.6x

Sheesh. People love to pay for growth, heh?!?! That trade would be scarier than taking AOL stock in 2000 if you were a Time Warner shareholder...

[KLONECO]

I Simply enjoy the sport! Which I believe we ALL SHOULD!!! I "RAMBLE" SO I HAVE BEEN TOLD!! no harm intended. so.... my words of perfection are not perfect...........but from the heart!................................JOE G,IF YOU ARE A TRUE "CAR GUY"....(magazines reside in the bathroom!!!!!!!!!!!) [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif[/img] It is not the seller ,,it is the buyer that wants it bad enough to drive the price up!! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beers.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/[/img]

[bkhpah]

As I have been told many times, "If cool was cheap, we would all be cool." The little things that complement a restoration are often very expensive, but cool. A dealer yardstick, wiskbroom, dealership badge etc all add interest and nobody does cool like Camarojoe. He has paid stupid money for many items just to share with the board members for free at the reunion. He has never sold one item at the reunion or has attempted too. I have no problem with it...BKH [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/worship.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beers.gif[/img]

[Charley Lillard]

I personally think the Berger plates would have looked better on my car at the Reunion than on Joe's table. I guess he needed them more than I did. Thankyou to the others out there that tried to accomidate me by not bidding. I do have the Wisk Broom in the Glove Box though.

[Mr70]

This is a good topic,that I understand both sides to.
Conider that every second of every day something is sold on Ebay,that is either gravely Undervalued,or grossly Overpriced.
This is nothing new,but we as humans are more aware of it today because it is so easily accessible on our computer screens.This has been going on for centuries.
What I don't like is when I pick up a part at a Swapmeet,and the seller quotes a Ridiculously High price based on what sold on Ebay recently.
That is where I draw MY line,drop the part,and say "Don't bring Ebay prices to an Outdoor swapmeet",and walk away.

[budnate]

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What I don't like is when I pick up a part at a Swapmeet,and the seller quotes his price based on what sold on Ebay recently.
That is where I draw MY line,drop the part,and say "Don't bring Ebay prices to an Outdoor swapmeet".

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mr70,

I ran across that also in the last year, I asked donít you want to sell it for cash now or take it home!
Both responses said they didnít care and would probably get way more for the item on e-bay.

Most of the guys are using the booths to score the good stuff before the gates open is my guess.

I talked with several guys a few weeks ago at a swap meet and they were giddy with the great stuff that shook loose lately, May have to find a booth to help out with in the future!, I realize this has been going on for years.

-Early bird gets the worm; just have to outsmart them next time!
Now where are my XRAY-Glasses??? I can scan the rigs when they pull in from the street!

Bud.