Thread: .99 cent Filly 14

Myself, I always worry about 0 bidders. Always a big risk that they wont pay up. Wouldn't be the first time a person used a shill to sabatoge an auction to make sure an item THEY were selling would get a good price.
As for value of a Filly? well, MY OPINION....
If a NOS is selling for 350, a GOOD used one should sell for about 20% less. But we have all seen NOS Fillys with ridiculous asking prices. A filly is as good a shaver as any other. What would a Puma of the same size sell for? or a used Whacker? I have a hard time believing any production style razor is worth as much as a custom, so perhaps I am not the best judge. I honestly did not expect this one to break the 200 mark. But at its current rate of travel, it may go higher.
Again, It could also just be an attempt to keep prices high!
But since it IS doing well, I will have to toss another razor into the SRP give away to help spread the wealth.

Ok, as a noob, I've been lurking this forum and the bay just trying to learn... There are some interesting razors on there, but seems like a mine field too.

All too true Chopper! Look for the thread "Ebay 101" the first few pages are very informative.

With the 0 bidders, you also have to worry that they will get buyers remorse and demand a refund after 1 shave attempt. I once sold a shave ready razor to buyer that was a long-time DE shaver who wanted to try out straight razors. He asked me a ton of questions, which I promptly answered. The razor arrived, and the next day he asked to return the razor because he determined after 1 shave that he preferred his DE.

Originally Posted by Magpie

All too true Chopper! Look for the thread "Ebay 101" the first few pages are very informative.

I'll do that. Thanks.

Originally Posted by Bordee

The razor arrived, and the next day he asked to return the razor because he determined after 1 shave that he preferred his DE.

What a dumba$$.

I would rather a guy said to me "This is just not for me" and send me back the razor for a refund, than have him screw up the edge, and send it back saying "It came this way"
Im always willing to take back a blade as long as I have it listed as a returnable.
There is always somebody else who wants it!

I think than Magpie's auction teaches us several lessons about Ebay selling:

1. Price of most collectible razors -- such as Fiilarmonicas -- can fluctuate heavily in the short term based on supply. If you search what else is being listed for Fili 14 Doble Temple right now on the Bay, you'll notice that there are numerous listings for high price ($300) NOS on close to NOS, or razors with flaws (e.g., chipped, shortened blade, large amounts of rust). In other words ,there are very few promising "bargain" auctions in the present. Within this setting, a clean, shave ready $0.99 listing from a reputable US seller will garner a lot of interest. In other words, Magpie's timing for listing the razor was optimal from a selling standpoint.

2. A razor without any competition in its price range will fetch higher bids. If there were 5 other sellers offering clean, shave ready Fili 14s with low starting bids, it would arguably drive prices down across the board. Bidders might spread out and divide their focus on on 1 or 2 razors. Instead on there being one big bidding war, there might be multiple, smaller bidding wars. The bidders might think that they can share the spoils and thus might not get quite a competitive.

3. Lack of recent activity can create higher prices. I follow Fili auctions regularly, and it seem like it has been pretty slow for the last 2 months with Fili 14 Doble Temple auctions with low starting bids. The lack of activity might prevent certain buyers from forming expectations about prices. If there are higher auction volumes, a buyer might believe that a certain razor is only worth a certain amount. If the buyer sees an auction exceed that perceived amount, the buyer might refrain from bidding based on the belief that a similar item will come along soon that the buyer can win at a lower price.

4. Auctions with high numbers of bids can draw more bidders and higher bids. For one. Ebay has a search filter to list by highest number of bids first. A $200 item with 30 bids would show up higher than a $200 item with 1 bid. I further suspect that buyers view an item with a lot of bids as more coveted. This could also get the competitive juices flowing.

The fili's with all the bling are bumping $500, so it seems reasonable that Magpie's fili goes to $200.

Originally Posted by ChopperDave

The fili's with all the bling are bumping $500, so it seems reasonable that Magpie's fili goes to $200.

$202 as this morning...