Thread: How to avoid members stepping on each others auctions ?

I don't bid often on razors but when I do, I snipe. I see no reason to bid up an item, just to have someone else inch his/her way up until they figure out what my top bid was. I've missed out on several razors (same brand/size) and the last one I bid on, I upped my max bid to double of what the other ones had sold for... I still didn't get it......<sigh>. I know I've been outbid by others on this forum but thats fair and square.... an item is worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it.

As for those who pick up lots of razors, usually shown with crappy photos, are always taking a chance. If there's a decent razor among them, I have no issue with them posting it for sale here at a higher price than what they paid... after all, it was a crap shoot for them when they bid on the lot and we always have the option of not buying that razor if we don't feel it's worth the asking price. I see no reason for them having to *improve* the razor to justify the increased price asked for it. A razor is worth whatever it's worth.... usually the amount someone is willing to pay for it.

When I see a razor posted here, refurbished or as found, I feel far more comfortable making the purchase vs bidding on something on ebay.

Well... that's how I feel about it.


Regards

Christian

Yeah, I do it. But I am more a shaver than collector. The reason I snipe is to avoid driving the price up pre-maturely. Now in the past couple days I have been out sniped by a member here and was pissed, but then again neither of us knew the other would bid. I mostly check the bids I see to see if it's a member. If it is something I really want though, anything's fair really. You can't blame a person for using the technology to his advantage. For that matter, it isn't really unfair for one guy to buy as many razors as he can and sell them back. If he wants to put up more money than you for a razor then he gets it no matter what he does with it after. Why not set your bid higher if it's worth that to you? Myself? I only really sell off blades that I just don't want since they don't appeal to me as much as others. Plus I restore them first.

I snipe for the same reason
I've also bought lots and had every one be worthless...
E-bay is a big gamble.
here you might pay more, but it's not a gamble.
If I sell a razor, and say it's shave ready, it will be shave ready, or I will rehone it.
if it's an ugly razor I'll tell you what's wrong with it, and show you.
A member may sell a POS razor here, but he'll tell you it's a POS, he'll tell you why and give you pictures... you have to decide if you want to pay the price, but otherwise no gamble.

+1 I snipe also ... a couple of years ago I got into a bidding frenzy for a razor I wanted but I backed off after we hit over the £140 ( +$200 !!!! ) from then on I check if it's a SRP member bidding if so I back off if it's not then it's snipe time ..

Originally Posted by OLD_SCHOOL

I know of one such person on a different auction site, that won 7 straights for approx $45USD and is now selling them off individually starting form 35USD$ That kind of sh!t bugs me because this is clearly someone that knows there is a market for straights so wants to make a profit for nothing. If say he restored then sold them, it wouldn't bother me as much.

I guess I was jealous at the time I posted this. But what I should have added was that the razors were munted and he was trying to make more money out of them, which I guess is fair enough. But when you look here and see the beautifully restored razors for the same price of only a few $ more.

With regard to sniping, that is the way to go I reckon and it also means you don't go over your budget because you set your max and forget it, rather than watching and thinking "oh its only $2 more than I wanted to pay" and then realize you finally spent $30 more than you planned.

As others have written here, anything acquired through ebay and finding its way here is rarely a sell-through with just a mark-up. The members on this forum would not put up with razors being sold in the state you often find on ebay. So what do you get when someone grabs a deal on ebay from here?

• quality assurance (no pakistani or chinese blades) and risk-free buying (no cracked or warped blades, etc.)
• restoration (across the range from simple polishing, cleaning through to resetting bevel, full-on regrinds and custom scales)
• honing (most in the FS section are honed up now)
• member-brands (many of the members selling are well-known for the quality of their straights)
• and most importantly, re-circulation of good razors otherwise destined for the bin or some collector's box. It's not uncommon to buy a blade here and then re-sell it on here. We all benefit from this.

Rarely you'll get someone buying on ebay and selling through here untouched -- and if it does happen it means someone has made an excellent find, so good luck to them!

I've never bought a razor from ebay because I know I don't want to go there, undertaking the risk of bad blades and the work of restoring or touching up. I am however, incredibly grateful that others here are motivated to do so!

So snipe away, guys, snipe away!

Some of my best razors are actually from eBay... After I worked on them of course. But really, I've gotten some that turned out to be much better than I expected, never really MUCH worse.

I don't use the term 'snipe,' but I do always use bidding software. I really don't care who bids how much. I know what I'm willing to pay and set bids accordingly.

However, I would be very pleased if the collectors went back to tea pots or whatever else they messed with before discovering straight razors.

Regards

All you can do is decide the most you want to pay and then set your strategy.

If I loose this way; so be it. Snipe or not...that way I feel ok.

I have to agree with the member that everyone is buying up these straights. I don't know why there is this huge heightened interest on ebay, but, if it continues, are we just going to see higher and higher prices?