Thread: Tell me, where's the 200 dollar difference?

Amazing place, eBay. Compare items 290381002262 and 160386820891:

Engelswerk hunting scene 1, yesterday

Engelswerk hunting scene 2, today


Maybe it's just the ocean though.

The difference is what you'll have left in your wallet after the purchase, otherwise I am not certain.

Different pictures, blade condition, difference in shipping price, location of the item in the world, different exposure to different audiences (which may or may not have collectors). Or maybe 2 guys wanting one saw one and only one guy wanting it saw the other.

My bet is that one is in Austria and shipping is 30 euros while the other is in the US and shipping is $7. High shipping makes me not want to bid because it raises questions in my mind about the seller. Not everyone looks at other countries' ebay's, and maybe there are more scale collectors or a wider audience for one than the other. Or, perhaps guy #2 in the bidding war for the first one was the only high bidder left for the second one.

It's only a $163 difference

Also, one is "superb" and the other one is something I don't know how to read

The biggest difference is probably the market they were directed at. There are probably far more searches for "straight razor", than for "rasiermesser". The expensive one does have a better blade, but the buyer probably isn't interested in that bit anyway!

i think the biggest difference is from the buyer themselves...there are a lot of people who collect the razors just for the scales..i watched one a couple of months back that had a scarab on the scale and it sold for $9100. no one on here would have paid that much. i think this is the link to the $9100 razor...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=330359630801=

Originally Posted by 59caddy

i think the biggest difference is from the buyer themselves...there are a lot of people who collect the razors just for the scales..i watched one a couple of months back that had a scarab on the scale and it sold for $9100. no one on here would have paid that much. i think this is the link to the $9100 razor...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.ebay.c om%3A80%2F%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dp3984.m38.l13 13%26_nkw%3D330359630801%26_sacat%3DSee-All-Categories%26_fvi%3D1=&_rdc=1=&item=330359630801=

Top 3 bidders have 0, 0, 1 feedback. I'll bet the seller did not see the huge money there. Maybe got something around the 5th bidder's bid.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

Top 3 bidders have 0, 0, 1 feedback. I'll bet the seller did not see the huge money there. Maybe got something around the 5th bidder's bid.

buy even that bid of $901 was way out of range, unless you mean the 5th from the bottom...

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

My bet is that one is in Austria and shipping is 30 euros while the other is in the US and shipping is $7.

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

It's only a $163 difference

Nope.






Assuming a US-American customer, the difference including postage is (308 + 7) - (108.51 + 14.32) = 192.17 USD

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

Different pictures, blade condition, difference in shipping price, location of the item in the world, different exposure to different audiences (which may or may not have collectors).

Obviously. The last was the more important factor I think. Ben.mid is probably right in that perspect: it is in the audience. Not just in numbers, but also in attitude. More than just an actual ocean separates us.

Still, quality of the description, the photos or the razor itself aren't too far apart. Both were internationally available too. My point I think is that contrary to popular belief, unless you examine quite a number of auctions eBay is in my opinion a very bad place to look if you want a fair estimate of what something is worth. This is just one example, the 9k scarab razor an even more extreme.

But that of course we already know - otherwise we wouldn't spend so much time scouring the place for great deals.

Originally Posted by Oldengaerde

Nope.






Assuming a US-American customer, the difference including postage is (308 + 7) - (108.51 + 14.32) = 192.17 USD

On the contrary! The equation is (308 + 7) - (108.51 + 42.83) = 163.66

Winning bid:EUR 76.00

Approximately US $108.51

Shipping:EUR 30.00