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Minor ebay annoyance: "Rare" items
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RHemmings
Posts: 4,896 Forumite


Just a minor annoyance, but I see numbers of items that are described as "rare" or "extremely rare" when in actual fact they are ten a penny, and there are usually several of them on ebay at the same time. On some forums, this is commonly laughed at in ebay threads. Why do people do this. For example, this auction:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/YAMAHA-TX7-FM-EXPANDER-TONE-GENERATOR-/170691932558?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Pro_Audio_Synthesisers_CV&hash=item27be08318e
It says that it's:
Sometimes I wonder what people are thinking. Do they actually believe that these things are rare? Or do they think they can fool people into paying massively over the odds by claiming that they are rare collectors items?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/YAMAHA-TX7-FM-EXPANDER-TONE-GENERATOR-/170691932558?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Pro_Audio_Synthesisers_CV&hash=item27be08318e
It says that it's:
No it's not, they are ten a penny and there are loads of them available. And it's worth about £80, not the £250 starting price.Very rare and sought after for producers in music studios.
Sometimes I wonder what people are thinking. Do they actually believe that these things are rare? Or do they think they can fool people into paying massively over the odds by claiming that they are rare collectors items?
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Often you see private sellers who have several of the very same very rare, sought after item listed at the same time. They have generally found the rare item-s unused in their loft.0
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Sometimes I wonder what people are thinking. Do they actually believe that these things are rare? Or do they think they can fool people into paying massively over the odds by claiming that they are rare collectors items?0
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I used to buy and sell a lot of 80's toys years ago, especially Care Bears after I discovered that certain bears were more valuable having only been made in the UK. I did well out of it for a while, picking up bears reasonably cheaply from boot sales. As people started to realise though I lost count of the amount of sellers who'd stick on a ten a penny bedtime bear with the words 'RARE!' and try and charge £30+ for a bear worth £3 at best. This happened at boot sales as well as on ebay.
Always made me smile. No clue. First rule of business, know your market lol0 -
No different from the hideous 'limited edition' (of 500,000) china plates with a picture of a weeping child on that they flog on the back of weekend supplements. It's a draw to get people to part with their cash. If the customers are thick enough to fall for it and not do their own research prior to buying then more fool them, and good luck to the sellers.
Olias0 -
At least that auction hasn't got the R word in it's title.0
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I often wonder if anyone ever uses 'rare' as a search term when they are looking for items to buy so it seems like a pointless use of a word in the title when it could be used for something more descriptive.If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you always got!0
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My pet hate are the auctions that have a fixed starting price but state "No reserve!"... Yeah right....
No reserve is a 99p start and it sells at what it gets, not (as in the last case I saw) a £2,500 starting price... Surely that is the same as a £2,500 reserve, no?0 -
Enfieldian wrote: »My pet hate are the auctions that have a fixed starting price but state "No reserve!"... Yeah right....
No reserve is a 99p start and it sells at what it gets, not (as in the last case I saw) a £2,500 starting price... Surely that is the same as a £2,500 reserve, no?
I'm the opposite. I don't mind if someone tells me the minimum they'll accept. That seems fine to me - and fair enough. I actually don't like reserve auctions on Ebay - put in a bid, it's rejected, put in another bid, rejected too. Don't make me mess about and guess; tell me how much the very least you'd accept would be and I'll take it from there, and decide whether or not I want to get involved in bidding.Reason for edit? Can spell, can't type!0 -
mandragora wrote: »I'm the opposite. I don't mind if someone tells me the minimum they'll accept. That seems fine to me - and fair enough. I actually don't like reserve auctions on Ebay - put in a bid, it's rejected, put in another bid, rejected too. Don't make me mess about and guess; tell me how much the very least you'd accept would be and I'll take it from there, and decide whether or not I want to get involved in bidding.
Same as you, reserve auctions I can't be bothered with. I much prefer to know what the lowest is they're happy with.
Generally you don't get quite so many plonkers refusing to sell because it hasn't reached the price they were hoping for.0 -
running a few experiments on ebay, i've found that 'rare' items get more attention, viewers and bids than their non-rare counterparts (same item without rare in the title)helpful tips
it's spelt d-e-f-i-n-i-t-e-l-y
there - 'in or at that place'
their - 'owned by them'
they're - 'they are'
it's bought not brought (i just bought my chicken a suit from that new shop for £6.34)0
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