More Cartel Shenanigans

The ebay listings are no longer available, but I think this item is the same as that previously offered by both tenshillings and superdeal5 and discussed at this forum previously (link to that topic seems not to be working). That one was unused appearing with PFC stating faintly cancelled, this one (if indeed the same) has lost both the descriptor "appearing" and the PFC. Nice touch, invoking FDR.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/272610234899

I have to admit I don't know much about said cartel, I thought it was UK based...but in California also? Not knowing anything about this stamp, what sort of advertising angle is it to be asking twice the stated catalog value for a starting bid? All the rest of his/her offerings are low and reasonably priced.

svensson, that CA address is a smokescreen. Click on the "291" feedback number and you'll see he is based in UK. With his shill bidding operation, any starting bids for his lots are meaningless.

Svensson,
Knowing the seller is probably more important than knowing your stamps when buying online. Search this forum, or even Google, on 'British cartel'.

One other word of advice... thinking you can find 'under valued buys' on ebay, (unless you are very, very experienced or just plain lucky) is highly unlikely. Quality sellers know what they have and what it is worth. If someone auctions better material than chances are very high that other hobbyists will also recognize the value and bid it up to market value.

The discounted material on ebay is normally discounted for a reason. Anyone who offers higher end material at silly low starting prices is a warning sign.
Don

Understood about ebay, I use it for good, sound, space fillers of low dollar value. I just don't get his attempt to attract any bidders when he calls it a $140 value...opening bid $280! If he said catalog value $140 with opening bid $20, well Yes....highly suspicious. As he has it, it's just dumb. Or maybe I'm missing the cunning plan.
At any rate, I won't be bidding.

Don

Low starting prices aren't always a warning sign. If you're confident about items, but ready to take a tiny risk, using the "look at me" signal of a 99p start is attractive. I do it or don't depending on how risk-averse I'm feeling!

Geoff

Geoff,
Understood, but note I wrote "higher end material". Surely you would not be buying higher end material at auction and turning around and listing it starting a huge loss like the cartel does. (I have seen cases where he has purchased material over $1000(US) and then list it starting at 0.01; this is far beyond a casual gamble.)

And please keep in mind that we reach a lot of less experienced hobbyists who think that ebay is chock full of 'bargains'. I feel this is in part because we often mention some really good buy that one of us has picked up. But in all likelihood the odds of scoring a incredible value off of ebay by a less experienced hobbyist is probably less than 10%. (Of course, the more experienced you get you can increase these odds.) My opinion is that less experienced hobbyists are best served by researching and buying from known, quality sellers and relying upon them while they get a few years of experience.

Just out of curiosity, what is highest amount you have invested and then were willing to turn around and at 99p? For me, I think the most I have gambled with is $100-200(US).
Don

Don

It's about the same as yours - around £100. I don't really buy things to re-sell - rather, I end up with stuff I don't need and sell it to minimise further money-wasting. I'd be surprised to buy anything in ebay and make money on it - although you can find the odd good thing. Any profits I make via ebay are from what I've bought in real-world auctions. Another gamble, of course.

Regards.

Geoff

dudley,

That's a famous picture of FDR. No tweezers. We don't need any tweezers here.

Jack Kelley

If one looks at their profile as a buyer you'll see most purchases by the cartel are made in the UK and none appear to be for stamps!

Unsurprisingly, ownership of this item seems to have "passed" from collect04 to best-low-prices.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Type-V-S...AOSw53NY9Lre

How does the cartel avoid paying ebay their % of the selling price?

He sometimes cancels the sale (which typically and eventually will impact his account but he doesn't care since he can change to one of his other 40-50 accounts); note that ebay will allow a number of cancels without impact if you call them and sing a sad song. Or he sometimes pays the fee and writes it off as a 'cost of business'. There is a chance he is 'pumping and dumping' businesses; this is a way that he can make the sales numbers look very good on the books and increase the 'value' in the business.

The dirty ebay secret here is that a person can have 40-50 accounts. Additionally this person has had ebay Trust & Safety NARU ALL of his accounts twice (that I know of); once in 2014 and once in 2011 and they keep allowing him back. Both signs that ebay does no significant vetting of accounts. This lack of vetting is why I think no one should be spending large amounts of money with buyers they do not know.

Plenty of really good sellers on ebay, but do your homework and find out who they are before spending large amounts of money.
Don

Had a sale by Mr Fancy Cancel on me the other day. Not fun.

This guy - Phillip Ryle - has numerous accounts.
The newest is "bank-notes".

Be very cautious with any seller name with some variation of:

collect___ (fill in the number)
superdeal___(fill in the number)

and if the seller is based in the UK but the item is in the USA.

Noticed an item for sale by bank-notes earlier this week. Given the condition of the item and the too-good-to-believe price, I quickly discarded any notion of bidding/buying. As Don has indicated on more than one occasion, spending sizable amounts on ebay items without knowing the seller is not a good idea. Actually, you could expand that beyond ebay, but ebay offers a level of anonymity not available via dealer web sites.