What The Heck Is Going On With This Ebay Auction?

I can't help but think that I'm missing something, but damned if I can see it.

It's at $177.51 with almost 5 days left to go.

To me, this is a $10 lot max.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/205001937518

Agree!!!

There is one stamp I want in the lot (you know which one) and so I was tracking it. I was willing to pay $10 for the lot to get the one item.

Imagine my surprise when I saw the $177 bid and thought I was losing my marbles.

I even went through Scott to look up each stamp thinking I was overlooking something.

Nope.

Once again, hope the winner is happy with their purchase. If they would just contact me, I promise to make them many lots like that and promise not to charge more than $100 each.

The high bidder has even doubled down by topping his own high bid...

It is no just a high bidder there is also a serious underbidder. So two folks see something they want. Perhaps the interest is in a cancel.

I spent most of my early period collecting revenues focusing on cancels, and I just don't see it. The 2 cancels of note, the custom house circle and the NY Central Railroad are certainly nice, but most definitely not scarce, let alone rare. They are max $10 each at full retail IMO.

If it is a cancel, it has to be something tied to one of the specific businesses/companies whose cancel appears on one of the other stamps, but for there to be not one but TWO parties so invested to drive the price up this high seems doubtful. There doesn't appear to be anything inherently noteworthy about the remaining cancels, e.g., a proprietary medicine or steamship cancel, both of which could go off into the stratosphere without notice if two competing bidders see it.

Given that the highest catalogue value stamp in the lot is roughly $5, I'm just not seeing any "there" there.

... unless this is one of those conspiracy-theory money-laundering scenarios that people have talked about. *shrug*

Agreed, two "nice but common" cancels, and a couple of others. It's a $20 lot for someone who wants those few handstamp cancels.

I see someone with a feedback of 15 pushing the bid up over and over again.

Smells of shill bidding to me.

Up to $307 with over a day left. What the everloving F?

Ended at $355.

Bizarre.