Help me understand this auctioning strategy

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ende73
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Help me understand this auctioning strategy

Post by ende73 » Mon Nov 15, 2010 11:03 pm

Maybe a bit off Topic, but I'm sure we all noticed this item:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Misprint-Miscut-Col ... 41544ee551

Its being relisted now for the third or fourth time with nobody bidding on it, and my question is:

Why the heck is the seller re-listing it at ever GROWING prices ?!

Am I missing something or is there some underlying revolutionary auctioning strategy I'm not aware of?

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Magic61983
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Post by Magic61983 » Mon Nov 15, 2010 11:06 pm

I know it's a little silly but the seller really doesn't want to sell these but if someone is interested enough and comes along and buys them then he'll be really happy.
BGS 9+ Alpha set 282/295 (97.29%) Avg 9.41
BGS 9.5+ Beta set 283/302 (93.71%) Avg 9.58
BGS 9.5+ Arabian set 35/92 (38.04%) Avg 9.62
BGS 9.5+ Antiquities set 82/100 (82%) Avg 9.64
BGS 9.5+ Legends set 279/310 (90.00%) Avg 9.61

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i_set_fire
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Post by i_set_fire » Tue Nov 16, 2010 12:55 am

I was wondering the same thing. I am pretty sure he actually had a bid the first time he listed it, but still relisted it somehow.

hammr7
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Post by hammr7 » Tue Nov 16, 2010 1:37 am

Another possibility is that if the price gets high enough, and then the seller lowers it again, someone might think it is a great price. Some price grabbers grab the asking price without checking to see if there were any bids. So potential buyers might see a price trending up. Since you can't see much history on completed auctions, potential buyers might not realize that the item hasn't ever sold.

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berkumps
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Post by berkumps » Tue Nov 16, 2010 1:57 am

There was a bid on this lot at least the 2nd time it was listed, but this was by a 0 feedback person, so likely someone that was screwing around. As for the strategy of ever-increasing pricing, it makes sense to the seller I suppose.

Gryfalia
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Post by Gryfalia » Tue Nov 16, 2010 5:31 am

I'm guessing the 'raise to higher and have people offer' is probably right.

I'm still trying to figure out the person listing lots and lots of promo foils from pre-releases and FNM for $99 each.

For example:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mtg-Magic-Promo-Foi ... 2309bc770f

I mean, damn, I have literally dozens of these, I'll let them go for WAY less...

(yes, I mean dozens of the Overtakers...)
He's just this guy, ya know?

Alien_Starfighter_Pilot
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Post by Alien_Starfighter_Pilot » Tue Nov 16, 2010 5:44 am

I've purchased a few promos from kygamers before. the cards I purchased were at prices a little below SCG's, but I was disappointed in the condition of the cards I received (listed as NM/Mint, received VG/VF cards-corner damage). selling $2 promos at $100 is just odd....

anyways, LOL @ calling the summer swamp a mythic rare! That seller does say in the auction the price will go up as he adds cards to his miscut Type I deck, so maybe he's adding more and more cards each time.

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berkumps
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Post by berkumps » Tue Nov 16, 2010 4:24 pm

Gryfalia wrote: I'm still trying to figure out the person listing lots and lots of promo foils from pre-releases and FNM for $99 each.
Sometimes, and I can only speculate that this happened in this case, when a seller uses turbolister to upload a bunch of items, they fail to change the price in Turbolister when editing a batch of items that they've copied/pasted to save themselves time. I've had this problem before, however for me I failed to change the shipping prices for the items, and wanted $20+ to ship some singles. I then had to go back and re-edit everything. It's quite annoying.

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