Dmitry Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 Here's the story - A couple of weeks ago I listed an oop Mosaic set on eBay, and it sold for 1/2 the price it usually fetches. Fine, sometimes people get lucky, I thought. Winner paid me by PayPal, I was ready to mail the set, when I received a curious email from the runner-up on that auction. I won't go into the details verbatim, but the gist of it was that while the auction was still going, the person who later won the set had sent him an email that he forwarded to me. Basiaclly it said someting to this effect, ..."It's you again! I notice that you buy Mosaics for resale or whatever you do with them. Don't bid on this set. Would you give some other people a chance?! .." The person who'd forwarded the email said that indeed he buys Mosaics on eBay when he gets a good deal on them, and fuels his other jazz acquisitions by sometimes reselling them. My guess the auction winner was outbid by this guy now and again. After receiving the email, he got put off and didn't bid on my set. So I wrote to him and laid it out in no uncertain words. He claimed it was an innocent prank and was rather nonchalant about the whole thing... After a brief exchange I told him I will not mail the Mosaic, refund his money and put him on my blocked bidders list. I also told him I should've really alerted eBay about this nonsense. He emailed back, saying it was fine and that I would recoop my listing fee if I put it up again, because it would sell for more. Some balls on this jazz collector!!! I wonder if he emailed other bidders as well... This guy has almost 600 positive feedback, btw... I've been involved with eBay from 1998, and never had anything like this happen. Weird stuff, folks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Wood Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 Here's the story - A couple of weeks ago I listed an oop Mosaic set on eBay, and it sold for 1/2 the price it usually fetches. Fine, sometimes people get lucky, I thought. Winner paid me by PayPal, I was ready to mail the set, when I received a curious email from the runner-up on that auction. I won't go into the details verbatim, but the gist of it was that while the auction was still going, the person who later won the set had sent him an email that he forwarded to me. Basiaclly it said someting to this effect, ..."It's you again! I notice that you buy Mosaics for resale or whatever you do with them. Don't bid on this set. Would you give some other people a chance?! .." The person who'd forwarded the email said that indeed he buys Mosaics on eBay when he gets a good deal on them, and fuels his other jazz acquisitions by sometimes reselling them. My guess the auction winner was outbid by this guy now and again. After receiving the email, he got put off and didn't bid on my set. So I wrote to him and laid it out in no uncertain words. He claimed it was an innocent prank and was rather nonchalant about the whole thing... After a brief exchange I told him I will not mail the Mosaic, refund his money and put him on my blocked bidders list. I also told him I should've really alerted eBay about this nonsense. He emailed back, saying it was fine and that I would recoop my listing fee if I put it up again, because it would sell for more. Some balls on this jazz collector!!! I wonder if he emailed other bidders as well... This guy has almost 600 positive feedback, btw... I've been involved with eBay from 1998, and never had anything like this happen. Weird stuff, folks. Weird. I'm amazed the guy owned up to it. However, is the other guy on the level as well? Sounds like a disgruntled bidder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmitry Posted September 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 Well, my guess is that eBay messages get stored on a central server and it would be a snap for eBay to follow-up on this. Be as it may I'm going to save our email exchange, just in case... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 Sounds like the runner-up regrets backing off, which is why he forwarded the email. I kind of don't blame the guy for asking the other one to back off, it would really suck to get outbid time and again to the same person. But I doubt that he'd send the message to all the bidders - I'm sure many of them are perpetual also-rans, too. It only makes sense to contact the guy who seems to win all the time and ask him to have mercy this one time and let it go to someone else. Just be glad you can give it another shot, Dmitry and hope for the best. Its possible that with the original winner blocked, this runner-up will get it, and for about the same money! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 Just out of curiosity, which Mosaic was it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chitownjazz Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 ...I kind of don't blame the guy for asking the other one to back off, it would really suck to get outbid time and again to the same person. But I doubt that he'd send the message to all the bidders - I'm sure many of them are perpetual also-rans, too. It only makes sense to contact the guy who seems to win all the time and ask him to have mercy this one time and let it go to someone else. Uh, I don't think so. That's clearly unethical, and I would think probably fraudulent, manipulation of the auction process. The item is supposed to go to the highest bidder, and requests/intimidation/collusion or whatever have no place in the auction process. If he is so determined to win the auction, there's a way to do that - bid higher than the other bidders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheldonm Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 ...I kind of don't blame the guy for asking the other one to back off, it would really suck to get outbid time and again to the same person. But I doubt that he'd send the message to all the bidders - I'm sure many of them are perpetual also-rans, too. It only makes sense to contact the guy who seems to win all the time and ask him to have mercy this one time and let it go to someone else. Uh, I don't think so. That's clearly unethical, and I would think probably fraudulent, manipulation of the auction process. The item is supposed to go to the highest bidder, and requests/intimidation/collusion or whatever have no place in the auction process. If he is so determined to win the auction, there's a way to do that - bid higher than the other bidders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim R Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 Just out of curiosity, which Mosaic was it? Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. In fact, this must be analyzed- carefully! Could the Mosaic market be in (gulp) decline?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neveronfriday Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 Could the Mosaic market be in (gulp) decline?! Is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim R Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 Could the Mosaic market be in (gulp) decline?! Is it? Didn't you mean: Is it? or perhaps ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neveronfriday Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 Why don't we have a "poor sod" smiley. I might have added that to my post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etherbored Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 it's amazing the lengths to which some "collectors" will go! frankly, if i were after a set the last thing that would deter me is an e-mail or ebay message from another bidder. then again, i've shot notes to bidders when they're bidding on a title that's supposedly out of print (we all know that game...) or widely available elsewhere for cheaper. -e- ps: yeah, which set was it??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyo Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 I find it annoying that people buy stuff that's hard to get just to re-sell it when I really want to hear the music that they're just gonna keep stacked away for future re-sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ASNL77 Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 Talking about the market of Mosaic sets, what are your views about long term trends. Do you think that prices will more or less remain the same or do you reckon that in ten - fifteen years time, these OOP gems will be worth a fortune? If we look at the sets that went OOP ages ago, like the Tina Brooks or the Ike Quebec sets for example, prices don't seem to go up the roof as they never seem to sell for more than $120. Will that be the trend for all the other sets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etherbored Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 to my mind, the answer is directly related to the availability of material contained within a given set. on the other hand, material from sets like the mulligan, grant green, lee morgan, and others is available and it doesn't seem to have dented values. supply vs. demand. in the mosaic equation, supply seems to be always outstripped by demand. viva le édition limitée, -e- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmitry Posted September 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 Re; which set was it? I ain't telling you, because I don't want to disclose my ebay ID. Call this a whim, but ... Anyone remember the Seinfeld episode when George wouldn't tell his bank card pin # to his fiancee? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 Re; which set was it? I ain't telling you, because I don't want to disclose my ebay ID. Call this a whim, but ... Anyone remember the Seinfeld episode when George wouldn't tell his bank card pin # to his fiancee? Of course, but you don't have to reveal your ebay ID. Tell us what it is, post it again in the next month. Or is it so rare that it only appears once every six months? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmitry Posted September 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 Re; which set was it? I ain't telling you, because I don't want to disclose my ebay ID. Call this a whim, but ... Anyone remember the Seinfeld episode when George wouldn't tell his bank card pin # to his fiancee? Of course, but you don't have to reveal your ebay ID. Tell us what it is, post it again in the next month. Or is it so rare that it only appears once every six months? Well, if I tell you which set it was and you look up the completed auctions for this set you don't need to be a genius or even mildly intelligent to see which is which... Anyway, that's just my little idiosyncrasy... Which constitutional amendment does this fall under, btw? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 Re; which set was it? I ain't telling you, because I don't want to disclose my ebay ID. Call this a whim, but ... Anyone remember the Seinfeld episode when George wouldn't tell his bank card pin # to his fiancee? Of course, but you don't have to reveal your ebay ID. Tell us what it is, post it again in the next month. Or is it so rare that it only appears once every six months? Well, if I tell you which set it was and you look up the completed auctions for this set you don't need to be a genius or even mildly intelligent to see which is which... Anyway, that's just my little idiosyncrasy... Which constitutional amendment does this fall under, btw? OK, I didn't think about the completed items search ... but what's the point of keeping it a secret? There are plenty of people here who would bid up anything you put up, especially rare Mosaics. No wonder you're a dentist. Ya got no business instincts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmitry Posted September 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 Re; which set was it? I ain't telling you, because I don't want to disclose my ebay ID. Call this a whim, but ... Anyone remember the Seinfeld episode when George wouldn't tell his bank card pin # to his fiancee? Of course, but you don't have to reveal your ebay ID. Tell us what it is, post it again in the next month. Or is it so rare that it only appears once every six months? Well, if I tell you which set it was and you look up the completed auctions for this set you don't need to be a genius or even mildly intelligent to see which is which... Anyway, that's just my little idiosyncrasy... Which constitutional amendment does this fall under, btw? OK, I didn't think about the completed items search ... but what's the point of keeping it a secret? There are plenty of people here who would bid up anything you put up, especially rare Mosaics. No wonder you're a dentist. Ya got no business instincts! Dan, I'll be the first one to admit that I am the worst sales person you'll ever meet, but one thing I did come to understand from my travails - never do business with friends, if you don't want to lose them...and I do consider you guys my friends. PLUS - looks like most of you don't have any money anyway, so why bother?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 Re; which set was it? I ain't telling you, because I don't want to disclose my ebay ID. Call this a whim, but ... Anyone remember the Seinfeld episode when George wouldn't tell his bank card pin # to his fiancee? Of course, but you don't have to reveal your ebay ID. Tell us what it is, post it again in the next month. Or is it so rare that it only appears once every six months? Well, if I tell you which set it was and you look up the completed auctions for this set you don't need to be a genius or even mildly intelligent to see which is which... Anyway, that's just my little idiosyncrasy... Which constitutional amendment does this fall under, btw? OK, I didn't think about the completed items search ... but what's the point of keeping it a secret? There are plenty of people here who would bid up anything you put up, especially rare Mosaics. No wonder you're a dentist. Ya got no business instincts! Dan, I'll be the first one to admit that I am the worst sales person you'll ever meet, but one thing I did come to understand from my travails - never do business with friends, if you don't want to lose them...and I do consider you guys my friends. PLUS - looks like most of you don't have any money anyway, so why bother?! Yeah, they keep putting their money with old Conn. and he blows it on the NFL pool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Vitus Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 Well, I figured out which auction this was and will block him from my auctions. I'm sorry if this bothers you, Dmitry, but I am starting to sell off some Mosaic sets on ebay and do not want this guy to be involved in any of my auctions. Disheartening a guy with that ID would do such a thing, isn't it? The guy who forwarded the email to Dmitry bid on my item already and got outbid. So the price for the set I'm offering is already out of the "good deal" range, I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragu Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 I don't understand the don't bid on this please mentality. In our world, some people clearly have more disposable income than others and those people get to have more toys. Also in a free economy if someone wants to buy something and resell it, what is wrong with that, as long as the goods are legitmate and not misrepresented. If you want something bad enough, save up the money, bid high on it...or hey you could buy it when it was new and pay regular retail. Other than that, no one owes you anything. Just my opinon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felser Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 I don't understand the don't bid on this please mentality. In our world, some people clearly have more disposable income than others and those people get to have more toys. Also in a free economy if someone wants to buy something and resell it, what is wrong with that, as long as the goods are legitmate and not misrepresented. If you want something bad enough, save up the money, bid high on it...or hey you could buy it when it was new and pay regular retail. Other than that, no one owes you anything. Just my opinon. That's my feeling also on this. Also, the mysterious Mosaic mystique mystifies me. Why would I want to pay $150 for the Grant Green/Sonny Clark set when I can have the same music in equivalent mastering and almost as good of notes for $25? And only take up 1/10th the shelf space. $ is not unlimited for the vast majority of us (and shelf space isn't either). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etherbored Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 Why would I want to pay $150 for the Grant Green/Sonny Clark set when I can have the same music in equivalent mastering and almost as good of notes for $25? And only take up 1/10th the shelf space. $ is not unlimited for the vast majority of us (and shelf space isn't either). my point exactly...! -e- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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