GEC knives becoming a hard sell on E-Bay?

[dewman]

Over the past few days, I've noticed several GEC knives that haven't done very well on E-Bay....not even meeting or coming close to the reserve price. Don't suppose it's because of the bad rap they've been getting lately as far as their QC, do you? Here's a good example. A Northfield #73 Primative Bone with 17 minutes to go and only two bids, High bid? $3.25!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :IT&ih=016

[jonet143]

that particular seller always has a high reserve. many of his auctions end without selling. i don't know about any others.

[Hukk]

I thought it may have been that they offered nothing but Trappers in the upper cost manuufactured knives. Now, they have a equal End Stockman, Cigar Whittler or 3 blade stockman, BUT I am not going to spend $90.00 on a Stockman, I'm not going to spend $75.00 stockman either. No, I like stockman like the Cuban to use, because of it's size, not to collect. If they were $65.00, I would probably collect them.

Ebay is not a good place to be selling a new knife IMO. At first they will do well, but then the bargain hunters will come out like a pack of hyena's, you know how ebay is.

IMO, the Cuban is a mistake, only cause I have no interest in collecting them.

They are in a market of higher priced knives, they do need to deliver quality that a higher price knife commands.

Red Hill Cutlery is a small business inside of Basham Lumber, reserve is always high.

[Bob W.]

I don't like to play games with secret reserve prices and stuff like that. The guy's a dealer and the knives are current production and mass produced, so why not just list the price?!?

[orvet]

Ebay is not a good place to be selling a new knife IMO. At first they will do well, but then the bargain hunters will come out like a pack of hyena's, you know how ebay is.

I agree with Hukk, I don’t think ebay is the best place to sell current production knives.
It works well for new old stock, as in the case of Schrade & Camillus, but is not the right venue for new production knives.

The big draw to ebay is the idea that the buyer will be getting a good deal, which to most people means cheap. There isn’t enough margin in new knives to make it worth while it seems.

Even Canal Street knives don’t sell extremely there. I think Canal Street knives are more attractively priced than Great Eastern. My only hang-up with Canal Street is that they use too much stainless steel. If they made all their patterns in 1095, I would be in the poor house, but would have most of their knives.

Canal Street has a better selection of patterns to choose from (IMO) compared to GEC, and they haven’t had to deal with the bad publicity from early QC issues that GEC has faced. While there are fewer Canal Street completed auctions then GEC, they still have many that go unsold. I don’t think price is the only consideration. I think the majority of ebay buyers are looking for a bargain.

Dale

[Hukk]

I don't like to play games with secret reserve prices and stuff like that. The guy's a dealer and the knives are current production and mass produced, so why not just list the price?!?

That works for me also, just start the auction at what it actually cost OR if you are a retailer set the price at the suggested reatail price.

What I have found to be odd is that you can get a much better price if you actually use the reserve price. Something about the bidding process seems to bring slightly higher prices.

EBAY is a strange place, I see Bill's knives over in his store for a Buy It Now price of $79.95, yet at the same time I see the bidders bid the same knife up to $100.00, while the Buy It Now knife sits, unsold. I have seen this oddity happen a few times now and have no understanding of it at all. If I have a reserve price, I'll say what it is in my auction description.

[useem]

I know what causes that HUKK. A mans pride getting the best of him. Refusing to go down without a fight, paying more than somethig is worth, just to not lose to the other guy. I witnessed this on a few occasions where I used to work. I saw a guy pay more for a used rifle, when he could have bought the same thing brand new for alot less.

[jonet143]

bidder frenzy!

[Gunsmoke47]

Perzactly! I have seen this happen more times than I can count at estate auctions and farm auctions. Ebay is no different. A person HAS GOT to know what an item is worth (including shipping) and has to have a level head on his shoulders. My 10 cents (inflation). Smoke

That being said, I paid $260.00 for a Pioneer Brick Red Bone Tidiute GEC a few weeks ago on Ebay. Is that knife worth that much? Probably not.... BUT IT'S MINE!!

[Bob W.]

That works for me also, just start the auction at what it actually cost OR if you are a retailer set the price at the suggested reatail price.... If I have a reserve price, I'll say what it is in my auction description.

Here's my gripe. I was involved in a couple of auctions where my bids were in good-faith, other bidders were being competitive, and the final bids were in line with the knives' current values as determined by other recent auctions. But the seller refused to sell because their "super-secret reserve" wasn't met. In the end I was a bit disgruntled and felt they wasted my time. So I simply don't play that game any more.

[justold52]

This is what I wish would happen on E-Bay.

......When you WIN

They should have a tune playing just for you and perhaps some balloons filled with laughing gas popping and flying out of your monitor.....

[MITCH RAPP]

Bob; Iam with you! I won't even bid on a Knife on Ebay if it has a

reserve price on it. Just seems like a waste of time. If the

sellers afraid he won't get his money, he shouldn't put the Knife in an

Auction.

[steve]

in my opinion, i think a reserve scares buyers off because like yall said, some dont want to play that game or like myself, i think the seller probably wants too much or more than im willing to pay for the item anyway and im not going to waste my time on an item that isnt for sale to me. what i mean is if i see something and im willing to pay a certain amount, say 100.00 but the seller is wanting 200.00, then that item isnt for sale, atleast not to me and theres no reason for me to waste my time on it.
selling, i never use a reserve and always just start an item out at what i want for it and let it ride. besides ive compared listing items on ebay with and without a reserve and it costs a little more to list with a reserve and if you sell alot, it adds up quickly. it might work out if your reserve gets met but if it dont and the item doesnt sell, then ebay wins and you dont and im not looking to make ebay richer.

[justin hosier]

I have found in my selling that if you use a reserve you will get less and lower bids than if you just let the item ride on its own. I try to find items cheap enough that I am not hanging out to far!!