This weeks mandolin that won't get a bid or buyer

[pops1]

I thought there was one under and one above. If you put one under the action would be a little high.

Went back and looked at the pic again, and there is a knurled adjuster under the saddle, but the posts would still stick out even if there were another on the top.

[journeybear]

Just thought this CL gem belongs here. At that price, it's not going anywhere. But I appreciate optimism.

[Jim Garber]

Hmmm… I *am* Sirius. Woof!

[Eric Platt]

Hmmm… I *am* Sirius. Woof!

"I am Sirius. And don't call me Shirley." Fixed that for ya!

[allenhopkins]

If you're really Sirius, you should buy a Rigel!

Aren't astronomy jokes cool...?

[journeybear]

Yes, they're out of this world!

Ah, don't get me star-ted ...

[MikeEdgerton]

Just thought this CL gem belongs here. At that price, it's not going anywhere. But I appreciate optimism.

You definitely need a copy of the CL post for posterity. This is after all, a museum quality post.

[journeybear]

Yes, indeed, thanks. Context is important. And we do need all the info whilst preserving for posterior.

[Mark Gunter]

I should trade my $25k rogue for that one.

[MikeEdgerton]

I would think a twenty-five thousand dollar Rogue would be very rare indeed!

[journeybear]

Seriously. Think about it. A Rogue worth that much would be even rarer than this. Best hang onto it. Till someone makes you an offer you can't refuse.

[Jim Garber]

This is certainly an interesting old bowlback with an interesting construction but a ridiculous asking price: https://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-Antique-Bowl-Back-Mandolin-by-Voorhees-Mandolin-6-Instrument-/133653715618

Marked down from $7500 to $6375.

[journeybear]

I considered it for half a mo - the seller does say it's in great condition - then I read further and saw it's missing a few strings.

Sorry, deal-breaker.

[LadysSolo]

At the rate he (or she) is reducing the price, I would consider it after about 3 or 4 more price reductions.

[Richard500]

I considered it for half a mo - the seller does say it's in great condition - then I read further and saw it's missing a few strings.

Sorry, deal-breaker.

That is frequently a ShopGoodwill criterion for a caption “parts or repair”.

[journeybear]

I considered it for half a mo - the seller does say it's in great condition - then I read further and saw it's missing a few strings.

Sorry, deal-breaker.

That is frequently a ShopGoodwill criterion for a caption “parts or repair”.

Perhaps my sarcasm was too drily presented. I'll never understand why some sellers even mention the old strings - sometimes they make it sound as if they believe they have antique value.

At the rate he (or she) is reducing the price, I would consider it after about 3 or 4 more price reductions.

At first I thought that, instead of reducing the price by 15%, he should be offering it at 15%. But $1125 would still be far too much for this. Even 5% is a bit much, but much closer ...

Though I must say, that back is in awfully good shape. Nice and shiny too. Then there's that charming case.

[allenhopkins]

Parallel thread on the Voorhees bowl-back.

[Jim Garber]

Yes and this wacky seller of the Voorhees mandolin now bumped price back up to $7500. That is very logical… if something gets little interest then price it higher, right?

[maxr]

That is very logical… if something gets little interest then price it higher, right?

Today I was looking for 100ml of Lugol's iodine, suitable for sanitising vegetables, wounds from dissatisfied audients, and preowned Ebay recorders. This stuff usually retails in UK about £18-£22, but there's a seller on EbayUK with maybe 10+ listings at £200. I've seen this kind of overpricing before - are they just hoping somebody's really bad at math, or what?

[journeybear]

In instances such as this, I tend to assume the seller is really bad at math. Or it's some kind of typo, ridiculously overlooked. At some point, one would think a friend would point this out so it can be corrected. It could be caused by an errant 0 or decimal point. (I vaguely recall something similar was reported not long ago.) Then again, so many listings like that ... It's hard to see how someone could be that sloppy.

[Jim Garber]

I have seen some listings on eBay and Amazon for out of print books or CDs that are in the stratosphere when you can find reasonable pricing for the same items from other sellers. I have a feeling that these may be collectors who can’t bear to let go of precious things or else there are buyers who have deep pockets and don’t care. It is odd though.

[maxr]

I guess these 'out of line' Ebay prices could just be a mistake in the example I give, as suggested above. On the other hand...when Covid first appeared, new Ebay posts appeared advertising 100ml bottles of alcohol based hand sanitiser (normal retail say £1-£2) for £20 and more, and sugar free/Keto granola for 5 x normal retail. It seems like anytime there's some kind of crisis or shortage there are some attempts on Ebay to sell things which might become scarce for x10 the normal price. Why would anyone buy them IF comparable products beside them are much cheaper (which usually happens, but not always)? I dunno, but I'd speculate those adds are posted in the hope of either panic, mathematical or technological incompetence. I don't think we can blame Ebay for this, it's just another retail market, albeit without the direct customer reactions you might get trying to sell hand sanitiser on street corners at rip off prices. So, I hope everyone watches with interest next time there's a world crisis resulting in panic buying of mandolins

[Richard500]

First noticed this with books, and the culprit was said to be autopricing algorithms that look at comparables and run prices up to be just below the top - but that winds up matching the actually valuable rare first edition to the dog-eared worthless one. This becomes recursive, and crazy prices ensue. Every mandolin becomes equal to a Loar.
On commodity items, if a vendor is out of stock, but wants to retain ranking, they won’t pull the listing, but just put a go-away high price until they can restock.
There are other mechanisms supposedly at work, some actually scammy, but I hardly ever use ebay, so don’t pay attention to the details.

[allenhopkins]

...On commodity items, if a vendor is out of stock, but wants to retain ranking, they won’t pull the listing, but just put a go-away high price until they can restock...

Frick: "I'll sell you that widget for $500."

Frack: "$500!? Frumus has the same widget priced at $250!"

Frick: "So, buy your widget from Frumus, then."

Frack: "I can't; he's out of stock."

Frick: "Well, when I'm out of stock, I price 'em at $200."

[journeybear]

Too funny! And yet, a bit sad. All too often, good deals are hard to find, as so many sellers are more interested in making big one-time profits than developing repeat customers. But meanwhile ...