A few nights ago a rare 45 was up for auction, one of those that's not listed in the R&B Indies, is basically unknown, in fact the only other copy I'm sure exists is in the collection of a local dealer. Anyway, I was hoping to surprise a friend with it. She cut the record when she as 16 and hasn't heard it in 50 years.
I watched that auction for days but when it came down to the wire, would you believe it, my f--king connection cut-out [thanks a bunch Cox Com]. I'd planned to offer a max bid of $120, but instead the record went to someone else for only $6.50. You should have heard the scream once I got back online. I may never forgive myself. It was important. I should have handed the auction over to someone more adept.
Ya see, a successful Ebay outing for me usually goes something like this. I see something I want. I get in touch with my friendly Ebay Guru. He bids for me. I pay up when it's over. I get the record in the mail. Nice and simple. No chance for me to screw it up, and all I have to do is keep an eye open for him locally. Believe me, our little understanding dramatically cuts down on the screaming around here.
Usually there's no problem with this set up, but we did squabble over the auction of the 45 I'm offering up today. I don't blame him, he wanted the record too and since there's no way we're gonna bid against each other, some brokering was required. Chances are he got the better part of the deal, but given that I landed one of my "white whales", I really can't complain. So maybe we both scored? How's that sound?
Anyway, all is forgiven. For some reason it mattered a lot that Ebay Guru hand-delivered the record this past weekend. Which probably only means I'm a sucker for grouchy old guys bearing "gifts". [I'm totally kidding, his visit was the highlight of my week.]
So, here ya go, the flip-side to one of the 45s I posted last Christmas. One of those records that "drive me crazy". Kinda foolish to post two Seven B's in one week, but I can't resist. Not like these things grow on trees.
As far as the other 45 is concerned, who knows, maybe another copy will surface. Experience has taught me to never say never. In the past year I stumbled on two very serious finds in a dollar bin. Probably the rarest record I own was given to me. One way and another I've gathered a very nice stack of records I never thought I'd own. This is one of them.
Hope ya'll enjoy....
Ana - I always used esnipe to place last second bids on eBay. Easy and cheap, I won many cool 45's this way. Have you ever used it?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.esnipe.com/
The best thing to do if you really want something is bid your maximum straight away - that doesn't mean you will have to pay that amount though. It just means you've already got a higher bid in than whatever has already been bid (up to your max). So even if you had bid $120, and the other person only bid up to $6.50, then you would have only paid $7.00!!
ReplyDeleteGyro...thanks for the link. Actually, I've never used a snipe program before, but I gonna give it a try. Definitely would've saved me some heartache recently.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, my co-conspirator thinks it's possible to play the auctions both ways, meaning that on occasion an early bid may stop some from bidding if only because it's clear they can't get it for the minimum amount. Truth is I only get into trouble when I don't involve him.
Brianbora...indeed, thus the scream. I may very well have had the record for under $10 if I'd been able to bid, and in this case I wish I had made my bid earlier. But placing the bid too early can often set you up for paying more than you might. The $120 I was prepared to bid was only meant to swamp any possible snipers, although I was definitely prepared to pay it should the bidding go that high. I've seen records go from $10 to $200 in the last ten seconds of an auction numerous times.
On second thought, I slightly over-stated in my comment above....but it is fairly common for bids to increase anywhere from $50 to $100 dollars in the last few seconds. I consider that my copy of "Skate it Out" was gotten cheaply, but just as an example, the bids on it spiked by something around $40 in the closing moments. Which was a good bit less than I expected.
ReplyDeleteCan't get enough Eddie Bo at the moment, thanks
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome Vampyreverdi.
ReplyDelete