Call Me Nuts, But...

[Jester]

I just became the proud owner of this rare bird!  It was pricey, but I haven't seen one on ebay in months.  Oh well, I haven't bought anything new in almost a month.
http://tinyurl.com/n8hbxq ( dead link 08-04-21 )

[McHeath]

Nice.  I followed this one as well, and figured it would go high as it's pretty sweet.  Looking forward to seeing some pics of it when you get it. 

[jsowers]

McHeath, you're not nuts. You're also not a tightwad when it comes to phones, but that's neither here nor there. You know a good phone when you see it. I think I paid almost that much once for one in about the same condition, but it was a while back. It's a nice looking dark beige--some call it rose beige--with matching cords, and those are correct for the date. And the way to always tell dark beige from light beige are the white numbers and letters on the dial, if anyone needs to know. This color was only made from 1954-57, from what I can tell.

I was the first bidder on this phone, to keep away the riff-raff who ask for a Buy-it-Now price. Or as I lovingly call them, vultures. You can see in the posted questions that one of them asked just that and tried to steal it away from the seller and you. The prices they offer are rarely premium prices. I hope it wasn't anyone in the group.

Be sure to send packing instructions to the seller. And my fingers are crossed that you'll have a bonus older card underneath the area code one.

I hope you enjoy the phone and it adds to your collection. Congratulations!

[Jester]

Jonathan,

It seems I have you to thank for having a chance to bid on it, then.  I tend to watch early and bid late since that's the only bid that matters in this type auction-- the final high bid.  I used to wonder why people would bid a really low price on something early & never follow up-- your explanation makes sense.  BTW, is it standard ebay policy to not end an auction after bidding has started, or is it dependent on the seller?

[Dennis Markham]

Jester,

That is not a bad price.  A couple of years ago I think that phone would have sold for more.  I know that about 3 years ago I traded an arm and a leg to get the Dark Beige (Rose Beige) 500 that I have now.  I too had been watching that one.  When I first saw it I wasn't sure of the color.  On my monitor it looks more like Light Gray, but as Jonathan said, the dial rings have white numbers  on the Dark Beige as opposed to Light Gray.

A seller can end the eBay auction at any time regardless of bids.  Let's say you were selling that phone and dropped it and broke it...end the auction.   There are some choices you can click as a seller canceling the auction.  I think one of them reads "Seller No Longer Has The Item For Sale".  But you still pay listing fees, just not final value fees.

Great buy on that phone.  Congratulations.

[Jester]

Thank you, gentlemen, for the votes of confidence.  This is the first 500 I have ever spent that much on, and it did feel a little strange commiting to that price.  I know what it is and I did have some idea of its value as I was bidding on it, but I haven't had to go near that high to get the other hard to find colors that I have.  I guess the good news is I only need four more soft case colors and the turquoise to complete my 500 color set.

Dennis, thank you for explaining how it works to end an auction.  I thought that's how it was, but I remember the seller of that water- clear 302 explaining to someone who wrote in an offer that she could not accept it as there were bids made already.  I guess she felt that would be unethical, & I'm personally glad there are sellers like that out there, but I've had auctions I was bidding on cancelled that I felt sure the seller accepted an offer for.

[Dan]

Congrats on the beautiful Rose Beige. Several months ago one went for around $88 or so, but this was with a dry-rotted number dial. I've had sellers email me after an auction that I lost and say they have a similar phone and I could buy it @ my bid, but I figure they are scams and stay away from them.

[Jester]

Dan,
I took a guy up on an offer like that years ago on a WE 520.  He explained he had a second one in complete condition, & I wanted one bad enough that I agreed to buy it.  It's been part of my collection for eight years now, but, like you, I hesitate at messages sent to me out of the blue.  I do still deal that way with sellers I do regular business with, though.

[jsowers]

Jester, Dennis is correct about their being able to end an auction early. I've seen them cancel bids over $100 and end one, for whatever reason. I'm always suspicious when that happens and one time I was actually successful getting a phone re-listed and then won it. The seller even told me which ebayer made the offer and forwarded me the email, so I knew who the vulture was. This was years ago and he's no longer on eBay, at least under that name. I think he finally got caught.

What they can do if an auction has no bids is make the auction a Buy It Now. That's the reason for the early bid. I agree you should bid late to win the item. But sometimes you need to bid something early if it has no bids. If it has one bid, it's up to you whether to do that or not. The more interest in an item, the less chance of it being taken off too.

About the later offers from sellers, once I won a nice Army green zippered set of BSPs (Bell System Practices). The seller said he had two more if I was interested. Boy was I! They were all from the 1950s and from Southern Bell. I had him send pictures. It was a very good transaction.

And Jester, I got confused and called you McHeath. Sorry about that. You're not nuts either.

[Bill Cahill]

Jester, this is your psychiatrist talking. Remember the deal?
If you bid on-won another thing I'd get the item?
I expect it any day, now. 
Bill Cahill

[HobieSport]

I've stopped waiting for my Lexus Car and Spitfire Airplane.

I guess they don't all fit in the USPS box.

-Stig