miriam

hhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm - I have some that could use paint............... I wonder how much they will get for it.............. kind of sexy isn't it

Mrs. SewNSew

Yes and I could see it done in a cream and fire engine red as well. Looks like an old classic car. Yummmy!

miriam

I have a pink and gray kingston - but that 301 is the bomb...........

ArchaicArcane

I don't think you can set an opening bid if it's an unreserved auction. You can only set the increments. If you set the opening bid, it's effectively got a reserve because no one can bid lower.

The "bid" shows T**T and the seller's name doesn't start with a T.

In fairness, I have a featherweight here that I'm going to paint. It's disassembled and awaiting funds to paint it. Even with me doing all of the dissembly and reassembly the paint is going to cost me a couple hundred to have done well. My labor to do the rest is easily worth a couple hundred more if I was going to be paying for it, plus the cost of the machine.

I just have trouble with the first bid being that high. It's implausible.

mlmack

Sellers don't set the bid increment, unless this is something new.

The t***t is the bidder identification, and has nothing to do with the seller username.

It was likely an auction with a high initial bid price along with a higher buy-it-now price. If someone bids instead of buying it now, the buy-it-now goes away. Here is an auction from the same seller that shows this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Vintage-GE-Vortalex-Two-Speed-Chameleon-Blade-Fan-Restored-Working-/121521860998?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c4b44 7186

ArchaicArcane

I could swear when I wanted to sell on fleabay years ago that they let you set the increments. Weird.

OK, the former Buy It Now option thing makes more sense. I just don't know why someone would start the bidding higher than a buy it now. Why not just buy it... uh... now? That's like negotiating over a car and offering more than list.

mlmack

The buy-it-now price is always higher than the opening bid price, at least from what I have seen.

ArchaicArcane

K, so that's where I'm confused. Let's say the buy it now is $100. If I read you right - for it to go away, the bids would have to reach $101 if the increment is $1.

So, on the auction we're discussing, T***T made the single bid on this auction. Of $459. Now there's no Buy it Now, if it had one to begin with. So that seems to indicate that the bidder bid higher than the Buy It Now price for their first bid. Or offered higher than "list" for it right out of the gate. I don't get that.

Rodney

Repainted machines go for a lot more than the factory ones-at least in the case of featherweights. Looks like the seller is aiming for the same market. There's a lot of labor in properly prepping and painting a machine like that and that doesn't look like a rattle can paint job. They might get the money they want.
I much prefer an auction like that over the ones with hidden reserves. The seller is at least open about how much money they want for the machine in this case.
Rodney

EDIT: I didn't see the buy it now option. Strange that someone would bid higher than that. Could be a mistake while setting up the auction maybe?

Cari-in-Oly

No you've got it backwards. The seller has the starting bid price at $459, the buy-it-now price was probably $500(or more). Since someone bid on it, the buy-it-now goes away, and you only see the bid. Sellers will do that hoping that the bidding will go beyond the buy-it-now price and they'll get more than what they want for it. Some sellers will have just a few dollars difference between the opening bid price and the buy-it-now price. I think they do it so people will just hit the buy-it-now button instead of bidding.

Cari