Posts: 1082
From: Chesham, Bucks UK
Registered: Dec 2008

posted 11-30-2011 03:31 PM               

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Another presentation piece which includes a 'Silver XV' Apollo 15 crew patch has just been listed on eBay. The second this month and this year.

Again it is only open to U.S. bidders at present.

Posts: 235
From: Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Registered: Jan 2011

posted 11-30-2011 05:37 PM               

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Kevin, you really must start prefacing your contributions with "spoiler alert". I was hoping this one would sneak under the radar and I would get it for the $200 opening bid.

I've tried to contact the seller to verify it is as it appears but he has a correspondence bar so no luck there. Looks like any interested overseas bidders will have to call on fellow cSer's for assistance - assuming they're not in the hunt as well. Are you listening Mr. Guttery?

Posts: 547
From: Fort Worth, TX, USA
Registered: Feb 2005

Posts: 547
From: Fort Worth, TX, USA
Registered: Feb 2005

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From: Albany, Oregon
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Posts: 1082
From: Chesham, Bucks UK
Registered: Dec 2008

posted 12-01-2011 01:05 AM               

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I managed to send a message to the seller to advise him that one of the Apollo patches in his presentation piece was a 'very rare crew patch version and is worth more than the $200 starting price alone.' I also included a link to crewpatches.com for him to research. He added most of my message to the description page for this item.

After adding Ben's question and answer to it also, he then must of decided to end the sale and cancel the only bid of $555.55 for it.

Update: The seller has now re-listed this item with a reserve starting price of $500 and added that the Apollo 15 patch has a 'silver XV', and also the sizes of the patches to his description.

Posts: 235
From: Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Registered: Jan 2011

Posts: 1082
From: Chesham, Bucks UK
Registered: Dec 2008

posted 12-01-2011 09:05 AM               

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quote:

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Originally posted by mach3valkyrie:
Was this actually an AB produced item, or did an individual put it together?

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Jim, I have seen a very similar presentation piece like this one before, but I don't recall it having an Apollo 15 'Crew' patch as part of it. Just the standard 4" souvenir version.

Yes, I do believe this presentation piece dose have it's origins from AB Emblem, it dose say words to that effect in the item description.

Up-date:
The seller has now opened this sale up to International bidders.

Posts: 674
From: Bloomington, Illinois, USA
Registered: May 2005

Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 12-01-2011 12:44 PM               

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The problem with letting an auction like that run without contacting the seller is that there are a significant number of dishonest patch collectors (aka thieving scumbags) out there who try to trick a seller into either adding a low buy-it-now price or into ending an auction to sell direct at far less than the item would sell for if it was left to run.

So it's necessary to contact the seller and at least warn them they're likely to get people trying to trick them, but whether you try to tell them how much the item might be worth or not is up to the individual.

I find when you do give someone a price range for their item they often relist it with an opening price or reserve right at the top end of the scale, making it sure not to sell, so I generally tell them just that the item is valuable and will realize its true value of left to run in an open auction, without trying to specify any particular price.

Posts: 235
From: Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Registered: Jan 2011

posted 12-01-2011 12:46 PM               

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I'm with JL on this one. It should be incumbent on the seller to do his own research and suffer the consequences of any subsequent loss if they don't. There is plenty of freely available information out in cyberspace as well as checking out the 'completed listings' sections on eBay itself.

I'm sure there would have been plenty of interest in this patch for it to have realised something like it's market value anyhow without the seller predetermining it. The only mistake he could have made would have been to use a $200 BIN thinking that was a reasonable price (apart from the obvious faux pas of excluding us Brits).

Personally, if I were him, I'd have scratched the other patches to sell at a later date (with a replacement Apollo 15) and relisted the crew patch on it's own. You have to admire Kevin's integrity though, he's a capital fellow. But then again, he does already own one of these particular crew patches.

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From: Seminole, Fla.
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Posts: 1673
From: Birmingham AL
Registered: Aug 2010

posted 12-01-2011 01:43 PM               

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I too agree that it is the sellers' responsibility to know what they are selling.
Generally the seller has purchased the item at a yard or estate sale, they are not collectors or original owners. When they set a high minimum bid price or respond to a Buy it Now offer they set the price so they are making money.

If a seller finds out his $25 item is worth $500, do you think he will give some of it back to the person he purchased it from. I don't. In the case mentioned here, I doubt the seller was the original owner of the piece and purchased it elsewhere to make money on it. Now he will make a lot.

While I have never asked a seller to end an auction early and sell it to me privately, I have on occasion asked the seller if he would offer a Buy it Now option. I never suggest a price, I always let the seller set the price.

On one occasion, the seller emailed me ahead of time with the price and I advised him it was too low and suggested a higher price(which I was going to pay). He listed a BIN at a midpoint between his original and my suggestion which I happily bought.

If I e-mail a seller about a BIN price, I always wait for the auction to run for a couple of days to see if someone has bid on it, if not then I ask and let the seller decide. I do not consider this to be deceiving or dishonest. They set a price that they will generally make a guaranteed profit on.

I have held off doing this if the description says this was my father family member etc. piece and am trying to sell it. It is usually fairly obvious when this occurs, low feedback numbers, similar items being sold.

Posts: 1082
From: Chesham, Bucks UK
Registered: Dec 2008