Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
1. With Bulk Upload, I created the Excel CSV file with the downloaded template, but it kept saying it was invalid when I tried to upload it; it was reading 10 instead of 9 columns. It turns out the program was reading a comma in my descriptions as a field separator. I saw how other auctions have commas in their descriptions; how do you do this without having the program read this as a new field each time? For example, I had "Mint, not hinged" in Description but the program read "mint" and "not hinged" as two separate fields.
2. Also in the description, I put a catalogue reference for value, as stated in the auction rules, like this: "Scott 2012 CV $1.50" but it appears as "Scott 2012 CV $1.5" with no trailing zero. Not a big deal, but it sure looks better as $1.50 than $1.5 in my listings.
3. For some reason, Bulk Upload was not reading my category columns correctly; I had "Canada" under Category 1 and "Topical" under Category 2" but the posted listing showed "Topical" as Category 1 and a blank under Category 2. All other columns were correctly read. I use Excel 2010 on a PC if that makes a difference.
4. If I need to end an auction early for whatever reason, is there an easier way to do this than to go through each item and delete it (or inactivate it, put it on hold, etc.)? Also, I would think you can't end an item that already has bids on it, correct?
Thanks again for any advice for this newbie here.
Cheers,
Peter
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Peter....
One thing about Excel and saving as CSV(Comma Separated Variable). In order to include commas in the data, you need to use the double quotes as a text identifier.
Thus, when you want to have Mint, Not Hinged in the data field, you need to include the double quotes and actually put "Mint, Not Hinged".
The same is true for the number. I you want the data to be $1.50, then you need to specify the data as text again using the double quotes "$1.50".
Excel is notorious for making up it's own mind as to whether data is text or numbers. So, one needs to be very specific.
I think that may help.
Cheers,
Terry
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Terry, thank you! That's exactly what I need to know. I tried single quotes but that didn't work.
Cheers,
Peter
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peter, you are right, you cannot end an auction early once a bid has been placed.
and one hopes that you are not faced with an avalanche of early ending auctions, both from the work it causes you and the disappointment it will cause your auction admirers.
Tim is the basic architect of the auction process; part of his genius is that he takes the best suggestions of our members and implements those that fit within our structure. We are blessed to have the interested members and the talented webmaster. Lucky us.
David
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To end an auction early, you can go to VIEW/EDIT LOTS. Your list of auction items appears. Select the one you want to end (provided it doesn't have a bid on it). Then go to the bottom of the page (press the END key will take you directly there), check the DELETE box and click on SUBMIT.
If you try to delete a lot that has a bid on it, don't worry, you will get a message that you can't do that, and the system won't let you.
Not sure if that's what you were looking for.
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Looks like you're off to a good start. You have bids on all but one of your lots!
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Thanks Dave and Michael for your replies. Michael, that was what I was doing to end each of the 31 items that I erroneously listed for one day (see original message on why). I was looking for a way to do this in "bulk" if you will.
Dave, this is only condition that I would end a bunch of auctions early, a mistake in the listings. I don't anticipate this will happen again as I've learned the system now.
I have to say, the webmaster here has put together a very user friendly system! 
Cheers,
Peter
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Okay, a bit of a surprise; I didn't know that's how Buy It Now worked here. I was used to other places where, if a bid was placed, the buy it now disappeared. Here, it is like a ceiling bid level, so if the bidding reaches that amount, it is sold immediately. I can see the logic; if you put a buy it now price on something, it means this is what you're willing to take for it, but it is a surprise how it works here. Not a criticism, just took me by surprise.
Okay, I've surfed the Auction forum more and see how this was already discussed. Should have gone there first.
Cheers,
Peter
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-ending lots - Okay. I thought you might have been asking about a bulk delete function. Wasn't sure if you knew about the other way, though.
- Buy It Now - I was going to tell you about that. I forgot. It definitely works differently here. It's a good way for someone to snipe.
- Auction end - In case you didn't know this one, if there's a late bid on an item, the auction item automatically gets extended for a few more hours. Someone can still use the Buy It Now to end the auction during this time, if BIN is offered.
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wow, this is fabulous, an auction refresher course using real-world instances.
yes, our BIN is different than all others, much to the delight or chagrin of various members.
And Michael was wise to point out our auction extension such that auction end times continue ONLY if during the final 10 hours of an auction, the winning bidder changes, and then extends to 10 hours from that point.
other things: feel free to use multiple categories, as long as they are appropriate, so one could find a letter in COVERS, US, PENNY LOTS, and TOPICALS if it is a US cover franked with a 29c Year of the Boar stamp offered at a penny.
sounds like you're mostly enjoying yourself
David
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You know, David, I actually AM enjoying this!! (what does that say about me! 
)
Okay, anti-sniping on the auctions! I don't know why other sites don't do this; it just makes sense to me. As buyer, I tend to place my most comfortably high bid initially and see where it goes, but sometimes I chase an item, only to see some sniper or sniper's program more accurately, take it away.
And the more I think about it, the more I like this way of doing buy it now. No more outlandish bids on most items. I'm a collector first, and sell my extras or my uncles' unwanted materials. We aren't here as a business; this is part of the hobby. I don't trade because what I want is usually so esoteric or high value that most folks won't have it, or won't want to trade those for what I do have. So anyway, this buy it now limit fits with my model of offering items in my previous store listings at 50% or more off the catalogue value.
Cheers,
Peter
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glad you're enjoying yourself Peter
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I have to concur that I am also enjoying myself here. To get the bulk uploader to work, I too ran into the issue with commas and the double quotes issue. What I ended up doing was purging all commas from my descriptions (which sometimes made it difficult when I was using some html), but I got something worked out. Also, I am now in the habit of using a text editor to get rid of all of the extra quote marks that Excel; adds when I save the CSV file. It a bit of a pain in the badinkus to do that extra step, but it seems necessary to get the bulk upload to work correctly for me.
Also, the limit of 20 items per bulk upload is a bit of a hassle, but I understand the purpose of it.
-Doug
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Doug, my first auction has 31 items, and all loaded through bulk upload with no problem (with respect to the number of items, that is). I wasn't aware of an item limit; where did you see that?
Cheers,
Peter
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I didn't know of a limit either.
One thing I found, however, is that the Title field has a limit of 80 characters.
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You know, you might be right! I think I saw the 20 upload limit on pics and thought it also applied to bulk upload. I stand corrected!
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Hi Guys,
There is no limit on the number of lots that can be loaded via the Bulk Loader. Also, to get around the Comma issue, you could try using the Pipe symble i.e. "|" in stead of the Comma. I believe that Excel will let you do that. Then you just select the Pipe rather than the Comma in the upload process.
Regards ... Tim
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Thanks Tim. Yep, I have become a big user of both the pipe, and the semicolon!
OK, I'm just waiting to take a ribbing for that one. Lets see just how mature this stamp community is compared to others I've been in! 
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"OK, I'm just waiting to take a ribbing for that one. Lets see just how mature this stamp community is compared to others I've been in!"
Okay, how's this?
CLUE #2
Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.
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"OK, I'm just waiting to take a ribbing for that one. Lets see just how mature this stamp community is compared to others I've been in!"
Nah, too easy Doug.
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When I posted that glue to Game 22, I was wondering who would do something with it. Then, along comes Doug who opens the door, and who else but Ted walks right in!
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My first auction here ended yesterday, with all but one item sold, having received two to nine bids each. I'm very pleased with the process and procedures. One of the two buyers paid immediately upon receipt of invoice (Thanks Mike!) and I'll ship to him today; the invoicing method here was very easy.
There were a couple of things that might be improved on but these are minor. One is that when you view sold items, the default is for the past 7 days; is there a way to make this for the past 30 days? One of my buyers bought some of the auction items as Buy It Now items two weeks ago, and I didn't see his purchases when I went to the sold list, until I noticed the 7 day parameter. Also, can we add a filter so we can view sold items by paid or unpaid status? Again, not major issues but more for selling convenience. Thanks.
I actually have multiples of several of the sold lots, so what I'm going to do is list those on bidStart for a similar length auction (10 days) at the same starting auction price and see how well they do at that commercial site. Just curious. I'd list them on eBay but my seller's account is so old there that they would get zero visibility so that's not a fair test. If it's not inappropriate, I can post the comparison here later.
Cheers,
Peter
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09:13:58am
Peter,
I would say the results would be very appropriate and will be anxious to see them posted. I cannot imagine any objection to such a comparison. Thanks for your willingness to do this!
This is by far the best venue I have participated in. Of course, I am not a dealer or semi-dealer (made up word), and I just sell because it is fun and it is an interesting part of the philatelic experience (so I really do not care what I get for my items). Being able to sell without incurring any fees or messing with the feedback nonsense is very enjoyable.
-Bobby-
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Thanks Bobby; I'm the same way. I do not consider myself a "dealer" (or a semi-dealer, although I'm build like a semi! 
); I am just selling of my excess worldwide stock and those of two relatives who continue to buy large lots and sell off what they don't want. That's where I come in; I get first pick, then sell what's left over. Hey, not a bad deal, eh?
Cheers,
Peter
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can't wait to see the results. And i think a dormant ebay account would be every bit as useful a comparison to your brand new account here. No one searched here for you; they searched for other key words or stumbled on them via categories. Same would happen on eBay, but you have certain advantages in bidstart as a known entity.
David the curious auctioneer
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Okay, I've scheduled the bidStart auction to begin on Friday (same day as I did here); they only run 10 days max over there, so keep that in mind.
There are only a few with more than two in the original sets that I can then list on eBay as well. Of course, this is not a systematic comparison, but very "ad hoc" exploratory. I'll also plan something later where I have multiple copies of the same set of items, and list them all at the same time on three different venues. That's a truer test, at least as far as my items go. I might include Delcampe although I haven't sold there yet.
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Only problem I can see is that you posted your intent here. The losers of the auctions here can go to BidStart and buy it there since they know you have listed more.
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Again, not a "scientific" survey.
The next one, with fresh material at three or four selling venues, will be all different items from what I already posted, or have for sale at bidStart. I'll keep "mum" about those!
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yeah, but we know you're up to something and are likely to stalk your shadow until we know.
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Is that a variant of "You can run but you cannot hide"?
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08:02:48pm
I'd be curious to see the scans of what did and didn't sell along with the starting and ending prices.
It might indicate areas of interest and well as what people are willing to fight over.
I have been watching things like that, but not in an organized enough way to form more that a few hunches about what sells, what doesn't, and possibly, why.
For instance, when I started bidding actively here, there were days when I couldn't look down a single page without seeing quite a few stamps I needed, either to fill a space, or improve a condition. Lately I have passed through one or two pages of offerings and not even get excited enough to look to see if there was anything that interested me.
Since I am generally interested in postally used, world wide, exclusive of a few abusive printing presses, my interests are quite eclectic
Charlie,
Lecanto, Florida
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My two auctions here consisted of about 30 MNH souvenir sheets or strips of Canadian commemoratives (all but one sold), and about 10 GB stamps used with clear Boer War British Army cancels (all have only one bid so far). All bids came on the first to third day of the auctions, with nothing after that.
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I think the uniqueness of the items being sold would be a factor on how soon they sell. For instance if there are 3 sellers offering the same stamp at different prices at different times the cheapest stamp may not sell if it was posted last. Also just beacause something sold quickly the first time doesn't mean it will sell the second time.
Mark Twain noted there three types of lies, there are lies, darn lies and statistics.
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There was a great little book by that title; it pointed out how interpretation and presentation of data can be used to "lie"; so actually, the quote should be: "There are liars, damn liars, and people who use statistics to lie." As I used to tell my stats students, "Data never lie, people do."
Cheers,
Peter
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06:43:40am
Hi. I just posted my first auction here and let me just say, after selling at eBay and bidStart for over 10 years, this was the easiest process ever! Thank you to those who set this up, especially the bulk upload process and the great Hold feature! I made a couple of mistakes, like not understanding that "add one day to all" in hold meant you were making all your auctions one day, not adding another day to the auction period you set up (so I had to start over but no biggie). I did have some questions I'm hoping more experienced folks can help me.
1. With Bulk Upload, I created the Excel CSV file with the downloaded template, but it kept saying it was invalid when I tried to upload it; it was reading 10 instead of 9 columns. It turns out the program was reading a comma in my descriptions as a field separator. I saw how other auctions have commas in their descriptions; how do you do this without having the program read this as a new field each time? For example, I had "Mint, not hinged" in Description but the program read "mint" and "not hinged" as two separate fields.
2. Also in the description, I put a catalogue reference for value, as stated in the auction rules, like this: "Scott 2012 CV $1.50" but it appears as "Scott 2012 CV $1.5" with no trailing zero. Not a big deal, but it sure looks better as $1.50 than $1.5 in my listings.
3. For some reason, Bulk Upload was not reading my category columns correctly; I had "Canada" under Category 1 and "Topical" under Category 2" but the posted listing showed "Topical" as Category 1 and a blank under Category 2. All other columns were correctly read. I use Excel 2010 on a PC if that makes a difference.
4. If I need to end an auction early for whatever reason, is there an easier way to do this than to go through each item and delete it (or inactivate it, put it on hold, etc.)? Also, I would think you can't end an item that already has bids on it, correct?
Thanks again for any advice for this newbie here.
Cheers,
Peter
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re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
Peter....
One thing about Excel and saving as CSV(Comma Separated Variable). In order to include commas in the data, you need to use the double quotes as a text identifier.
Thus, when you want to have Mint, Not Hinged in the data field, you need to include the double quotes and actually put "Mint, Not Hinged".
The same is true for the number. I you want the data to be $1.50, then you need to specify the data as text again using the double quotes "$1.50".
Excel is notorious for making up it's own mind as to whether data is text or numbers. So, one needs to be very specific.
I think that may help.
Cheers,
Terry
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08:09:56am
re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
Terry, thank you! That's exactly what I need to know. I tried single quotes but that didn't work.
Cheers,
Peter
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Auctions
re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
peter, you are right, you cannot end an auction early once a bid has been placed.
and one hopes that you are not faced with an avalanche of early ending auctions, both from the work it causes you and the disappointment it will cause your auction admirers.
Tim is the basic architect of the auction process; part of his genius is that he takes the best suggestions of our members and implements those that fit within our structure. We are blessed to have the interested members and the talented webmaster. Lucky us.
David
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re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
To end an auction early, you can go to VIEW/EDIT LOTS. Your list of auction items appears. Select the one you want to end (provided it doesn't have a bid on it). Then go to the bottom of the page (press the END key will take you directly there), check the DELETE box and click on SUBMIT.
If you try to delete a lot that has a bid on it, don't worry, you will get a message that you can't do that, and the system won't let you.
Not sure if that's what you were looking for.
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re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
Looks like you're off to a good start. You have bids on all but one of your lots!
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10:22:06am
re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
Thanks Dave and Michael for your replies. Michael, that was what I was doing to end each of the 31 items that I erroneously listed for one day (see original message on why). I was looking for a way to do this in "bulk" if you will.
Dave, this is only condition that I would end a bunch of auctions early, a mistake in the listings. I don't anticipate this will happen again as I've learned the system now.
I have to say, the webmaster here has put together a very user friendly system!
Cheers,
Peter
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10:25:41am
re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
Okay, a bit of a surprise; I didn't know that's how Buy It Now worked here. I was used to other places where, if a bid was placed, the buy it now disappeared. Here, it is like a ceiling bid level, so if the bidding reaches that amount, it is sold immediately. I can see the logic; if you put a buy it now price on something, it means this is what you're willing to take for it, but it is a surprise how it works here. Not a criticism, just took me by surprise.
Okay, I've surfed the Auction forum more and see how this was already discussed. Should have gone there first.
Cheers,
Peter
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re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
-ending lots - Okay. I thought you might have been asking about a bulk delete function. Wasn't sure if you knew about the other way, though.
- Buy It Now - I was going to tell you about that. I forgot. It definitely works differently here. It's a good way for someone to snipe.
- Auction end - In case you didn't know this one, if there's a late bid on an item, the auction item automatically gets extended for a few more hours. Someone can still use the Buy It Now to end the auction during this time, if BIN is offered.
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re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
wow, this is fabulous, an auction refresher course using real-world instances.
yes, our BIN is different than all others, much to the delight or chagrin of various members.
And Michael was wise to point out our auction extension such that auction end times continue ONLY if during the final 10 hours of an auction, the winning bidder changes, and then extends to 10 hours from that point.
other things: feel free to use multiple categories, as long as they are appropriate, so one could find a letter in COVERS, US, PENNY LOTS, and TOPICALS if it is a US cover franked with a 29c Year of the Boar stamp offered at a penny.
sounds like you're mostly enjoying yourself
David
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11:06:08am
re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
You know, David, I actually AM enjoying this!! (what does that say about me! )
Okay, anti-sniping on the auctions! I don't know why other sites don't do this; it just makes sense to me. As buyer, I tend to place my most comfortably high bid initially and see where it goes, but sometimes I chase an item, only to see some sniper or sniper's program more accurately, take it away.
And the more I think about it, the more I like this way of doing buy it now. No more outlandish bids on most items. I'm a collector first, and sell my extras or my uncles' unwanted materials. We aren't here as a business; this is part of the hobby. I don't trade because what I want is usually so esoteric or high value that most folks won't have it, or won't want to trade those for what I do have. So anyway, this buy it now limit fits with my model of offering items in my previous store listings at 50% or more off the catalogue value.
Cheers,
Peter
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re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
glad you're enjoying yourself Peter
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re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
I have to concur that I am also enjoying myself here. To get the bulk uploader to work, I too ran into the issue with commas and the double quotes issue. What I ended up doing was purging all commas from my descriptions (which sometimes made it difficult when I was using some html), but I got something worked out. Also, I am now in the habit of using a text editor to get rid of all of the extra quote marks that Excel; adds when I save the CSV file. It a bit of a pain in the badinkus to do that extra step, but it seems necessary to get the bulk upload to work correctly for me.
Also, the limit of 20 items per bulk upload is a bit of a hassle, but I understand the purpose of it.
-Doug
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09:47:17am
re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
Doug, my first auction has 31 items, and all loaded through bulk upload with no problem (with respect to the number of items, that is). I wasn't aware of an item limit; where did you see that?
Cheers,
Peter
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re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
I didn't know of a limit either.
One thing I found, however, is that the Title field has a limit of 80 characters.
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re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
You know, you might be right! I think I saw the 20 upload limit on pics and thought it also applied to bulk upload. I stand corrected!
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Auctions - Approvals
re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
Hi Guys,
There is no limit on the number of lots that can be loaded via the Bulk Loader. Also, to get around the Comma issue, you could try using the Pipe symble i.e. "|" in stead of the Comma. I believe that Excel will let you do that. Then you just select the Pipe rather than the Comma in the upload process.
Regards ... Tim
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re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
Thanks Tim. Yep, I have become a big user of both the pipe, and the semicolon!
OK, I'm just waiting to take a ribbing for that one. Lets see just how mature this stamp community is compared to others I've been in!
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re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
"OK, I'm just waiting to take a ribbing for that one. Lets see just how mature this stamp community is compared to others I've been in!"
Okay, how's this?
CLUE #2
Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.
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07:32:48am
re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
"OK, I'm just waiting to take a ribbing for that one. Lets see just how mature this stamp community is compared to others I've been in!"
Nah, too easy Doug.
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re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
When I posted that glue to Game 22, I was wondering who would do something with it. Then, along comes Doug who opens the door, and who else but Ted walks right in!
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08:21:16am
re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
My first auction here ended yesterday, with all but one item sold, having received two to nine bids each. I'm very pleased with the process and procedures. One of the two buyers paid immediately upon receipt of invoice (Thanks Mike!) and I'll ship to him today; the invoicing method here was very easy.
There were a couple of things that might be improved on but these are minor. One is that when you view sold items, the default is for the past 7 days; is there a way to make this for the past 30 days? One of my buyers bought some of the auction items as Buy It Now items two weeks ago, and I didn't see his purchases when I went to the sold list, until I noticed the 7 day parameter. Also, can we add a filter so we can view sold items by paid or unpaid status? Again, not major issues but more for selling convenience. Thanks.
I actually have multiples of several of the sold lots, so what I'm going to do is list those on bidStart for a similar length auction (10 days) at the same starting auction price and see how well they do at that commercial site. Just curious. I'd list them on eBay but my seller's account is so old there that they would get zero visibility so that's not a fair test. If it's not inappropriate, I can post the comparison here later.
Cheers,
Peter
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They who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. -Benjamin Franklin
04 Jun 2013
09:13:58am
re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
Peter,
I would say the results would be very appropriate and will be anxious to see them posted. I cannot imagine any objection to such a comparison. Thanks for your willingness to do this!
This is by far the best venue I have participated in. Of course, I am not a dealer or semi-dealer (made up word), and I just sell because it is fun and it is an interesting part of the philatelic experience (so I really do not care what I get for my items). Being able to sell without incurring any fees or messing with the feedback nonsense is very enjoyable.
-Bobby-
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09:48:49am
re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
Thanks Bobby; I'm the same way. I do not consider myself a "dealer" (or a semi-dealer, although I'm build like a semi! ); I am just selling of my excess worldwide stock and those of two relatives who continue to buy large lots and sell off what they don't want. That's where I come in; I get first pick, then sell what's left over. Hey, not a bad deal, eh?
Cheers,
Peter
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re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
can't wait to see the results. And i think a dormant ebay account would be every bit as useful a comparison to your brand new account here. No one searched here for you; they searched for other key words or stumbled on them via categories. Same would happen on eBay, but you have certain advantages in bidstart as a known entity.
David the curious auctioneer
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11:25:53am
re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
Okay, I've scheduled the bidStart auction to begin on Friday (same day as I did here); they only run 10 days max over there, so keep that in mind.
There are only a few with more than two in the original sets that I can then list on eBay as well. Of course, this is not a systematic comparison, but very "ad hoc" exploratory. I'll also plan something later where I have multiple copies of the same set of items, and list them all at the same time on three different venues. That's a truer test, at least as far as my items go. I might include Delcampe although I haven't sold there yet.
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re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
Only problem I can see is that you posted your intent here. The losers of the auctions here can go to BidStart and buy it there since they know you have listed more.
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12:03:58pm
re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
Again, not a "scientific" survey.
The next one, with fresh material at three or four selling venues, will be all different items from what I already posted, or have for sale at bidStart. I'll keep "mum" about those!
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re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
yeah, but we know you're up to something and are likely to stalk your shadow until we know.
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02:21:05pm
re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
Is that a variant of "You can run but you cannot hide"?
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
04 Jun 2013
08:02:48pm
re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
I'd be curious to see the scans of what did and didn't sell along with the starting and ending prices.
It might indicate areas of interest and well as what people are willing to fight over.
I have been watching things like that, but not in an organized enough way to form more that a few hunches about what sells, what doesn't, and possibly, why.
For instance, when I started bidding actively here, there were days when I couldn't look down a single page without seeing quite a few stamps I needed, either to fill a space, or improve a condition. Lately I have passed through one or two pages of offerings and not even get excited enough to look to see if there was anything that interested me.
Since I am generally interested in postally used, world wide, exclusive of a few abusive printing presses, my interests are quite eclectic
Charlie,
Lecanto, Florida
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08:25:02pm
re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
My two auctions here consisted of about 30 MNH souvenir sheets or strips of Canadian commemoratives (all but one sold), and about 10 GB stamps used with clear Boer War British Army cancels (all have only one bid so far). All bids came on the first to third day of the auctions, with nothing after that.
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re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
I think the uniqueness of the items being sold would be a factor on how soon they sell. For instance if there are 3 sellers offering the same stamp at different prices at different times the cheapest stamp may not sell if it was posted last. Also just beacause something sold quickly the first time doesn't mean it will sell the second time.
Mark Twain noted there three types of lies, there are lies, darn lies and statistics.
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06:00:49am
re: New to auctions here; feedback so far and questions
There was a great little book by that title; it pointed out how interpretation and presentation of data can be used to "lie"; so actually, the quote should be: "There are liars, damn liars, and people who use statistics to lie." As I used to tell my stats students, "Data never lie, people do."
Cheers,
Peter
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