eBay: same buyer (reseller?) buys one $$ WCAOD after another

[stefandaystrom]

Anyone know anything about eBay user "leppard69"? This person seems to be a reseller (after "winning" some rare TJB CDs last year, he tried to sell them at astronomical -- $$$ starting bid and/or Buy It Now -- prices a month later, and got no takers, and has items for sale at astronomical prices on half.com but I can't tell about takers there), who in bursts seems to try to buy up EVERY copy of certain TJB CDs that sell on eBay that don't sell out at quite high prices. For example, he paid $37 for one WHIPPED CREAM from Japan on Jan 30 and $31.26 for another (and those are by no means the only copies he's bought, and he's done this with many other TJB titles). This one person alone makes it almost impossible for anyone to buy most TJB CDs at "reasonable" (new-import-range) prices, not only because he buys up almost every copy of certain titles, but because he "bids early and bids often", driving up the prices (for himself!).

 

[Steven J. Gross]

When it comes out remastered, his Cds will be worth about 99 cents!

 

[Harry]

Just glancing at the eBay listing of his sales and his biddings, it appears that he's simply an entrepeneur who knows what's collectible and what will sell. Many of the CDs he's got listed are of the out-of-print variety, or MFSL issues, stuff that is easily gravitated towards on an auction site like eBay. As pointed out, he may get burned if new TJB CDs are issued, as those older discs will surely drop in value and desirability.

Hey, he's even got a Corrs LIVE CD! (I already have it!)

Harry
NP: news coverage of the Shuttle Columbia disaster

 

[Rudy]

Stefan: I've seen his listings on half.com, and I've noticed the prices are exorbitant. It's like Steven says, though---all these high priced old CDs won't be worth the plastic they're pressed with when (and if) new reissues come out. This guy is taking an incredibly huge gamble. I know eBay is against shill bidding and such, but it's SO tempting to counter-bid and drive the price way up.

I would also take great pleasure in contacting this person after any new releases some out and congratulate him for 1) ridding the channel of any old remaining copies; 2) making a lot of money for the eBay sellers he's bought from; 3) being the sucker stuck with a bunch of worthless plastic.

It's true the original issues hold some sentimental value, but not $300 worth IMHO.

We CAN do our part. eBay has a way to add specific bidders to a "blocked bidder" list, which affects all items you list. I've just gone and added this eBay ID to my own blocked bidder list, in case I decide to unload my TJB CDs in the near future.

http://cgi3.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?bidderblocklogin

I'd rather have an end user buy my items for a few less bucks, vs. someone who's just profiteering from it.

 

[stefandaystrom]

I've just gone and added this eBay ID to my own blocked bidder list, in case I decide to unload my TJB CDs in the near future.

http://cgi3.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?bidderblocklogin

I'd rather have an end user buy my items for a few less bucks, vs. someone who's just profiteering from it.

I haven't sold anything on eBay YET (I've got some LPs still to send to someone before I do that [g]), but I did know about that feature and had already been thinking that if/when I unload my stack of sealed TJB Christmas Album CDs (which I snarfed up two per order when Columbia House was blowing them out about a year ago [g]), I'll be sure to mention "no resellers and [after I've sold one] only one copy per buyer, please" and similarily include this eBay ID among blocked bidders.

 

[Rudy]

Stefan: if you have a set price you want to get, list them on half.com. If they don't move, you can always lower the price or list them on eBay later on.

Y'know, I just may have to drive down to L.A. to rectify that LP situation. I've been toying with coming down that way later this year, sort of a "get away from it all" trip to clear the mind. Been a very rough few months around here, and a week or so of hanging around jazz clubs, going vinyl hunting, etc. may do me some good.

 

[dschamens]

Gee, Herb and Jerry made over $500 million selling A&M; I don't think they would argue with someone making a little money selling their CD's on eBay. I have actually bought Beat of the Brass CD from this eBay seller. I did offer him $100 for his What Now My Love, but he wouldn't take it. IMHO, the prices for SRO CD are the most rediculous....still trying to get it, but I just can't see $300 for that CD...the latest price paid on eBay, and that was to a Japanese seller! Do you think the land of Japan knows anything about bubblemania

 

[Rudy]

I don't have a problem with someone making a few bucks, but this is more like someone buying up whatever is available at ANY price, meaning that others who really want it for the music are being deprived of it, only to find it resold later at a much higher price.

I just feel better knowing that if I sell it, it will go to someone who genuinely wants the music. I've sold a few out-of-print and sealed CDs myself, but I wasn't totally outrageous with them either.

 

[Steven J. Gross]

Some of the CD's out there do not sound as good as new vinyl. (to me at least)

 

[stefandaystrom]

Gee, Herb and Jerry made over $500 million selling A&M; I don't think they would argue with someone making a little money selling their CD's on eBay.

My issue is not at all with him making money. It's with the way he's trying to do via hoarding. He's now got a WHIPPED CREAM listed for $65 Buy It now only, and money order only (which means a few extra $ for the buyer) as the only payment to boot. Consider this in evaluating that price:

THIS SAME BUYER just fought (counterbid after counterbid) to buy two Japanese WHIPPED CREAMs a week ago at $31.26 and $37.99 (each plus shipping from Japan, but was able to pay via PayPal), has since bid up to $48.99 for another one, and a two weeks ago bid up to $39.99 for another one. Meanwhile in auctions where he didn't bid up the price, it has gone unsold for $24.99 ($40 Buy It Now) for a Japanese one, and has sold for $20. Ask youreelf how much the one he counterbid so agreessively on (not because he wants a copy for himself, only because he wants to resell it for a few bucks more plus provide a sense that the CD is worth what he wants to sell it for) might have sold for had he not been counterbidding at every turn?

I have actually bought Beat of the Brass CD from this eBay seller. I did offer him $100 for his What Now My Love, but he wouldn't take it.

He wants $179 (plus that money order fee for the buyer) for WHAT NOW this time. Hm, I think it's only ONCE sold near or past that amount in the past year or more on eBay. More typical lately: $109.50 on Jan 18 (he tried to bid on that one up to $55.99!), $88.51 on Jan 12 (this one he didn't bid on), and $137.50 for another earlier in the day on Jan 12 (that one he bid up to $99.59 on!).

So of course he won't accept your $100 price, if you were trying to buy one from someone else at 50 cents less than that he'd be trying to outbid you as a buyer rather than a seller!

IMHO, the prices for SRO CD are the most rediculous....still trying to get it, but I just can't see $300 for that CD...the latest price paid on eBay, and that was to a Japanese seller! Do you think the land of Japan knows anything about bubblemania

That CD was only ever issued in Japan, and (along with THE BRASS ARE COMIN') was only out for a relatively short time circa the late 80s. Those are just the "most out of print" of the regular (not compilation) albums that have ever been issued on CD. I would bet extremely few copies made it out of Japan when it was officially available, so it would be natural geography that most of the sellers would be in Japan.

Meanwhile, that seller's opening bid was $24.99 with no reserve. As far as I can see none of the people who bid on it (including the reseller we've been talking about above, who bid up to $69.87) is in Japan (and the vast majority are in the US). And where was the last bubble?

Meanwhile, you never know how selliing prices will go. After seeing TBAC sell for only $300ish, $400ish, and such, I bid on it late last year (at the last minute, like usual, so no one can counterbid against me to drive up the price) and was amazed to find that I won it for only $103.50!

-- Stefan

 

[stefandaystrom]

Some of the CD's out there do not sound as good as new vinyl. (to me at least)

In the case of TJB CDs vs LPs I found it to be even stranger. On some of them some of the tracks sounded a bit better on the LP, but other tracks sounded a bit better on the CD! If there was any pattern to it (but I'm not sure how strong the pattern was), the tracks that sounded better on the LPs tended to be the outer ones, while the tracks that sounded worse on the LPs were the intter ones. (Of course, there's technically better fidelity possible on outer tracks, but I thought there were supposed to have been ways to compensate for that when making LPs?)

Also, at least in the case of TJB LPs, it's not good enough to just get a new one (of course, at this point, a "like new" one is the best you can hope for [g]). You also have to get a good pressing. The quality, for example, of WARM varies way more from one "like new" pressing to another than any quality difference I ever heard between the TJB CDs that got reissued and any good pressings I had of them.

(In case you're not familiar with it, when they stamp out oodles of LPs from each stamper, the first ones that come off the stamper sound much better than the last ones that come off the stamper. The only way to avoid hat is to press a lot fewer per stamper, but that's expensive. And since stampers can have variations in them too, it's even possible for there to be quality difference between the first LPs off one stamper and the first LPs off another. At least with CDs there's not manufacturing-time variations in quality, so you know that the first CD you get will sound like any other, barring remastered reissues of course...)

-- Stefan

 

[Rudy]

I've always felt that most of the existing TJB CDs sound uniformly bad. They are not an improvement over the LP in terms of detail. Even if they were made from the same LP masters (which itself is a no-no), theoretically a tape will sound better weeks after it was recorded, vs. 20-30 years of decay and questionable storage.

I've found that having a good phono cartridge is more than half the battle--the Shure V15VxMR will track anything you throw at it, and worth every penny. I've never felt the inner grooves were "lesser" than the outer using this cartridge. All I know is, I far prefer listening to CDs I've made from "needle drops" than the ones A&M had out in the 80's.

And if this guy wants to hoard and resell let him...he'll have an expensive pile of $3 CDs once new remasters become available...whenever that happens.

 

[Mr Bill]

I'd rather have an end user buy my items for a few less bucks, vs. someone who's just profiteering from it.

WHy not let HIM pay you out the nose for them and THEN he'll be stuck with them! Hahahahaha!

--Mr Bill
no longer contemoplating dumping all his TJB CDs...

 

[Harry]

--Mr Bill
no longer contemplating dumping all his TJB CDs...

I'm not considering dumping anything either. Given the state of the "master tapes" from the last outing (Definitive Hits), I wouldn't trust any new issues to be any better than what we've got -- at least not until I've heard them.

I'd also keep the old issues for sentimental reasons and as a basis for comparison.

Harry
...hunter/gatherer, not purveyor of used goods, online...

 

[Rudy]

I would not expect a *huge* improvement, but if anything, using something other than a tired old LP master should sound better. I would also expect improved liner notes and bonus tracks, since those were hinted at.

Still ready to "dump" here when I get definitive word of anything...but by then the word will be out and they won't be worth anything anyway. I just have too much "stuff" and would rather get rid of it than have it sit here unplayed. I'm already starting to dump a lot of things on eBay.

 

[Captain Bacardi]

My issue is not at all with him making money. It's with the way he's trying to do via hoarding.

I went to eBay to see what guy you're talking about, and I see that he has 92 negative reviews, which ain't too good. It seems he likes to send nasty and vulgar e-mails to people. Some people have paid for an item and he never sent them. Sounds like a charming individual.


Capt. Bacardi

 

[Rudy]

All the more reason for us to stick him in our eBay "blocked bidder" list. I didn't bother to look him up, but you might also try using the username with "-half" appended to it to see if there are any other feedbacks. (When eBay merged half.com into their system, they took half.com accounts like mine and appended a "-half" to the username. So in effect, I have two eBay/half.com accounts now. Wish they could have just merged the two into one.)