Strange ebay Bidding

[doubs43]

Last night I had my eye on a Sears/Ricoh TLS camera with 55mm f/1.4 lens that was being sold by a seller living in my town. It shows a fair amount of wear so I figured I'd pick it up pretty cheaply and save the postage. Then, two low feedback bidders started competing and the final sale price was $48 plus shipping. Typically these cameras go for less than half of that.

Closing about 18 minutes later was another identical camera that appears to be in much better condition and fully functional according to the seller. I bought it for less than half of the price paid for the first one.

I have yet to figure out why the first camera sold for twice the going rate while the second one was pretty much ignored. Just another strange day on ebay.

Walker

[John Parry]

No apparent reason Walker. There's been a dearth of Konica FT-s on the eBay site but a little bunch came up. First with 3 good Hexanon lenses came up, and I missed it - around £30. Missed the next one too - standard, nothing fancy with standard lens - think that went for £42. One just went for £62. Nothing at all special, but this guy had just played the 'good shots from every angle', 'finish at weekend', and technoblurb

Check eBay No 120092454453

Can't knock it - market forces prevail. But I have absolutely no idea what triggers a bidding frenzy (other than my wife's to tendency to emulate the stock exchange - "Buy-Buy-Buy")

Regards - John

ps Might be one for our site statician..... (Sorry Paul, couldn't resist!!)

[casualcollector]

When I see low feedback members in a bidding war, I too, suspect shills working for the seller. Don't be surprised if you see the same TLS back on "the bay" again.

Good press can affect prices, too. Several years ago the price af Canonet G-IIIs spiked after a favorable article by Jason Schneider. Back to realistic now. I think my website article on Vivitar and Soligor T-4 lenses caused an increase in interest in them. Well, I like to think so!

Bill

[doubs43]

John, I'm also mystified by what it is that triggers bidding wars for a particular item that many times is an ordinary, run-of-the-mill item such as the Sears TLS of last night.

Bill, you could be right about the shill bidding and I often wonder if it's a factor.

You also hit upon a key point and that's the influence a writer in a periodical can have on the desireability of a particular camera... at least for a short while, anyway. I've sung the praises of the Ricoh Singlex TLS and the Sears TLS (identical cameras except for the names) numerous times but I've seen no indication that I've caused prices to go up. While that deflates my ego a little, it means I can still buy one pretty cheaply most of the time. I like cheap!

Seriously, I think the Ricoh Singlex is one of the most undervalued M42 cameras available to us and they're quality built. I own four Ricoh models and three Sears models. One is missing the self-timer lever and one has a bad meter. Otherwise, they are all fully functional and working correctly. I paid a low of $10.50 for the bad meter model to a high of $34.13 for a Singlex II and those prices include shipping. Most came with a 55mm f/1.4 lens.

Walker

[casualcollector]

Walker

I consider it under rated, too. I have a Sears TLS and a Sears SL-11. Both are older versions. The SL-11 has the Sears name engraved in the top plate. Wish I had the external meter that goes with it. The TLS has the Sears name on the prism face. I really want one of the later, black body "atomic" models! I have a third, badged Ricoh, that I got for parts. Missing self timer levers seems to be common on these.

The Chinon screw mount cameras are very similar to the Ricoh in internal design. I used to sell these as the GAF L-17 back in the 70s. Black paint was the standard finish and they stood out in a case full of chrome cameras. I like them, too, but I think they're more prone to trouble than the Ricoh.

Bill