On Wed, 11 Oct 2006, Ray Arachelian wrote:
Robert Borsuk wrote:
The interesting thing is that he will list items
for bidding, then if
they don't sell he will relist them at a higher price. He does
eventually sell things so I guess it encourages the high prices.
I've seen this kind of behavior before. It seems to be a new business
model.
It works by listing and relisting the same items, or opening it as a
store and listing them always. Whenever anyone sells a similar item
that competes with the store, that store bids and buys the item, then
relists it at the higher price. Even if they don't win those items,
they'll at least drive up the prices for them to be in range with what
their store is selling, thus driving up the expected price for that item
in the market.
The end goal is to be the only source for a set of items, and to be
always available. The high price of the items justifies their cost of
doing business (space, ebay fees, buying competing items, etc.) but of
course screws the buyers. In the long run, supposedly, they wind up
making more money by being the only source.
That's what you're seeing.
It is also done in reverse, that is, another seller will list a large
number of the same or similar items as another seller at a lower price in
an attempt to extort them into buying those items. I'm actually having
that done to me right now.
I'd been selling off some brand new telecommunications equipment at a
price below wholesale at about 1 item a week. Then another seller listed
40 similar items for about half what I had been selling mine for and
wanted to know what I'd offer him for them. I've lost two potential
customers to him so far. Heck, I might as well mention the item numbers,
as those sales are lost now anyway...
The items I'd been selling are these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120038527861
Its the OEM version of the 710/711/universal mounting kit for telecom
splice equipment.
The other seller listed his here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110040426986
The only difference is the 3M badged version (also made by Jourdan Tech.)
has a plastic case instead of a metal one, and doesn't include the
mounting base for a splicer's seat/box.
So far I've only lost 2 potential customers, but I may have to quit
listing the kits for awhile. I really needed the cash too, as I'm
liquidating to fund the engine repairs on my car and to replace a bunch of
telecom/catv tools that "disappeared" (most likely stolen).
-Toth