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Post by africaone on Jan 15, 2012 11:19:34 GMT -8
I don't know who put the H. elegans for 200 $ but this is typical of rarity not sold at good price on ebay .... not enough people interested (auction is only interesting if there are at least 2 who want your item ... otherwise it is catastrophic for the seller !) ps : I know one sold many years ago at 300 € via a private transaction qualifying a rarity is difficult ... but the simple fact that a species become public for sale means in many cases that are at least some yet sold via private transactions. Of course there are exception but few. ebay provide sometimes good opportunities as some real rarities are offered under "not true" name and specialist can detect them among the big offer !
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Post by lordpandarus on Jan 15, 2012 11:27:12 GMT -8
I think for that type of butterflies (Harmilla elegans...), collectors realize it's rare once the bought everything else over the years and think "how come I don't have that species". So you have to be at a certain level of collecting to be interested in Harmilla elegans, or else you can spend your money on other beautiful species you don't have.
I found the Nymphalid Aterica rabena from Madagascar at the Insect fair for 15$. The seller didn't even know what it was. Never saw it for sale otherwise. In fact mine is the only one I've seen outside of old books
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Post by papilio28570 on Jan 16, 2012 18:29:30 GMT -8
If I find an auction I am interested in, I simply place my highest bid I am willing to pay for the bug and let the Ebay auto-bid do the work for me.
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Post by africaone on Apr 5, 2012 23:19:19 GMT -8
it seems that more and more ebayers use an auction sniper ! more of my bids are now concurrenced by auction snipers
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2012 6:51:46 GMT -8
"I think for that type of butterflies (Harmilla elegans...), collectors realize it's rare once the bought everything else over the years and think "how come I don't have that species"
You are right Lord P, when I got my cirrochroa imperatrix pair I arrived at the insect fair an hour late, dozens of people must have seen them before me but didnt buy them, same thing last week, I got a female Lexias hikarugenzi for £9, nobody bought it until I did at the end of the fair. .
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2012 6:55:46 GMT -8
There have been many fine points made here. Nice discussion. I do use the Sniper services of two companies. Living out in the country, the Internet can be weird, so one reason I like Sniping is so that the action is set no matter the Internet status at a given moment. Yes, one must be willing to put his/her highest amount willing to be paid which can indeed be frustrating. Since this is a reality, one has to comply or else lose out. Another nice thing about Sniping is that if one has to be away from the computer like a job or something, the Sniper service will do it for you. Interestingly, the points about rare specimens have merit---private listings/sales might be the way to go. But.....often these 'for sale' listings have it like 'seller will accept the best offer'. Now, who really knows (other than the seller) what is actually the highest offer? I remember two times when I sent an offer (not knowing what the seller had in mind for a price) and I was basically laughed at. Other times, I've offered and not even received a response which I think there should be. Sometimes one can lucky as well. Recently, I placed a Snipe at $15 for a moth and no one else bid on it, so I got it for .99 It can be frustrating to see a bug sit for a week and watch it get a few bids for a few bucks and then in the last minute as one watches it count down, hopes for getting it are dashed as 15 bids come in at the last second and what started out around $5 ends up at $88 or something......because an onslaught of Sniping bids happened in the final 5 seconds or so. For us Americans, getting stuff from outside the USA w/o dealing with the gestapo-like USFW is getting harder and harder, so we are forced into tighter bidding and buying from within the USA. Oh, how I wish I could bid on foreign material Lastly, when I set an amount for what I think something is worth, I purposely add some extra money to the bid as though I did import it/pay the USFW fees which inflates the amount, but gives me an edge on winning the specimen. By adding extra money, it would be 'as though' I paid to have the license and the item USFW inspected like I used to. In rare cases, when I 'have-to-have-it', I've put the amount I think it is worth and then add the same amount of what it would cost to import it via USFW. This is only for those few bugs that come along that are of my highest desires. Another thing I sometimes do is this. Say I'm bidding on two bugs and am happy to/planning on spending $100 for the two (sniping $50 for each one). If I win the first one for say $35, I may 'edit' the second bid to $65 so as to increase my chances of winning. I am basically taking my savings from the first one and applying it to the second one. Remember, I was happy to spend $100 total for the two. Who cares if one cost $35 and the second cost $65? I was going to be happy spending $100 for the two. I don't do this often, but it can mean the difference between winning or watching another get the specimen I wanted. Bottom line.....be happy with what you win using Sniping. Don't put an amount into a bid and figure/hope it will sell for less. This will create disapointments. If I bid on it, I should figure I would be happy with it at that amount. Several people I know get upset when they win something, but had to pay a higher price for it. If one is not going to be happy getting a bug for $50, then don't Snipe it for $50.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2012 7:22:28 GMT -8
I also managed to find this, junaea whiteleyi, I've wanted it since I saw the underside in Paul Smarts book, a rare high altitude satyrid from South America, again nobody bothered with it because it is not well known Attachments:
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Post by nusferatus369 on Apr 7, 2012 11:23:10 GMT -8
i don't need sniper i bid all the time in 4 sec before end. I also have the ebay application on my cell to do the bid.
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Post by africaone on Apr 8, 2012 2:16:16 GMT -8
Like many things, no need it until we had not yet used there are other cases like when more than 1 items end at the exact same time
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