schmoozer Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 We talk a lot about mibs but never about pricing. Is this a verboten topic? I think a lot of people would benefit form unbiased pricing. eBay auctions have gone off the rails on fake sales. We need to educate members on actual pricing to prevent fraud, and turning people away from collecting. what are your best sites for pricing checks? I like granpamarbles as they show sold prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmoozer Posted February 14 Author Report Share Posted February 14 1 minute ago, schmoozer said: We talk a lot about mibs but never about pricing. Is this a verboten topic? I think a lot of people would benefit form unbiased pricing. eBay auctions have gone off the rails on fake sales. We need to educate members on actual pricing to prevent fraud, and turning people away from collecting. what are your best sites for pricing checks? I like granpamarbles as they show sold prices. Hers one on eBay that alarmed me, a $30 mib. https://www.ebay.com/itm/355361602795?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=q9oJjtcQQea&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=bXaTUpW8TnK&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fire1981 Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 What ??? That Buyer needed a little guidance. That’s NUTZ . Some people say a marble is worth what it just sold for. So this individual now has a $305 red pelt slag in their collection and the Seller just sold it for $305. Where it goes from here who knows🔥 RAR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmoozer Posted February 14 Author Report Share Posted February 14 21 minutes ago, Fire1981 said: What ??? That Buyer needed a little guidance. That’s NUTZ . Some people say a marble is worth what it just sold for. So this individual now has a $305 red pelt slag in their collection and the Seller just sold it for $305. Where it goes from here who knows🔥 RAR Not sure it actually got sold, look at the bidders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck G Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 Pricing marbles is and has always been unpredictable. Over all the years i have been collecting, I find that (WE) as collectors and or vendors sum what control the selling market on marble examples. No different than playing the stock market to a point. You play the (game) as prices waver up and down by (demand). Over the years, finding (rare) examples and public noted will drive prices for most part upward. You will be misled a lot of times, so be very aware. (Crooks) are everywhere now. Marbles shows are the best way to learn extensively on selling prices and getting to know (trustworthy) vendors with great examples they sell and stand behind. This specific collecting field will (in my opinion) still grow, unless the (economy) crashes which I pray it does not ever. Be very aware of what you purchase and NOT being in HAND to inspect, verses over the web sales. A few thoughts and opinions on y part as a very long time collector. Chuck G--- 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 Estimating prices on a marble based upon photos (most of which are either not focused - or badly lit.... or both) is a rather foolish errand. The vast majority of marbles offered for sale on any internet fora are by either people how are clueless how to grade, lie/exaggerate condition or cannot accurately ID what they are selling. Why is it that 99% of those misidentified marble are incorrectly identified as something worth FAR more than the pedestrian common marble they are offering? How did we get to the point where practically everything is called "mint -" ????? Ditto for "mint" marble with obvious damage, often accompanied by weasel-words like "as-made" (were you there at the factory when it was made?), "tool touch mark" on a machine made (really?) and undisclosed glass fractures which the seller would later say "well - the outer glass was mint!". At a show you can grade it yourself, examine it and it is what it is. Value is much easier to arrive in the context of correct grading and ID. IMO 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fire1981 Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 OK ! Here we go. 99.5% of my collection is from Ebay. That pretty much rules out any in hand exchanges. So I have followed the Stock Market on marbles since 2002. Alan Basset set the prices that were a good measuring stick to go buy and or bid on. There’s an old saying “Stupid is was stupid does” I haven’t followed auctions enough to track down shill bidders. I use to and so did others here on the Board. I can’t remember if Alan used the 99% as mint and 85% as is. I do remember that being brought up just like getting a sport card PSA graded and hope for a 9.0 or better. Only a Loupe can prove it’s mint. 🔥 RAR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
et cetera Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 Today's vast internet market is flooded with uneducated buyers and unscrupulous or ignorant sellers. It's enormously irritating, but there's absolutely no way to control that or what price someone is willing to pay for 'whatever'. If someone overpays because they are foolishly under-educated tough noogies, since they have not opted to seek higher learning or expert advice. Reverse that and you can score a rare or valuable marble for a pittance if you know what your looking at and the seller does not. There's nothing new under the sun here where collecting anything is concerned - it's just 'more so' due to internet access. Be smart and educated or be stupid and gullible - everyone has that choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supramisfit Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 13 hours ago, et cetera said: Today's vast internet market is flooded with uneducated buyers and unscrupulous or ignorant sellers. It's enormously irritating, but there's absolutely no way to control that or what price someone is willing to pay for 'whatever'. If someone overpays because they are foolishly under-educated tough noogies, since they have not opted to seek higher learning or expert advice. Reverse that and you can score a rare or valuable marble for a pittance if you know what your looking at and the seller does not. There's nothing new under the sun here where collecting anything is concerned - it's just 'more so' due to internet access. Be smart and educated or be stupid and gullible - everyone has that choice. I agree that it's hard to feel bad for someone who overpays for a marble because they were uneducated. Especially in the larger dollar marble market. If you are going to pay big dollars for marbles it's probably a good idea to have knowledge of what you are buying. I watch this happen all the time on Ebay. Here is a good example from last week. https://www.ebay.com/itm/335239985483 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fire1981 Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 It’s the Golden Turd auctions that are brutal when you fall for the polishing of the Turd. There used to be a Thread in General called the Golden Turd. You would post auctions that were total chicken sh!t when you found auctions on EBay like the above. It takes a lot of policing but we use to do it🔥 RAR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fire1981 Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 I also saw members post EBay auctions a day ahead of when the auctions were over and asking for advice on bidding and what the high dollar bid might be. I use to call it Board Casting an auction. When they lost and cried about losing the auction they didn’t realize some of us were bidding on that marble as well. I learned early to just watch the auction count down and see how it pans out. You either overpaid, broke even or scored. You’re only plugging someone else’s auction if you do this and making that auction stand out. 🔥 RAR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fire1981 Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 Shill Bidders are the other people that use to be tracked and see if they are attached to other auctions. It was usually someone with little auction wins working with the Seller. At least that’s what I have encountered with some auction 🔥 RAR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fire1981 Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 It was easier to follow Sellers because there weren’t as many in early EBay days as there are today 🔥 RAR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmoozer Posted February 16 Author Report Share Posted February 16 I don’t buy off eBay anymore, however I will buy off Bob Blocks auctions. i greatly prefer the hunt where you can handle the merchandise. 95% of what I have was hunted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmoozer Posted February 16 Author Report Share Posted February 16 Most of my other collections were also found in the wild. Nothing beats the thrill of the hunt. Keeps the mind sharp and away from the bars. I keep most for 10-20 years, until it’s time to find a new caretaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fire1981 Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 Bob Block is obviously solid and EBay isn’t. I can’t remember who MP ‘04 is but here’s one of their Guineas. I won it easily because it was fake for $25 verse a $300 Guinea. At least I didn’t pay $300 plus. But I didn’t know it was a torch made marble. Unfortunately there have been some that have paid the $300 for one like this. 🔥 RAR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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