Is this for real?

[carouselvic]

I think you still did well

I reported it to ebay already. I think you did well. A open road in black with a open crown is not an easy hat to find. If it had been a 7 3/8 I would have hit it a lot harder. Please give us a look when you get it bashed.

 

[Tango Yankee]

Anyway, (long story short) I think the thread was started in the spirit of saying "know what you're buying before you bid" and not "hey, look at this weasel who's trying to con people." Just my two cents.

BINGO! :eusa_clap

 

[bolthead]

Key-Ripes Man.....

Absolutely! As a newby I wouldn't have bid near that much on a hat. It's only due to what I've learned here supplemented by my growing experience that I finally started bidding large amounts for hats I particularly wanted. Without the knowledge I've gained here (from so many willing and eager to share--thanks, everyone! :eusa_clap ) I wouldn't have the confidence to bid like that.

Cheers,
Tom

Here, Here.....:eusa_clap

 

[Damon Falzone]

Buyers Beware!

This sort of thing, as we know, is not unusual on ebay. Recently, a Borsalino Straw Hat, as it was referred to in the bold type heading, was up for auction. Further down in the listing the hat was referred to as a Barsalino, a completely different animal. I asked the buyer to clarify and I got no response. The photo which showed the hat's name was the only one out-of-focus, making brand identification unreadable. Subtly deceptive and it sold for way too much IMO.
You have to keep a sharp eye.

 

[carouselvic]

It took more than one bidder to drive-up price

In the first line under description it clearly states New Without Tags

 

[AlanC]

I watched that auction, too, and kept being amazed as the price climbed and climbed. I had planned to ask here if I had missed something super-duper secret about the hat that I wasn't aware of, but it looked like a regular modern Stetson to me. Glad to know I wasn't the one who was crazy, but rather the bidders on the auction!

 

[Dav3]

I saw it and thought it might be a chance to get a new stetson at a decent price, but I stopped keeping track of it after a couple days.

If you check out that winning bidder, the account is less than a week old and that auction is the only one it's ever bid on. Could be the seller.

 

[maff2k]

Caveat Emptor?

I don't want to quote eBay and I dispise people that trick others out of money but surely no one held a gun to these bidder's heads? The auction looks like the seller struck lucky and got a genuine set of "I'm not being outbid" bidders who stopped bidding on the hat and started bidding to win.

Great when you're the seller, rubbish when you're the buyer!

How many auctions have you read, re-read, then read again only to work out the subtle wording that actually says "this is not an auction for .... but actually a photo of ..."

 

[Prairie Shade]

Do I hear 150, going once, going twice

Actually I paid 20.00 for it at the Stetson Outlet. The Dobbs Vintage Hat Box is not included nor is the Dobbs 40 Rancher inside for summer storage. By the way, wife and I are going to Weston Mo for some antiquing today and I will con her into another trip to the outlet. Maybe post some pictures. I WILL be wearing my Optimo from PB. Just noticed, hope there isnt a mouse in that box. I will throw the cat in for free if I can get it in the box.

 

[Twitch]

Auctions, whether Ebay, Barrett-Jackson or Christie's have the same ingredients- an item and people who desire that item. As I've seen with many non-hat items people simple want a certain "thing" and are willing to pay whatever it takes to get it. They will bid up something far beyond its value seemingly bent on posessing it beyond all reason.

Certain non-rare auto parts and accessories have gone for 3-4 times their average everday accepted value. An identical item next week will never go beyond opening bid. Cars get bid up to $80,000 when similar examples can be found for $40-50,000. Star Trek props expected to sell for $10,000 sold for $200,000.

People get stupid fixations and have more money than sense.[huh]

 

[AlanC]

I don't think you can blame the seller for a well done auction. The 'Stetson' pin was there for all to see, and clearly gave it away as a modern hat. One thing it does is show sellers the value of a well written auction and good pictures.

 

[Zig2k143]

People get stupid fixations and have more money than sense.[huh]

Always said this about Anna Nicole Smith... She proves the theory of some people having more money then they need.

 

[Joel Tunnah]

Well, I guess we know who the seller was now.

The buyer obviously mistook the item for something it wasn't, and he will eventually be unhappy and feel stupid. An unfortunate situation for both parties involved.

Joel

 

[Tango Yankee]

Well, I guess we know who the seller was now.


Joel

We do? I musta missed something.

All I really know about the seller is that his name is Greg (at least, that's how he signed the response to a question.) Oh, and he's good at what he does.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Dav3]

I don't know. I'm not convinced that anyone got screwed out of anything here. Unless this is someone that created this account just because they wanted that hat really badly, I think it's got to be the seller trying to get the maximum bid out of the people actually bidding on the hat. It doesn't excuse the other people that were bidding on the hat, but if what happened there is what I think happened, the seller may have gotten a little greedy and went over what the last bidder's maximum bid was.

 

[carouselvic]

Downs Stetson

lumbee1 bought a downs stetson with a buy it now for $15.99 on 4-28-07. the item was #260112911256
lumbee1 sold a downs stetson for $247.50 on 6-17-07. the item was #320124900046
In his title he said it was a new stetson w/o tags. In his discreption he said it was new stetson w/o tags. Bidder #3, Bidder #6, and Bidder #7 all chose to bid in excess of $200.00. Looks to me that lumbee1 made an excellant buy, and someone else did not.

 

[Rick Blaine]

buy low, sell high! :eusa_clap

 

[Tango Yankee]

I've seen NWOT on vintage stuff, too... I tend to take it with a grain of salt, or figure it's more likely "Like new..." rather than actually new. No real way to prove it either way, but as long as it's '"like new" it doesn't really matter.

No one has said the seller misrepresented the hat, he simply repackaged it very well and quite likely even he was (pleasantly, I'm sure!) surprised at how high it went.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Joel Tunnah]

No one has said the seller misrepresented the hat...

Ok, I'll say it. Placing the hat on a vintage Stetson box was misleading, at best. The sentence about '...does not include the box' in no way changes this.
I don't understand why everyone is patting this guy on the back.

 

[HamletJSD]

Ok, I'll say it. Placing the hat on a vintage Stetson box was misleading, at best. The sentence about '...does not include the box' in no way changes this.
I don't understand why everyone is patting this guy on the back.

I half agree with you, Joel, but the other half keeps telling me it could be simple staging and not intentional misleading.
Burger King has put Whoppers on silver platters in their commercials, but it isn't "misleading." You don't assume you are buying something worthy of silver plateware when you drive down to the local BK.
[huh] Beats me. It's a great ethical debate to have, though. Enjoying it