NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: C. Plath Navistar Classic On Ebay
From: Doug Royer
Date: 2006 Apr 6, 16:02 -0700
From: Doug Royer
Date: 2006 Apr 6, 16:02 -0700
Paul wrote: I wonder how real this offer is. The item is priced at a ridiculous starting bid at $25,-, but with a hidden reserve. Dealers often use this trick to find out what prospective buyers are willing to bid, without having to commit themselves. After all, the reserve could be any ridiculous amount and the bidders might never find out. If the seller wants to achieve a certain minimum price, why does he not set the starting bid there? This would be more sincere than this whole reserve business. Actually that is the way most reserved auctions are set up on ebay. I've seen some start at $1 or $5.00 and finally, 7 -10 days later, being legitimately sold for $$$$$$ after surpassing the vendor's minimum price. It's a way to hide the minimum price the vendor will settle for in case he/she decides to put it up for auction again without tipping anyone off to his/her minimum. I know for a fact that that vendor (mymary) is a very legitimate vendor, has real world experience using the equipment sold, who vendors in a lot of auctions online and has a real nautical equipment store in south Florida. So, I'd say it's a legitimate sextant and a legitimate auction.