CLE Bidding Top Price?

gilpen123

gilpen123

Gil
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I was in a last 2 hours bidding for a CLE EX+ with 40 2.0 Rokkor as described and my last bid was $730 max before I fell asleep as I am in a different time zone with the other bidder. I got up early to find out I was outbidded by $10:bang: I know it's my fault, I should have waited until the last bidding second is over but I was tempted to bid $800 before I slept, seeing there was no movement for at least an hour i went to bed. Is this a reasonable bid price for an EX+ CLE? I mean to a buyer....
 
It happens all the time Gilpen. I find the only way is to figure a price that I'm prepared to pay, then think about how much higher I'd be tempted to go if a 'bidding war' was to start. Whatever that final price is, you can then be less frustrated if somebody outbids you by even a small amount. I must add that my 'final price' is usually no higher than my original price, if that makes sense. More specifically, there'll always be another CLE and maybe it'll be cheaper.
 
There is an answer to this problem. Not very 'gentlemanly', but very effective: Esnipe.
But a good CLE with a 40 for $740, some 530 euros doesn't sound that unique to me. But I haven't been lurking the auction sites for some time on CLE's. But they do pop up from time to time.
Beware of customs hazards!
 
With this kind of thing I kind of think "life is too short". I calculate what I'd be prepared to pay as a "buy it now" price, bid that, then think nothing further of it. If I'm underbid, the way eBay works I'm not out of pocket. If somebody is prepared to pay more than I am then, well, more power to the seller's elbow. I've had more bargins that way than I've ever had hunting for them, and with a good deal less stress. My only concession is the avoidance of round numbers: if I think $500 is about what I'm prepared to spend then I'll vary that upwards, a little, by some random-seeming figure (usually involving prime numbers of both dollars and cents; but that's just me).

Otherwise, if I really must have something, right now, I'll go somewhere I can. So far that's been Scott at Mainline or Tony at Popflash.

YMMV, of course.

...Mike
 
gilpen123 said:
I was in a last 2 hours bidding for a CLE EX+ with 40 2.0 Rokkor as described and my last bid was $730 max before I fell asleep as I am in a different time zone with the other bidder. I got up early to find out I was outbidded by $10:bang: I know it's my fault, I should have waited until the last bidding second is over but I was tempted to bid $800 before I slept, seeing there was no movement for at least an hour i went to bed. Is this a reasonable bid price for an EX+ CLE? I mean to a buyer....
Click to expand...

Just because you got outbid by $10, doesn't mean for $750 it would have been yours. The high bidder could have placed $1000 on it and your $800 wouldn't have won it either. You never know with ebay. With ebay the second highest bidder determines the price and you never find out what the highest bidder was prepared to pay before leaving it to someone else.

Don't loose sleep over it.
 
$600 to 650 is going rate for an average one, so one in excellent condition would be expected to get up too $800 or so. It was in the ballpark of averages really. (Prices with a 40mm lens of course)
 
Auction sniping is really common, whether it's done with a seperate source or someone just watching the clock tick down. It's almost to a "can't beat 'em, join 'em" state.

The best rule is just to really think about what you pay. You'll see the snipes come in at the last minute, but you'll fend them off. A hint is also to add a few dollars to your max. So if you maximum is $500, then perhaps bid $510. Most people snipe in nice round numbers.

Btw, being outbid by $10 may not only be just the incremental bid, not his max bid.
 
Well I was prepared to slug it up until I reach my max $ 800, yeah maybe I should have placed my bid which I am willing to pay for. But on the other hand it's the excitement of bidding and winning that drives people to auctions. Anyway, I never won a bid in ebay yet maybe because the items I'm looking for are sought after cams. I'll be smarter next time but it will be easier if someone here has a CLE with 40 2.0 up for sale .....
 
ebay makes people irrational.

I've seen things go for FAR more than they might sell for at KEH or other reputable dealers.

I collect a very specific category of antique books. Sometimes I've seen collectible books sell on ebay for 2x to 4x what they might go for on abebooks.com (comparable conditions). Depends on who's bidding and how much they actually know.

Regarding the CLE; parts for this camera are not easy to find, esp. electronic parts. This may impact how much folks are ready to pay for them...
 
I bid on an auction a couple of weeks ago that had had no bids on it for seven days. Then I watched 25 bids made within the last 20 seconds of the auction, between two bidders. I decided there must be some kind of software bidding going on. There were no bids other than mine until this blur of bidding took place.
 
joachim said well about it.

Regardless of technique used - sniped or not - winner is one willing to pay more than others. That said, if someone makes bid with huge max. price, snipers at last seconds will raise price, though they will not win if they don't place bigger bid. Sniping tools just make easier to bid on items in different time zone AND not reveal YOUR max bid at early stages. That's all ebay wisdom. Again, max sum buys item.
 
Place your maximum bid and forget about it. Many times the item goes for approximately the same price that it can be purchased for from a reputable dealer. An item on ebay should not be within 90% of the equivalent price from a dealer. Develope a list of reputable dealers and check them frequently for items that you have on your "I want some day" list. Right now KEH has some CLEs listed.
 
That price was no steal, so the good thing with ebay (and RFF) is that there will be another one coming sooner rather than later. And just what does EX mean? A lot of different things to a lot of different ebay sellers. Patience is the word, as is restraint when bidding over there. Don't obsess over something "lost" that you never had. Take a deep breath and keep looking.

Also- eSnipe has worked for me many times. 😉
 
Just bid $800

Just bid $800

Ebay will automatically bid for you. If you were willing to pay $800, just bid $800 and watch and wait. If last minute bidding is your preference, use esnipe or one of the dozens of other auto-bid tools.

gilpen123 said:
Well I was prepared to slug it up until I reach my max $ 800, yeah maybe I should have placed my bid which I am willing to pay for. But on the other hand it's the excitement of bidding and winning that drives people to auctions. Anyway, I never won a bid in ebay yet maybe because the items I'm looking for are sought after cams. I'll be smarter next time but it will be easier if someone here has a CLE with 40 2.0 up for sale .....
Click to expand...
 
One other thing to think about is to not use round numbers in your bids. Rather than $500 do $502.25. Lots of people pick round numbers to end their bidding and this has sometimes protected me from sniping. It's hard to say which trick is going to work at what time.

The CLE is an attractive little lynx. While the 40/2 would be fun, I've used the CV 40/1.4 and been VERY happy with it. In black a worthy and faster alternative. Perhaps the new 28/2 on the wide side?

Best of luck.

B2 (;->
 
Monopix, I saw your auction. you got a good price for body only. I'm about to put mine up for sale this week simply as it hasn't seen much use of late. Shame really as it's a very nice camera and the viewfinder is very clear and easy to use. A friend of mine preferred it to the M6 finder. I'm shooting very little film lately that I'm even considering selling my Hexar Silver.
 
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