auctions on ebay make me angry!!!

[blobbottlebob]

Hey Angie,
You can give up on ebay but you can also get luckier and better at it as you learn from experience. It doesn't hurt to bid and lose (except that it is frustrating). I think it really does help to have a feel for what a bottle is worth. Some rare bottles will be hard to get cheaply unless you get lucky. Other more common bottles, you risk paying too much - if you're in a bidding war. I think setting limits as to what you will pay is a great idea.

I also think that what potstone said was very true. You almost always get another chance. I had a seller tell me (face to face) that I could buy a bottle from him for $300. He said I would never see another. I think I offered $200. (And I thought I was maxing out what I would pay at that!) Two weeks later, I bought a better example off ebay for $33!

 

[Lordbud]

If you're interested in Bay Area bottles there are numerous examples to choose from. You could collect San Francisco druggists and never run out of variants in size, color, embossing configurations, then add dose glasses and citrates. Or if you're from the South Bay, San Jose druggists are mostly rated as common and can be had for affordable prices in most cases.

If sodas are your thing there are many tooled crown top sodas with embossing from Oakland, Alameda, S.F. and south along the peninsula where many towns had their own soda works around the Turn of the Century up through the teens into the early 1920s.

See these threads for some ideas of the SF Bay Area sodas/druggists that are out there to be collected or selected (with pictures included):

Blobs:
https://www.antique-bottles.net/forum/m-228907/mpage-1/key-/tm.htm#228907

S.F.&Oakland druggists:
https://www.antique-bottles.net/forum/m-218640/mpage-1/key-/tm.htm#218640

Peninsula tooled crowntop sodas:
https://www.antique-bottles.net/forum/m-214059/mpage-1/key-/tm.htm#214059

 

[westernglassaddict]

Hey all,

I have attempted to create an alternative to ebay, and have combined the aspects of an auction, and a fixed price site. I have bought and sold on ebay for years, and have become increasingly disappointed in the overall poor quality experience. The auction houses are fine, but waiting for an auction every few months is frustrating as I am impatient. Anyway, feel free to check out the website at oregontrailantiquebottles.com Long name I know, but while the site is not 100% up and running, it should be soon with a primary focus on Western bottles, but will always be open to any good stuff. Feel free to check it out, and check it often, as I will commit to updating the site frequently to keep it fresh. It is just another avenue to get your glass "fix" along with the other fine bottle sites.
Dale

 

[bikerchic]

Yes, I do know that part of my problem is that I am inexperienced. I only know what I like and not what the bottle I am looking for is worth. Especially the sqaut soda's. And at this point, I just see something and like it. It might not be rare or valuable, I just like it. I can go into an antique store here and find plenty of interesting "cheap" bottles, it's just not what I want to be serious about collecting. I have some inexpensive interesting bottles that I like alot. I like the colors and crudeness of a bottle. I don't need it to cost alot, it just so happens that what I like does seem to cost alot. [] I don't mind paying what something is worth if I knew what that worth was. I don't feel like I can always trust an ebay seller. Oh another thing, It's getting cold here, so yard sales are pretty much over for the season. []

 

[blobbottlebob]

Hey Angie. It might not be a bad idea to bounce an auction off of us. I am not an expert on San Fran bottles, but I'm sure we have some on here that could say (for example) "That bottle is worth about fifty bucks with shipping". Might be good to know but you'd also have to have at least a few days remaining to get the info in time to bid.

The thing about ebay (I'm sure you've figured out) is that it takes two bidders to drive a price up. If you bid $1,000 on an item with a $10.00 starting bid, and no-one else bids, you get it for $10. If someone bids $100, it sells for the $100 plus the bidding increment - $105. Not until someone bids more than $1,000 do you lose the auction.

 

[bikerchic]

Here's one. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190344637173&_trkparms=tab%3DWatching
Here's another I like hutches too. [] ]http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190344641537&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

 

[PoisonIvy]

ORIGINAL: cyberdigger

as an alternative, I recommend going to weekend flea markets and see who has what.. it's hit or miss, but the negotiating usually works in the buyer's favor.. plus you get to hold it in your hands before you buy it.. good luck in your acquisitions!!

Excellent recommendation! Thanks!

 

[Plumbata]

I snipe auctions, largely because one has to do so in order to counteract other snipers. That is the way the game is played, sadly.

Psychologically, I would imagine that sniping keeps the "excitement" level down in an auction. When not much superficial interest is displayed in an auction for an item, the current high bidder might not place the highest bid possible because they do not see the competition and are not aware that others are interested. Everyone wants a good deal. When you have several interested parties who all are aware of the presence of each other, each of them will be more willing to pay more for the item in order to own it than they would if they were not aware of any competition. It's like a neglected toy on the ground that isn't interesting to the toddlers until they see one of their rank pick it up and start playing with it.

My latest bottle win, a rare SS coke from Peoria, was had for less than 24 bucks. I was the high bidder at 9.99 for days, then placed a 56 dollar bid with around 10 seconds to go. At 4 seconds, someone bumped it up to the final price, but it still went dirt cheap. They probably figured that I had only placed the opening bid (which I did at first) but if they had known that I bid more they may have adjusted their second bid accordingly. People will never stop sniping, so in this case, as much as I hate saying it, you need to jump the bandwagon and fight other bidders with their own weapons if you want to compete.

Another tactic I use (which may seem to contradict sniping, but doesn't) is the securing of the maximum bid, then placing another bid on top of it well before the auction ends. If people check the bidding history and see that someone has upped their maximum bid while they are still the high bidder, they may get discouraged and not even bother with placing a bid at all. I have seen some great items sell for relatively low prices to high bidders who had 2 bids both higher than the final price. The difference may only be a few bucks, or it may be huge, and that uncertainty helps deter hopeful bidders from even trying. If they do, and they become the high bidder, they must truly want it because it is likely that they will be paying a lot for it. I have seen people who place 4 or 5 bids, but when that happens you can tell they are just playing games.

These tactics are in no way set-in-stone, and they should only be used when appropriate. Ya gotta go by feel and develop a sense for how certain auctions will unfold.

 

[GuntherHess]

oregontrailantiquebottles.com

here is a link to make things easier...
http://oregontrailantiquebottles.com/

I hope to see some medicines there sometime. Looks like a promising site.

 

[glass man]

I HAVE BEEN SHOCKED WHEN I HAVE WON SOMETHING!
I DON'T KNOW IF IT IS STILL LIKE THIS,BUT GLASS WORKS AUCTIONS WERE JUST AS BAD.

I HAD A MINT RARE CLEAR DR.? ]LONG AGO CAN'T REMEMBER] SARSAPPRILLA THAT WAS FROM JACOB'S PHARMACY WHERE COKE WAS FIRST SOLD! I WAS WINNING THE BOTTLE AT $190 FOR THE TIME I BID [A WEEK LEFT IN AUCTION] TILL 11:30 THE NIGHT IT ENDED AT 12:OO. I TRIED TO PHONE [DID NOT HAVE A POOTER THEN] FROM 11:30 TO 12:00,BUT REALLY THOUGHT I HAD IT IN THE BAG AS IT SEEMED NO ONE ELSE WANTED IT MORE THEN MY BID.
TO MY SHOCK SOMEBODY HAD GOTTEN THROUGH AND OUTBID ME![]
SAW ONE OF THESE BOTTLES AT THE ATLANTA BOTTLE SHOW AND IT WAS FOR SALE. I FOUND OUT THIS WAS THE PERSON THAT HAD OUT BID ME! HE ASKED DID I WANT TO LOOK AT IT [HE HAD IT IN A CASE!] I JUST SAID NO . DIDN'T HAVE THE HEART TO SEE WHAT PRICE HE HAD ON IT.[&o] BUT HEY THAT'S THE WAY THE BOTTLE TUMBLES![&:] JAMIE