Very strange ebay bid

[Hien]

Has any of you seen the bid for a dark paph hybrid on ebay recently?
I was stunned to see the result.
The paph on auction is from Angel street, on their website, I believe it is quote as 14.50.
The winning bid is actually many times that price for exact the same plant. I wonder what the bidder actually think?

What I try to understand is, why the bidder did not order 4 or 5 plants straight from the nursery using the winning bid amount that he/she pays for the ebay plant?

 

[PHRAG]

Do you mean this one?

http://cgi.ebay.com/PAPH-CHARLESWOR...8QQihZ003QQcategoryZ42218QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I find it kind of humorous that they overpaid for an overbred, dog of an orchid.

 

[Hien]

Do you mean this one?

http://cgi.ebay.com/PAPH-CHARLESWOR...8QQihZ003QQcategoryZ42218QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I find it kind of humorous that they overpaid for an overbred, dog of an orchid.

Yes, exact one, thanks

 

[PHRAG]

=

 

[bwester]

man... screw you guys, i bought it

 

[PHRAG]

man... screw you guys, i bought it

I hope it keeps you warm at night. Just put a bag over the bloom and you'll do fine.

 

[bwester]

come on man, think I'd actually buy that??

 

[NYEric]

Answer: Because they didn't check w/ Slippertalk!

 

[Candace]

Sad, the person obviously doesn't know how to google and maybe can just get by with e-mail and ebay. My mother is very dangerous with ebay and I'm sure overpays ALOT. Not to generalize, but I think older people with little computer skills are probably the ones who overbid the most.

 

[Ron-NY]

the person who purchased it doesn't have much ebay buying experience...looks like this is their 6th purchase.

 

[the jive turkey]

hmmm...maybe all those people are BILLIONAIREShmmm...I wonder..

moving on..can someone with business savvy explain to me how do those sellers who ask for .99 or 1.99 orchids make money? I would think if they had one or two shipping accidents that would blow their profit or do they count on "winners" like these to average out.

 

[Marco]

shipping is like 50 dollars for a .99 cent plant

 

[the jive turkey]

no way man

http://cgi.ebay.com/L404-Orchid-Pla...6QQihZ010QQcategoryZ42218QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Current bid: US $0.99
End time: 9 mins 15 secs (May-14-07 21:11:09 PDT)
Shipping costs: US $6.50 (discount available)
Item location: Florida, United States

http://cgi.ebay.com/Orchid-Epi-elip...9QQihZ008QQcategoryZ42218QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Shipping and handling will be actual shipping + $1.50 and I can only ship to the mainland US. I do combine shipping.

 

[Candace]

I think most of these sellers plan on the plant not going for the starting bid. I'm sure a few people luck out and get it for .99, but I would think most of these auctions get bid up. Most of the auctions that start off that low are like how Marco described. Very high shipping. Of course these selling tactics may have to change now that ebay has revamped its feedback program.

 

[Hien]

no way man

http://cgi.ebay.com/L404-Orchid-Pla...6QQihZ010QQcategoryZ42218QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


http://cgi.ebay.com/Orchid-Epi-elip...9QQihZ008QQcategoryZ42218QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Now, that is the reverse of fortune, How does anybody make a living sell something at a loss.

 

[Marco]

not an orchid but heres an example

http://cgi.ebay.com/Rurouni-KENSHIN...818QQihZ019QQcategoryZ617QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

25 bucks for shipping for 3 dvd cases. i bought this from this vendor....75 bucks honestly is a steal compared to amazon for $125.00. but seriously now....25 bucks shipping for 3 dvd cases??why dont they just put the price of the dvd as $70 and shipping for 5..from a marketing perspective i can understand why...they can go catch the impulse buyer who doesnt fully read the auction and are to lazy to look elsewhere (people like me)...but still its shady as hell

 

[Candace]

Marco, sellers are charged a fee based on the starting price(insertion) of the auction. And then later a percentage of the final price. So, it's cheaper for the seller to start the price very low and end low. And then jack up the shipping, since ebay doesn't get any percentage of that. I believe this is why ebay has changed its feedback policy for users to be able to rate sellers on actual shipping costs. Ebay doesn't like this practice as they are losing money. It does make sense why sellers do it.

 

[littlefrog]

Of course my shipping costs just went through the roof with the new USPS rate increase... Not that I sell on Ebay (maybe someday).

The worst part of the rate increase is this stupid 'dimensional weight' charge (or whatever it is called), where they take your arm in exchange for mailing a box bigger than 1 cubic foot. I still have my arm, but I had to shove a plant in a box far to small for it today. And even then it cost two bucks more than usual. I have a lot of big plants, but I don't know if I can afford to sell them now. Guess I'll have to sell miniatures...

I predict a lot of people complaining about shipping costs on Ebay in the next few months as the fecal output moves in the gravity assisted path of least resistance. In other words, this USPS &!$% is going to move downhill to the customers, and quickly. Sucks big time.

I feel much better now.

 

[gonewild]

hmmm...
moving on..can someone with business savvy explain to me how do those sellers who ask for .99 or 1.99 orchids make money? I would think if they had one or two shipping accidents that would blow their profit or do they count on "winners" like these to average out.

The profit comes from volume sales. Not quality. The plants they sell are small and probably only 6 months out of flask?

In theory....
2" pot = 25 pots per square foot of greenhouse.
25 pots x $0.50@ = $12.50 per square foot of greenhouse space.
Turnover 2 crops per year = $25.00 per square foot of greenhouse space.
$25.00 x 43560 square feet (1 acre) = $1,089,000.00 gross per year.

If they make a profit of only 1 cent per pot (plant) that equals $21,780.00

 

[Candace]

What I would do with an acre of greenhouse space...:drool:

Littlefrog, I'm dreading the next visit to the P.O. Not only for the price increase, but the long lines due to everyone not having any idea what costs what now. I wonder if the pre-paid postage boxes available from the USPS site would be worth considering?