Leonides020 wrote: I will say that the reason I retracted the bid on the 77 Lot was because the seller altered the description, and I wanted to check out what he had changed and talk to him.

No what Leo...your explanation does not hold much salt.  This is for several reasons (see the pasting from the actual auction page for correlation below):

1. I had bid on June 1.  You bid on  4.  You retracted on June 5.  Then turned around and sniped the auction on June 8 (by the by...I fully condone sniping..just not if you bid/retracted to find out the high and max bids/sniped).

2.  Your retraction states "Entered wrong bid amount ".  Sorry, but one of the explanation states something like "seller changed listing".

3. And most importantly:  The seller revised the listing on June 1 and according to the seller's page editted the title/subtitle!!!!  What did the seller say he/she changed by the way?

Date of Bid Bid Amount User ID
Jun-08-04 10:46:54 PDT  US $1,338.13  leonides020( 42)  
Jun-01-04 19:33:21 PDT  US $1,313.13  morgansurname( 634)  
Jun-02-04 16:31:40 PDT  US $1,069.99  ihugtrees( 4 )  
Jun-02-04 16:28:52 PDT  US $1,011.00  ihugtrees( 4 )  

Bidders: You can retract your bid under certain circumstances only.
Sellers: See how to cancel bids if you need to.  



Bid retraction and cancellation history  
Date of Bid and Retraction Action / Explanation User ID
Bid: Jun-04-04 19:37:16 PDT
Retraction: Jun-05-04 11:44:16 PDT  Retraction: US $1,338.13
Explanation: Entered wrong bid amount  leonides020( 42)

You guys are very paranoid! Ah, well. Obviously there is little I can do to appease your thirst for blood.  

Leonides020 wrote:You guys are very paranoid! Ah, well. Obviously there is little I can do to appease your thirst for blood.  

Have it your way. I don't appreciate the way you handled my auctions. Let's see what eBay thinks of it.  

You know, I think I might have to revise my opinion. The appeal is to get the collection in one fell swoop. Personally I'd prefer that, but you do have a point, most of the items there can be had for less than the $18 each figure.

I knew I liked you for a reason. Hey those 5 MERPS I got with Tammie were gem mint. What a streak. Angmar, Umbar, Ardor, North Mirk and another, can't remember the name.

1.  Re: Leo
The interaction that I had with him showed great quality, desire to do the right thing, and courtesy.  In the end, we came to a mutual agreement and compromise.  Although I at first was skeptical, I accepted his explanation in earnest, until the post from zander.  That made me question the possiblity that he was a shady character.  Still, I have not reported him to Ebay.  Given the above recent post, I will watch his activity with interest.  By the way...last night he had only 5 retractions, including the one for the lot...today he has nine.  Are the other four all from zander?  Are there other sellers out there that feel cheated?

2.  Re: myalbinogorilla
Having spoken/written to you before, I know you to be fair and honest.  I give your advice much weight.  

3.  Re:  Deadlord
You still have not sited your sources.  So far as the Ents go, it had gone for $20 on average (this you can verify on Mike C.'s site) until the Two Towers opened.  It has gone for $30 on average since.  That is what I start all of my Ents at...$30...not your quote.  The BIN is a different story.  If I have changed things much, I cannot say.  But know that other than in lots, I have not been the high bidder on many of this particular title.  So far as Ardor and Umbar, they respectively sold on average for $125 and $100 before the movies were released.  They had sold for as much as $350 and $200 before then as well.  This is also much before I began my buying for my personal use and way before I started selling.  I have noted that their value is dwindling as I have been the high bidder for perhaps a dozen Umbars and five Ardors this year.  But before that, I could not touch them.  They are known to be the rarest of MERP titles and even scarce with the maps....I wonder why so many have surfaced lately however....

Re: MERP....

I really think that this particular thread is going the wrong way.  Mostly the fault is my own.  Frank...I will start a new thread regarding MERP (even though I know this site to be a D&D site...but where else is there?).
Care to cross words/ideas/numbers?

Two of the retractions were on my auctions. I wouldn't have minded had he been honest, which I don't feel he was.

I'm always up for seeing someone win a major haul, and that $1.4K MERP lot fits the description. I would have been happy to support his quest and wouldn't have minded the retractions - had he just explained it to me. But he didn't, and that bugged me.

And the "youthful exuberance" he showed on here didn't help either. Sorry Leo, but next time, don't p*ss in someone's face and tell them it's raining...

Wow, 6 of us on at the same time. Prolly a record for a non-special event night.
I don't deal merely in statistics when I decide on a price. Demand and prior pricing is all fine and dandy, but I also factor in useability, desireability and resale value. That applies to ALL RPG items I deal with. I've never to my knowledge overcharged someone for any item I sold/traded. If I was to sell my Ardor, I'd ask $80 or so. And it is MINT. I'm not interested in putting the screws to some poor working slob who collects and uses RPG stuff just to add a few bucks to my wallet. We work to earn money to support our collecting.
That does not mean that if you realize a profit from selling something, that it is a crime. It's the market manipulation and denial of items to the common market that is an issue.
I believe that if you look at auctions where you were not a bidder, you'll see that the average price for Fangorn is...........$17 or so. MERP items are just not that rare, with some exceptions. They do not deserve to command $40 each, they are far too common for that. Just because a few individuals HAVE to have an item does not mean it's value is what they are willing to pay, it means they are fucking idiots. You see it all the time, people buying A series modules for $30 each, etc. It does NOT mean that A1 is worth $30.

So should we all do a group hug now?


(Somehow I think this group is more the circle jerk type!)