And the winner for the totally moron category. The envelope please...

[Dave]

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=862511419

[reidc]

GEEZ-

Is the product really worth that or is he making MyMusicRip look like a bargain? I can't vouch for his product, price, or service, but I know he has been buying and selling MFSL/DCC product for years in some of the usenet newsgroups. Do a Google search and you'll see.


Chris

[Dave]

Chris,

Yeah I've seen this seller for over a year on ebay. How many dead auctions does this guy have to have before he realizes that his prices are outta this world, or maybe he just preys on the uninformed.

[Sckott]

Jimminey Crickets! Why does my butt ache just looking at this? Ow ow oww.

[Dave]

Sckott,

LOL,LOL,:D :D

You made my day man!;)

[ED in NY]

I dunno Sckott...what are you doing while you're reading this thread ?

-ED

[Sckott]

Hehe, Trying NOT to sit down as much. Also, making sure my wallet's still there.

Ya know, the 24-Bit disc is wonderful also. Not to mention, I'd rather have Steve's disc....but ow oww owww.

[teaser5]

Our seller in this case is Scott Taylor who is a good chap.
However the observation that his stock is somewhat stale and that many
of his auctions are over-priced and end without a bidder is accurate I'm afraid.

Peace,
Norm

[KLM]

I agree, it's just blows me away to see all the auctions that close without any bidders because the starting bid/reserve price is just too high. Wouldn't you think some people would do their homework and at least look at the completed auction prices for these items.

I guess if they list the product 5 times at a ridiculous price and eventually someone buys it, then it's worth the ebay fees and all of relisting it. I just don't see anyone spending this type of money but I guess stranger things have happened.

I've done a search and found some really outrageous prices from people (like mymusicfix.com) on and off ebay selling DCC/MFSL stuff. Are they crazy or are we missing something?

[Sckott]

It's also a big fact that you're reaming other people fairly hard on the price, and a possible $100-$200 profit per week won't make you rich. Then, take all the crap from eBay users not happy, non-return customers, eBay fees and maybe an occasional "hard" complaint, so you have to login to eBay as yet ANOTHER name.

It just ain't worth it. Sell things honestly, people will reciprocate and you won't look like a dork. The other option doesn't leave much to build a career/relationship with people. Hey, am *I* missing something??

The Ella disc is amazing (I don't have the DCC), and this seller isn't an icehole. He's sold quite a few auctions fairly well.

[teaser5]

You are on the money re: Mymusicfix. Again, nice folks and all but...
They sell that 8 LP Hendrix box for at least twenty bucks more than Red Trumpet.
Let the buyer (or high bidder) beware

Peace,
Norm

[Todd Fredericks]

I'm not crazy about these prices too. I saw this title at a store a few months ago for retail price (I didn't get it but maybe one day). At least the person retracted his bid. Prices like these are silly. I just keep my eyes open when I go shopping and pick up things if I have the money.

Todd

[Ronflugelguy]

Try the email that came from Acoustic Sounds today. A mint- MOFI lp collection which would lift anyone's wallet out fo thier pocket and leave them living on the street! I know its a business, but I think those are drug dealer prices!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!BOO HISS!!!!!!!!!!:mad:

[Gary]

Still, I remember one that was worse.

Alan Parsons, I Robot, MFSL, used. The opening bid was $500.00 US. That's five hundred USA dollars. He never sold it..... :p

Ahhhhwell, there's one born every minute, huh? :rolleyes:

[reidc]

What about the guy peddling Seventh Sojourn MFSL and Tour T Shirt of the Moodies for $150!

Claims his Grandson opened the CD(previously sealed), so the CD is unplayed- not even used by a little 'ole lady to Church on Sunday!

The last Tour T-Shirt I bought was the nicest Beach Boys(tie- dyed with a Woody) for $30 on their last tour(how many years since Carl died?).

I might offer half!

[dwmann]

The Internet (especially ebay) is the worst thing that ever happened to collectors of ANYTHING, in my opinion. On the one hand, it makes it easier to find OOP items, which is a BIG plus over pre-Internet days. However, it has tended to drive prices through the ceiling, and turned collecting into a kind of russian roulette/stock market thing where:

a) items become hot and cold fairly quickly (compared to the past)
b) speculators tend to keep prices high by buying up copies that may haver sold for a much lower price if there were no speculators
c) it has become increasingly hard to find items for decent prices in normal leftover stock because resellers tend to buy up these copies fairly quickly (witness all the Music for a Song cutouts on ebay)

What happens is the same thing that happened to Elvis memorabilia after his death - there is a huge artificial demand that drives prices WAY up, and eventually those prices return to a more normal level as soon as the oh my god i've got to get one now syndrome wears down, demand begins to drop, and a lot of speculators leave the market. Leaviong a lot of collectors having paid VERY high prices for items that are then worth (comparatively) little.

I've seen this happen with Critetion collection DVDs, and it's happened to DCC and MFSL Cds. There have ALWAYS been retailers that kept stocks of OOP items that charged more than you could find them for elsewhere (Acoustic Sounds comes to mind - they've been around for YEARS), but these stores served a purpose - if you didn't have the time or inclination to hunt/wait, you knew where to go. There have always been collectors who supported their own habits by buying, selling, and trading, but they were collectors first and speculators second. We used to refer to the few that were speculators first and collectors second as "Pirates" and thought THAT was polite. Now it seems every Tom, Dick, and Jane is trying to make a buck on everything. Whereas even 5 years ago you could walk into stores and find versions of long out of print MFSL LPs (for example) just sitting in the bins because they hadn't sold, you can't do that anymore because now Tom or Dick or Jane bought them all.

A prime example of this is Criterion's Beauty and the Beast DVD, which went out of print in January. You had huge numbers of people hitting EVERY Internet outlet and EVERY store in their city buying as many copies as they could get their hands on. And bragging about it on DVD forums. "I bought TEN copies!" So just a few months later the only place to find these is ebay, at inflated prices.

Yes, prices always went up in the past, too, but far more gradually. I remember when they put out the first few music/LP price guides - I found them totally useless because I could walk into any used record store in Houston and find the same items for 1/4 of the price. Not anymore. And stores that DON't try to gouge people are wasting their time, because Tom or Dick or Jane will come in and buy the good deals and put them on ebay. Because there is always SOME IDIOT on ebay that will pay them more, if they relist the item enough times. Who in four or five years will have a CD they bought for $150 that few people want anymore.

Personally, the whole thing makes me sick. I have a complete set of the early mono Elivs RCA first pressings which I did not sell in 1977-8 when they were worth hundreds and hundreds of dollars each, and which I will still have when they are totally worthless to anyone except a few collectors who still own antique turntables. That's what collecting is about. Which is why I was so happy to find this board. At LAST, some collectors, and not a bunch of PIRATES.

[Sckott]

If it wasn't for the Internet, I would still be listening to an 80 Watt Sony reciever.

Then I met Steve Hoffman over on another audio board.

Oh, did I mention, just for the hell of it, In one year I dumped a few grand into hardware soon after? I'm a VERY happy guy. Not to mention to know his opinions on tubes and some hardeware. Incredible, intense learning experience that I was able to pass on to other people, in slight.

Goddamn that Steve Hoffman! The most expensive Internet experience ever. I hope that Sony reciever has found a good home. I'll never miss it. I would have passed by the Bob Dylan HW61 disc as well, if not knowing about it from the 'net.

The more you know, the more dangerous you become to yourself.

[dwmann]

If it wasn't for the Internet, I would still be listening to an 80 Watt Sony reciever.

I didn't mean to imply that the Internet doesn't have a lot of good points. Information-wise, it's the best thing that has ever happened. If it wasn't for the Internet, I would never have found this board, and my interaction with fellow music fanatics would be limited to those I've met in my own city, or at record conventions. I would never even have considered the possibilty of being able to ask Steve Hoffman a question, much less getting a reply. I wouldn't even have known DCC was defunct, since I recently took a five year vacation from collecting to return to school for additional higher education. I was strictly talking about how it has affected the collector's market. Because now I am madly trying to get all the DCC and MFSL titles I DIDN'T buy in the last few years before the speculators get them all. Talking about dangerous to yourself...

[Dave]

Just my 2 cents,

If it wasn't for ebay my MFSL/DCC collection sure wouldn't have been one tenth of what it is today and guaranteed I wouldn't have my prized DCC gold sampler (only 2500 ever made and never for sale;) before ebay) at least way up here anyways.

[Mike]

The same seller has this item listed for 190 at half.com. He has a bunch of DCC's listed at half.com for about that price.

Here's the funny thing. He bought a Nat King Cole Greatest Hits for either 75 or 85 on ebay last week and then turned around and listed it on ebay for 115 a few days later - it's up there now. I'm sure glad I paid 23 when I had the chance - worth every penny!

[Vivaldinization]

Originally posted by dwmann
The Internet (especially ebay) is the worst thing that ever happened to collectors of ANYTHING, in my opinion. On the one hand, it makes it easier to find OOP items, which is a BIG plus over pre-Internet days. However, it has tended to drive prices through the ceiling, and turned collecting into a kind of russian roulette/stock market thing where:
(rest of insightful post snipped)


You make a few excellent points. With regard to used CD/record stores, there are generally three categories: those who sometimes know what they have (and price accordingly), those who always do, and those who never do. Thus, in some places in Greenwich Village, you can find stores that might price up their used MoFis or something just a tad, but not too much. Then there're the ones that check price guides for EVERY bit of stock they get in, and anything worthwhile is priced up ridiculously. Then there're the ones (like the recently-defunct CD Warehouse in NY) that checked NOTHING...everything was 7.99, rare or not.

You're right that rampant speculation is a problem, but that sort of thing has ALWAYS been an issue to some degree; I guess eBay just makes it worse. That said, I occasionally indulge in this sort of activity, if only to "feed my habit;" I need to justify thsi hobby somehow! Thus, buying two copies of every Rhino Handmade release I order sounds pretty reasonable (has anybody SEEN what the first Jo Jo Gunne CD goes for on eBay now?), and hopefully my extra copy of Headquarters sessions will help me in affording something equally worthwhile.

-D

[Ronald]

If you want to look at more of this fellow's inventory cleek here: Scott Taylor (http://audiophile.freewebsites.com/goldcds.html) . Based on the prices, he doesn't seem to be a music fan. My feeling is he is out to make a few bucks by taking advantage of some people's need to fulfill out of print collections.