Friday, May 01, 2009

Return to Recent eBay Losses...

YOUNG SAVAGES GARAGE 45 ON DYNAMIC SOUNDS 2006! HEAR IT
Your max bid: $37.77
# of bids: 8
Ending price: $38.77

Never underestimate the power of a soundclip in an auction. I've put so many uninspired, runner-up bids on rerun45's auctions after hearing soundclips that I feel like he owes me money. No regrets on losing this one.


Garage - The Driving Stupid -"Horror Asparagus Stories"
Your max bid: $67.77
# of bids: 33
Ending price: $67.97

Hipped to this by the Horrors fanzine of the same name. How it never made it to a Back from the Grave comp I'll never know. And this was just for the one-sided promo version? Serial eBay overpricer craigmoerer has the stock issue available as a $175 Buy-It-Now which is absurd, although I still desperately want this gem.


1960s Garage 45 ASCOTS Who Will It Be? FRAT B.F.T.G.
(Reserve Not Met)
Your max bid: $466.66
# of bids: 6
Ending price: $360.00

Next to Lee Marvin Computer Arm, the only other respectable thing to ever come out of Waterford, Michigan is the Ascots. Perpetually available in Barry Wickham's mail auctions for the convenient price of $998, the quantity find of mint, unplayed copies has killed the value of this record. I was hoping to cash in and my max for this VG++ copy was more than $100 over what anyone else wanted to pay for it. Emailed and asked what his reserve was and if he wanted to sell outside of eBay. No response.


Woven Bones Hozac Hookup Club Black Lips Blank Dogs
Your max bid: $8.87
# of bids: 13
Ending price: $51.00

I'd heard a track on their Myspace that I dug and thought I might be able to get this easy. I was wrong. Is this absurd for a record that was just released this year? For a band that's not even that well-known?


Idle Times Hozac Hookup Club Black Lips Blank Dogs
Your max bid: $7.77
# of bids: 10
Ending price: $26.00

I clearly should have joined the Hozac Hookup Club when I had the chance. Not one to sleep on singles club invites, when Hozac sent the list of upcoming artists for this, I recognized not one that I had to have. In the interim, I've found out about 3 (so far) that I'm bummed I didn't jump on.


Dutchess and Duke Hozac Gold 69/150 Tyvek Black Lips
Your max bid: $29.99
# of bids: 10
Ending price: $30.00

Got screwed out of a gold version of this because I'd failed to include what record I wanted with my paypal payment to Hozac. Even more reason for the standardization of Paypal shopping carts the internet over. I'm totally smitten with this band and otherwise would feel no compunction in paying this much just for color vinyl and derivative artwork.


CLIX RECORDS STORY 31-cut CD Michigan rockabilly label
Your max bid: $13.33
# of bids: 3
Ending price: $13.83

A rockabilly label from Troy, Michigan? Sure, I'll bite. Got a copy for my bid price when the seller relisted. Have yet to listen to. Artwork is shoddy and liner notes nil. A bootleg.


A NUMBER OF NAMES Skitso/Sharevari QUALITY/RFC 12"
Your max bid: $33.33
# of bids: 11
Ending price: $52.00

The only place to find A Number of Names classic "Skitso" is on the Canadian release of their seminal "Sharevari" single. I'd plunked down a C-note on an original Capriccio 12" in post-fire retail therapy but am now terribly anxious to actually hear what I believe to be their only other song.


MAJESTICS Class A ULTRA RARE DISCO/FUNK/RAP 45 mp3
Your max bid: $111.11
# of bids: 13
Ending price: $393.00

Bid because I was erroneously told it was a Detroit record. Turned out to be from Milwaukee and my interest plummetted. A peculiar record in that it's sought after by modern soul collectors for the A-side and early rap collectors for it's B-side.


BLUE HAZE W/BIG Z KILLER MICHIGAN GARAGE INSTRO 45!
Your max bid: $44.44
# of bids: 6
Ending price: $77.88

Another case of rerun45 enchanting me with Michigan 7"s with soundclips. I've probably spent more money with this seller (through both eBay and record fairs) than any other in my life. He consistently turns up great shit and I've been known to pay top dollar for...uh, shit?


BMW - ROCK THE HOUSE DETROIT BLUE ROSE RAP 12" HEAR
Your max bid: $202.22
# of bids: 8
Ending price: $204.72

Have you noticed how often I'm the second highest bidder in these auctions? Too often. It's way better to lose by a mile than by a hair. I guess now I can let the cat out of the bag and say that I think the Blue Rose label is the genesis of the rap scene in Detroit. I was hoping I was the only one hip to this stuff, but obviously there's people as equally enamored as I am. Bid on this was overcompensating for losing the 12" below.


BMW - CHILLIN DETROIT RAP ON BLUE ROSE RARE 12" HEAR
Your max bid: $333.33
# of bids: 11
Ending price: $338.33

Both of these BMW 12"s were sold by a record store in Detroit that I frequent and frequently ask them to hit me up if Blue Rose/weird Detroit rap comes in. They put them up on eBay. I can't say that I'm mad, they clearly got a buttload of dough for them. But I can point to this as a reason that record stores are dying. No, it's not putting records for auction online (that's one of the few lifebloods still flowing). It's lack of connection with customers. Had the seller contacted me (and yes, they have my info) and asked for $500 for both of these 12"s, I most likely would have taken that offer. And granted, it brings into the equation all kinds of unpredictable variables that can only really be determined once the record is listed (or as the seller said to me "rolling the dice"). Here the human-to-human interaction level is removed and the possibility of finding sweet-ass records at physical stores diminishes, to the point where I will soon not bother going into their storefront and instead merely peruse their auction list. While this is great for the worldwide record collectorate, it does not endear yourself to hometown customers. All that being said, I'm still aching copies for these two BMW 12"s and the Breeze 7" on Blue Rose. Will pay or trade handsomely. Please.


MUDHONEY Street Waves 7" '08 RARE #13/79 SUB POP Punk
Your max bid: $33.33
# of bids: 12
Ending price: $129.50

One of the few bands who I have damn-near everything they've ever done on vinyl. The sleeve enticed me and I thought I'd get it cheap, but I underestimated the dormant Mud collectors out there. I don't even think I've got the non-sleeve version of this 7". I'm slacking in my old age.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

nice to see you back and in business.

Laurie said...

Yikes. A trail of tears! Hope you've also had some successful transactions lately, too.
cheers,
Laurie