Sellers market my ass. I never get nearly as much for stuff I see go for a ton all the time.

Example:
I just sold this:
https://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...MESO:IT&ih=015

and this sold a day or two before:
https://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...MEWA:IT&ih=011

Mine is clearly earlier and significantly rarer than the later auction. What happened?

The tummy time mat and sassy sleep system helped drive the price up on the other one!

I think the cage looks bent in one of your pics...probably just an optical illusion, but it could have scared off prospective buyers.

Even still, I'm surprised none of the japanese collectors showed interest, given how unusual that derailleur is. Maybe you would have had more luck in the vintage section?

Your text is too small (hard to read), and you live in Canada. Sometimes stuff gets here quick from Canada, often it doesn't and people don't want to wait.

I think that the other guy's part looked less used and shinier than your photos. And the "surgical field" magnification photos probably hurt rather than help. I like to see closeups myself, and I like candid descriptions too, but it's easy to lapse into dwelling on the negative, with both.

Use "Buy it Now" or fixed price. It's easy to find closing prices on Campy stuff (like the one you're crying over). Be a man, price it, and sell it.

If it's not total unobtanium, or something that never comes up, why bother with an auction?

i agree, it very well could have been the canada thing. if the bidders were in the US anyway. i have ordered from Canada and it has taken forever. almost a month to get one of my custom knives.

that's odd every time I ship to the US it take less than a week. Thanks for the points. I had a buy it now option but also had a starting price, next time it'll just be BIN. I really haven't sold that much but I have noticed my auctions have done very poorly. Just trying to figure it out.

His auction is labeled incorrectly. It's not a NR, it's a record, which all have the chrome arm. I just sold 2 like it both with the same chrome arms.

They come up pretty infrequently actually. I am just asking for advice and opinions so I can see what I have done wrong. You are less than helpful.

Americans are wary of bidding on Canadian auctions as they fear fraud and/or customs duties/tariffs. Also, anytime I have bought something on eBay from an American seller, I get the vibe that it is a hassle for them to fill out the extra documents.

Agree that Vintage Parts would have been a better category. A 1963 version of the Nuovo Record FD sold for $114 on 8-08. Got 13 bids from 6 bidders, two were Japanese.

try being a canadian buying from the States...we get nailed with insane shipping costs, dutues and "broker" fees.

I ordered a louver set for my RX7, and it just happened to come from Canada. To get it to my door cost $330, from a selling price of $240. It also took a MONTH to get here. It was hideous and I wanted to return it. I would get back $160 after all the brokerage fees and a 25% restocking fee. Never again. No more Canada, for ebay or anything else. Do I sound bitter? It's because I am.....,,,,BD

How big of a hassle is it for you to cross the border into the US? If it's a routine and hassle free operation, perhaps you could mail to the U.S. from in the U.S. and state that in your auction. I don't know what to tell you beyond that.

Personally, it seems like the other fellow was getting way more than what I would have expected, whereas, yours seemed more in line with my cheapskate expectations.

I had a Canadian seller give me the option of him sending it from Canada which would take about 3 weeks, or wait for him to cross into the US the next week and mail it from there. I told him to mail it from the US. Well, it ended up taking him 2 weeks to get to the US so it still took 3 weeks to get the item... a non-essential catalog fortunately.

I think I would have included in the auction title that it had the integral cable housing stop. That seems to be the feature that is most desired, and boosts the price. I think that would have caught more eyes.

I bought something similar to this for small parts I auction on ebay.

https://item.express.ebay.com/Cameras...mdZExpressItem

It makes a HUGE difference in the quality of the photo. Your photo's were a bit dark and out of focus. Also your description was very "utilatarian" while it may not be your personality, you have to "hype" your auction a bit. Certainly nothing untrue but you have to think as a buyer would when you write your description. "What would make me buy this?"

I would also remove the personal description stuff. It only makes you seem less established as an ebay participant.

I had 2 sets of Shimano 600 cranks (Grey, 80's style) both were in very good shape and both were auctioned at the same time. The set that I took photo's of in the light box/diffuser(?) iot double the money for the same item. It makes that much of a difference. Also you type font is too small. The Canada shipping issue should be addressed up front in your description and what your "solution" is to the "problem." Even if there is no problem, buyers feel better knowing there are no variables or at least they have been disclosed.

post a flat shipping to the US up front or many will never bid...

^
+1

I also wish to add that the chrome on the outer cage plate on yours looks quite poor in comparison to most of the NRs or Records I've seen - looks like someone went over it with fine sandpaper - about the same finish of a Nuovo Gran Sport.

For that matter, the cage-wear photo is also a turn-off. Doesn't look good, and is also evident that the bike was ridden in small/small quite a bit - only way you can get outer cage plate wear.

Slightly smaller photos in better focus (and in a better order) would have improved things. Giving the main aluminum body a good polishing would have been sound advice for both your derailer and the auction preceding it - one can get a pretty nice shine out of these things.

That said, you got a pretty damn good price for a derailer that's 45+ years old. Could have just as well been worth nothing if there wasn't a collector's market. Don't be so all-fired greedy for profits, or you'll become just as bad as the Numbskullers Of The Day.

-Kurt

I prefer smaller, un-ornate font type. True, I have no problems reading small print just yet, but I am personally put off by bold 24pt font. It's actually harder to read.

As for microscopic photos: I do that, too. I'd rather be upfront about the blemishes than hear about it later. True, I've seen similar items go for more because the photos are softened or less detailed, but I wonder what kind of hassle that seller had to deal with after the auction.

Anyway, I'd just chalk it up to ebay's unpredictability. Sell it on the CR list. I've seen stuff listed there for prices that seem ridiculous to me (yes, I'm cheap), but they seem to sell. That said, $55 doesn't seem such a bad profit for that dérailleur to me!

Or, here's the website of a LBS with lots of vintage parts. Personally, I'd have trouble paying these prices. But the owner of the shop told me he had been burned enough times on ebay that he'd rather list it on his website and wait for people to come to him - and he claims they do.

https://www.thebikestand.com/vint.html

P.S. Great guy and a great shop, by the way. He's the only shop in Northern NJ I could find that has the equipment to align, respace, etc. steel frames.

ebay is just a strange place. Sometimes I miss out on something I want because the price goes too high, and the next week there's a better one that goes for half the previous sale. I've learned to just wait it out, another will appear.

I'm glad I started this thread I ha no idea listing in vintage parts would make such a big different. Live and learn I guess. I did put some metal polish to the derailleur but I guess I could have got out the dremel too. My pictured do suck. That box idea looks great fender 1. I think a tripod will help me take better photos and I am getting 1. That said I didn't lose any money on these I was just disappointed ad my final price was far below what I typically see. Thanks all.

Well it's also the environment- ebay is not a very efficient marketplace, well in my opinion. Playing the pure "compare prices" game can get out of whack because ebay is so large and complex. The many categories make it so that one vintage part might find great exposure, while another gets little simply because the search engine or category parameters may overlook it. The prices would then be quite different, even assuming the parts were the same. I will also add on a personal note that the newer search functions on ebay seem to have actually made this somewhat more of a pain. That is just personal experience though.

What? You talking 'bout Willis?