Hello Gepetto
No, the Ebay Seller I am referring to is one of my followers and was certainly impressed by the unexpectedly high final price of 350.00 pounds of my auction "a perfect Sunday out in the Costwolds" to suddenly raise the game to much higher stakes.
It did not work according to plans and this artificial bidding ends up with an auction that has to be re-listed and knowing the rather limited and knowledgeable people interested in buying exceptional dioramas, her credibility will suffer accordingly.
It is easy to re-list a ready made item, not quite so easy when it comes to a highly detailed, customized set like ours...
A Playmofriend once asked me if my auctions included everything and I replied that yes they do, down to the last accessory, working lights, flooring, vehicles, etc
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But in order to appeal to a maximum of Buyers, I always put my starting bid at 3.99 and I often see in the bids of less than 40 pounds Parents trying to get a customized set for their children and then it takes off when the Collectors are putting their bid but never up to silly prices and one must respect the market demand, especially in recession times like ours.
Putting a buy it now option of 400.00 + pounds is a lunacy and shows clear intention of treating the Buyers like the cash cows that they are not
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I strongly believe that Sellers like Emma.j and myself are genuinely putting our heart in what we are creating and somehow the people acknowledge our effort to create a diorama as achieved and poetic as possible.
I wish I could inspire other Sellers to enjoy themselves more while creating a diorama and then leave the auction to its own chance as this is what makes Ebay so fun when the bids have started.
In my first auctions back in February, I vividly remember myself having a glass of merlot and checking the final hours of 4 of my auctions ending over a one hour period, and I nearly fell off my chair when I saw the bids raising and raising, but it was then and I never expected these auctions to do so well. I first and foremost create a diorama for my pleasure going through hours and hours of researching the perfect accessory to compliment the Playmobil Victorian Set, the flooring, the working lights, and then go through the process of trying endlessly to find the perfect lighting for pictures always keeping in mind the fun and poetic character - as it ultimately relates to our youth - of our little Friends. The final stage being a fun introduction story that adds to the poetic touch, always with the Victorian Society on my mind.
Fun is what it is all about
!!!
Karim
