• Ernie Ball
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  • Sterling by MusicMan

Kristopher

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 18, 2007
Messages
751
Location
Tempe, AZ
Wow that bass looks extremely nice! I'm thinking those pics he took sure are helping this auction along.
 

mrpackerguy

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Joined
Jul 17, 2006
Messages
610
Location
Badger and Packer Country
It's prolly 2 guys who want it REALLY bad, bidding against each other. It's got a couple nice early SR features, it's mint, but it's not even 2-band. About a year ago, I almost scored a 2-band identical to that, near the same year even, for $700 off Craigslist, but seller ended up selling locally, even tho by mom n pop were going to pick it up and pay for it just like a local sale.

That is real nice, tho.
 

Moose308

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Joined
Jun 12, 2006
Messages
204
Location
British Columbia
I think the fact that the bass looks really clean and spiffy helps matters. The seller has also written a fairly clear description which does not sound like a used-car salesman. Further, he has lots of big, clear pictures for the buyer to drool over.

Compare this to the zillions of other auctions that are written in Grade 2 level english, spend most of the description ranting about dope his band is, have one or two dim, fuzzy pictures probably taken with a cellphone camera while hoping on a pogo-stick, just to show an instrument that looks like is was strored in a birdcage, I can see why peoeple a bidding on this one.
 

Aragorn35016

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Joined
Apr 3, 2004
Messages
742
Location
Arab, AL.
My gosh I want an SR4 so bad, Ive owned a bunch of sterlings and a bunch of SR5's (which I currently own one of) but believe it or not Ive never even picked up a stingray!
 

Smallmouth_Bass

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Joined
Sep 25, 2007
Messages
1,761
Location
Montreal, Canada
I remember having seen a fretless SR4 in honeyburst many many years ago locally with the most amazing birds eye figure on the neck. I wish I had gotten that one, but I wouldn't have had the money at the time (early to mid '90s).
 

Caca de Kick

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Joined
Sep 29, 2006
Messages
1,363
Location
South Seattle
Something just seems fishy about the bidders, that's all. Bidding over 2-1/2 times the going rate just seems real fishy. One with a 2eq would be harder to find.
 

MacD

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Joined
Jun 30, 2007
Messages
104
Location
Mississauga, ON Canada
I wont say whether or not I think this bass is worth that price, but the reason it's so high is due to Shill Bidding. It's obvious if you look at the bid history.

The bidder with the one feedback point, with the user name that shows as z***_ is the shill bidder. You can tell, because he kept bidding and each time he got outbid. Up until $2500. The other bidder probably has a max of $2400, or just shy of $2500. Once he stopped getting outbid by the other bidders max bid, he retracted his latest bid with the reason "Couldn't contact seller" (Why only that bid and not all your others hmmm??) Putting the other bidder back on top, at his max.

Now if that other bidder is legit, then he obviously wants it enough to bid a max of $2400, so obviously its worth that to someone. But this auction never should have gotten that high in the first place.
 

shamus63

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Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Messages
4,018
Location
San Mateo, CA
Now if that other bidder is legit, then he obviously wants it enough to bid a max of $2400, so obviously its worth that to someone. But this auction never should have gotten that high in the first place.

Perceived value, too much disposable income, and the inability to accept defeat from another bidder.

Yup.
 

MacD

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 30, 2007
Messages
104
Location
Mississauga, ON Canada
The time stamp for the all the current high bidders bids shows that he bid that high before the other guy started shilling. So it wasn't that he didn't want to accept defeat. He just bid really high, really early.

I don't know why people put such high bids so early on in an auction. If you really want it, and are willing to pay that much, then that's all well and good. But wait until the last couple of minutes, and then place a max $2400 bid. You have a better chance of winning at that point, and you may not have to pay the full $2400.
 

Baird

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Joined
Jan 18, 2007
Messages
481
Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
I just bought a 2007 LE SR today for about $1000 less than the current price of this bass. $2400 is crazy IMO. The seller got real lucky on this one!
 

oli@bass

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Joined
Jul 23, 2007
Messages
4,272
Location
Switzerland
The bidder with the one feedback point, with the user name that shows as z***_ is the shill bidder. You can tell, because he kept bidding and each time he got outbid. Up until $2500. The other bidder probably has a max of $2400, or just shy of $2500.

The bidding was automatic. g***b had the max set to 2400, and z***_ just wanted to know how far the other bidder would go. That really really sucks! What an a$$ :rolleyes:

Perceived value, too much disposable income, and the inability to accept defeat from another bidder.

Or just from another continent. All I can tell you is, that to me many standard MM instruments on US eBay would be dead cheap compared to what they go for in Europe. And even the rare ones in the US go for less than a plain average one in EU. It's amazing to see how many US sellers limit their possible revenue by not shipping overseas...
 

RobertB

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Joined
Dec 5, 2007
Messages
1,657
Location
Denver area.
Well, I guess the eventual winner flaked (big surprise, huh?). The bass was re-listed & someone snagged it for the buy-now price of $1500.00.

Edit: I might've done the same thing if I'd seen the re-list notification email earlier.

Exhibit A
 
Last edited:

silverburst

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Joined
Oct 10, 2006
Messages
1,917
Location
Long Beach, CA
Well, I guess the eventual winner flaked (big surprise, huh?). The bass was re-listed & someone snagged it for the buy-now price of $1500.00.

Edit: I might've done the same thing if I'd seen the re-list notification email earlier.

Exhibit A

It looks like the bass was bought at the $2400 and $1500 prices by the same bidder (our new member barginkov), who also bought my blueburst. Must be quite a story there.
 
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