Could be some big, cheap fun for the intrepid...

[Tubajug]

Then there's only one solution....cut it to CC!!

[roweenie]

Bidding now up to $2950.....

That, for a beat up 3 valve BB flat tuba, missing a piston.....

(scratching head.....)

[Tabor]

Holy crabs. Dollars or pesos?

[Donn]

A few bidders climbing over each other to have the "winning bid", with 4 days to go, I'd have to assume they're out of their minds.

I thought I payed kind of a lot to get a slightly beat up Holton, with working valves, after it took a tour or two on ebay where I think it got no bids. There must be some marketing strategy here we could pick up on.

[roweenie]

Something tells me the seller is probably a little surprised at that.

I knew it wouldn't last long at 500, but 3000 surprises me, and there is still 4 days left for more bids

Big, cheap fun, indeed. I lost interest when it hit $810.

I also just noticed that the bidding jumped in one bid from $800 to $2900, and that the high bidder has no eBay history....

[Ken Crawford]

And it's already overpriced... What the heck? Up to $3000 for an unplayable hulk. While about a year ago a perfectly nice 345 sat on this forums for sale section at $4500 for more than six months.

[Donn]

If a seller does this stuff and wins their own horn, where have they gotten?

If someone else tries to drive it up and their competition bows out, where have they gotten?

4 days to go. That's a loooong time for such things.

A long time, if you're a straight bidder with some common sense. For a seller juicing up the price - who knows, I don't understand very well how that works either. Online auctions are a place where guys go to do crazy stuff, though. Any time you see people making multiple bids, you know that we have a problem already - someone doesn't have his own idea of how much he's willing to pay, and he's letting the other bidder make that call. Put two of those characters together for guaranteed foolishness.

[roweenie]

Bidding "early and often" is, well, dumb.

I never could figure out the logic of this tactic. Maybe it's a way of "scaring off" or "marking your territory" against potential rivals? In any event, I don't think it works worth a damn.

I have a 1st valve for a 340 sitting here, but I have a feeling they won't want it and have other intentions for this tuba...

Assuming that the high bidder, going into the auction, already has access to a #1 piston, is a beat-up 340 even worth $3000? I don't see the alternative (pasting on a 4 valve set) as being cost effective, especially at that price....

[roweenie]

Now $3,550....

(Methinks something screwy is going on here.....)

[Donn]

ok...That does it...the BB345's are coming OUT of the attic and ON to the workbench NOW...or, at least, this winter.

Be serious, no one is going to pay a lot of money for a tuba that's all fixed up and playable.

[ajlewis3008]

if someone had a set of valves or rotors lying around, i can understand buying this, but not for $3000, you could get a used much nicer horn for the same price, i wonder why anyone would do this.

[roweenie]

if someone had a set of valves or rotors lying around, i can understand buying this, but not for $3000, you could get a used much nicer horn for the same price, i wonder why anyone would do this.

Correction - $3,550

Someone really has a Jones for it, boyo...

[Donn]

The DEA might want to have a look at what's in the package when it ships.

[Donn]

I have to admit I'm a little disappointed! After taking it all the way to $4K this morning, a**r couldn't keep up the pressure and lets a**e walk off with it. But it does sort of make you wonder, who "won" here?

[Ken Crawford]

The seller won. What a joke.

[roweenie]

$4,050 winning bid to a bidder with a zero feedback score....

It'll be entertaining to see where this might go....

[The Big Ben]

If a seller does this stuff and wins their own horn, where have they gotten?

A long time, if you're a straight bidder with some common sense. For a seller juicing up the price - who knows, I don't understand very well how that works either. Online auctions are a place where guys go to do crazy stuff, though. Any time you see people making multiple bids, you know that we have a problem already - someone doesn't have his own idea of how much he's willing to pay, and he's letting the other bidder make that call. Put two of those characters together for guaranteed foolishness.

It's like gambling at a casino. The buzz of possible victory can cloud the senses. Some just can't wait to bid on a "great deal" and throws down a bid with three days to go. It goes up and up...

If it is something I only kinda want, if the price is still cheap with a half hour to go, I'll bid at a reasonable price and, if I get it, fine. If someone wants it more than I do, go for it. If it is something I really want, I'll try to snipe it at the end. But if it climbs too high, let it go. In all but very rare cases, there will be another one.

[roweenie]

I don't think anything sketchy was going on - I just question the veracity of a bidder who has a zero feedback score, especially when it reaches into thousands of dollars.

I'd be curious to know if the sale actually went through....

[bort]

Replace the tuba with a pile of cash, and then ask her which looks better.

[largobone]

It could be the zero feedback buyer just isn't on Ebay very often. I personally don't have an Ebay account, so if I wanted to buy a tuba right now I'd show up to the auction with zero feedback too.