I agree. I can sometimes buy the argument that the value is determined by the buyer but in this case, it's just a case of two or three bidders being willing to pay a ridiculous price. You seem to imply there is something suspicious going on here. True or not, that's a natural thought, as one might expect one clueless person to post a crazy bid, but not two or three to submit multiple bids as the price rises to absurd levels. Of course any absurd eBay price requires two bidders, except when a sucker goes for an absurd opening bid or BIN.
I like Torpados also, and have two of them in the household, including my wife's pink Italia, but this is indeed a low end model, the equivalent of a Peugeot UO-8. In fact, it even lacks QR hubs, which the UO-8 had. Granted, it is in excellent original condition, and this bike is rarer than a UO-8, at least outside Italy. Some low end Torpados had nice touches, like the chromed head lugs on this bike. But I have to agree, this bike should have sold for $350 tops, even allowing for condition and a bidder with some sentimental attachment.
Since the seller seems to be regarded a reputable, is it possible one of the bidders, maybe even the winner, just wanted to run the price up, then not pay, just to cause mischief? I guess this sort of thing could happen if a bidder had a grudge against the seller or a legitimate bidder, forcing the seller to relist or the buyer to overpay. Or maybe there are sociopaths on eBay who just like to cause trouble for sake of doing so. Have others found that sort of malicious bidding to be common? I never sell on eBay and am too cheap to get caught in bidding wars or pay absurd prices, but maybe other CR members who do sell have experienced bidders who deliberately run the price high then fail to pay.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA
> From: FujiFish1@aol.com <FujiFish1@aol.com>
\r?\n> Subject: Re: [CR] Vintage Torpado on eBay - crazy high price
\r?\n> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
\r?\n> Cc: pgrens@yahoo.com
\r?\n> Date: Saturday, August 15, 2009, 1:18 PM
\r?\n> Hi Paul,
\r?\n> The bike shown is a low level road bike from the late 60s
\r?\n> as you said, or
\r?\n> early 70s ... with unnamed tubing, bottom of the line
\r?\n> Campagnolo Valentino
\r?\n> gears, and steel cranks that were about 10 years past
\r?\n> their technological
\r?\n> prime, and therefore trickled down. Bikes like
\r?\n> this usually sell for over
\r?\n> $100 and possibly up to about $350 ... IF you are
\r?\n> lucky enough to get a
\r?\n> couple of good bidders that just have to have that
\r?\n> one for some reason. The
\r?\n> results of this auction then, are up to TEN TIMES
\r?\n> higher than current market
\r?\n> value, something I am having a lot of trouble
\r?\n> swallowing. Look at the bid
\r?\n> history and note that all the bids over the final proxy bid
\r?\n> of $167.89 (by
\r?\n> bidder "R...T") were in big, even increments, and were made
\r?\n> by four
\r?\n> different Ebay IDs who were all bidding $500 or more for
\r?\n> it. Again ... tough to
\r?\n> swallow. The seller is a list member whom I
\r?\n> correspond with from time to
\r?\n> time regarding Torpados (including this one), Torpado
\r?\n> being my "pet" marque.
\r?\n> Let's see if Randy chimes in to tell us whether it
\r?\n> is a true sale or not.
\r?\n> I would expect to see it re-listed again in the
\r?\n> future, but of course,
\r?\n> anything can happen in the crazy world of Ebay.
\r?\n> Things like this set an
\r?\n> un-true precedent of value, and potentially skew the
\r?\n> bidding habits in the near
\r?\n> future. Were any of the high bidders list
\r?\n> members, perhaps? We'd love to
\r?\n> hear from you on the thought process!
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Ciao,
\r?\n> Mark "Anything Torpado" Agree (thanks to Joel D., for the
\r?\n> title)
\r?\n> Southfield MI USA
\r?\n> ~ ~ ~
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 08:48:56 -0700
\r?\n> From: paul grens <pgrens@yahoo.com>
\r?\n> Subject: Re: [CR] Vintage Torpado on eBay
\r?\n> To: _classicrendezvous@bikelist.org_
\r?\n>
\r?\n> (mailto:classicrendezvous@bikelist.org)
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Dear list,
\r?\n> ?
\r?\n> After recently acquiring a Torpado Superlight, I've
\r?\n> been watching the
\r?\n> marque?on the bay and this bike, likely a '60s model (?),
\r?\n> just went for over
\r?\n> $1,200 U.S.? Ebay item: 150364547802
\r?\n> ?
\r?\n> http://ebay.com/
\r?\n> TRK:MEWAX:IT
\r?\n> ?
\r?\n> Quite nice condition and some interesting features. I
\r?\n> suppose this is
\r?\n> proof that Torpados are becoming collectible.
\r?\n> ?
\r?\n> Cheers,
\r?\n> ?
\r?\n> Paul Grens
\r?\n> Chicago, IL
\r?\n> U.S.A.