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It's an original Nagahara. That makes it a good deal even at twice the current price. Nagahara is a Japanese "National Treasure" and is affectionately referred to as "The Pen God".
 
I was going to edit my post but am too late.
Yes, I have re-thought my comments. Technically, I still stand by them. Such a thing makes no sense at all. But, folks is funny critters. Humans do a lot of things that make 'no sense'. I do. I collect 'stuff' I couldn't eat if stranded on a desert island. They are 'things' that do me no good at all, but I like to collect them. Like a piece of cardboard with the picture of an athlete. And, to take that to an extreme, all of us participate in satisfying the human want for special 'things'. One can buy a pen to write with for a dollar. But we make special pens. As for the bamboo pen in question, I would liken it, in many ways, to a pen made with Bethlehem Olive Wood. I make many of these and the recipients really love the notion of a pen made with wood from the Holy Land. And, I make what I call "Heritage Pens". Folks bring me wood with special meaning, like from the old family homestead and I make pens that have special meaning for them. So, while the Japanese, old smoky, bamboo pen really makes 'no sense', I do understand. What I don't understand are people, I just accept the fact that folks is funny critters.
 
To those who may not understand, this is not just a bamboo pen. Nagahara is a world renowned pen artist. He retired a few years ago, but continues to make a few pens and nibs here and there. These are unique items by a true master. You might not be interested in a picture of Lisa Gherardini, but name it the Mona Lisa and have it painted by a guy named DaVinci and it takes on a totally different value and meaning.
 
There are people on eBay who are referred to as "snipers." They don't bid on things until just about the last minute. Their objective is to get in a winning bid with no time remaining for the previous high bidder to respond. I've been sniped several times and it is really irritating.
 
Originally posted by gerryr

I've been sniped several times and it is really irritating.
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I've been on both sides of that fence. Won several auctions with a last minute snipe and I've lost several auctions with last second snipes.
 
There is even "sniper" software that will place an automatic bid on an item within a user-defined time (say 5 seconds) before the end of the auction. It happens with great regularity.
 
Ok, thanks for the explanation. We have a word that means something similar, but normally refers to property sales. Gazumping.
It's perfectly legal but frowned upon. You make an offer on someones property and they accept. Before the deal is legally completed someone else can come in with a slightly higher offer and get the deal.
Everyone hates it except estate agents. I think it's illegal in Scotland.
 
Ebay is an interesting study in human behavior. I always wonder why someone that really, really wants an item, will get into a bidding war just to remain at the top of the bidder list!!

I don't even understand why anyone actually bothers setting their "maximum" bid... since someone (sometimes a shill or friend of the seller) always comes along and keeps bidding over and over just to push you past your limit, so now if you really want it, you will have to pay more. I understand setting a maximum if you are going to be away from your computer and you don't care if you lose the bid.

If you want to win, watch your listing and if it is still in your price range, place a last second bid... or snipe... or whatever you want to call it. I pass on a lot of items I watch, because two people spend five days bidding them up out of an emotional frenzy. That bugs me more than losing a last second bid.
 
I've also seen people get into a bidding war and raise the price very high when there is another auction for an identical item at a very low price. Some people just aren't rational when it comes to bidding.
 
Check out my web store & Auction site. I have a couple of pens you can start a bidding frenzy on. :D:D:D Only thing different there at the site is there is no sniping. Last 30 seconds of bidding causes the auction to continue for another 12 hrs. That should be a rule with ebay heaven forbid.[xx(]
 
Originally posted by DCBluesman

To those who may not understand, this is not just a bamboo pen. Nagahara is a world renowned pen artist. He retired a few years ago, but continues to make a few pens and nibs here and there. These are unique items by a true master. You might not be interested in a picture of Lisa Gherardini, but name it the Mona Lisa and have it painted by a guy named DaVinci and it takes on a totally different value and meaning.
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Joel!!! Now this would be a great listing on your site or mine.:D:D Maybe we can send him an invite:):)
Next time I visit my son in Japan I'll go looking for him.[:eek:)]
 
Dave,
Bidding on eBay, and elsewhere for that matter, can be a highly emotional process. When someone places a bid and becomes high bidder, they mentally take ownership of that item. If someone outbids them, it is often taken personally. ("Hey! Someone is trying to take MY item from me!") That person may then make a series of bids, quite often in small increments, to find the "top" bid, and once again be the high bidder by the narrowest of margins. If the item in question is sought by others, then this position will not be held for long. This kind of emotion can drive the prices of an item through the roof, even for common items.

There are two ways to know if you've fallen prey to emotional bidding. If you win, your elation is quickly replaced by buyer's remorse. If you lose, you are secretly relieved.

So how do you avoid this pitfall? Place your maximum bid and stop. Its a proxy bidding system anyway, so you'll only pay the highest increment required over the next highest bid. Also ask yourself, "What is the most I would be willing to pay for this item if I saw it in a store?" That is your maximum bid. And one more tip: never watch the auction close. Check it the next day after it closes. If you're too impatient, find out what time it closes, and check five minutes after that. Not one minute before.

How do I know all this stuff? I've bought and sold many things for many years on eBay, and I've watched the bidding patterns unfold and repeat themselves time after time. I've also been on both sides of emotional bidding, winning and losing. I still do business on eBay, but now without emotion. And best of all, I get to sleep at night. :D:D:D

(My apologies to Steve; I didn't mean to hijack your thread!)[:I]
 
I bid what I want to pay (including the shipping). Sometimes I'll snipe so the price can't go up more than is reasonable (I don't get into bidding wars) And if it goes above my price, I lose.

I refuse to pay huge prices on items including Irish Bog Oak which I love to work with. I've seen it go for nearly $20 per blank at times with another auction sitting in the wings for $5 per blank. crazyiness. But to some people it's a type of adiction. They HAVE to win.
 
Roger,

I agree with respect to the proxy system but only for an item I do not immediately need or has a similar listing nearing an end. However, when I am in a time crunch and waiting another week or longer is not in the cards, I refuse to bid until the last minute, just to keep from contributing to an artificially higher price.

As for your two way to identify emotional bidding... been there,done that... never again;)
 
Only juvenile mentalities get emotionally involved with bidding. I was once involved with a business that sold baseball, and other sports, cards over eBay. Dealing with emotional, irrational juveniles, of all ages, made the work involved a lot more than the financial return was worth.
I read that in the rest of the world, eBay has an automatic extension when bids come in at the last few seconds or minutes. Personally, I like that idea.
When I bid, I enter my max that I'm willing to pay and wait for the e-mail notification that I have won or lost. Unlikely eBay will ever be selling something that will change my life if I don't 'win' the bid.
BTW, I disagree with the use of the word "win" for having the highest bid. This is not a foot race. Just paying more money than the next guy isn't 'winning'. But, that's the marketing strategy by eBay and it works.
 
Frank, I am with you. I decide what I am willing to pay for something set that as my high bid, But then I watch it like a hawk. I won't change the bid though. I have been at live auctions to much. You better have you cap screwed on straight at those, they move real fast.
 
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