1 - Pete E.
- Typewriter Talk Elite
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- From: Idaho - USA
- Registered: 23-6-2020
- Posts: 2,370
Crazy Happenings over on Shop Goodwill...
Nice Torpedo went for hammer-down price of a bit over $ 4,200 USD.
Sold as-is and no warranty or return. Heck you do not even know if all the important parts are there...
- Pete E.
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- From: Idaho - USA
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Re: Crazy Happenings over on Shop Goodwill...
Here is the Bidding history on this typwriter...
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Thread Starter- Uwe
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- From: Toronto, Canada
- Registered: 12-3-2013
- Posts: 4,410
Re: Crazy Happenings over on Shop Goodwill...
Why? Why? Why? 
Have people lost their minds - completely? Insanity bidding was already reached at $225, and yet there were at least six people happy to spend more than that. There were at least two who would have forked over $1k+, and another two who went over $4k.
What's so special about the machine? Wide carriage? Who cares. Script typeface? Again, who cares; that would reduce its value for me. There's nothing that I can see that would justify that selling price other than who the machine might have belonged to, but there's nothing about its provenance in the info section.
Imagine spending $4.2k on a Torpedo. For that money I could easily buy 100 different typewriters, and plenty of them would include wide carriages and script typefaces.
I wonder what the wunderkid who bought the machine would spend on a truly rare or remarkable typewriter? Perhaps he would like to buy my collection? At those prices I would be able to put an Audi R8 in my garage.
All kidding aside, there HAS to be some mistake here... on an important piece of information that I've overlooked.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- Phil_F_NM
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- From: Mid-Atlantic region
- Registered: 16-4-2020
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Re: Crazy Happenings over on Shop Goodwill...
I have a theory it's a shill bidder or someone who will just bid some insane amount for kicks then not pay it.
I'll bet a dozen donuts that we see this machine relisted in a couple weeks.
I see this all the time with some of the particularly desirable machines, notably burgundy painted Smith Corona 2Cs. They regularly get bid above $350 then reappear after the time period has elapsed for the sale to be cancelled.
The 2C I picked up a couple months ago had been relisted at least 3 times. Same serial number, same photos. I bid on it before and lost a few times because I'm not going to pay more than $100 for a typewriter, sight unseen. Last time I got lucky and paid about half that amount.
Phil Forrest
- Pete E.
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- From: Idaho - USA
- Registered: 23-6-2020
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Re: Crazy Happenings over on Shop Goodwill...
So I opened up the expanded-view of the bib-to-bid bidding and it is really nuts...
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Thread Starter- Uwe
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- From: Toronto, Canada
- Registered: 12-3-2013
- Posts: 4,410
Re: Crazy Happenings over on Shop Goodwill...
If Phil's theory is correct, I can't imagine someone's motivation for sabotaging an auction - unless I suppose they had an axe to grind with Goodwill. I'd love to know if this typewriter does in fact get relisted. Goodwill no longer exists in Canada - it went bankrupt years ago - so I don't follow its auctions as many locations don't offer international shipping. In fact, I don't follow any online listings anymore; people are paying far too much now for typewriters and the more sensible prices are more easily found locally.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- Pete E.
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- From: Idaho - USA
- Registered: 23-6-2020
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Re: Crazy Happenings over on Shop Goodwill...
Agree, for sure.
I was convinced that the bidding would stall around $ 400 for such an
"as-is" no-return machine...boy was I wrong.
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Thread Starter- overwood
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- From: Midwest
- Registered: 10-11-2018
- Posts: 285
Re: Crazy Happenings over on Shop Goodwill...
Motivation could be 1) Drive up price for the seller. 2) drive up perceived price because they have one or more to sell themselves. This result took 4 different accounts to achieve though, but they could conceivably be all one person.
I think we (and by we, I mean one of you) should contact the selling store and call into question the validity of this auction. Would be interesting to see what they say.
- Phil_F_NM
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- From: Mid-Atlantic region
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Re: Crazy Happenings over on Shop Goodwill...
The Easter Seals MN location consistently has a lot of typewriters, and a few of those are relisted several times (I have communication with this location regarding a SC Sterling 2C being bid for one to three dollars over my max bid, then relisted a week later; on three separate occasions. I inquired with them if they would sell it to me outright after the third listing. They replied that they would wait until the auction was completed and if the buyer didn't pay, then they would sell outright to me. That also happened to be the last time that particular machine was listed.
The other Goodwill location with the most overpriced typewriters is the Olympics and Rainier Region. They start bids with inflated prices but also "offset" those prices with $.01 shipping.
It's really cynical of me to think that someone inside SGW has a few different accounts and is simply shill bidding to inflate prices, but I'm sure it could happen.
Phil Forrest
- overwood
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- Registered: 10-11-2018
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Re: Crazy Happenings over on Shop Goodwill...
More likely its some asshat with a bone to pick. Bidding it up to a price that nobody will possibly pay doesn't make sense.
Unless its a couple of filthy rich folks having a fun bidding war with each other. Though I don't know who Tom Hanks would be bidding against...
More likely the former...
I'm just angry people keep bidding the 50's QDLs up above $12...
