Would you buy from WBW?

[Faded 8-1]

Why? the guy does not make folk buy and I think people know what they might be getting. Given that it takes at least two to push up the price then they are to blaim not the seller.

Cheers
Ian

Hi Ian,

Personally I think it is highly unlikely that his products are bid up to those insane prices legitimately. I'd say there is pretty much zero chance of that. He is shill-bidding as sure as the sun sets in the evenings.

I also don't buy into the philosophy that only the buyer is to blame for being a sucker. Snake oil salesmen don't *make* people buy their products - but they are knowingly ripping off people just the same.

If he wants to be a legitimate publisher of ASL products, why doesn't he start a website and sell his products in a conventional manner for competitive prices? Because he knows his products aren't able to compete with the legitimate TPP, and he'd rather just rip-off idiots on e-bay. Sorry, but I have no respect for that, and consequently have no respect for WB. Defending that kind of practice is a slap in the face to the TPP guys that honestly try to offer good value for the price.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Hi Ian,

Personally I think it is highly unlikely that his products are bid up to those insane prices legitimately.

But the strange part is that it still means someone is willing to pay the end price at the end of it, regardless of whether the bidding was shilled or legit. If he shills his own auctions, and his shill ends up with the top bid, he still gets stuck holding the bag in the form of higher auction fees which he has to pay. So someone out there is willing to pay top dollar for this "stuff".

If he wants to be a legitimate publisher of ASL products, why doesn't he start a website and sell his products in a conventional manner for competitive prices? Because he knows his products aren't able to compete with the legitimate TPP, and he'd rather just rip-off idiots on e-bay. Sorry, but I have no respect for that, and consequently have no respect for WB. Defending that kind of practice is a slap in the face to the TPP guys that honestly try to offer good value for the price.

The "gotta-have-its" always charge in and ruin things for the rest of the crowd; have seen it in militaria as well. You can't blame the vendors, or at least not in isolation, because it takes two to tango. The fellows who started paying 250+ dollars for Action Pack 2, A Bridge Too Far, etc. have set the ball rolling on hyper-inflation of ASL as a collectible. It's no different than what I've seen in cap badge collecting, where run of the mill King's Crown Canadian badges that used to be 10 dollars only 15 years ago are now worth 50, 75, or more, and reproductions are beginning to flood the market.

We had another thread going about copyright; it will take some bright boy in Hong Kong just a little effort to realize he can spend a couple of months perfecting the font on his Mac and with the right ink, and some effort, start counterfeiting the ASLRB. Or, even better for him, something out of print such as the aforementioned ABTF. We saw people willing to pay for counterfeit black SS counters here. Imagine entire modules, in shrinkwrap, that no one knows aren't actual AH/MMP print run.

I don't know that the market is big enough to make it worth anyone's while, but that is where the slope often leads.

Maybe - it already has.

 

[custardpie]

Hi Ian,

Personally I think it is highly unlikely that his products are bid up to those insane prices legitimately. I'd say there is pretty much zero chance of that. He is shill-bidding as sure as the sun sets in the evenings.

I also don't buy into the philosophy that only the buyer is to blame for being a sucker. Snake oil salesmen don't *make* people buy their products - but they are knowingly ripping off people just the same.

If he wants to be a legitimate publisher of ASL products, why doesn't he start a website and sell his products in a conventional manner for competitive prices? Because he knows his products aren't able to compete with the legitimate TPP, and he'd rather just rip-off idiots on e-bay. Sorry, but I have no respect for that, and consequently have no respect for WB. Defending that kind of practice is a slap in the face to the TPP guys that honestly try to offer good value for the price.

I am not really defending him and as stated would not buy from him unless the very unlikley way he produces his stuff is altered. What we have seen is a large increase in the various mods he has done for the system which has to indicate he is making good money from the guys who buy it. What would be intresting is to see if it's the same guys buying his stuff or different ones all the time. Given the limited damage he can do to the hobby I don't feel he is worth the effort of getting anoyed with him.

 

[olli]

I am not really defending him and as stated would not buy from him unless the very unlikley way he produces his stuff is altered. What we have seen is a large increase in the various mods he has done for the system which has to indicate he is making good money from the guys who buy it. What would be intresting is to see if it's the same guys buying his stuff or different ones all the time. Given the limited damage he can do to the hobby I don't feel he is worth the effort of getting anoyed with him.

Ian on an earlier thread about said subject somebody wrote that in the main it was the same guys bidding all the time, several of them in Europe. I know of two of them. there was also a coment about the possible bumping up of the bids as well. vinnie sounded surprised when he found out I was not a bidder in said items!! lol....
If he made more copies and reduced the price to a standard one, IE stopped selling on E-bay I might be interested....!...!...!....