more money then brains

[N.S. Regt.]

I normally do not talk about bidders or sellers on ebay but the high bidder and the under bidder takes the cake Click Here. I cannot believe that someone shelled out that much for a fairly common 25th battalion other ranks badge. If the under bidder is a member here I will sell you one of mine at a bargain (same condition as the one in the auction) for $300 and I do not charge tax so a big savings to you.

Stephen

BTW the fellow who bid $95.55 with the feedback score of 712 was at the high end of a realistic price in my oppinion.

[whizzbang]

Hi Stephen,

You should take a look at all the recently ended Ursual auctions on ebay - the same two bidders went to town on a dozen or so common badges, bidding them all into the hundreds of dollars! It's one of the craziest things I've ever seen on ebay.

In general prices have been insane for CEF badges lately but driven by only a few buyers. However, the recent Ursual results take the cake!

Cheers, Ian.

[WJ Miller]

Very bizarre bidding to say the least and somewhat suspicious. I was interested in Ursual's Tiptaft marked 5th CMR badge in the $85-$100, and was not surprised this morning to see myself outbid yet again, but the badge sold for a ludicrous $320 Cdn!!??!? I'll be curious to see if the winner of these items actually PAYS these prices or was this some sort of sabotage of the auctions?

BTW, I've been outbid on every maker marked 5CMR in the past year and a half... getting tedious. If anyone has one for sale...

[whizzbang]

Hi Bill,

The winning bidder is one of two dropping huge amounts of money on CEF badges lately. No doubt they will pay but I don't understand the bidding philosophy when it comes to "win at all costs" for common badges! Patience is a virtue!

Cheers, Ian.

[servicepub]

I have found the same for other items of militaria. I have lost a number of auctions on Coloured Field Service Caps to the same bidder who will spend ANY amount in order to win. I tested this a couple of time by bidding up the price well beyond 2-3 times the value and got sniped by the same buyer every time.

[Bill A]

Winners and losers...
The big winners, ebay, the seller, the buyer. The big loser... the hobby. How many collectors are going to be so turned off they quit buying, or even quit collecting? Frustration can kill interest.

[N.S. Regt.]

I remember when that paticular 25th badge used to bring maybe $15 to $25 and to see the silly money being paid for that one is just stupid. I am sure if one took some time to check over a direct sales list on the net they could find one. I had noticed recently some seldom seen badges I needed went crazy but i chalked that up to them being a rare badge. I would say that it is people like that who put off many of the youth that have a interest in badges from taking up the hobby.

Stephen

[Bill A]

Lets hope that they are only collecting, and not trying to pull a Hunt brothers with CEF badges....

[Doug N]

We've all seen this before, particulary on Ebay. Somebody shows up & buys the h*ll out of everything, spending reckless money.

The good news is they tend to drop out after 12 months or $75 thousand, whichever comes first. The bad news is that everything they vacuum up in their spree tends to vanish along with them.

The perplexing question is why they always appear when we're trying to buy, & never when we have something to sell. Bad luck I guess.

............Bill, what does "pull a Hunt brothers" mean??

[Donny B.]

Originally Posted by Doug N

............Bill, what does "pull a Hunt brothers" mean??

I expect that he is referring to the billionaire Hunt brothers who tried to manipulate the price of silver in the 1970s by buying up big and almost cornering the market. The price of silver went from about $11 an oz to about $50 before the bubble burst and, I believe, their scheme backfired somewhat sending them bankrupt.

An enormous number of those older "silver" Canadian quarters, as well as a lot of other interesting silverware, went in to the melting pot at that time

Donny B.

[Bill A]

Hi Doug, Donny has the story. Thnks for explaining. The attempt to corner the silver market pushed the sterling value to dizzying heights, but also led to the melting down untold numbers of War Medals.
Speculating on this theory, what would be gained by "cornering" the CEF badge market? Prices would be pushed up for the scarce and rare badges, but would burn out on the common badges. Doing some gestimating, there must have been at least 10,000 badges made for some battalions. If a collector has one of only a handful of badges, supply and demand can be powerful forces pushing prices.
Or maybe there is a more sinister aspect to the accumulation of badges. It is only a matter of time until the new technologies are introduced to the mix, if they haven't been already. The transfer die process needs an original to be used to create a new steel die. The process destroys the original, but the dies are an exact copy of the original, every scratch etc. If a rare badge is acquired, and dies are made, copy badges may earn back big bucks quickly. Lugs and fastenings will be key in determining the authenticity. The same can be said for the 3d photocopier. Exact copies can be made, then used to create dies. We have already seen the impact of the Drac copies on the CFA badges. It is not a matter of time, it is now that we need to be vigilant. And document, document, document, the originals. (Weights, dimensions etc.) A new era of copying is coming, and everything is up for grabs. Big prices drive big scams.

[backdraft]

Hi All

I wanted to add my two cents to the conversation about recent ebay prices on CEF badges. With two boys soon going to college my pockets are not bottomless to say the least. I believe that now is a great time to step back from ebay to the more traditional methods of collecting. Attend shows, auctions, flea markets or better yet work with fellow collectors you know and trust and do trades or private pruchase deals. I recently traded some WW1 webbing that I had picked up quite reasonably for some CEF badges including a 2nd Special Services cap badge. It was a good deal for both of us and no money changed hands. If you have the time to dig, the treasures are still out there. I currently sit at approx. 180 of the numbered battalion badges and a good assortment of Corps badges. I strayed into medals for awhile but am now trying to concentrate on badges again. I believe that now is a time to cherish the good badges you already have and be patient for the ones you still need. General antique malls are usually over priced on common military items, but sometimes don't recognize truly rare items. I hold nothing against the high bidders of late. I believe that many times advanced collectors who use ebay for their purchases do so because they are very busy in their business life and may not have the time to go out treasure hunting. Now may be the time to specialize you collection into local battalions or add photos or medals to the groups. Some battalions have different variations of badges that you can look for. The collecting of military badges and memorabilia is a great hobby. We have seen some truly rare badges come out recently for sale to the highest bidder and the prices realized have reflected that. Collect to suit your budget and interests and have fun. Just my two cents.

Thanks
Bob