Ebay Madness No. 2761

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I'm not making a judgement either way on what has been discussed regarding price inflation. Yes, certainly the exchange rates explain why an awful lot of vintage goodies are going to Europe at this time

The significant rise in prices is more than just Yo Eddy's and Kleins. Priced a pair of Grafton brakes lately? Yes, there are many bargains but there are many other parts that have gone up signficantly in the last six months. The dollars is very weak right now but the decline has not driven the price inflation of the last period of time.

This is a chart from http://www.exchangerate.com/charts....r=&cont=All&hmd=31104000&currency=239&cid=238
Notice that the dollar vs. pound has been between .475 & .52 for the last twelve months, a relatively narrow band. If you chart the Euro, it's a similar story. If I could find a chart where the x-axis is based on zero, the line almost looks flat.

Yes it's been going down and the dollar is weak, but the exchange rates can't explain it. The dollar, as of the last 12 months, is not in the freefall that some believe.

Whether the price rise is good or bad I'm not addressing. Just that the dollar's actual decline doesn't explain vintage prices. It is possible that market psychology is driven by the perception of a freefall, but that is beyond my knowledge (if it wasn't...I'd be rich in the stock market :) )

By the way, there are some very wealthy collectors out there, even if we haven't met them. I sold a part for an amount that made me feel just a tad 'guilty'. A friend said that the buyer was from a family that has more money than they know what to do with so I should not feel bad about the wealth transfer. How common this is, I don't know but there are some who have substantial resources. Whether they'll hobnob with us little-people at a swap meet is another matter.
 

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Just thought this was apt as it seems this is the way this thread is going:

"The richest one percent of this country owns half our country's wealth, five trillion dollars. One third of that comes from hard work, two thirds comes from inheritance, interest on interest accumulating to widows and idiot sons and what I do, stock and real estate speculation. It's bullshit. You got ninety percent of the American public out there with little or no net worth. I create nothing. I own. We make the rules, pal. The news, war, peace, famine, upheaval, the price per paper clip. We pick that rabbit out of the hat while everybody sits out there wondering how the hell we did it. Now you're not naive enough to think we're living in a democracy, are you buddy? It's the free market. And you're a part of it. You've got that killer instinct. Stick around pal, I've still got a lot to teach you."

Courtesy of Mr Gordon Gekko ;)
 
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Johnny-comes-lately!

I don't think we in Europe need to feel ashamed or guilty for purchasing US-made boutique parts, regardless of any perceived exchange rate advantages (usually negated by random customs or postal charges!) - as MTB fans we were always umbilically-linked to the ground zero of our sport (NorCal), even BITD when the parts were imported and sold at pretty much the same price they are now - go figure!

The natives have had their fun on the (relative) cheap for 25 years, had the pick of the parts and at local prices - whilst we survived on a dribbling supply at sShokwave! There's no-way they could replicate their fastidiously-built and historically important steeds if they were based this side of the pond, so it seems churlish or just plain spoilt to bemoan or deny our current enthusiasm!

Mr K
 
Even if eBay has its faults, I wouldn't be anywhere the situation I'm in now with vintage bike collecting if I hadn't found eBay. Actually all my bikes that I have owned since 2002 (11 bikes) have been bought off eBay, except the Merlin that I bought from Carsten. Most of the vintage parts have been sourced from eBay too. Some dirt cheap, some terribly expensive. I've been able to get also modern parts much cheaper from eBay compared to German shops (I don't even mention the prices of the Finnish shops in here).

I like the outing of auctions in here. 99% of those I won't even bid for but it's nice to check them out and see who wins them (if it's someone I know) and for how much do some parts / bikes sell.
 
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