This really is an amusing story, a case of me being to lazy to research the militaria I`m selling and collectors being even more dumber than me for not snatching my hand off!
This is the story:
About four years ago I bought an interestng pair of binoculars from a charity sale for 5 pounds. These bino's were by the German agent for Bar and Stroud ,Gorez. The binoculars are contained in a rather fanatsic leather case with the German quick release mechanism and even stitching around the buckles on the strap to protect them from corrosion; a real sign of quality. The binocoulars are clearly marked *ARMY*. What however made these binocolars interesting is that engraved upon the body are the initials N. S. L. and the Year 1913. No doubt most of us have seen cases that have names or initials impressed into the leather or even scratched, hand engraving struck me as a little unusual which is why I bought them.
So, last week I decided to list them on eBay. I`m not really a collector of binoculars so I thought I wouldnt miss them. I listed them with a start price of 10 pounds. I`m a strong believer that if you can double you money for anything your doing well. Almost four days had gone and I had receieved no bids.
At the weekend I visited a dealers shop and noted the price of inferior pairs. Afer coming home I put the price up to 25 pounds.......still a pittance in my mind. A week earlier buyers had paid 40 pounds for a pair with out case just because they had the 1918 date on them!
The final day of the seven day auction comes around, Ive got 12 'bargain hunter' watchers and no bidders. So this morning having some time on my hands I decided to research the initials N.S.L using my medal research skills. When listing this lot I did actually photograph the initials and mention that a quick look up in an army list would reveal the owner. Maybe people assumed that I had already done this reasearch and it turned out to be some guy in a second rate unit? These were my findings:
N. S. L.
The Honary Neville Stephen Lytton ..........Colonel.........1908 Olympic Tennis Record Holder, WW1 War Artist (art exhibited at the Imperial War Museum).
Oh and please dont think I just found this information as easy as that, it took 5 hours of trawling through the London Gazette and the Times.
Now i`m wondering why I received no bids on this lot? Do you think 25 pounds was too much money for a pair of binos carried by one of Britians most famous war artists?
Ive withdrawn those from eBay now and to be honest it served those watchers right for not placing a bid and not doing their research.
The motto of the story.....its easy to miss a bargain on ebay and more importantly always do your research before you sell.
This is the story:
About four years ago I bought an interestng pair of binoculars from a charity sale for 5 pounds. These bino's were by the German agent for Bar and Stroud ,Gorez. The binoculars are contained in a rather fanatsic leather case with the German quick release mechanism and even stitching around the buckles on the strap to protect them from corrosion; a real sign of quality. The binocoulars are clearly marked *ARMY*. What however made these binocolars interesting is that engraved upon the body are the initials N. S. L. and the Year 1913. No doubt most of us have seen cases that have names or initials impressed into the leather or even scratched, hand engraving struck me as a little unusual which is why I bought them.
So, last week I decided to list them on eBay. I`m not really a collector of binoculars so I thought I wouldnt miss them. I listed them with a start price of 10 pounds. I`m a strong believer that if you can double you money for anything your doing well. Almost four days had gone and I had receieved no bids.
At the weekend I visited a dealers shop and noted the price of inferior pairs. Afer coming home I put the price up to 25 pounds.......still a pittance in my mind. A week earlier buyers had paid 40 pounds for a pair with out case just because they had the 1918 date on them!
The final day of the seven day auction comes around, Ive got 12 'bargain hunter' watchers and no bidders. So this morning having some time on my hands I decided to research the initials N.S.L using my medal research skills. When listing this lot I did actually photograph the initials and mention that a quick look up in an army list would reveal the owner. Maybe people assumed that I had already done this reasearch and it turned out to be some guy in a second rate unit? These were my findings:
N. S. L.
The Honary Neville Stephen Lytton ..........Colonel.........1908 Olympic Tennis Record Holder, WW1 War Artist (art exhibited at the Imperial War Museum).
Oh and please dont think I just found this information as easy as that, it took 5 hours of trawling through the London Gazette and the Times.
Now i`m wondering why I received no bids on this lot? Do you think 25 pounds was too much money for a pair of binos carried by one of Britians most famous war artists?
Ive withdrawn those from eBay now and to be honest it served those watchers right for not placing a bid and not doing their research.
The motto of the story.....its easy to miss a bargain on ebay and more importantly always do your research before you sell.
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