Lancia Motor Club

I just happened to notice that the 'other' rhd UK registered Fulvia GTE is for sale on ebay again WITH NO RESERVE. Currently at £1,550 I think these are such good cars with brake servo, the bigger engine and yet keeping the S1 build quality and attractive styling (apart from the dashboard!). And such rewarding practical  'daily driver' cars too.
There is always one in my perfect 3 car garage like Motor Sport used to run in the 1960's.
No connection to seller.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lancia-Fulvia-GTE-Series-1-1968-Genuine-Auction-/
Chris

Listing is removed already ....

Still there:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301551220483?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Sorry all. I inadvertently abbreviated the ebay reference. The car is also for sale for £4,250 in a private ad on CarandClassic.co.uk by the same vendor.
Chris

I bet there's a fairly high reserve so the £1550 is only the starting point, 10 bidders so far.

I think this is the 3rd time it's been up for sale by the same seller.

Brian
8227 8)

Brian,
The vendor clearly states 'no reserve' in the description which is why I put my post up. Good opportunity for someone maybe.
By the way, on the '3 car garage' running Motor Sport feature from the '60s I am fairly sure that I first became aware of Fulvia sedans in that feature....well before I could drive. I remember thinking 'how could someone want to buy such an expensive saloon with such a small engine?' at the time. Now I know.
I play the '3 car garage' game occasionally with friends these days but they all go for moderns which they haven't actually driven - the power of advertising.
Chris

I think its been on ebay with a reserve before - it looks and smells to me like a genuine no reserve "this time its got to go" sale.

David

You are correct David but no reserve now. Interestingly iIts up to £2,350 now with 3 days to go.
I haven't seen it so I have no idea what corrosion there is but it is surely worth renovating?
Chris

Chris,
Seller states no luck with previous auctions so it's on this time as no reserve, could be a good buy for someone, pity I'm not in the market.
definitely worth renovating, from what I can see from the photos it doesn't look bad at all, if anything lets it down it's the interior. mainly the seating.
It doesn't have 3 point seat belts as nothing  is mounted on the nearside B post, although "Fay" originally only had Irvin lap belts fitted.
 
I take it the upright pipes by the electric fan controller are the pipes for the oil cooler? the additional wiring looks untidy but overall it looks pretty good. 

Brian
8227 8)

If I am looking at the correct photo Brian, those are the vacuum pipes on the remote brake servo (which sits under the front of the rh wing) with the one way valve.
Chris

Thanks Chris, I tend to forget later Berlina's were fitted with a servo's, while 2c never was, and to be honest I've never felt the need for one.

Brian
8227 8)

I tend to agree with you Brian and if I get problems with ours I might well remove it as replacements are difficult to source I believe. New seals are available but that's it I think.
Chris

Because I have no more than a passing interest in this car, I have kept abreast of the bidding - currently at £2,650 with 7 hours to go - and realise to my surprise that of the 13 bids so far, 12 of them are separate individuals and 2 of the bidders including the current high bidder are large buyers on ebay. Or to put it another way, 12 people have so far made a total of 13 bids and 2 of them look like traders or resellers.
I am somewhat intrigued therefore to see what happens at the end of the auction as presumably a few of the 12 bidders actually want to buy the car?
I know there is all sorts of clever 'last minute bidding' software for use on ebay but I have never seen it in action so I might sit and watch the end of this one out of curiousity. Of course I might be imagining all of this and the car could go for the current bid.
Chris

Hi Chris

For Ebay I have used bidnapper.com for many years now, simple to use and usually bids approx 3 secs before the end from multiple locations. Charges are not too bad, as I use it quite a lot I normally take an annual subscription, but I think you can buy them as you go, they also have a trial period if i remember correctly.

Peter

So what happens when more than one bidder has a "last minute device"?

When there's a whole load of people with last minute devices they get beaten by the early bidder who bid like they really wanted it.  That's my theory anyway.

And then you get some of us who really want something, place a serious upper limit/bid and then the  seller is contacted by someone outside the auction and they then cancel your bid .....

Very frustrating !

eBay is good, but it is flawed

Winning bid of £3100 by someone with very limited ebay activity.....

I use Auction Sniper and have done for quite a number of years, the beauty is because no one knows your interested the bidding doesn't get pushed up as you're only watching in the background, and only in the last few seconds does it enter your bid, up to your maximum set figure if necessary.
Who wins if there's more than one automatic bidder at the end? I suspect whoever's system reacts the quickest to place the bid.
As they say, 'Some you win-Some you lose'
It will be interesting to see what it sells for and if there are any late bidders.

Brian
8227 8)

The winning bid came 2 mins before the end of the auction and looking at the final 5 bids, 4 of them were from the same person (who was the winner). I presume therefore that there was no 'ebay software' involved here as the winner was just trying manually to beat the 'other' bidders maximum bid.
However, in the light of the earlier posts  what has become obvious only now  is that ebay software can be useful as I realise that over the years I have missed a couple of desirable items at the very last minute.
I do hope this car ends up in the LMC.
Chris

The only way to win ebay items is to ‘snipe’, you set your upper limit and bid 3 seconds before the end. That way you can never pay more than you really wanted plus you keep the price low by not creating an early bidding war. Yes you can end up missing items and thinking if only I paid more, but you should be sensible with your predefine upper limit. 

I have been doing this for 17years or more, now days I tend to do it by hand as I don’t buy that much, plus most items I want tend to have a finishing time of Sunday evening.
 
Another tip for ebayers, if selling make sure the finishing time is mid-evening 8.00ish and not on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday.   

I still like my "bid once and bid seriously" method.  Those four bids from the same seller could have been ebay going back in response to other bids.

Just to be clear if its at £10 and I bid £250 (for example) ebay will take it to £11 and there it sits until someone else comes along. 

My risk is that someone else "has a go" and takes it up to £20 or £30 and I've "paid too much" when it might have been a £10 steal.  That's a risk I'm willing to take rather than my sniper being slower than your sniper and missing out on it at £185 when I'd have happily taken it higher.  In that situation Ebay always has the last bid and ebay would have done it on my behalf at £186.

The assumption is that serious bidding these days is all in the last few minutes...  It wasn't always so.  Once upon a time I'd use a sniper but I just don't think it worth the effort or risk anymore.  I also enjoy the discipline of thinking just the once, and really properly, "do I really want this item, if so at what price".  Its all too easy to become an addict and bid on "bargains" you don't really want or need, or to keep bidding a little more and a little more "in the heat of battle" and to have regrets.

David

To answer Brian’s and David’s question regarding who’s sniper is the fastest. It not about speed it’s about maximum price, so the winner is the person who put the highest bid in. However if 3 people snipe with the same price during the last minute, then the first person will win as the other subsequence sniper bids will not be allowed as you have to bid higher.

Yes David if an item is at £10 and you bid £250 (for example) ebay will take it to £11 and there it sits until someone else comes along, and bids more. For example someone then bids £15, the item will go to £16 with you being the highest bidder.
 
The beauty of sniping is that is prevents bidding wars, thus keeps the final price low.

The last ebay tip of the day and you see this a lot, if you see something with no reserve you quite like but don’t really need. Just place a £1 to £5 starting bid and walk any, as sometimes items can fall through the bidding net, and no-one bids. Then you got yourself a bargain. A lot of professional Ebayers (yes they do exist) do this to buy stock to sell on later.

Anyone new to ebay always look at the postage costs as sellers tend to use this as a reserve price, as you have to pay extra for a reserve when placing adverts.

I never put in my maximum bid as a whole multiples of a £, on an item that I think may go for £10, I'll put in a bid for say £10.11, which  will often make the difference between winning or losing an item.

Brian
8227 8)

That's a good last point from Brian.

However I have put many a silly bid on to see if anyone else is interested and have ended up with all sorts of junk that way! Late nights after a bit of beer are fatal.

If I win something I always go through with the purchase. I once did a 100 mile round trip for a "collect only" old computer. It was ancient, weighed a ton, had been stored in a leaking shed...but have I learned my lesson? I doubt it.

Frank

I'm always gonna bid 12p from now on ;)

Frank - I'm sure we've all been there...

Some of us still are (there)!