These crazy listings, with the ridiculously high prices that only serve as a starting point for off-eBay discussions, are annoying to those of us searching for watches, but I wonder whether this really has chased away other listings? Not sure that I can connect the dots, in terms of cause and effect.

Let me add that the crazy John's Watch listings are no more annoying than the dealers who list with the "Inquire" as the price. I understand this approach for certain special watches, but my usual response is not to inquire . . . period. There are other dealers who list with the dream-shot prices, in the range of John's optimistic prices. I take the same approach to these . . . unless it's a watch that I really want, and a dealer who I believe will be reasonable, I will ignore these listings.

Jeff

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

: I've seen the dearth as well, but I attribute it to something else.
: There have been a number of auctions over the past year that
: have repeated over and over, starting at prices that reflect the
: highest an item might bring (and usually because the one that
: sold at that high price was in better condition or provided far
: better evidence of condition).

: My thought is that these recurring auctions have killed the market
: and chased away others who see that these Heuers aren't selling.
: And indeed, I think that these high priced auctions have killed
: the interest in buyers as well. Nobody who pays attention will
: buy the Monte Carlo that John's Watches has put up for auction
: 38 times without a bid.

: There used to be auctions on ebay, where a watch would start at $1
: and be bid up to wherever it belonged. Now, it's just an
: overpriced garage sale of dubious quality, and both buyers and
: sellers watch as the same items come around again and again.
: This isn't good for anyone.

: Scott