Ebay sporran going very high

[OC Richard]

One of those Ebay head-scatchers, where I wonder if the seller's questionable information (probably given in good faith, out of ignorance) has made the price go higher that it normally would.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Scot...item53ef3532ec

It's an ordinary Evening Dress sporran, one of the most common sorts actually, a design still being made. True that this is a "classic" design and it shows up in old catalogues from the 1930s; but the sporran appears to be a fairly recent ordinary sporran. I have seen such sporrans go for around 100 dollars many times (and a bargain at that price for sure).

[cessna152towser]

It certainly looks from the photo like a relatively recently made sporran. I wonder how the seller, or the bidders, can be so certain that it dates from the Victorian era.

[Phil]

I see it is a "Private listing" , usually something best avoided to bid on with Ebay as it has been said that it is too easy to conceal shill bidding. This may be why the bids are so high as there is no provenance for the date given or any marks to validate its age. To all appearances it is the same as one you could buy in any kilt shop for a little over £100.

[artificer]

This is one of those cases where a few more pictures might tell us a LOT more about the item (like a shot of the rear face which usually has the maker's mark, which might help up date the piece).

I agree that this is not Victorian, but could be an antique - as OC Richard said possibly from the 30s-50s.

Unless it's solid silver (and it's not, as it says plate) there is no way this should be anywhere near this high a price.

ith:

[Chas]

It might be possible, but I would think that in this case there was no shill bidding involved.

17 bids total from 7 different bidders, does not look like shill bidding to me. Rather, people having a go and getting outbid is the more likely scenario.

As someone who was a business vendor on eBay for four years, I can tell you that they go to extreme lengths to protect their good name. They have very sophisticated tracking and tracing software and if any possible link can be found between bidder and vendor, the vendor will suffer. I know this from personal experience. It is just not worthwhile for the vendor. If you are caught the first time is a seven day ban, which can stretch to beyond 28 days. The second offence is a lifetime ban. And remember, they know your URL and your address and post code and bank details. You can't just start up another account. You have to move house and change your bank.

Worth it? I don't think so.

Regards

Chas