Norge Combo for sale on ebay

[easyspindry]

One of the most . . .

. . . fascinating discussions in a long while. I guess because no one's ever seen one or had one.

PLEASE get it and give us a report. I had no idea Norge even made a combo.

Videos would be awesome.

Jerry Gay

 

[launderess]

We've Been Robbed!

Just took a peek at the auction to see where the bidding was and to my surprise it is shut down.

Message from eBay states "seller ended auction... because item is no longer available"

Ok, who cut the side deal? *LOL*

 

[gansky1]

I IIRNC on the Norge-Speed Queen combo relation. The Norge was a completely unique design, it was the Speed Queen that shared much DNA with the Hotpoint combo - another machine that is rare as hen's teeth. Don't think anybody has seen one in person.

 

[cadman]

I assume it went to a club member...now how long before it comes out of hiding???

 

[launderess]

"how long before it comes out of hiding??? "

Usual MO is for the thing to lie low until the heat and potential furore dies down.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Probably due to a lack of confidence in a buyer's ability to compete in the marketplace so they don't play by the rules. Some people never overcome inadequacies they began to feel in childhood. It's sorta like men with big possessions to compensate for shortcomings elsewhere.

 

[kenmore58]

Unless I'm reading this incorrectly, the auction was ended by the seller after receiving two very high bids.

Ron

 

[tomturbomatic]

Where are you reading that? I have not seen anything about two very high bids and if there were two very high bids, they were not made via ebay; a crooked seller and a crooked buyer colluded to go outside the system.

 

[vacbear58]

Big bids

I wondered about this too, you can see it if you click on the bid history - I know it says no bids placed, just scroll on down the screen.

Al

 

[launderess]

Pipe:

Bid retraction and cancellation history

Bidder Action / Explanation Date of Bid and Retraction

Bidder i***6 Cancelled: US $1,000.00
Explanation: The seller ended the listing early and cancelled all bids. Bid: Dec-02-11 17:51:58 PST
Cancelled: Dec-02-11 18:12:09 PST
Bidder r***a Cancelled: US $2,359.99
Explanation: The seller ended the listing early and cancelled all bids. Bid: Dec-02-11 07:26:57 PST
Cancelled: Dec-02-11 18:12:09 P

 

[launderess]

This Is Not Our First Time At The Rodeo

For that reason one really no longer bothers listing active fleaPay auctions or classified adverts for rare and or unique items.

It's the same old story most every time now:

Seller lists something they pretty much consider one step up from scrap value. At once the vultures descend making contact with grad offers and the rest goes usually goes the way of the above auction. Listing vanishes and item turns up later in someone's collection usually when they either make the annoucement and or require assistance with parts/repair.

Cancelling an auction to cut side deals IIRC is acutally against eBay's policy, but then again they have few tools against it and even state in their terms they cannot force a seller to make the deal.

Am all for club camaraderie as far as that goes; but there are too many "silent" members who we only hear from when they have a problem wanting solved, or to glean information that benefits themselves.

 

[tomturbomatic]

There were two bids placed and officially accepted by ebay--our original one and our top bid and there was nothing in the email I received from ebay last night after I went to bed except that the seller had withdrawn the item from auction. The seller has other items for sale, along with his or her integrity. If I cared, I would report him or her to ebay, but they don't have a lot of integrity either.[this post was last edited: 12/3/2011-14:06]

 

[tomturbomatic]

According to ebay rules and procedures, the seller does not know the maximum bid any buyer places. The deal was made offline.

On the other hand, maybe the seller realized that the reason that the machine is still in the basement is that remodeling made it impossible to remove. Let's hope.

 

[twintubdexter]

"frankly my dear"...

I think anyone who would pay $1000+ for that machine must have money to burn...although I've spent more on collectibles that my friends think aren't worth a dollar. I do like the seller's description of that old combo where he states that it's classified as "antique" which means it's a 1911 model or earlier.

 

[goatfarmer]

another one scared off?

It's also "possible" that someone Emailed the seller, and stated how rare and unusual the piece was, and they know of a lot of interest in it, and that they personally don't want it, and how they hope it goes to a good home type thing. Seller hears of this, and withdraws the item, only to post later at BIN of $5000.00 or so....

 

It's happened before......

 

[kenmore58]

Not to rant and rave, but this reminds me somewhat of what happened a while back with a near perfect Kenmore round bolt-down automatic that appeared from Rhode Island.

I started corresponding with the seller, as she only lived approximately 3 minutes away from me. As we started to correspond, my suspicion is that other club members also e-mailed her with the usual "Oh, my God, that's fabulous." "It's extremely rare." "It's worth a fortune." Etc. Etc.

Yes, it was rare and yes, it was in mint condition, but those people are in another part of the country. Are they going to pay the high price to ship it? No. Before I knew it, the woman wanted an astronomical figure for the machine and basically told me to stop emailing her and that I was harassing her, even though I was simply trying to explain what the machine was worth to me and the fact that I could be at her front door in 3 minutes with cash and a neighbor who was willing to help me haul it out of the basement.

Sometimes people have to learn "The art of the deal."

Thanks for letting me rant.

Ron

 

[travis]

As with anything that's rare, it's not surprising that this happened.  Ebay has never been fair and never will be.  This, like many other collector groups have members that are willing to throw cash at something and others that sit and moan that everything is only worth $50.  It always boils down to supply and demand or luck with a rare item.

 

[launderess]

@travis

Would agree with you to an extent, but this was an *auction* where the market supposedly would determine what a thing is worth.

Too many clueless sellers on fleaPay and elsewhere fail to do their homework and then want to rejigger things because their price was off the mark.

 

[norgeway]

HER I AM!!!

I never knew such a thing existed!! I want to come see it whoever gets it!!!!

 

[travis]

Laundress,

 

I don't think most people know how to price a piece of crap that's been sitting around their homes.  The correct thing would be a Buy it Now or best offer.  They'd likely put some high buy it now price that would set off a few people as being crazy, etc.  I agree that an auction should set the price, but ebay has never worked like a real auction.  I have long since given up on bidding during an auction.  Sniping is easier and less stressful.

 

If I was that seller and someone waved a pile of cash at me for an appliance that I inherited with my house, I think I would have sold it out from under ebay also.  For better or worse, ebay offers better exposure than any site I can think of.