I don't get this. Why would you pay $45 more for a scope vs. what you can buy it new for?

Ebay FX-II 2.5x U.L.Compact w/Heavy Duplex

I was watching that item, thought I might pick it up if it went low enough. That went for $375 with shipping, wow.
I just recently ordered the exact same thing from the Leup Custom shop, $329 to my door.
Am I missing something? Unless you just had to have it for some immediate need for THAT scope I guess....

That's EBAY for ya.

Good for the seller

I have seen items sold for more than the "Buy it now" price.Now that's stupid.

Either stupid, or a scam.

I think some people don't even know what price they can buy the item for elsewhere when they get to bidding on eBay. Also, I've noticed in general that used Leupold scopes very often sell for more money on eBay than they would anywhere else. Which is why I like selling Leupolds on eBay, and buying Leupolds on here.

You've never really seen the epitome of "pay more than it's worth" until you've seen a firearm sold at a farm auction.

Well, in the case of Loopy I have seen VX-II, Vari-X II etc go for more than VX-2. Same with 1's and 3's. I think the cat is out of the bag with the old Leupold stuff being pretty good, while the new stuff seems chitty.

Yup that's really what it comes down to, gun and farm auctions get stupid and ebay is no exception. The last gun auction I went to (a few years ago) guys were paying $100+ for cheap $30 Lee casting pots, and those were the online bidders who could have done a quick google search for the item. The guy who outbid me on a pallet of bullets had no idea what he'd bought, he said his goal was just to spend $10K at the auction. There's no explaining the stupidity when "auction fever" kicks in.

I agree about gun auctions, lots of guns sold for more than new. Lots of old ammo, etc. same way.

People are buying used Leupolds on the Classifeds within 10% of new in some cases..........

Most folks just don't shop around and have much idea what a good price is, often going by the popular--and expensive--websites. Plus, the price of everything that shoots has come down, including other brands of scopes and optics.

It's like the guy who pays something close to retail for a gun and when he wants to sell it thinks he's going to get something close to retail.

Same reason gift cards on Ebay sell for more than face value.

One reason though could be Paypal Credit 6 months 0 interest. Most non ebay dealers dont take Paypal

Never thought of that.......

Auctions create an urgency to buy.

Folks get their blood up for something and abandon reason. Sellers often try a ridiculous price first, hoping for the best.

My wife's been selling off various collectables for a few years and is constantly besieged by dealers and other cheapskates who want stuff essentially for free, with free shipping, of course. That's the other side of this.

Reminds me of the old saying about a fool and his money.

What really gets me about auctions is when people don't even look at/inspect the items. They hear the auctioneer throw out what seems like a low price and they say 'heck, that's a good deal!' Then they get wrapped up in the auction and pay too much. Saw a guy buy a Winchester M70 at an auction for what seemed like a 'great' price. Until he picked it up after the auction and actually looked at it. Beat up, rust, pitting, you name it.

Auctions are like most things in life: If you go in without a plan your likelihood of getting screwed is multiplied by 100.

Part of the reason people pay more is the e-bay language that sets them up to “win” something. Win? The buyer merely bought it, but the psychology is that he won it. I suppose it indicates that he won over bidding competitors, but is the goal to buy something at a reasonable price or spend a foolish amount to feel like I won some kind of contest? Obviously the goal for such buyers is to win, whatever the cost.

I gotta go down to Safeway today and win some groceries.

"Buyer beware", never more appropriate than in this day and age of scammers. There are deals to be had, just need to be educated enough to know what's good and what's too good.

There is also the mentality that says, "Hey, that's a good price! I need that like I need a hole in the head, either because I have no earthly use for it or else I have umpteen of them already that just sit and gather dust, but by golly, there might be someone who can really use it, especially at that price - can't let that happen!"

^^^^^This ^^^^^^^^^^^

Harder to believe that people buy optics from China or Hong Kong sellers and expect them to be legit, just discounted. Haha. The picture of a totally different box should be the first clue.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

It's a lot easier to hit the Buy It Now button and get what you want in less than a week, rather than trying to order through the Custom Shop and wait around.

After having sold fishing lures on eBay for the last 6 or 7 years, I believe it is the mentality that "I am not letting anyone outbid me"...a regular spitting contest no matter how much they end up giving for the item. I have tried to sell lures for a BIN price and after not getting it sold, I will put it up for auction and on more than one occasion I will get more for the lure than I had it at a BIN price.

Key to Gunbroker anyway is to start at a penny with no reserve. That way you make it on everyone's watch list, because they don't want anyone else getting that damn gun for less than it's worth!

kinda sounds like what one gets when they elect democRATs into office....

This is so true and I never understood it for the life of me. I was at one over at the farm show building in Harrisburg and these beat up Marlins were going for like $600+ and at the time you could buy a new one for $400! These were not collector anything just old Marlin 336 30-30's that looked like they spent the better part of their life in the back of a pick up truck.

The favored storage location in this area is in the drive-through of a corn crib.

We used to go to mechanical contractors auctions. Used junkie drill motors, gang boxes, bandsaws, rotor hammers, you name it sometimes would sell in lots of 50 for more above what they would have cost new. It was crazy. We did buy 20,000 dollars worth of test balls for 500.00 once. Buying frenzy is a good word for it.