Velvet Underground Record Up for Sale Again!
CinisterCee
863 Posts
Velvet Underground Record Up for Sale Again![/b]By VERENA DOBNIK,Associated Press WriterThu Dec 14, 6:18 AM ETThe cyberspace saga of The Velvet Underground's 40-year-old first recording was to continue after fetching a false eBay bid of more than $155,000.The vintage Velvet was to be auctioned online again starting Thursday afternoon. The original bid bit the dust earlier this month when a young man in California e-mailed the seller and confessed he doesn't have enough money to buy the rare recording."Seriously, I can barely afford gas for my car to get to work," reads part of the message the seller says he got via eBay.[/b]The first auction ended Dec. 8, with eBay showing a final bid of $155,401 for the recording of music that ended up on the influential New York band's first album, "The Velvet Underground & Nico." Warren Hill, a collector in Montreal who owns the acetate LP, says he bought it at a flea market in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood for 75 cents in 2002.The $155,401 bid was confirmed Wednesday by eBay spokeswoman Catherine England. She told The Associated Press, however, that eBay has no way to verify whether the bid is legitimate because "the transaction is between the buyer and seller."The bidder has seven days to close on a deal, which is legally binding. After that, the seller ??? Saturn Records, of Oakland, Calif., representing Hill ??? may report a false bidder."I'm not going to sue him," a weary-sounding Hill said Wednesday in a telephone interview from Montreal. "I just want to sell it."Copyright ?? 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.Copyright ?? 2006 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. 
Comments
what?
serious... and then to put it up AGAIN knowing the same thing can and will probably happen?
btw - does fake bidder get fined/banned/etc from ebay?
I imagine Sothebys/Christies, etc take a huge commission; ebay is perhaps better is some ways for a one-off sale like this. And with the way they have now implemented the Private ID/pre-approved bidding, I think this auction should run much more smoothly. I mean, I'm sure they'll be rifling through every potential bidder's feedback making sure things seem on the up and up.
Or even a negative feedback?
http://myworld.ebay.com/mechadaddy/
They should just take the first serious offer over $10,000. People are getting greedy.
I didn't read the other ss threads, but a scratched acetate that has been booted is not the most valuable record in the world.
Hello,
Thanks for your interest in our auction for the Velvet Underground Acetate. As you may be aware, we had attempted to auction this item last week, but found that the celebrity of the auction had attracted a bizarre level of bidding mischief. I had canceled over fifty bids during the auction which seemed to emanate from bidders with low feedback, and whose otherwise bidding history did not seem consistent with what was being offered in our auction. Despite this effort, as you may have seen/read/heard from various news sources, the winning bid turned out to have been a prank as well.
We are taking the following steps to ensure that the return to auction of this item does not repeat the flaws of the last one. We have made two changes: we are keeping the names of bidders private, and we are requiring reference contacts from each bidder before allowing their participation.
Please forward the following information to us if you wish to participate in this auction:
1. Full name and address as it appears on your banking statements/credit cards. If you go by a different name, please provide both names.
2. Daytime and evening phone number.
3. Your line of business or employment
4. Address and phone number of your business/employment location, and a reference contact name and phone number at that place of business.
Thank you for understanding the need for securing this information on all the prospective bidders. The information requested here will protect serious bidders from having the auction undermined by rogue bidders. Thanks for understanding that as a serious bidder, your cooperation here enables a system designed to ultimately serve your interests.
You will receive notice that you have been accepted for bidding after references have been checked.
Good luck in the auction.
Scott Wax
Saturn Records
wow - doesn't it normally take longer than one week for something to jump the shark?
"The form you submitted is no longer valid" - is this soul strut's protection against overly-long and/or painstakingly written posts?? Well.. you got me.
The gist of what I said was.. I don't think there were any legit bidders on this above say $20K.. why wouldn't they sell it to one of the other 6 people bidding over 144K.. because they were all phonies. Dude Petsalad recently bid on (and won!) 'a pen that ran out of ink!"
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250049521604
Anyways, nice damage control by the auctioneers to say there was 1 phony bid.. seems more like dozens and dozens of phony bids.
So any predictions what it will now sell for with a private auction..?
This, assuming that pranksters don't just run it up again.. I"m not sure how they will be able to check a bidders seriousness without say.. a credit check?