$37,100 for Rare Tommy Johnson Record

Delayed buy-it-now offer nets seller $33,000 in extra profit

September 26, 2013
By James Massey

(Source: WhatSellsBest.com) - A rare Tommy Johnson Record has fetched a winning bid of $37,100 on eBay. Amazingly, an unexpected delay appears to have made the seller $33,000 in extra profit.

eBay

The record, with the songs "Alcohol And Jake Blues" and "Riding' Horse" (Paramount #12950 - 78 RPM) by Tommy Johnson was listed on eBay, September 18.

The first day of the seven-day auction, the seller received a Buy-It-Now offer of $4,000 from a buyer in Mississippi.

Apparently, seller attempted to accept the ($4,000) Buy-It-Now offer. But a technical delay held up the sale. Allowing the bids to fly past the $4,000 offer. All to the benefit of the seller.

Here's an excerpt from the interaction between the buyer and seller, as it was posted within the eBay listing's Q&A (September 18, 2013);

Buyer Question: "Hello, I would like to offer $4000.00 as a Buy It Now for this record. It would have to be shipped in a very large box not a mailer as a next day delivery . I live just 30 miles from where this artist was born in Mississippi and am a long time collector. Thanks"

Seller Reply: I have 1 bid on this record and the system won't allow me to revise it to Buy It Now! I will call eBay tomorrow and ask how to change it. Thanks."

Thanks to that delay, the seller made an additional $33,000 profit. Not a bad pay-off for a temporary inconvenience.

Tommy Johnson 'Alcohol And Jake Blues' (Source: Ragtime Dorian Henry)

Auction Data & Statistics

The Tommy Johnson Record received 29 bids from 8 bidders over the course of 7-days. Opening bid was $499, final bid was $37,100. The eBay view-counter recorded over 7,900 visitors to the listing. The auction ended Wednesday, September 25, (2013) at 2:15pm Pacific Standard Time.

For more information and close-up photos of the album; see **eBay auction listing; #300969625287 (auction links may expire after 90 days)