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I was just thinking the other day about the way ebay used to be. About 3 or 4 years ago when you could still find a deal on blowmolds. I don't know if anyone else remembers but you used to be able to type in a varition of the words "outdoor" "christmas" "lighted" or "plastic" and find items no one else was bidding on. Then you could catch a great deal on them. I remember once I got two bear soliders for 5.25 on ebay! They were listed under the heading small bear lights so no one else bothered to look at them. I have a few stories like this and I'm sure people that used ebay back then to find molds has similar stories. Now, your lucky if you can get a union wish list santa or a pair of soliders for under 30 bucks. After you add in shipping it is just to costly to shop on ebay. Don't get me wrong the rarer molds have always caught a high price, like snoppy or union snowladies, but that is excpected. If you hunt for rarer molds you are going to pay a high price minus the lucky find. But you used to get more common stuff for a decent price if watch several auctions. I don't no what it is. Maybe it is ebay streamlining there site, now if you type in the word blowmold you get just about every auction with a blowmold in it. Back then you typed in blowmolds and you got the old 0 matches found. Maybe we are the victims of are own success. maybe we have educated the world on blowmolds and sky rocket prices. Plus the local idiot sees a poloron animated santa sell for 300+ and them he thinks his union wish list santa is worth 200. Every week there is someone posting a crazy ebay priced item. Or maybe it is the newbies driving up prices. I know people will say there are still deals on ebay but they are so far and few between it is not even worth mentioning. Maybe I'm just ranting or maybe I'm right I don't know. I just wanted to get this off my chest and see what others think. Thanks for reading my rant I feel better already.
____________________ It's not Christmas Until you've blown a fuse or two.
Supply & demand
The "new" supply has gone down, so demand for older stuff has gone up
I also think that inflatables are somewhat fading
More people are looking to EBay to find blow molds
This increases demand & has driven up prices
What bothers me is sellers who blatantly advertise General Foam products as "RARE"
I have no problem with items that are no longer made labeled as "Vintage" & the mold date
There are also a lot of "standard" sellers. People who actively search out large auctions of these items & then sell them on EBay. Also people buying General Foam & selling them on EBay
I've bought some rare molds this past year, most (not all) at a decent price & well below the high prices I see. I see one mold selling at $96 with bidding, meanwhile - the exact SAME mold ending a little earlier/later is selling at $36
I've watched as the one goes aover $100, and the 2nd sells at $40
Some newbies, some people get caught up in bidding
sweetcar13 wrote: I was just thinking the other day about the way ebay used to be. About 3 or 4 years ago when you could still find a deal on blowmolds. I don't know if anyone else remembers but you used to be able to type in a varition of the words "outdoor" "christmas" "lighted" or "plastic" and find items no one else was bidding on. Then you could catch a great deal on them. I remember once I got two bear soliders for 5.25 on ebay! They were listed under the heading small bear lights so no one else bothered to look at them. I have a few stories like this and I'm sure people that used ebay back then to find molds has similar stories. Now, your lucky if you can get a union wish list santa or a pair of soliders for under 30 bucks. After you add in shipping it is just to costly to shop on ebay. Don't get me wrong the rarer molds have always caught a high price, like snoppy or union snowladies, but that is excpected. If you hunt for rarer molds you are going to pay a high price minus the lucky find. But you used to get more common stuff for a decent price if watch several auctions. I don't no what it is. Maybe it is ebay streamlining there site, now if you type in the word blowmold you get just about every auction with a blowmold in it. Back then you typed in blowmolds and you got the old 0 matches found. Maybe we are the victims of are own success. maybe we have educated the world on blowmolds and sky rocket prices. Plus the local idiot sees a poloron animated santa sell for 300+ and them he thinks his union wish list santa is worth 200. Every week there is someone posting a crazy ebay priced item. Or maybe it is the newbies driving up prices. I know people will say there are still deals on ebay but they are so far and few between it is not even worth mentioning. Maybe I'm just ranting or maybe I'm right I don't know. I just wanted to get this off my chest and see what others think. Thanks for reading my rant I feel better already.
belive it or not there is a snoopy on ebay right now
just search christmas blow molds and set the time ending to newly listid it should be at the top of that page
____________________ merry christmas from Michigan,
sweetcar13 wrote: I was just thinking the other day about the way ebay used to be. About 3 or 4 years ago when you could still find a deal on blow molds. I don't know if anyone else remembers but you used to be able to type in a variation of the words "outdoor" "Christmas" "lighted" or "plastic" and find items no one else was bidding on. Then you could catch a great deal on them. I remember once I got two bear soldiers for 5.25 on ebay! They were listed under the heading small bear lights so no one else bothered to look at them. I have a few stories like this and I'm sure people that used ebay back then to find molds has similar stories. Now, your lucky if you can get a union wish list Santa or a pair of soldiers for under 30 bucks. After you add in shipping it is just to costly to shop on ebay. Don't get me wrong the rarer molds have always caught a high price, like snoppy or union snowladies, but that is excpected. If you hunt for rarer molds you are going to pay a high price minus the lucky find. But you used to get more common stuff for a decent price if watch several auctions. I don't no what it is. Maybe it is ebay streamlining there site, now if you type in the word blowmold you get just about every auction with a blowmold in it. Back then you typed in blow molds and you got the old 0 matches found. Maybe we are the victims of are own success. maybe we have educated the world on blow molds and sky rocket prices. Plus the local idiot sees a poloron animated santa sell for 300+ and them he thinks his union wish list santa is worth 200. Every week there is someone posting a crazy ebay priced item. Or maybe it is the newbies driving up prices. I know people will say there are still deals on ebay but they are so far and few between it is not even worth mentioning. Maybe I'm just ranting or maybe I'm right I don't know. I just wanted to get this off my chest and see what others think. Thanks for reading my rant I feel better already.
Sweetcar, I've been buying blow molds on ebay since 1998. I do remember the days when you could pick up some incredible bargains..I think they still can be had, but they are fewer than they once were. I remember when the term "blow mold" was unheard of on ebay, no one knew they were properly called that, my searches were always centered around the words "light up" or plastic Christmas decorations" just like you. Things have changed, I don't know if its better or worse now. Seems there are many more molds listed than there used to be, but the prices have gone up exponentially, especially now with all the people who seem to be bidding on blow molds.
There was a time when most of us on PC knew who was who on ebay too, many of us attached a reference initial to our bidder ID so that we would not mistakenly bid against each other. At that time, the majority of people bidding on blow molds were from PC, or so it appeared to me. We used to talk about it, so and so is going to go for that, or "I bet xxx will be bidding on that" because we all knew who wanted what. Those days are pretty much gone for the most part..although there are a few of us "old dogs" who still adhere to the courtesy of not bidding against each other.
I agree, the listing prices have skyrocketed on some molds too, the word is out now, only 2 manufacturers are still in the game. There was a time when I was picking up Empire choir peeps for under $20..doesn't happen often now, if at all. But on the common molds, I do think, for a newbie just getting into this, some real bargains can still be had. The rare one though, ouch! I know someone who paid over $800 for a particular mold, I wonder what it would go for today if all things remained equal, double that? Who knows. But if that mold appears again, I know I won't be able to afford it..not on eBay.
I guess, at least in my case, I've become far more selective about what I bid on and generally speaking, I surf Craig's List more frequently, hit local sales, or buy far more often via private transactions.
I know what you all mean but like this year ebay is where i got My Old Beco Mary and Joseph and wisemen set. I got all 6 pieces for under 125 including shippin so i thought that was pretty good. Although i didnt put my bid in untill the last 25 seconds lol so i think thats why i got them so cheap cause i was a ghost gettin ready to strike lol
Ok this is nutts i would never pay this much for a blowmold lol well maybe a standing poloron shepherd but wow people are nutts or just too much money they dont care lol
devonkc2004 wrote: Ok this is nutts i would never pay this much for a blowmold lol well maybe a standing poloron shepherd but wow people are nutts or just too much money they dont care lol
I use to buy blowmolds on Ebay. 80% of mine came from there. It is too expensive and shipping costs are through the roof anymore. I stick to yard sales, antique malls, flea market, craigslist (found tons of stuff for others but not me yet), and Chuck's auctions. Bargains are still out there but they are few and far between.
I registered for eBay several years ago, but never bought much of anything until YOU PEOPLE made me realize how rare some of the blowmolds are. One thing that I have used to guide my purchases (wisely or unwisely, you tell me) is to ask myself what I would be willing to pay for the item if I saw it at a store, then I subtract the postage. That number becomes my max bid.
My current pet peeve is items that are clearly NOT blowmolds (Betty Boop ornaments spring to mind somehow) having an auction title that includes the words "blow mold". Anyone else bothered by that?
____________________ I wish you a hopeful Christmas...
Well a betty boop ornament is actually a blowmolded product...so the title does apply...so you just have to overlook those...
Now when you search and get lights and other junk in there...thats keyword spamming...and against ebay rules...
I miss the good old days of bargains and cheap shipping but those days are long gone....
I do stumble across some hidden jewels from time to time...you just have to know where to look...
I think one of the biggest things driving up prices are the resellers and most of us are at fault for allowing it...
They hold several accounts and bid against us in auctions...beat us and then turn around and sell the same item at a higher price and like idiots molders keep buying and keep them in business...
It's not hard to see who they are...they bid on every auction....have all the popular molds for sale....
You watch ebay enough you will see the patterns....
Brad Caudill wrote: I stick to yard sales, antique malls, flea market, craigslist, and Chuck's auctions.
... And neighborhood trash. Man, some people have all the luck.
____________________ No really... Just one more light and I'll be finished....
Disclaimer: If you take any of what I say as non-constructive, it's not how I intended it.
ErnieHorning wrote: Brad Caudill wrote: I stick to yard sales, antique malls, flea market, craigslist, and Chuck's auctions.
... And neighborhood trash. Man, some people have all the luck.
That is true! Neighborhood trash is the best. I got a shelving unit this past weekend.
It's not just blow molds that are affected pretty much anything old/no longer made has skyrocketed.
My old neighbor has a business of cleaning out attics basements whatever. I used to help him from time to time years ago.
Most jobs we would go to I would come home with all kinds of old odds and ends that the home owners considered trash.
Then came along the television show Antiques roadshow on PBS.
Sure enough slowly but surely the good old stuff became less and less.
It got to the point where home owners would say to us, I have this and it's old and worth money,if you want it I will sell it to you?
Most times it was something that wasn't worth much if anything at all.
We would say no thanks we throw those out all the time. Hearing that they would tell us to haul it away with the rest of their trash.
Everybody these days thinks if they have something old it's gotta be worth thousands of dollars.
This is a another reason why you don't find much any longer.
Just like baseball cards,everyone keeps them these days with visions of them being worth big bucks in the future like the cards of old when nobody was saving them.
Thirty years from now the market will be flooded with these cards and they wont be worth much more than they paid for them.
____________________ Keeping static alive for another year anyway
At that time, the majority of people bidding on blow molds were from PC, or so it appeared to me. We used to talk about it, so and so is going to go for that, or "I bet xxx will be bidding on that" because we all knew who wanted what. Those days are pretty much gone for the most part..although there are a few of us "old dogs" who still adhere to the courtesy of not bidding against each other. 
