Wow! The second listing is better, but I wonder whether so many more people found it because of all that detail or because of the reinstatement of the 'p' missing from the first one? Or maybe listing it under 'gin' did the trick?
#3 ~ Sage ~ only 169 visitors to the first listing, but more than 74,000 to the second (unless Ebay counters not working properly again) - it must be something to do with spelling, or key words in the description - the titles aren't otherwise all that different ?
eBay give you several reasons to retract, one of which is 'Seller changed item description.' However, just because this is the STATED reason, it is not necessarily the ACTUAL reason. Bidders tend to check this box when they have no substantive reason to retract but still want to exit the deal. You can report for an invalid bid retraction if this is the case.
Damn! had one of those, drank it last week, tasted a bit funny though, not one of my favourite beers. That label looks exceptionally bright clean and new though, compared to the one on my bottle which was mouldy, heavily foxed, and smelt a bit (Bee would,nt like that!)
the difference between the first and second sale was the typo in the first one, the seller missed a ', from the name, allsopp...he must be near suicidal...
There's quite a few news articles on this sale on the internet. The best one I have read is at http://antiquenews.blogspot.com/2007/08/ world-record-british-beer-bottle-brings.html#links
The buyer's previous eBay purchases have been heavy metal albums for a few dollars.
By my calculation eBay's FVF will be only just over $7500, pretty cheap compared to what an auction house would have raked in.
There's something not right about this whole thing, but I can't quite figure out what.
The label (blurred photo when other pix are clear) shows the word Trade Mark under the red hand logo. Trade Marks were not registered until 1876. The Bass Red Triangle was Trade Mark Number One.
I think that photo is blurred because it was a difficult photo to take, not because he was trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes. He wouldn't have put the close up and all the other pictures on I would think if he wanted to do that.
I think he believes it is what he says it is. But if you're right, stu, it can't be.
Anyone bidding such high money would surely know exactly how that bottle should look. So perhaps the bidding was all spurious? Wouldn't be the first time on eBay, let's face it.
I have just checked out the feedback the first seller (the one who sold the bottle for $300) left the buyer (collectordan), before he learned that he had sold it on for half a million! (If indeed he has). I wonder what he feels now? Pretty sick I imagine. This is from Toolhaus.org:
STELLAR bottle! Rarest bottle ever sold on E-Bay...BAR NONE! EXC SELLER! EXC!!! Buyer: collectordan (515) Jun-27-07 15:55
very professional buyer.pleasure to do business with.highly recommend Seller: petere92346 (69) Jun-21-07 19:01 allsop's arctic ale.full and corked with a wax seal (#270132264843) US $304.00 View Item
I imagine a $500K sale takes a little time to go through so it's hard to tell who's happy and who's not at this stage. Worth monitoring, I think.
stu, have you thought of emailing the seller and pointing out the trade mark problem? Be interesting to get his reaction - maybe point him in the direction of this thread?
There are quite a few news stories on this sale in the States. One local paper somehow got hold of the story that the seller lives in Sackville, MA. Several journalists, including local press and antique collectors mags, have tried emailing the seller repeatedly but not had any response. I will personally be amazed if this bid is not bogus. The buyer's previous purchases on ebay were a few heavy metal albums for a few dollars. Somehow the image of Garth from Wayne's World comes to mind. Not likley to have a cool half a million dollars to spend on a bottle of beer methinks! The seller set a buy-it-now price of $150,000, so he clearly knew he was onto something gigantic, unless its all some sort of elaborate hoax.
The US eBay site currently has another bottle of vinatge Allsopp Arctic Ale (Item number: 320148850692). This is supposed to date from 1875 - 23 years after the record-breaking "1852" bottle. To my eyes this 1875 bottle looks more authentic. It has no label and a lead seal. The "1852" bottle looks too pristine for a bottle that had been on an Arctic voyage and back 155 years ago. Why would it have a fancy paper label for a one-off navy expedition? Surely a wax seal would crack and perish in sub-zero temperatures, better to have a lead seal (though we now know that lead is poisonous). On very old Allsopp labels the hand trade mark is white not red and in any case trade marks weren't registered as such until 1870s.
According to an article just posted on the internet (see link below), the winner bidder on the half a million dollar bottle of ale has admitted it was a hoax bid. Yet the seller is saying he isn't going to relist it and doesn't say anything about making a Second Chance offer. All very odd The mystery deepens.
Another very odd thing about this infamous ale auction is that the winning bidder's eBay identity is revealed on the listing. All the other bidder's are private, as is usual with high value auctions. Why isn't the winner private too?
The seller, collector-dan, says "no hard feelings" when told by the hoaxer that he wont actually be sending him a half a million dollar cheque anytime soon. Now he says its too much hassle to relist it and he may donate the bottle to charity.
Isn't it obvious to eBay that this is a scam, presumably to attract pulicity to the seller's other "authentic" geegaws?
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