Hi Bob,

I've had several auctions with chips (French) that I normally sell at $5 each. I've, at times, listed these chips on eBay in Dutch Auctions where I would offer from three to five examples ($5 opening bid) expecting that the chip would not exceed the $5 as it usually never does...and, if it would have gone a bit higher, I would have included either a tax/commission jeton at no charge or another low-value chip. Anyway, at one of these auctions I noticed a "runaway" where three bidders bid the chip up to $39. The chip was listed at $5 on my web site, and in the description I made it known that the chip trades at $5. I do this quite often when I "use" eBay as a retail outlet on items I have in quantity and are common. To me, it's just a way of getting both a little action and alerting the consumer that common low-end jetons are not really worth too much...no matter how pretty they are to those who first see a pearly-green jeton with a lemon-ice inlay having golen lettering.

Anyway, what I ALWAYS do with theses "runaways" is to notify all the bidders (and eBay) that I'm ending the auction for the reasons stated, and offering them the chip (and duplicates if they wish) at the $5 suggested retail price.

Now I'm not saying that a scarce or high-end chip should not be able to fetch all it can, I'm just referring to the more common material. I also feel that it's the SELLERS responsibility to inform the bidder should a chip start to reach levels that are far above what they could normally be purchased at in either the marketplace or the casino.

I fully agree with David Moore's thinking regarding sellers expecting and accepting bids that are far too high for common or current material.

JB