Week 5
Week Five of the Star Trek auctions on eBay from It's a Wrap Hollywood ended with 82 of the 100 lots selling. 18 lots didn't hit the reserve price. It was a good week as there were many interesting items up this week, including costumes from Star Trek: The Motion Picture and a slew of cadet uniforms from the movies, Next Generation and Voyager.
The top item of the week was the Seven of Nine Jumpsuit which though it was bid up to $ 5,032.99 didn't hit reserve! This was just another example of over-estimation of the potential price by It's a Wrap. The costume was without the inner corset or the shoes. Anyone who knows Star Trek costumes will tell you that makes this costume incomplete. Two items have now gone over $ 5,000 in the 5 weeks of these auctions (the other being the Phlox Space Suit), and neither has reached reserve. Maybe It's a Warp doesn't realize the rich people who were bidding at Christie's are not bidding on eBay.
What is really interesting is that only 11 items sold for over $ 1,000. That is the lowest total since the second week (during Christmas) and shows a trend we have seen for the last two weeks of common items decreasing in price. This will only continue over the next few months as the people who want the costumes get them and prices keep falling. Already some of the top collectors who I talk with each week have told me they are being very careful with their budgets as they are "pacing" themselves. You simply do not see the emotion and auction hysteria you did at Christie's. In fact a Starfleet Voyager style uniform went for $ 449.11, which is the lowest price yet! A real Star Trek uniform for under $ 500 is a steal, but you will continue to see this.
None the less there were some interesting pieces, with two great Star Trek: The Motion Picture costumes, two of the very desirable Star Trek II style red officer uniform jackets from the movies and rare Starfleet Security Officer costume from Star Trek III, which sadly did not hit whatever absurd reserve It's a Warp set. There was also an outstanding Vulcan Musician costume. The fact that neither the Seven of Nine nor the Starfleet Security Officer uniform hit reserve shows a lack of strategy on the part of It's a Wrap. Faceman99, the high bidder on the Security Uniform, said "I will just wait till they put it back on eBay without a reserve as they have done with the previous items not to hit reserve". At this point, regular bidders know that an item that doesn't hit reserve will show up two or three weeks later without a reserve. So what is the point of the reserve in the first place?
After lengthy discussions with some top Star Trek collectors and analyzing the past few weeks auctions, two trends are clear. First, there is a limited pool of money out there and people are being careful what they bid on. I think this also speaks to people who bid a lot early and were no where to be found this past week. Second, prices will continue to decline, both due to this and the fact that there are lots of duplicates of costumes and people are starting to see that. Why over-pay, when you can wait and get the item when it comes around again?
Here are some prices realized and some sales that didn't close because of high reserves:
5 HIGHEST PRICED ITEMS THAT SOLD
Klingon Warrior Costume $ 2,225
Star Trek: The Motion Picture Two Piece Uniform $ 1,503
Hirogen Hunter Costume $ 1,384
Starfleet Movie Red Uniform Jacket $ 1,375
Next Generation Worf 9th Place Trophy $ 1,341
TOP 5 ITEMS NOT HITTING RESERVE
Seven of Nine Jumpsuit $ 5,033
Star Trek III Starfleet Security Costume $ 1,027
Admiral Jameson Jacket $ 725
Picard Undercover Costume $ 663
First Contact Starfleet Uniform Command Red $ 610
This week is clearly the best week yet. It is a combination of Voyager and "Nemesis" items and features over a dozen "Star" costumes. The biggest item being the Admiral Janeway costume from Star Trek:Nemesis, which is already up to $ 5,100! Also, every main Voyager character is represented. And my favorite piece is the Robot from "The Adventures of Captain Proton", Tom Paris's holodeck program. It is really a classic piece!
So what did I win this past week? Well, I got a feature film enlisted crewman jumpsuit that I have wanted for $ 810. It was a good deal on this jumpsuit and a very similar one went for the same price a bit earlier in this week's auctions. I also won the Future Cadet jumpsuit from Star Trek: Voyager, which had a comm badge on it, making it a steal at $ 535. Gems like this are becoming more common as prices come down.
Week Five of the Star Trek auctions on eBay from It's a Wrap Hollywood ended with 82 of the 100 lots selling. 18 lots didn't hit the reserve price. It was a good week as there were many interesting items up this week, including costumes from Star Trek: The Motion Picture and a slew of cadet uniforms from the movies, Next Generation and Voyager. The top item of the week was the Seven of Nine Jumpsuit which though it was bid up to $ 5,032.99 didn't hit reserve! This was just another example of over-estimation of the potential price by It's a Wrap. The costume was without the inner corset or the shoes. Anyone who knows Star Trek costumes will tell you that makes this costume incomplete. Two items have now gone over $ 5,000 in the 5 weeks of these auctions (the other being the Phlox Space Suit), and neither has reached reserve. Maybe It's a Warp doesn't realize the rich people who were bidding at Christie's are not bidding on eBay.
What is really interesting is that only 11 items sold for over $ 1,000. That is the lowest total since the second week (during Christmas) and shows a trend we have seen for the last two weeks of common items decreasing in price. This will only continue over the next few months as the people who want the costumes get them and prices keep falling. Already some of the top collectors who I talk with each week have told me they are being very careful with their budgets as they are "pacing" themselves. You simply do not see the emotion and auction hysteria you did at Christie's. In fact a Starfleet Voyager style uniform went for $ 449.11, which is the lowest price yet! A real Star Trek uniform for under $ 500 is a steal, but you will continue to see this.
None the less there were some interesting pieces, with two great Star Trek: The Motion Picture costumes, two of the very desirable Star Trek II style red officer uniform jackets from the movies and rare Starfleet Security Officer costume from Star Trek III, which sadly did not hit whatever absurd reserve It's a Warp set. There was also an outstanding Vulcan Musician costume. The fact that neither the Seven of Nine nor the Starfleet Security Officer uniform hit reserve shows a lack of strategy on the part of It's a Wrap. Faceman99, the high bidder on the Security Uniform, said "I will just wait till they put it back on eBay without a reserve as they have done with the previous items not to hit reserve". At this point, regular bidders know that an item that doesn't hit reserve will show up two or three weeks later without a reserve. So what is the point of the reserve in the first place?After lengthy discussions with some top Star Trek collectors and analyzing the past few weeks auctions, two trends are clear. First, there is a limited pool of money out there and people are being careful what they bid on. I think this also speaks to people who bid a lot early and were no where to be found this past week. Second, prices will continue to decline, both due to this and the fact that there are lots of duplicates of costumes and people are starting to see that. Why over-pay, when you can wait and get the item when it comes around again?
Here are some prices realized and some sales that didn't close because of high reserves:
5 HIGHEST PRICED ITEMS THAT SOLD Klingon Warrior Costume $ 2,225
Star Trek: The Motion Picture Two Piece Uniform $ 1,503
Hirogen Hunter Costume $ 1,384
Starfleet Movie Red Uniform Jacket $ 1,375
Next Generation Worf 9th Place Trophy $ 1,341
TOP 5 ITEMS NOT HITTING RESERVE
Seven of Nine Jumpsuit $ 5,033
Star Trek III Starfleet Security Costume $ 1,027
Admiral Jameson Jacket $ 725
Picard Undercover Costume $ 663
First Contact Starfleet Uniform Command Red $ 610
This week is clearly the best week yet. It is a combination of Voyager and "Nemesis" items and features over a dozen "Star" costumes. The biggest item being the Admiral Janeway costume from Star Trek:Nemesis, which is already up to $ 5,100! Also, every main Voyager character is represented. And my favorite piece is the Robot from "The Adventures of Captain Proton", Tom Paris's holodeck program. It is really a classic piece!
So what did I win this past week? Well, I got a feature film enlisted crewman jumpsuit that I have wanted for $ 810. It was a good deal on this jumpsuit and a very similar one went for the same price a bit earlier in this week's auctions. I also won the Future Cadet jumpsuit from Star Trek: Voyager, which had a comm badge on it, making it a steal at $ 535. Gems like this are becoming more common as prices come down.
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