Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

I have received yet another request about my postings. In future, I will post only after the auctions are over. This, of course, does not prevent anyone from looking on their own at any time. In my opinion, this will likely have no effect on the problem of one person outbidding another, but we'll see.

And a hearty you're welcome to those who've expressed their thanks.



Best regards,
Ed West

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

Unfortunately, many of those postings are deleted immediately after the auction is ended. But, you have to do what you're comfortable with Ed.

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

Ed,
May I ask why this change has come about?

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

Hi,

I really appreciate the postings and, like John, am curious about the change. Showing listings while an auction is on is rather like advertising a book in advance of publication, or getting an idea of it before deciding to purchase.

There have been many occasions where I have found things on Ed's listings that I had missed, which have enabled me to then put bids in for.

Whatever, it is still excellent work by Ed!

Regards,

David

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

If I may express my opinion, I would feel comfortable with this change, as far as this doesn't prevent the possibility to look at the photograph...

If this is not the case (as outlined by Dan O'Connell), then the whole sense of Ed's most precious postings would be altered.

Is this what Ed and we all really want?

Just asking...

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

Loosing that wonderful preview custom is very hard. My TOCH-world has become a bit emptier now. Thank you Ed for the past.

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

Now Ed, finally all these niggling critics on this board and elsewhere have grinded you down. I am very sad about your decision as your postings were the highlights of my visits here. And for all you......., you may be asured that those millionaires like Sudek 13, hoependoepel a.s.o. will continue to spoil a fair bidding on e-bay with or without Ed´s postings. They have available a huge number of willing helpers around the world who comb the e-bay pages every day for treasures not only for aircrafts but the entire WW II photography and even medals and documents. May be Ed, this facts are making change your mind. TOCH is no more the same to me. Thank you Ed.

a disappointed
hihotte

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

I have to agree with the posters asking you to continue as always. I, for one, don't have the time to go combing through e-bay, and barely find the time to check your listings - you were doing me one great favor guy. Those who have blamed you because of the escalating auction prices are barking at the wrong tree. Like someone mentioned above, big collectors like Sudek have many other resources for tracking this stuff on e-bay. Personally, I have no problem with the Sudek group winning as many auctions as they do, particularly knowing that some authors are being allowed access to the resource. Better that than having the photos disappear into a private collection never to be seen again, something which happens all to often with materials like these.

Another thing. By not 'exposing' these items, the effect may well be the opposite of what the complainees expect - the prices may come down, but the Sudeks of the e-bay world will still win the majority of the auctions for any number of reasons.

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

hi ed,

i am sorry but i must agree with all the comments above, the site is going to be empty without your posts, most of them will go as soon as the item is sold, and we will never see them again.

would you like to name the person/people who have requested this?

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

Hi to all,

I think it's a good idea! Most people who discuss the ebay auctions
at TOCH don't bid at the photos because they don't have enough money.
That's a fact. Let's discuss after the auctions are ended! So nobody can
offend us and we do not take our hands in a running transaction.

Regards,
Günter.

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

The logic of this completely feckin' escapes me!!!

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

Gentlemen,


Thank you for your comments. The purpose of eBay is to make money, both for the sellers and eBay itself. However, my posting links was done in the spirit of aiding not hindering. Even though I think my posting only after the auctions end may, I repeat, may, have an effect, I am not convinced. In any case, I have decided to give those who feel others have an unfair advantage via my links an opportunity to see what happens.

Let's all give this a little time.



Regards,
Ed

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

Its a sad day

And to post them after the bidding is indeed not a good plan.
I some time post the pictures of ebay on the LEMB board after
the sale if I have a quistion.
I wonder when I get complaints about that also.

For all who are surfing Ed WEST post it will be a time consuming effort
to find Ebay pictures in the new situation.

But heads up the war is over.

Regards and thanks for all

Peter van Gogh

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

Ed,

Whoever complained to you about your posting of auctions while they were still live should have been told to piss off and mind their own business. I'm being polite here, I could have couched my words in far stronger terms. How dare they do such a thing. If they do not like it, they have no need to look at your posts, or look at the auctions. They are a totally mindless bastard in my opinion. And if they want to come out into the open and declare who they are, I'll tell them again. A total sad no-brainer!

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

I am with John!

We tend to spend to much time phrasing ourself when we sometimes need to tell the truth!

Peter

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

Hi Ed
Keep on posting your links before the end of the auction. If everybody can see your postings everybody have equal chance to win the auction.
And ..... stop complaining about Sudek and others who are willing to pay big bucks. I would do the same if I could afford it. I have bought a few thousand pictures during the last year and I would have liked to buy more if I had the money. I have sometimes been overbid but that is the chance in an auction.
I have something against people splitting up collections or albums, but I can not do anything about it and I am willing to buy pictures in small portions if the pictures interests me. I think that albums should be sold complete but auction-factory and others are there to make money. On the other hand, a lot of these albums would otherwise just have ended in the dustbin by the families who are not interested in the pictures.

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

This should be a good indicator of who agrees and disagrees with the change. Out of 2 pages of replies (15-20 replies?) there was only one agreement. And I agree with John, Dan and all the others who say don't change. Keep posting as you always have. If someone crybaby doesn't like it, tough.
Walt

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

:)Hi Ed

;)Keep on posting the hyperlinks before the end of auctions . I agree with Delmenhorst , shoud I have enough money to pay the high price for the photos that are interesting me , would I have done it . We cannot play against some " biding factory", we do not have the same amount of cash available , but that's it , now german aircrafts photos are easy money for sellers .

Sometimes I can buy one . sometimes ...... :(

But be aware that the most interesting side of your postings is not highlighting them to make the bids higher , but is revealing that such a photo has been taken and is available for all of us for our researches . I cannot remember how many photos of FW 190D-9s where revealed by you and helpful for my work even if sometimes the quality is not very good.

So I think it is time to thank you for your daily review .

ALl the best

Eric

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

Ed,

I totally agree with the majority here, you MUST continue.

Please do not cave in to the moaners - just look at the posts here, all but one wish you to continue.

Please keep up the good work.

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

Ed, your postings are my main reason for visiting this forum almost every day! I have given up the idea of being able to buy photos, but for research purposes it may often be sufficient to see a photo on eBay.

So, please...

Lennart A

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

Hello again,

first thanks to John for your opinion but I don't understand
your street language, I'm sorry. What's all this good for?
We'll see if something will be changed. And I guess that some
other collectors will profit from Ed's agreement. But these guys
need not to act the big shot here... We will see.

Regards,
Günter.

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

Hi Lennart, if you only want to make research purposes,
you can wait until an auction is ended :)

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

Ed,

Keep on posting, or if it will make you feel better take a vote. On second thought it looks like a vote would not be needed.


thanks for all that you do for us here.

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

Dear ED,
don't change.

And one example for all: the wonderful fw 190D r4m pic: the auction finished before the schedulated end !!!!

Francesco M. Lentini

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

Ed,

I do not often respond to treads that concern personal opinions. What people think about something is up to them.
In this case however, I do! I agree with the majority. Don’t change what you have been doing. I’ve been out bided all the time. So you saved me a lot of money. And secondly Sotheby’s does not keep it’s auctions a secret, do they? It’s a free market.

Please keep up the good work,

Dennis

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

Hi Ed,

You can add another voice to the 'don't change' camp... We (mostly) live in a democratic society and the majority has spoken. These photos will still be sold and Sudek13 et al will still swoop on them with massive bids in the last 10 seconds of an auction whether you post your links before or after the auction ends.... Nothing will change.

Too often society is dictated to and run by the minorities.

regards

Adam

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

It's all relative and pretty much academic, don't you think?

Carry on Ed, because whether Sudek13 has millions or not, it won't matter a Tinker's F....

Stephen

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

Dear Mr.West,please do continue with your postings,one of the highlights of my day!
René

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

Günter,

For your benefit, I will explain myself a little clearer (I hope), given that I don't believe English is your first language (although you appear to do pretty well at writing it).

First of all, 'feckin' is an Irish way of saying 'fucking', a rather strong term in English, used to reinforce a point in conversation or writing, as well as its other well-known connotation. Having strong Irish ancestry in me, I lapse into it from time to time.

Telling someone to "...piss off and mind their own business..." is a way of saying that the individual may hold an opinion, but in the opinion of the person carrying out the action they should not interfere with what is going on, as it is not their concern.

A "...totally mindless bastard..." is someone who has put no thought into what they propose, and simply state what they want rather than understanding the wider picture.

Finally, a "...sad no-brainer...", well, see the previous paragraph.

The point I make, and others do also, is that in a democratic society, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a list of auctions being published by whatever means. If an individual elects to do so, then that is their prerogative. The fact that I agree to the 'live' postings on this Forum, and you do not, is irrelevant. It is Ed West's right to post whatever he likes, within the constraints laid down by the Moderator. Ain't that the truth!

I don't quite understand what you mean by this: "...And I guess that some other collectors will profit from Ed's agreement. But these guys need not to act the big shot here..." Everybody has the capacity to go into e-bay and type in certain categories and find the relevant photos. sudek, hoependoepel, rlm76, christal, me, whoever, can find what they want if they really try. So Ed's posts have been a simpler way for Forum members to see what is up on e-bay, but what Ed has posted cannot be claimed to ever have been exhaustive. Bidding on auctions is always a 'hit-and-miss' affair. I have won stuff very cheaply and wondered where the big bidders where; did they miss it, or did they not realise the significance of a particular photo and decide not to bid? That's the way things happen, whether or not the big bidders are around.

If you think auctions should not be seen live, then I suggest that you personally only go into Ed's posts about 2 weeks after they are posted. Then you can be honest to your views, while the rest of us look at what we want to, when we want to.

I hope I have made things clear enough for you, but I will endeavour to explain things even more should you wish me to do so.

Loyaultie me lie (and if you know what this is, greetings!)

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

Ed,
Thanks for all your efforts, much appreciated!
Sad to learn of the change but you have to do what you feel is right.

Agentsmith

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

At first, as I've never posted here, thanks Ed for your great work, I've been watching your listings for a long time with great interest.But I must say, since the past three days, I've been able to win again interesting pictures at reasonable prices, what had become impossible for a very long time. So, the joy of searching for pics on Ebay and the fun of bidding for them are here again! In fact, this new system gives again some chances for the lone player, just making his homework with the Ebay search system.By the way, it's also very funny to hear the "big mouths" here crying that the system you've choosen now makes the Ebay pics unavailable for research, as we all perfectly know, that the closed auctions links stay, for 99% of them, available for about 5-7 weeks. Probably, these guys, working so obviously in a pack, have probably other interests than "research", to want the come-back of the old system.So, Ed, once again a BIG thank-you for this change, as this new system will give to many buyers more fun on Ebay and nevertheless bring the researchers everything they need for their archives. And be sure that this opinion is shared by a lot of people.Nemo

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

Hello again Nemo and all,

thanks for your statement here!

On the one hand I can understand that the members on this board
love to see the links every day. By the way, in 2 or 3 days Ed could
start with listing ended auctions - also day by day!

For most of the TOCH members it would be the same, they don't bid
at highprice photos! Don't call me a liar - it's the truth. I know it's
arrogant but who wants to bid more than 50,- or 100,- for a photo?
In the past month photos of Bf 109 raise up to 800, 1000 Eur or more.
The D-9 photos go up to 1000 USD as we saw last week. Who is
willing to bid such amounts? Only a few guys, not the mass of us.
We also can speak about Ju 88, emblems, tails and so on, not even
German fighter photos. I saw that many photos which were not listed
at TOCH didn't raise in this way!

If you would ask the ebay members who are able to bid hard on
photos they want - I guess most of them would say that the change is
absolutely OK. You've read the state of Stefan of sudek's team at
wehrmacht-awards.com. They can't have a look at every auction,
photo offer and so on. So other bidder could have a better chance
without the list here. Our new friend Nemo is a very good example!
Ed's list is a help for every interested researcher and collector.
This includes the big bidders!
Ebay is a perfect example that money rules the world. If the sudek
team want a photo, they'll get it unless the Sniper software breaks
down.

@ John: Thanks a lot for your detailed explanations, I can see
a little bid clearer what you wanted to tell me/us. You are right,
English is not my first language, I've learnt a little bid in school
long time ago. I'm happy that you think that my English is good
enough, I feared that I can't explain what I want to say.
But please tell me what is the meaning of "loyaultie" ???

With kind regards from Austria,
Günter.

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

Guenter and Nemo,


you are very naive!

Robert

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

I appreciate effort of Ed, it helped me many times in research. Thanks to him I have dozens of unpublished photos as cross reference to other photos.

But it would be interesting to see what would happen if Ed would not publish links say for 4 weeks (and publish it later). I wonder if certain bidder(s) who buy anything for any price would fail to see some auctions.

Horrido!

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

Günter

"...But please tell me what is the meaning of "loyaultie" ???"

You are not a member of the Society dedicated to the last true king of England, then? It was his motto. It translates as "My word is my oath" He was killed in battle by a Welsh usurper to the English throne. But this is straying slightly off topic.

And moving back on topic, about prices, there is one photo that I have looked for for decades, and if it ever came up, I would take out a bank loan to get it...!!!

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

May I add my two cents.

First, I loooooooove John Vasco's postings. He has not his tong in his cheek, and he has not what we French call "a wooden tongue". I appreciate.

Second, I have quit bidding for a long time, lack of time and running out of money. But, downloading thumbnails on eBay has been quite helpful to sort out specific markings or codes. Some of them led to colour profiles in my magazine. Furthermore, there are still a few nerds that post 300 dpi thumbnails and even with their "Kopierschutz" that you can easily erase with PhotoShop, these photographs can be printed in any publication with a rather good result. Who owns the copyright? You tell me. And don't say I'am the only editor to have done so. I can give you plenty of examples and you'd be surprised to learn their names.

To be frank, that Ed's lists are posted before or after the auctions end doesn't matter to me.

Now to be back on topic, Ed is a grown-up boy. That's his decision - whatever it is. Let's repect it.

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

Now if you click on the link in my signature, everything will become clear, and you'll understand just how much of a mad, lunatic, Englishman I am.

My best to you, Chris,

John V.

PS. Isn't your country's expression for us: 'Geule de Bois' (GB)? = wooden gob.

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

I'm with the majority, keep posting Ed. It's one of the main reasons I go to this site.
I've bid on a few pics because of your posts. I just don't have the time to search ebay all day.

I can't understand how people with little money think they can outbid the heavy hitters if you don't post the links until the auction is over.

Collecting is expensive. Art, Cars, Planes, Militaria, Comic books, etc, what ever it is you collect it will be expensive. If you can't afford it, well too bad thats the way it is.
If you want to win auctions, Bid to Crush! You're never going to win by bidding the minimum amount and hoping for a bargain.

Please continue Ed.

Regards,
Mike

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

John,

My slang is a bit outdated. It has been a long time since I last paid a trip to London. To me "avoir la gueule de bois" was "to have a hangover". But slang, as many things, changes everyday.
I guess we are somewhat OT...

Chris

Re: Change to Ed West's posting schedule
 

I think I may have a solution to this supposed problem that will shut the whining, babies up. Im not sure of eds status on the board,wether hes a moderator or not,but why doenst he send the ebay links out in a mailshot. Whoever wants to recieve the links can say yes and the pathetic children who don't can say no and slouch off somewhere else and sulk.

Personally I think this is a waste of time anyway. Like most sane and rational people i enjoy and look forward to eds posts, I also enjoy the members follow ups and additional info that very often accompanies the posts.

HTH

Nick