eBay: Go to Bat for the Dodgers Pin

The nerd in me absolutely loves this pin. When I saw it on eBay I knew I just had to have it.

So, I decided to make an opening bid (the first bid of the auction) at $20.00 figuring that it would likely sell for more than that. How much more? Well, I had no idea.

As you can see from the pic below, it is a circa 1960's Dodgers pin with a Batman theme- "Go To Bat For The Dodgers," and I had never seen it before in the years I've been a serious Dodger memorabilia collector.

Anyway, I studiously tracked the auction until the very last day when it sat at just under $30 bucks with roughly 5 hours to go. Being impatient as I usually am, I placed another bid at just over $30 bucks and found myself in the lead. Four hours later (with just about an hour to go) I came back to check on it and found that I had been outbid. So, I slowly bid in increments.

First, I bid $35.32. No dice. I was not the leading bidder.

Then, I bid $38.32. Just a nibble to test its current auction price. I was still outbid.

Then, $42.32. At this point I was feeling desperate. This auction was quickly approaching my max.

$45.32 was next and I was still outbid. Dammit! I could go no higher.

In my many years of eBay buying I had learned that you should always establish your max price before placing any bid. If you don't, you'll find yourself getting onto an emotional roller coaster bound to make you regret the entire exercise.

So, I was out, and I would have to enjoy the pin from afar with the knowledge that I did the best I could. Nevertheless, I continued to follow the auction just to see where it ended up at.

With about half an hour left it rose quickly to $76.99. From there, it looked like it would settle at that price. Unfortunately for the high bidder at that time a couple of snipers had this auction in their sights, as well.

If you don't already know, there are a couple of services that will place a bid on your behalf at the very last moment of any auction. That way you can anonymously make a bid at your maximum price without anyone knowing that you bid in the first place.

Well, with less than a minute to go the sniper bids came in and raised the final selling price to a surprising (at least to me) sale price of $128.28.

Wow! I knew this was scarce, but I had no idea it would be so sought after. A bigger nerd than me with a wallet to match had won, and I am left to wallow in sadness.

(Auction Link)