Antique fishing lures on Specialist Auctions

Hello, a bit of a different post today.

Apart from eBay there are a number of other auction sites, and websites, where you can pick up antique fishing lures. Today I thought I would feature one of those, specialistauctions.com

It is similar to eBay in some ways, you join, you have user names, things are set into categories, you bid etc, but it also differs in a few ways.

As far as I can tell it appears to be free to list and buy. I am mainly concentrating today, upon what is actually listed on the site , rather than the mechanics of using the site, but I may revisit this topic in a future blog and look again at how it actually works.

Another difference, and a bit of a complaint in my eyes, is that it doesn't appear to be a true auction, at least in the field of vintage fishing tackle.

If you have a look at the site, down the left hand side of the page, you will see the categories. Enter sporting goods, and then fishing. There is then a subsection for lures. And within this is a further subsection for vintage fishing lures. You get a picture or two, and a minimal amount of descriptive text. OK you can ask the seller questions, but to me the lack of detail seems a bit lazy, particularly if you are trying to sell something.

I just checked today and i think all of the items in the vintage fishing section are being sold by one seller,the eponymous 'Lovejoy'. Now I have no problems with the name,or idea of what he is doing, but what I don't like is the fact that his items on offer at auction just appear to be an extension of some antiques business, and the items do not appear to be realistically priced to induce bidding.

Also, if I remember correctly I did put in a bid once for a reel,(cant remember exactly what),however, after entering what was actually a reasonable £25 for the reel, I got a message like "reserve not met". I continued bidding for another £10 or so, and never did get to a point where the bid was accepted. This to me suggests the reserves are far too high, and that no actual competitive bidding is ever going to occur. Mr Lovejoy might as well just list the item with its actual selling price, and you then try to knock him down from that, rather than the other way around.

As a few examples of what is actually listed at present, there are 4 or 5, common or garden, metal minnows at £25 minimum. A modernish looking, Colorado spoon at £25, an Archers Bait tackle at £25, and a boxed Horton Evans Vibro spinner at £25(I sold one on eBay a few weeks ago at about a fiver and was pleased with my return).

There are a few Hardy's items for sale,for instance some natural bait tackles at £25, and a quill minnow at £25. Again these prices are all far above what you can pick them up for on eBay. Even more expensive are a couple of what look like silk phantom minnows,each at £50!

So, all things considered, I am a bit disappointed in what this site has to offer as a competitor to eBay. I cant really knock Mr Lovejoy, fair play to him if he can get people to buy at those prices. However, I cant imagine he gets many sales, and he would shift a lot more by offering things at realistic prices, in a true auction environment.

I will keep an eye on this site, and might even try listing some of my own things at some stage just to see what happens.

Thanks for reading.