I don't understand how Active items in your Watch list sometimes totally disappear (like in this instance --I had to use the link above to find the item again) from your account, yet at other times they just get bumped into your Ended list, with a little note saying they're not available...

BH

Yes I had noted that too in various auctions this year.
I am wondering if it is when Ebay themselves end the auction. So in this example maybe they ended it as were not happy re payment terms?
Also under completed items it often gives a buy it now figure it sold at but when you actual go into the item it gives a lower figure. Assume this is a best offer sale rather than a buy it now but very confusing.

Yeh, if it's an auction, & you go into the listing, it states "Winning bidder". If it was a Buy-it-now (whether with a Best offer option, or not), it states "Sold for". But you're right, you have to click one step further (on "See original listing") before it reveals the price it sold for (which for offers is often less than the "Price"), rather than the just the price it listed at. And, sometimes you get into that bit, & it didn't sell at all. Or, at least, if it doesn't state "Sold for" --& I always assume it didn't.

It's all pretty annoying actually. It's the same when you search for completed auctions by price & you have to scroll through hundreds of red (i.e. auctions that finished with no bidders) listings, while trying to catch the auctions which actually sold something! Why would I want to look at all the items that didn't sell?; at least when performing this search. Granted, you should be able to find them somewhere, but not when you want a list of top selling Tolkien, for example.

BH

'Tis back up...

Lord of the Rings by Tolkien The Silmarillion (Starting bid: £5,000.00)

"Will have to discuss with successful buyer carriage for this item depending on where it is going."

One would hope postage could be thrown in, for this price.

BH

I hate defacing books, this looks like five year old children have had a go with crayons

"The Hobbit book
Cover signed by Peter Jackson
Inside pages signed by Martin Freeman and all the actors who played the dwarves who attended the Hobbit premiere in London.
100% authentic I waited six hours in the cold and it was worth it unfortunately I need money to finance a trip to LA and I was left with no other alternative but to sell one of my dearest possessions.
If you have any questions please ask."

dearest possession that you got about 3 weeks ago

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/The-Hobbit- ... hs_CV&hash=item4d08681083

£350 as well

I'm not sure what to make of this -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1934-Pentat ... ks_UK&hash=item3a7d3c59db

- is this supposed to be inscribed by Tolkien or not? What is meant by ' DTS 74' etc?

The seller is claiming a tentative and unproven friendship with Tolkien as far as I can see, "1934 Pentateuchus of Henry St John Hart, JRR Tolkien's Friend and Contemporary"

So no real connection that I can see, or any connection at all.

Readers of Vinyar Tengwar will know of the connexion as Henry St John Hart is mentioned in VT49 in an article on Elvish inscriptions.

The DTS numbers are references to Mellonath Daeron Index of Tengwa Specimina:

http://www.forodrim.org/daeron/mdtci.html

Deagol,

Thanks for the correction and clarification.

Trotter

Thanks, Deagol. So, reading the seller's spiel again, with information from the page you supplied a link to - we can say that this item once belonged to a friend of Tolkien's, but the item itself has no connection whatsoever with JRR.

Now, I got confused whilst reading this sales description. I often wonder, when seeing convoluted pieces of writing such as this, how folk manage who do not have English as a first language. To take a wildly different example - there are folk (native English speakers among them) who are convinced that Lewis and Lacon's 'Fall of Gondolin'' has approval from the Estate. Largely because of wooly descriptions such as we have here.