Ennui can be a terrible thing, especially at this time of year, in the lull between Christmas and New Year. I don't need any reminding of what I wrote on the previous page, only a few days ago.
'The devil makes work for idle hands'.
Seiko7A38 wrote: ↑Sat Dec 25, 2021 10:41 am .... I hadn't bothered with the 7A48-7000's and 7A48-7009's and I'm not about to start doing a retrospective 'drains up' now. That said, I'd started making a list of their case-back serial numbers ....
Yesterday, I plugged those case-back serial numbers into an Excel spreadsheet, along with other data I'd already gleaned of MM's purchases and grossly marked-up eBay listings and started filling in the gaps. It took me a little over an hour:
- MeltzerTrading-7A48-7000-7009-Activity-Spreadsheet.png (51.35 KiB) Viewed 13282 times
I filled in the missing information by searching eBay history, matching case-back serial numbers in the previous eBay seller's listing photos. MM didn't inadvertently provide any assistance whatsoever in compiling it and I suspect that's deliberate inaction on his part, so as to cover his tracks - that or plain ignorance / sheer laziness. He very rarely ever leaves positive feedback for the sellers he buys from. At best he might deign to leave an occasional
great or
Great!
Seiko7A38 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 30, 2021 12:47 pmNothing has been forthcoming since those last two 7A48's on Christmas Eve (of more anon).
The fact that I was unable to uncover any details for those two both annoyed and perplexed me.
However, I suspect there's a logical explanation. MM clearly has an affinity for the 7A48-7000 / -7009 and it's likely that he's purchased at least a couple for himself. I've demonstrated in previous posts (supported by the dates shown in my spreadsheet) that he doesn't always necessarily list his items in the order of acquisition. It's conceivable that he bought these two earlier in October, with the original intention of keeping them, but subsequently decided to sell them, possibly after acquiring better examples. If my assumption is correct, they would already have been automatically deleted from eBay history, before I started this investigation.
Having retrospectively researched his buying activity, one thing quickly becomes abundantly clear. In his pathetic frantic efforts to 'corner the market', his rookie inexperience has resulted in some indiscriminate and questionable purchases.
Although a decent enough example (albeit with a short-ish bracelet), did he seriously pay
$650 for the 7A48-7009 that he purchased from
lacienegajewelry1540 on 21st October (
Item # 224585903279) ? That's well above market value.
Another prime example of his rookie inexperience was the purchase on 20th October of that well-worn JDM 7A48-7000, fitted with a non-original generic replacement bracelet (
Item # 255023608554). He purchased it on eBay from one of the many Japanese cross-platform re-sellers,
menswatchesinjapanonline, paying well over the odds for it. Common sense dictates that if you're looking to buy the JDM version of a watch, you cut out the 'middle man' and go direct to source -
Yahoo Japan, where as this closed search result shows, they can be picked up in better condition and rather cheaper, often for between as little as ¥5000 - ¥15000 Yen.
One thing I completely fail to understand is why he buys watches that are non-runners or with disclosed faults. There are at least 4 among those listed on my spreadsheet. From a good many of his listings, he not only seems incapable of replacing a battery (or too lazy), but by his own admission (
see quotes at the bottom of the previous page) still hasn't figured out how to reset chronograph hands to zero.
Perhaps the worst of these is the non-running 7A48-7009 head only (
Item # 183769235095) which he bought from US eBay seller
oldtreasurebox on 21st October for an undisclosed best offer (presumably less than $121.49). Not only did the seller list it as: "Not working. For parts", but he first did so back in
April 2019 !! Nobody else had been foolhardy enough, until MM came along.
Incredibly, MM doesn't appear to be learning from his earlier mistakes. He bought another non-running 7A48-7000 fitted with a non-original replacement bracelet, in the early hours of this morning, winning the US 7-day auction for $199.99.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203762892007
- 7A48-7000-Stainless+Gold-WhiteFace-WrongBracelet-eBay-Dec2021-Ended-Sold-$199.png (27.55 KiB) Viewed 13256 times
The
eBay Bidding History shows his encrypted eBay ID with 11,000 plus feedback as the sole bidder.
- 7A48-7000-Stainless+Gold-WhiteFace-WrongBracelet-eBay-Dec2021-WinningBidder.png (35.85 KiB) Viewed 13255 times
Bloody typical. I'll add that one to the 'pending' section at the bottom of my Excel spreadsheet, in due course.