Wonder why you keep losing bids on most wanted records?

Ahoudori1947, the bidder anonymised as a***4, is the Ebay identity of the Tokyo group of vinyl record stores “Disk Union”.  I estimate they spend over $1,000 a day every day buying premium collectible jazz vinyl on eBay: That is four wins a day every day, 120 wins a month. Always desirable rare and excellent condition, wherever sold, mostly US but  Europe, UK, nothing escapes their eye, or their deadly ninja snipe.

I lost an auction unaccountably recently, so I followed feedback and all roads lead to Tokyo.There I found under this buyer, a veritable Private Island submarine cave of every record I have ever wanted. Always original, always top dollar, an invincible auction opponent.  That Prestige original of Quiet Kenny? The original Sonny Clark Cool Struttin’? Sahib Shihab Oktav original “copy”? Bethlehem originals? Ultra-rare Blue Notes? Lexingtons? Every time : Ahoudori1947.

I have spent hours skimming through crates of rubbish 80’s re-issues, I have  mortgaged the farm and put the wife out to work the street to afford decent VG+ originals, and here is the gateway to every record you ever wanted – at a price.

They buy multiple copies of the same record, some high-end 60’s rock and pop as well as jazz, Disk Union record stores buy at whatever price it takes, to feed the appetite of wealthy Japanese record collectors, saving them the grief of bidding, postage and customs charges. I guess their philosphy is buy at any price, sell on at two to three times that.

Out of interest, I cherry picked the best of Ahoudori1947 scores in the three months to June 2012. See any desirables you were one of the twenty bidders for? I can see mine.

Collectors Corner

I sent out for Sushi.

What I want to know is how high he sets his snipes. This is a dangerous game if someone else puts in a blind high bid. He relies on the second placed bidder to set the price sensibly.

With his sucess rate he may well put in a fantasy bid of several thousand dollars every time, knowing it guarantees a win every time. I have seen people addicted to winning at any price, titled aristocrats that shower hookers with gifts of jewelrey, social media bubble multi-millionaires, footballers age 20 earning £100,000 a week, middle eastern princes that buy garages full of luxury cars they never drive. Not everyone in the world has a  “normal” sense of values.

Second, is there a treasure cave somewhere in Tokyo? I dream of going into a shop and seeing all these records on the wall and in the racks. Sounds like a dream come true.

Lastly, a note of respect, this man knows his jazz, knows the market, and has the swagger and style to deal for the finest jazz. He is the seller’s friend, always premium price. I am just annoyed that he stole a record right from under my nose. Money always has the final say, usually “bye bye”. That 1947 in his title. Usually that is a birth year. Makes him about my age. Respect. The only unanswered question, how would anyone find time to listen to such a quantity of records incoming?

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