I'm confused - why is my single used BFG Onslaught ship selling for £7.50 + £3 trans-Atlantic postage when you can buy a pack of 3 new for £8.70?

because:
A)prices in the UK are cheaper than in other places (notably here in australia, where GW charge more than twice what you pay at the current exchange rate)
B)people are stupid, and dont check the above type of thing
C)people are stupid, and may think they're buying a se of 3, or that the GW pack only comes with 1
D)people are stupid, and buy BFG stuff thinking its rare, because they cant get it in store
E)people are just plain stupid
F) all of the above

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~Every Tool Is A Weapon, If You Hold It Right~

Maybe they made a mistake and thought your auction was the one that they were supposed to be using to launder money. I figure that's the case every time people pay too much on ebay.

Also, people assume ownership of items on eBay when they have the highest bid, not when the auction is over. Its an easy trap to get into... 'I am winning this item, now to plan what to do with it when it arrives..... some guy just stole it from me, and I cant have that'. A lot of miniatures go for above retail on eBay. Its crazy.... and, people are stupid.

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https://www.cybershadow.ninja - A brief look into my twisted world, including wargames and beyond.
https://www.net-armageddon.org - The official NetEA (Epic Armageddon) site and resource.

It's also because of the auction system that EBay chose to use.

I find a sealed-bid second-price (Vickrey) auction is fairest for the buyer, but a sealed-bid first-price auction is probably the best compromise.

Basically, everybody who is interested, places a single bid. The value, and number of bids, are kept secret. Whoever has the best price, gets the item for that price. Obviously, some people will be worse off (snipers, sellers wanting runaway auctions), but it means that the bidder always gets something for a price they're willing to pay (no emotional contestation), and the seller isn't as screwed by the single bidder issue (Listing an item for $0.01 and one bidder, equals a lot of work, for F'all money, unless you're screwing the buyer on shipping).

Morgan Vening

Yeah I myself once - badly - fell into trap. Five or so years ago there was a really awesome unreleased High Elf mage on there I'd never seen before, which, in the madness of a last minute bidding war, I somehow ended up pay £175ish for. Minutes later I was hugely cursing my own stupidity; especially when other ones turned up in the months to come that went for £30-50ish.

Though, I suppose, having once sold an epic Psi-Titan for £217 I can't really complain too much.