eBay results have always been inconsistent....
I've seen WM offers stay in the $.50 to $.60 range for the last few months.. There has been a drawback from some current prospect buyers that have decided to delay their buy commitments- and also a slight influx of those buyers that feel a down market is the best time to get a great deal and are swinging for the fences with very low offers from $.25 to $.35 range- but other than a few exceptions the WM market as a whole has shown some consistency lately.
WorldMark values are down significantly from early last year (from a $.70 to $.50 avg) as a combined result of more reseller competition and also more motivated sellers due to the economy.
The low priced sale you mentioned is a great purchase if the property description is correct (always a risk with eBay).. But with eBay sales- there are always so many variables that can effect an item's final value it is almost impossible to come up with a defined reason for the inconsistency.
Examples of this are:
- Ad set up and wording used in the title & description directly effects view counts... Inconsistencies in the description and fees shown reduce seller validity.
- Seller ratings and reputation always play a role in buyer confidence.
- An early bidder could push up early pricing levels and diminish interest from other bidders/watchers, then he cancels his bids late in the game and the item finishes below expected levels.
- A less than honest seller artificially outbids others to push up values or keep an item from selling, resulting in inflated pricing levels...
I won't hide the fact that I'm not a fan of the eBay business model for the timeshare section at this point in time. It has changed so drastically from when we originally envisioned it- and I've never thought that eBay is a good indicator of actual values, simply because of the inconsistencies that are common there and the fact that you can rarely tell if the sale actually resulted in an ownership transfer.
Hope I helped some...
Rich