Wiener Werkstaette Postcards

For the next post in the series on Top eBay Chess Items by Price, I had the largest selection of items that I can remember. I could have chosen from any one of the following:-

• Chess computer Mephisto exclusive Lyon 32-bit • Bid history: 28 bids, Winning bid: GBP 1,019.00, Approximately US $1,622.45
  
  
• Mens 10k yellow gold round diamond chess cross pendant • Sold for: US $1,170.00
  
  
• Harry Potter movie 'Final Challenge' zinc chess set & board • Sold for: US $999.99 (two of these sold for that price)
  
  
• Huge Dresden Lace Plateau Lady & Man Playing Chess 17" • Sold for: Original price US $1,195.00, Discounted price US $750.00
  
  
• Dave Matthews Poster - Wrigley Field 9/17 Chess Series • Sold for: US $700.00; 'Selling the entire chess series (5 posters) from the Dave Matthews Band tour of 2010. All posters are IN HAND and are MINT! London, Hershey, Flushing, Louisville, and Chicago!'

Instead I chose '1911 Wiener Werkstaette, Wiener Cafe - chess match!', pictured on the left. It received 21 bids and the winning bid was US $925.00.

Why choose this particular item? First, I had no idea that a postcard would attract such competitive bidding. The 21 bids included 12 different bidders. Second, I had no idea that a postcard would sell for so much. The second highest bid was $915.00, when the item started at $9.99! There are some serious postcard collectors competing on eBay.

The item's description said,

Here is an Investment Grade 1911 Wiener Werkstaette No. 531 Art Postcard titled “Wiener Café: Die Schachspieler.” The artwork is by Moritz Jung. The card shows a nerve-wracking game of chess with several men watching through the café’s window. The card is postally unused and in fabulous condition.

A single page of search results convinced me that the auction's result was not at all unusual; see Wiener-werkstaette-postkarten.com for lots of examples. Looks like I should have spent my hard-earned Euros buying postcards instead of chess books.