Crapola!

[ams511]

There can be a huge difference between being in the game as a bottom feeder vs. being in the market for a specific item and willing to put some reasonable cash on the line.

I am rational, I purchase items I feel are undervalued. I watch these people bid $350 and up on S-600/Mk-25's when they are only saving $75.00 over the Leisure Pro price. Seems kind of stupid to me. Whatever savings they get will be used up getting the reg serviced.

Also I am very conservative when a dive computer is involved. The seller can always claim it worked before shipping and then claim it was damaged in shipment and he is not responsible. If insured the shipping company is going to say it was not packed properly. So the risk is too great for me.

 

[undefined]

eBay is definitely pretty impressive. I've made a lot of money on eBay over the years, and spent a lot as well. I'm not sure I'd say it is the best thing to happen to the Internet. Personally, I'd say that email, blogs, and forums are the best thing - by lowering the cost barrier to publishing ideas/thoughts/opinions we have created a world whereby we, as individuals, can interact and share information without the prohibitive costs of publishing. The freeflow of information on the internet far exceeds the commercial benefits from a sociological perspective, at least in my always humble opinion.

As for treasures - eBay is a chest full of them. I'm still hurting from losing out on the watch, however. I can't forgive myself for not putting a higher snipe in on it. Even offered the buyer twice what he paid for it to no avail. Oh well. Patience. There will be another one before too long.

 

[Mo2vation]

eBay is definitely pretty impressive. I've made a lot of money on eBay over the years, and spent a lot as well. I'm not sure I'd say it is the best thing to happen to the Internet. Personally, I'd say that email, blogs, and forums are the best thing - by lowering the cost barrier to publishing ideas/thoughts/opinions we have created a world whereby we, as individuals, can interact and share information without the prohibitive costs of publishing. The freeflow of information on the internet far exceeds the commercial benefits from a sociological perspective, at least in my always humble opinion.

As for treasures - eBay is a chest full of them. I'm still hurting from losing out on the watch, however. I can't forgive myself for not putting a higher snipe in on it. Even offered the buyer twice what he paid for it to no avail. Oh well. Patience. There will be another one before too long.

Rare is the thing that doesn't come up on eBay again and again.

If you're in the market for stuff you use, and not stuff you show or collect, the things come around again and again and again.

Keep it on your search and good luck!

---
Ken

 

[ams511]

Wanna meet a slice of humanity - you need to try to get to eBay Live sometime. Its the annual "trade show" they hose. Oofah. What a slice. Its pretty spooky.
---
Ken

It can't be any spookier than your avatar.

 

[undefined]

eBay has changed the meaning of the word "rare"! The price was rare, the item was not. I just want to find one before August

 

[ReefHound]

You presume I only have one account, with this user name.

Please. I have clients, big guy. Zillions of them. Dozens of accounts. I do this professionally, Mr. Bargain hunter.

:mooner:

 

[ams511]

No but I'll let others take the test flight.

Reef I think you need to be more open minded on what Mot2vation is telling us. Given how popular sniping has become, a seller has no idea on what the final price is. I have seen items triple in price in the last few minutes of an auction. So if the item is on a 7 day listing and has 2 bids on it, then the seller may be motivated to do a BIN on day 3and get rid of the item. The item maybe would go for more than that but the seller has no idea what is the sniping result would be. The seller could also use a reserve and get raped in Ebay fees.

I would also think that this tactic would have better results on a new Ebayer than an experienced one. I am surprised a professional Ebayer would fall for it but I guess it depends on the amount of the offer, risk, how much he has in the item, ebay fees, and urgency for cash.

I thank Mot2vation for his insights.

 

[ams511]

I wonder if Motivation is Dive4Clams, I notice very few of these auction actually go the distance. Most end early saying the item was lost or destroyed.

 

[ReefHound]

Reef I think you need to be more open minded on what Mot2vation is telling us. Given how popular sniping has become, a seller has no idea on what the final price is. I have seen items triple in price in the last few minutes of an auction. So if the item is on a 7 day listing and has 2 bids on it, then the seller may be motivated to do a BIN on day 3and get rid of the item. The item maybe would go for more than that but the seller has no idea what is the sniping result would be. The seller could also use a reserve and get raped in Ebay fees.

The prevalence of sniping would make a smart seller less prone to ending auction early, knowing not to panic when there are few or no bids on day 3 and knowing the action all happens at the end.

Of course, a seller with the deficient morality that seeks ways to circumvent the rules and fees, makes side room deals, and routinely ends auctions early would surely have a network of shill bidders (especially when you have "dozens of accounts") to prevent an item going too cheap.

If you buy into that, go for it. I used to Ask Seller a Question all the time when I started out. I think you'll find it quite time-consuming and a hassle trying to keep track of what you asked to whom. Most sellers won't respond for days if at all, some may even report you to Ebay. I won't waste time on that anymore.

 

[ams511]

The prevalence of sniping would make a smart seller less prone to ending auction early, knowing not to panic when there are few or no bids on day 3 and knowing the action all happens at the end.

Of course, a seller with the deficient morality that seeks ways to circumvent the rules and fees, makes side room deals, and routinely ends auctions early would surely have a network of shill bidders (especially when you have "dozens of accounts") to prevent an item going too cheap.

If you buy into that, go for it. I used to Ask Seller a Question all the time when I started out. I think you'll find it quite time-consuming and a hassle trying to keep track of what you asked to whom. Most sellers won't respond for days if at all, some may even report you to Ebay. I won't waste time on that anymore.

Well Spectrum called me a "bottom feeder" lol. Lets face it some people are more motivated to sell than others so would be more inclined to end the auction early. Some do not know of sniping (I didn't until recently), so they face a trade off of the risk of letting the auction go to the end and getting either a low price or a non-paying bidder from Nigeria or a buyer ready to pay now.

I agree a professional ebay seller would be less inclined to end the auction early. Moti2vation's point was he upsells the client so he gets more profit out of the advertising expense then he would otherwise have. So it makes sense for him, it may not make sense for a drop off auction place. Remember he can always say no. Again look at auctions from this Dive4Clams guy, they most often end early.