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I was trying to bid on a watch, brand new price that you can find is $214... brand spanking new. So, I put in a max bid of $165 about 35 seconds to the finish line. Forget it, last minute there were snipers that took the bid upto $205. For a used one. What are these idiots thinking? To save $9 off a brand new one?
I used to be really into Ebay both as a buyer and seller. Sorry to say this past year, I think I had 2 transactions on used children toys. I would be a a lot more interested if they would adopt a real English auction or open ended ascending auction in which the final bid price is accepted when no other challengers are willing to bid higher. The current system is a time based auction (Burning candle) which moves the bidding only to the final seconds of the auction... final bid on the table wins regardless if there are any challengers still interested.
Its bad for the seller... I would rather the bid continue if someone is willing to pay higher.
Its bad for the buyers... only the snipers are really the contenders. When a lot of snipers are involved, its really a crap shoot.
If I really want something from ebay, I generally just take my time and think of the absolute max I'm willing to pay and place the bid. Then I forget about it until the notification comes on whether I won. Anything else is a complete waste of my time. I just keep placing my max bid on items until I eventually win (or give up). Sometimes I do this for months for an a particular item... just occasionally puting in a bid. It keeps me spending only what I have budgeted for the item and avoids get caught up in a bidding war.
So if $165 is all you want to pay for a watch... just find the next ending auction, place that bid, and forget about it. Do it over and over. You will either win at that price (yeh!) or give up and buy new (which is nice). Win-win. Patience. What you don't want to happen is to pay more than you wanted and have regret. Sometimes, I'm lucky and I win an auction that happens during a time when no one is looking... for me its been auctions ending on Sunday mornings and Summer holidays.
Now if you don't feel like dealing with this crap.... there is always Amazon which also sells used items. Most of my online business (I still do most locally) has gone towards Amazon... even paid for prime.
eBay is not the stupid one... seems the bidders are.
I agree. It's not uncommon at all for a bidder to get emotionally involved in the competitive aspect of an auction and lose perspective of the actual value of the item up for bid, whether on eBay or at a live auction.
And it certainly doesn't make the auction service "stupid".
What I don't understand is why so many people waste their energy fuming about "snipers." Join a sniper service and you, too, can bid in the last 6 seconds.
What I don't understand is why so many people waste their energy fuming about "snipers." Join a sniper service and you, too, can bid in the last 6 seconds.
Heh, agree I do snipe when I really want something. Got good at it without a app. Do have to say agree OP, you need to know quality, price range and make sure the seller has a good rep. If you see a deal too good to be true make sure it is not a stolen image and a fake seller. Common sense folks, many just don't have it any-more. Sad really.
Seller fees are too high. I always try to Craigslist my stuff first.
That may be effective in urban areas, but here in the sticks a seller might not have enough of a local market for an item to get top dollar.
A few years ago I cleaned out a closet at my mom's house and found a whole box of vintage video game magazines from the early 1980s. I sold most of them on eBay for upwards of $50 each; if I'd advertised them locally I probably wouldn't have gotten a single call unless it was from someone who wanted to sell them for a profit on eBay. In cases like this I think the fees are reasonable in relation to the return.
Ebay is a seller's market. Always has been. You can sell poo on a platter on Ebay and probably find a buyer. I used to sell music gear out of the Recycler and that was a total pain in the ass. People come over and haggle and your market is just your local area. With Ebay you are selling to the entire nation and the bidding process insures that you get top dollar. But occasionally I find bargains on Ebay like with obscure replacement computer parts, but it's never a price so low that it's a fire sale price.
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