you GOT to watch that stuff if your looking,, My best friend works on cars and there was a Computer box for a Jaguar that is like 500 but it was on ebay for like 20 so he bids 80 another guy bids 90 so he bids 180 and didnt watch figuring hes got it ,,,,, you guessed it the other guy gets it for 181 the next day as the auction ends... Rog
Rog, These people use sniping programs that they have to pay a monthy fee for. These companies that sell the sniping subscriptions are on the same "backbone" as ebay, so they can place a bid for you in the last millisecond. It seems like a cheap way to win. It costs like 10 bucks a month, i have heard.
chris
always snipe on something. i wait until the last minute to bid on things. but i have dsl ... which helps.
Yeah, that is what I do to Miguel. I just won some mags for my sachs doing that.
The sniping software I use cost $20.00 and sends in the bid at the very last minute from my machine. It works great!
Yea i got screwed out of a paintball gun barrel...i have cable and i bidded with 5seconds left then someone usin a snipe program won it with 1second left
it pissed me off so bad
I have mixed feelings about sniper programs. One one hand, I love to get the cheap final bid in at the end and win my auction; but it really defeats the purpose of the auction. Other sites have gotten around this problem by having the auction close time automatically extended when somebody makes a bid -- effectively elimnating snipers.
Tabpat, does the program you use cost 20 bucks, or is it 20 bucks a month?
`Ya dirty Rats! So THAT's how I lost the last auction! Well,two can't play at that game!(:>)
There's that.
There's sellers who create 50 ID's at the same time...and use them to ramp up the bidding on their own items.
There's sellers who refuse to contact you/sell to you cause they're pissed that they didn't make enough on it. (and put it back up 2 days later with a higher reserve)
There's buyers with the 50 ID trick who post one MASSIVE bid, and nuke the ID the minute the auction ends, "shielding" their far lower bid.
There's feedback bombin...both good and bad (pumpin up yer own or smearing someone elses) also used by the 50-ID folks.
There is, of course, sniping...which entirely defeats the purpose...online bidding is supposed to be convenient...smack down what yer willing to pay, come back later to find out if you've won the auction....now you hafta friggin babysit ?
And of course the all too common phenomenae of paying your money, and never getting anything....it's tailor made for low-end ripoff, it's not worth it to you, the cops, or Ebay to drop the bomp on someone for less than $50.00 value, right ?
A scammer who's good at it, think 5000 bogus "Auctions" with no actual product, in one month, and then split to another location and identity, while it's not worth the time to prosecute the bastard...look what HE is making off the scam.
5000 x $20.00 = $10,000.00 - in one month, and that's based on only 5000 auctions with a 20 dollar profit....it's tailor-made for crooks who know what a "Salami Scheme" (Aka "Rounding") is.
Not to mention the detrimental effect Ebay's style of business has on non-internet sales...the classifieds, for example.
Used to be, "Best Offer" meant best offer UNDER the asking price...now, say someones selling a moped for $250 or Best Offer, right ?
Next you hear "Well, I got someone else offering $270, you willing to beat that?"
What I tell those guys at that point....you sure couldn't say on Disney channel....especially since more than half the time, the other offer is just a lie, as they try to squeeze you for more.
I despise Ebay, and I despise even more what it says about our society when you watch it for a while.
-R
yeah, ebay does have it's problems. so sometimes you don't get things as cheap as you'd like. but .... you also get some good deals sometimes. the key is simple and it's in your power: don't bid more than you're willing to pay. if you lose an item, who cares, you didn't want to spend X more dollars on it. if you think you got a good deal, be happy.
You got that right, Ree.
eBay just reflects society, and it's a pretty sad image.
Just like the people who steal from the Serve Yourself soft drink dispensers. Just who are they ripping off for the cost of a Coke?
Jim
It was a one time purchase. It's the cricket Jr. sniping program. I haven't bid on anything in a long time. I usually buy quadraphonic stereo gear and the competion gets fierce. I had to go this route to survive.
There are good and bad points to almost everything. There are some scam artists on every corner. Ebay just has several corners. The good part about ebay is folded up in the idea of access. You can get stuff that you couldn't buy elsewhere. You can sell stuff that you wouldn't have been able to sell somewhere else. I live in a smaller town and cannot affor to drive 60 miles to get some little piece or part that I needed. When I was rebuilding my fa50, I saved a bundle from having to go through the dealer.
Books that you cannot even find in the large book stores. Antiques and NOS parts that would have been worthless can now be obtained at generally fair prices. I still go with what I am willing to pay for an item. I also look at the feedback of the seller and the other bidders if it is a high priced item. I've bought and sold stuff that you just cannot find on the east coast and have seen things that would have had to go to a pawn shop at a horrible loss be sold on Ebay.
You can buy and sell to people you will never meet. Things that might have clogged up the land fills have been made useful because of Ebay. Personal belongings being sold on Ebay have made owning certain items a reality for individuals that could not have afforded certain products. From older computer components to the $75 dollar camera that would have brought 10 at the pawn shop. Ebay has made it possible to extend your yard sale across the country.
If you want to get pissed at someone, go into a pawn shop. Usery at it's best. Those folks get some major profit off of others misfortune.
Jamie
Jamie,
You are absolutely right about ebay! Ebay is just like marrige, its whatever you make out of it! It can be your best friend or your worst nightmare! There are crooks, theives, and con artists on every corner! I have been buying and selling on ebay for almost 2 years and i can honestly say i have not been screwed and i have not screwed anyone that i know of? Ebay is no better or worse than the people who use it. Jamie you are right, from a buyers standpoint, you can find rare and nos parts for anything that you would never find anywhere else! From a sellers standpoint you cant beat it!! It is like setting up at a flea market that never closes and your customers can come from any place on earth. To advertise in a magazine or newspaper and get that much coverage would cost a fortune!! Ebay is one hellava deal for a seller.I treat my ebay customers exactly how i like to be treated! I describe my stuff as honestly as possible and i ship as soon as possible and i dont try to make money from excessive shipping charges!! I am sure that sooner or later i will run into one of "bad guys" but until then, i say ebay is GREAT!!!
Reeperette,
I have never owned a Ford...and never will...but i don`t think Ford Motor Company will go out of business because of that...?
Charles"Ike" Fist
a.k.a. ikesbikes
Agreed. Being able to buy rare or crazy hard to find things on ebay is one of my favorite passtimes. it's definetly great for moped related things. the good far outweighs the bad, and they haven't "partnered" too annoyly with other retail companies yet -- which i thank them for.
on top of that, it's on of the few really unique internet ideas. it wouldn't be possible without the network, and i'm always a sucker for that.
simon
the good points are many... the fact that a guy who needs some obscure part that nobody has sold for 20 years... and he finds somebody across the country who has 3 of them brand new ??... a wonderful connection that keeps machines on the road, and landfills emptier !
The bad things ??... I don't see any... Set in your mind whats the most you would pay for something... and let it ride... If fools will pay more?... Let them! ...Who cares?
There are a lot of fools who pay ridiculous prices... the price will eventually come down and many of them will have lost money.. they will learn.
And I've had some major 'steals'... even after shipping costs and hassles.
And scammers with multiple ID's bidding up their own parts ?
Very unlikely... they would be "buying" their own parts all the time !!
Nobody is that stupid.
You can't "force" a price up.
Never had a seller not talk to me.
Never been sold a pig in a poke.
Never had a seller take my money and not send the merchandise.
I have a rating of "15" good feedbacks... no bads.. and I haven't left a "bad" feedback either.
And "Sniping" software ??
What the heck good is that ?
Set your own maximum bid price... and let EBay proxy bid for you.
The only situation where "sniping" software would pay off is if the item is selling for less than the most you would pay for it.
Set your price and let ebay proxy bid for you.
The important thing is... TO SET YOUR OWN MAXIMUM PRICE IN YOUR MIND!
You can not be disappointed then.
Well spoken, and good points everyone...part of my issue lies thus.
Out of my circle of friends, only two have not been repeatedly ripped off via Ebay folks to the point where they won't use it.
Ebay, like the Internet, isn't -in and of itself- something one can attribute moral character to, it's tool, just like the Net, just like an axe.....and muchlike the fact that an axe can fell firewood to build a frozen person a fire, or be used to harm said person....the bias it has, is the uses it is put to.
Having watched the Internet's downward slide into scammery, commercialism, spam, ripoffs, viral releases and heaven-only-knows how much chicanery, while the actual informational content available (for free, that is) slowly declines...it upsets me, greatly so, because of what it says about us (humanity).
Seeing that same pattern on Ebay bothers me as well.
As well the lack of physical consequences seems to encourage some pretty nasty behavior, for it's a far different cry having to change providers, than having a dentist trying to fix a couple knocked-loose teeth.....without the consequence of potentially having one's ass kicked, peoples behavior changes, unfortunately for the worse in many cases.
I think, in the back of thier minds, a lotta folks are against the human cell cloning issue because of human natures propensity to so terribly misuse the tools they do have, in short...most folks think that rather than replacing the current catch-as-catch-can organ donation system it would rather be used to create shocktroops for our military, or even artificially "loyal" (to this screwed-up gov) people - and history bears out that folks having such concerns are not unwarranted in this.
So it's not Ebay that rips me so...it is our behavior as a society.
That bein said, and on that note....I consider moped riders a counterforce, we don't buy into mass-media, conspicuos consumption, SUV purchases and generally don't "buy" a lot of the bogus social garbage that goes along with the party line.
We take vehicles that might otherwise be waste or scrap, and recondition them, and use them as a cost effective and economical form of transportation, and have a lotta fun doing it !
Also, there is a sense of brotherhood amongst us, that offsets the natural human impulse to wanna screw somebody over, we tend to deal fairly and honestly with each other, and volunteer, rather than hoard, useful information.
Human nature bein what it is, an almost sociopathic self-interested damn-everyone-else attitude, with the advent of the Net as a place of business, I think the best policy is to use systems where the self-interest of the individual is used to protect the interests of all.
Example of Style here -
Say ya have two kids, arguing about who gets the bigger slice of cake, right ?
Give one the knife, and let the other pick the slice he wants....
Damn sure that'd be a 50/50 cut, now wouldn't it ?
Now we just hafta use this kinda methodology in Online Business, if we can.
It's a thought, anyhow.
-R
good point, ree. at first ebay had lots of problems. over time, it's gotten better. i also make it a point never to even bid on something until i've emailed the person first and gotten a feeling for who they are. especially if they have no feedback (i read feedback). best sellers are those w/ lots of feedback.
Feedback is important. You have to send a message sometimes by deleting a high negative feedback bidder. I would never bid against someone who has a string of negative feedback for non payment (he doesn't care what he bids it up to). I've also emailed a few folks that had items for sale to let them know that I refused to bid against someone that had a lot of negative feedback and told them that there were other paying bidders that felt the same way!
Its up to the user to control the atmosphere. Use the feed back. If a person gets below -2 feedback, Ebay bans him. It is harder to get an account now than it was in years past. You have to identify yourself via the same type of credintialing that a loan would take. (ie CC and checking acct as well as ssn). It is hard to fake a ssn with a CC or checking acount to go along with it.
If you see abusers, let them and the person with the auction know. The seller wants to make money. If they think that they are going to loose big time and have to relist the item or possibly miss out on the bid amount going higher, they'll drop the dead beat in a hurry.
As for the person running up their own bids, If you see that, contact that square trade group. If it is true, theyll kick them off. I've seen people get thrown off of Ebay before. I was bidding on a computer part and all of the sudden, I was the high bidder. I went into the bid history and saw that the person that had been winning the auction was no longer there. There was a reason given in the comment field that Ebay had removed the bidder for some continuouse infractions. Ebay wants to keep making the bucks that they do and they know that they have to enforce the rules in order to keep things even. Its there fortune also.
Jamie
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