Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Marketplace => Topic started by: MuLTiViEW on July 14, 2005, 12:01:34 AM
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Why the heck do people bid up an item hours and sometimes days before the auction ends?
I was watching a DKB 3128 RAM board for my 3000 (a friend who owes me money was going to get it for me) and this thing hit $315.55 with 2 hours left!
What the ????
I know they don't make this board anymore, but come on people.
Anyhow, that took that board right out of the plans. :(
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From a buyers perspective, I feel for ya. I can't tell you how many times I've questioned the sanity of the bidders on E-bay, especially when it was an item I really, REALLY wanted....
From a sellers point of view, it's a dream come TRUE!!!!
So, I feel for ya, but if someone is willing to fork out the cash for the item you'll just have to wait and hope you can find what you want... (I'm still waiting to get a HD floppy drive...)
J-Golden
PS- have you tried Amibench? prices are ususally less exagerated there, and no bidding...;)
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AmiBench? Can you tell me more about that.
My goal for my A3000, is simply to get a decent Ethernet card, a 3128 RAM card with 128mb on it. Ultimately a Picasso IV card, a Warp Engine 040 is my cpu desires.....
If I was to get another card it might be a FastLane Z3 (why stop at 274 mb ??)
Hehe
It's not nearly as top of the line as other systems Im sure, but that was the same exact system dream I wanted since 1991 and it still hasn't changed. I see two of those items selling from one guy in Ohio or somewhere on ebay... (they currently have less than 2 hours now) in both the 3128 and the Picasso IV. (and also a neat Ethernet card)
Unfortunately the price of the RAM board alone killed the deal. Which was to eliminate the debt this guy owed. He owed around $675 to me, but I told him if I could lay my hands on the 3128 and the PIV, the debt would be cancelled.
Now Im looking at cheap PC systems @3gighertz that actually cost less than the RAM board. Of course I gotta try and explain (or hold my tongue) when a couple people look at me funny when I tell them how much I wanted that RAM card.... which you know. Isnt even made anymore. (sigh)
I swear, one of these days if I ever sit down and learn how to make my own circuit boards, I'll make that dual 060 A3000 motherboard replacement board I always wanted to make........
Heh...
Ok, just venting a bit. But still. Now I gotta sit and watch both boards go bye-bye again. You know how many Ive seen come and go on EBAY in the last 7 years? SIX!
Another bizarre note, this guy I think I know from IRC, VoSot, not sure if it was really him, I mean how many Amiga users could there be in San Antonio, Texas? Sold a Warp Engine 040 board a couple days back for $179.00 (yup... the other one on my list)
Yet, strangely, he's got the high bid on this Ohio guy's 3640. ????
Not too often do I see someone downgrade their cpu board.
sigh
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and this thing hit $315.55
Wow, maybe it's time to put mine up for sale.
I don't understand how some of these items bring
such unreal prices.
Plaz
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I have noticed that prices are high right now on eBay, but must admit to being part of the problem. If there is something I really want there, I have bid and paid more than might seem reasonable for a couple of items. That is the price of maintaining "Collector's Items".
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I think what multiview is talking about is bidders up-ing the price with their max bid to a totally inflated price on the first or second day the item is listed (they probably get their buddy to do that). Then the item sits there for 6 days till someone gives in on the inflated price by continually bidding till they figure out the other guy's max bid. You never see the 1st or 2nd bidder bid again either! Then it goes nuts from there. When I first thought a couple of months ago "Hey, I could get an Amiga on ebay!" "I always wanted one of those!", I couldn't even BELIEVE what the stuff was going for! I thought "Who is buying this old stuff!"
I also like old Pioneer silver face audio equipment. I started checking that stuff out on ebay. Talk about freakin crazy! The stuff goes for double of what I paid for mine back in the late 70's, NEW! I saw a CT-F1250 cassette deck go for $650.00! :-o INSANE! Forget even trying to bid on SPEC1,2 or 4 equipment.
So, lately I just wait till the very end of an auction and snipe the item when I can. :lol: That's the only way I can get something!
I have an A2000 (supposedly never used) coming by sniping it in the last 30 seconds from another guy. I bet he was ticked 'cause I went and looked at what the guys buys on ebay and it's "anything and everything Amiga - ANYTHING!" Then relists it. Well, I beat him! :lol: But, if you can get the stuff at a fair price it's all fun!
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You really can't imagine how STUPID people on ebay can be...
I was bidding the other day for an A2000. I saw the listing and it had 9 days!!! I saw the bids: 20 bids!!!! in 9 days to go!!!!
These are not bidders. These are a shame to humanity :lol:
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I swear, one of these days if I ever sit down and learn how to make my own circuit boards, I'll make that dual 060 A3000 motherboard replacement board I always wanted to make........
You'll have to write a custom verison of Exec to use it... maybe Dave Haynie has a copy of the Exec from the Gemini project?
Another bizarre note, this guy I think I know from IRC, VoSot, not sure if it was really him, I mean how many Amiga users could there be in San Antonio, Texas? Sold a Warp Engine 040 board a couple days back for $179.00 (yup... the other one on my list)
Is VoSot still around!!! wow, I remember all the old crew fom my IRC days back in '96... :-)
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Fact is that a buyer can not always be present behind his computer when the auction is ending. Some people have to be at work, others live at the other side of the world with different hours. Sometimes I place my bid hours before the end before I go to work or before I go to bed and sometimes I do win :-) But these are most of the time less important things, certainly not a DKB memory board :lol:
Multiview : if you want a ethernetboard then get yourself a brandnew Xsurf3 with built in IDE controller !! For a Picasso IV, maybe you end up cheaper getting a Prometheus and a Voodoo3 pci and while you´re at it even a RTL8029 network and Fortemedia soundcard :-? It´s a different approach but it´s a lot cheaper !!!
gizmo350 : I agree totally that sniping is the best thing to get the lowest price :lol: You plan your own maximum bid and you don´t have to wait and sit behind your computer and hoping the server won´t slow down so your manually entered bid would be "too late" :lol:
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@ Effy
Hi Effy,
I am not talking about people who bid 10 hours or 5 hours earlier. I am talking to people who bid 10 DAYS earlier!!!
What are the odds of winning the item by bidding 10 DAYS earlier? 1/1.000.000 ?????
It like the lottery!!!!
:lol:
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the odds depend on how much money one is willing to pay, not the time of bidding. I hate snippers, they are thieves.. :pissed: :pissed: :pissed:
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Animagic : true, if you bid 10 minutes after the auction has started then you don´t have much chance that you´re gonna win, unless your bid is really high ...
Orange : I don´t mind snipers, I see them often enough at my own auctions ...
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Hi orange
I dont know what a snipper is, but if you are talking about the people who bid the final minute in order to get a lower price... well... thats bidding!!!! :-D
If somebody wants to sell something high piced, all he has to do is put a reserve on ebay. If he doesnt want to sell in low prices then ebay is NOT for him.
That is why it is called an auction. You bid what you have not what he asks or what he would want to get!
oh well... to much for that lets go in another topic :-P
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Animagic : no, let´s stay in this topic. What Orange means by "sniper" is an online program that does the bidding for you and you can adjust the settings so it can even place the bid in the last 5 seconds so nobody else can have time to place a higher bid. That is a sniper, not a person but a program, not on your computer but on the net, no matter if you have an Amiga or PC or Mac or whatever.
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Aha!
Ok, I learned something new today. What a snipper is :-P
Yea, I agree. It can be veeery annoying challenging a program during bidding :pissed:
Can I move to another topic now? :-D :-D :-D
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Animagic wrote:
Aha!
Ok, I learned something new today. What a snipper is :-P
Yea, I agree. It can be veeery annoying challenging a program during bidding :pissed:
Can I move to another topic now? :-D :-D :-D
I won my BPPC in the last 2 seconds.
Manually entering my bid!!! :-o
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sorry to be a language nazi, but the noun is 'sniper' and the verb is 'to snipe'
a 'snipper' would be someone who 'snips'. 'To snip' is a bit like 'to cut'
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DOTF is correct. There are sniper programs out there that you program to do your bidding. But, if you really want the item, (and it's not always about the cheapest price) bidding at the last second is the only way to obtain it! Although, it's all in the max bid. If you wait till the last second you still might not get it 'cause the other guy might have a huge "max bid". Anyway, I don't use a sniper program ( I don't even know the name of one). I do it all with the skill of the eye and the clock! :-P Sometimes I wait too long and just don't have enough time to figure out the max bid. :lol: Manual sniping can be very satisfying though, if not sleep depriving! :-)
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Cyberus wrote:
sorry to be a language nazi, but the noun is 'sniper' and the verb is 'to snipe'
a 'snipper' would be someone who 'snips'. 'To snip' is a bit like 'to cut'
HAHAHAHA
Man, until now i had no clue what a "sniper" is.
How do you expect me to spell it correctly? :-P
AND my english is way better than: I spoke england the very best (as a friend of mine once said...) :lol:
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@MuLTiViEW
Heh, you should have learned of Amibench earlier; someone had a DKB 3128 board up for sale, with 128 MB of ram. Why I know? I´m the one selling :-) Haven´t bothered putting it up for sale once again though...
Seriously, take a look at www.amibench.org, the site is more or less self explained.
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Animagic wrote:
Cyberus wrote:
sorry to be a language nazi, but the noun is 'sniper' and the verb is 'to snipe'
a 'snipper' would be someone who 'snips'. 'To snip' is a bit like 'to cut'
HAHAHAHA
Man, until now i had no clue what a "sniper" is.
How do you expect me to spell it correctly? :-P
AND my english is way better than: I spoke england the very best (as a friend of mine once said...) :lol:
I was being helpful, not criticising your English.
Your English is better than my Greek!
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orange wrote:
the odds depend on how much money one is willing to pay, not the time of bidding. I hate snippers, they are thieves.. :pissed: :pissed: :pissed:
I totaly agree i pushed a BPPC upp to 720$ some years ago but still some {bleep}er sniped me at the last split second
adonay:-D
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Back to the question. I think e-Bay is stupid to allow for up to 10-day auctions.
Obviously, 10-day auctions are designed to attract more bids and using the Maximum Bid system, people will place much higher maximums on long auctions compared with quick ones, particularly when they haven't the time to stay tuned in.
One-day auctions usually end up at the same sort of prices the 10-day ones reach, only quicker. There's no significant difference.
It's all about greed basically. Both from the 10-day seller and e-Bay alike.
JaX
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It's all about greed basically. Both from the 10-day seller and e-Bay alike.
I hate to be the one to tell you this, but that's what Capitalism is all about. Greed.
The entire basis of the economy of the country you live in is greed.
Some effects of capitalism (http://www.worldsocialism.org/wsm-pages/poverty.html)
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10 day auctions get a much wider hit on the counters - meaning more people get to see your auction and this opens up a little more competition. Also it allows for 2x full weekends which allows people in work to have a good chance of catching the auction.
Sniper programs though... what will they think of next. It should be the joy of doing it manually... imagine a real auction where you tell some sort of robot to outbid the others!
:-)
Those Picasso-IV cards really are star attractions on eBay, especially if they're boxed with manual. Be aware though that the PIV has various revisions, some of which are better than others.
I can go into a local computer shop and see 4MB PC cards for 100th the cost of a Picasso-IV!
:-D
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I know what you mean. I have been trying to get an A4000 motherboard for nearly 2 years now. Or even an A4000.I am just about ready to give up. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr :pissed: :pissed: :pissed:
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Back to the question. I think e-Bay is stupid to allow for up to 10-day auctions. -JaXanm
Yeah. I didn't really mind when they had 7 days as max. That allowed for someone to put something up at the begining of the week and not worry about things until the weekend. A 10 day auction makes no sense really.
People shouldn't put them up for so long, but, I do notice some items sell better on the weekends if that is when they are ending.
What they REALLY need to do, is put a "time the auction will start" so you can sit there and make auctions and they wont show at all..... OR they will show, but wont start until such and such day. That might cut down on longer auctions because most people try and time stuff to end on a day when people will be home shopping for new stuff.
Some items like a 3640 board for example, are not huge in the public eye and thus might actually require a good 7 days or so of "attention". The idea here would be not to be greedy necessarily, but to keep it out there longer so you got a better chance of having such a "rarely searched for item seen by someone who wants it.
Example, I dont go to EBAY much, but if someone chucked a 3128 board, or a Warp Engine 040 on for about $50 and gave the auction 1 day.... Hell, Im gonna miss that cookie!
If it's up for 7 days, I might check ebay every 3 days, so I'd catch it..... maybe.
So it's not so bad I guess it goes long, but your right, 10 days is a bit too much. They should cap it at 7. Or charge extra for any additional time beyond 7.
I figure 7 is a good number. If I was putting up so many items a week, I'd probably only want to put them up on a Sunday, and know full well they are going to end the next Sunday.
A lot of people do this.
Hence why I usually check ebay more on Monday's actually, then any other day. ;)
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Maybe it's already been said, but we also have the really annoying bid retraction... I've seen it many times, people bidding a rather ordinary price, then raising the bid up to insane heights to scare away other possible bidders... then when time comes, they retract the bid just before they can do so no longer, and get the item for their lower bid... (by this time they have scared away many of the possible bidders since long and their chance of winning their particular auction gets much bigger).
eBay doesn't consider the buyers at all, I think at times, only the sellers... but with the bid retraction sellers can get rather excited at first, but then they get disappointed when the bids disappear without them being able to do anything. I think there is much that could be done to make eBay a better place for both the bidders and the sellers. That's also the reason why I use eBay so seldom.
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a decent Ethernet card,
a 3128 RAM card with 128mb on it
a Warp Engine 040
maybe be a FastLane Z3
Erm OR you could buy a Cyberstorm MKII 040 with SCSI-II and 128MByte RAM and have a cheaper, better, system.