The Official "I didn't win it on Ebay" Moral Support Thread

[TheBilgeRat]

...or where you come to have your mad minute when someone snipes that GVP 030 board out from under you at 25 seconds to go

So, if you just got outbid by two bucks with seven seconds left to go on a PPC board or a whole miggy, let it all out!




Now, don't you feel better?  I know I do :lol:

[LoadWB]

I happens often, sadly.  I have lost several auctions to snipers.  It is not against eBay rules, and apparently not illegal or immoral since the reasoning is that you posted the most you would be willing to pay, so any bid at any moment which surpasses that is legitimate.

Anyway.  Snipers can be a pain in the ass.  I have canceled winning bids which were first placed in the final minute of my auctions before.  In my opinion, if it is worth bidding on, it is worth being bid on early.

Having said that, there is a free service which will snipe items for you, and it even has a neat Firefox plugin.  http://myibay.com

[persia]

I hate fleabay, more and more scammers, higher and higher prices.  Surely someone can develop a better auction site...

[runequester]

I've only been ripped off twice on ebay, but I got tired of the whole system. I prefer buying from someone here or on amibay.

[Darrin]

Before eBay I used a site called uBid.  They used to extend the auction end time by 60 seconds whenever someone bit to allow time for a counter-offer.  They said it was the equivalent of a real auction's "Going for $x...  Going...  Going...  Gone!" which made sense to me.  In my opinion eBay should do the same.

That said, eBay does allow you to put in the maximum you're willing to pay, so if you're honest about that about then snipers shouldn't bother you.

[runequester]

Before eBay I used a site called uBid. They used to extend the auction end time by 60 seconds whenever someone bit to allow time for a counter-offer. They said it was the equivalent of a real auction's "Going for $x... Going... Going... Gone!" which made sense to me. In my opinion eBay should do the same.
 
That said, eBay does allow you to put in the maximum you're willing to pay, so if you're honest about that about then snipers shouldn't bother you.

I guess the feeling is, if you knew someone was going to outbid you by a dollar (or whatever the smallest increment is), would you have bid one more dollar?
 
Never a perfect solution I guess, though the idea from the other site you mention sounds like it'd work. If nothing else, it'd make the snipers pay more, as they'd drive their bids up

[Iggy]

Before eBay I used a site called uBid.  They used to extend the auction end time by 60 seconds whenever someone bit to allow time for a counter-offer.  They said it was the equivalent of a real auction's "Going for $x...  Going...  Going...  Gone!" which made sense to me.  In my opinion eBay should do the same.

That said, eBay does allow you to put in the maximum you're willing to pay, so if you're honest about that about then snipers shouldn't bother you.

That might work to the sellers advantage, but in the long run its just going to elevate prices. The best deals I've gotten on Ebay (like the Quicksilver I'm typing this on) have been relatively uncontested.

BTW - On the Mac, it was listed as non-functional so I thought I'd only get a case out of it. When I got it all I had to do was reseat the CPU card, add memory and a hard drive. The power supply, motherboard, CPU all in perfect working order - $19.95.

The problem with Amiga hardware is its too sought after and the prices get stupid. On Amiga hardware, I'd rather buy directly from the last owner.

[motorollin]

I'm a total hypocrite when it comes to sniping. I feel very pleased with myself when I snag something in the last few seconds, but morally outraged when I lose out to a sniper :lol:

--
moto

[KThunder]

...or where you come to have your mad minute when someone snipes that GVP 030 board out from under you at 25 seconds to go

So, if you just got outbid by two bucks with seven seconds left to go on a PPC board or a whole miggy, let it all out!




Now, don't you feel better?  I know I do :lol:

You weren't necissarily outbid by two bucks were you? If your maximum bid is 30 and I bid 50 I'll win it by 2 bucks, but you would have had to go to 52 to win; not 34. You don't know what their maximum bid is.

Sniping sucks if you are trying to get something for cheap and someone snags it when you would have gone higher. I think the "extend the auction if there is a bid in the last minute" is a good idea... which means that ebay won't do it.

[TheBilgeRat]

I'm a total hypocrite when it comes to sniping. I feel very pleased with myself when I snag something in the last few seconds, but morally outraged when I lose out to a sniper :lol:

--
moto

yeah I honestly am the same way.  I was never trying to suggest that I was morally in the right :lol:  Just that it sucks when it happens to you.  I did set what I thought was a more than generous price, but evidently there was someone else out there who felt that it was worth more.

EDIT:  Plus with the community as small as it is, it would be silly of me to come on here and rant about that *@&% person who sniped me - it could have been any of you!  This thread was more about a pity party than condemning the dude who got it from under me.  It does get tiring tho - ebay has ruined the buyers market.  Everyone thinks their widget is worth its weight in gold, and thanks to the web, the odds are there is one guy out there with more money than sense that will pay it.

[dannyp1]

I have to say that when someone tries to snipe me at the last second and doesn't bid enough to win I feel pretty good knowing that they probably just wasted an hour or more of their life for absolutely nothing.  They could have bid the same amount when they first found the item and either won it or lost it then without having to reserve an hour of their life to lose something.  Of course the sniping service is something completely different.  I agree also, that the extending the deadline at the end idea has merit!  Everybody would win.  The initial bidder has a last chance, and the seller (and EBay) would make more money.

[Boudicca]

only stupid people, bid before the last 10 secs, i try to nab it with only 2 secs left

[Iggy]

yeah I honestly am the same way.  I was never trying to suggest that I was morally in the right :lol:  Just that it sucks when it happens to you.  I did set what I thought was a more than generous price, but evidently there was someone else out there who felt that it was worth more.

EDIT:  Plus with the community as small as it is, it would be silly of me to come on here and rant about that *@&% person who sniped me - it could have been any of you!  This thread was more about a pity party than condemning the dude who got it from under me.  It does get tiring tho - ebay has ruined the buyers market.  Everyone thinks their widget is worth its weight in gold, and thanks to the web, the odds are there is one guy out there with more money than sense that will pay it.

Having snuck in to grab an item a few times myself I've got to admit its a lousy trick, but since others are doing it and I've had items I lost because of it I'm not sure morals have anything to do with it.
Its not against the rules, and I've had items that looked like they weren't going to sell for a decent price shoot up in the last minutes.
Remember, just because you bid on it, it doesn't mean you're entitled to it. Its a competitive system.

[AltRN8]

It's not so much sniping as trying to get the best deal. I've sniped and I have been sniped. The main reason I get sniped is when I am on the fence on something. When I know I have to have it I put a damn big number down and not even watch the auction. If that was my limit that's my limit. Putting a smaller bid down just means you were less committed to buying the item. Can it suck? Oh heck yeah and I think this thread is a great idea because I know I always want to vent when I get sniped.

Has anyone else had the opposite experience? I have on at least three or four occasions bid on something and then realized I bid further than I should have and was praying up to the last minute for a snipe. Those were moments I was happy sniping existed

The other thing I have been noticing recently is the bidding wars to be the "biggest loser". It's when an item has a reserve that is way to high and people are trying to be the largest bid but still under the reserve. The hope is to get a second chance offer at the last bid you did. I have won three auctions in this way. This last one was like an insane snipefest so it seems we were all trying to be the last highest bid. Anyone else ever experience this?

[runequester]

If we can do general ebay griping:
 
Stupid high Buy it now prices
 
Sellers that offer 50 different issues of an amiga magazine... individually, buy it now for 15 bucks a pop.
 
Overcharging for shipping
 
Terrible or stock photos of hardware that is untested.