Argh Ebay!!!!

[Cyberus]

I'm sick to death of watching an item on ebay, and often bidding, only for the seller to take a cash offer, cancel my bid, and end the auction early!!!!:-(

Doesn't the seller realise that auctions are the way to get a good price? AND that its against the terms of service, Bastards!

[redrumloa]

File a fraud complaint with eBay. Sellers like that should be shut down, but it won't happen unless compaints are filed.

[Effy]

Cyberus : don´t get so exited. I tell you with the best of my intentions, don´t give up !! You just need to keep on searching and bidding. That´s how I do it ...

[Jeff]

I was watching the Mediator 4000 auction last night (2781498548) with the intent of winning it.  I wanted to join Red on the custom tower thing.  I stayed up late and placed my bid.  At the last minute 2 guys bid the Auction up from my maximum to over $450.00 !

That's just nuts.  This auction was local to me and I wanted to win it, but not for almost $500.00.  That's getting 2 close to an AmigaONE board or a nice G4 mac for my blood.

Sometimes after having stuff like that happen, and the fact that a bare 4000 is back up to over $500.00 now, it just makes me want to sell it all off.   But I haven't quite gotten there yet

Jeff  :-?

[odin]

If you want stuff cheaply...don't buy on EBay. The amounts ppl bid are stupid.....

[amigamad]

you should always try to offer the seller a price for something can save money this way my mates had a few items by doing this .

[that_punk_guy]

odin wrote:
If you want stuff cheaply...don't buy on EBay. The amounts ppl bid are stupid.....

I have to agree. People go on eBay looking for specific and that drives the price way up, because the demand is concentrated. It's the first place people look these days. You might have more luck with a local classified free-ads paper, it's less convenient but it keeps the price down a bit.

[redrumloa]

That's just nuts.  This auction was local to me and I wanted to win it, but not for almost $500.00.  That's getting 2 close to an AmigaONE board or a nice G4 mac for my blood.

Sometimes after having stuff like that happen, and the fact that a bare 4000 is back up to over $500.00 now, it just makes me want to sell it all off.   But I haven't quite gotten there yet

Don't give up Jeff.  Crazy prices are why I got in the business in the first place. I am doing my best to provide quality hardware at reasonable prices. Don't spend $500 on a PCI board, There will be a cheaper option in the near future :-D

[redrumloa]

that_punk_guy wrote:
I have to agree. People go on eBay looking for specific and that drives the price way up, because the demand is concentrated. It's the first place people look these days. You might have more luck with a local classified free-ads paper, it's less convenient but it keeps the price down a bit.

Not always! Look at my present auctions. I have an Algor that is currently only $46 and may very well close at that. Auctions involve risk, and I occasionally get hosed and lose money.

[lempkee]

yes this has happened to me also, REALLY upsetting..

i would never email the seller and ask him to close auction and pay him right away, thats like.. breaking the law when it comes to ebay , every closed auction SHOULD! get an negative on the sellers forum card!

[Jose]

I don't agree. I've seen VERY cheap auctions on eBay. You just have to be patient. Sometimes it might be the sellers that see they're not gonna sell it for the price they wanted and ask some friend to make a hight bid for example....

[AndyM]

you should always try to offer the seller a price for something can save money this way my mates had a few items by doing this .

The problem is if you do this (buy the item outside of ebay), you lose any cover that eBay gives you - and it's harder to warn others about that person.

[cybereye]

Jeff wrote:
I wanted to join Red on the custom tower thing.

To make it easy on you and getting into custom tower. I think you should check this web site out.
http://www.aerocool.com.tw/aerocool-files-v3/lubic/gallery.htm

it cost about $95 to $130. It all depend on what parts your going to get. I haven't try it, but I beleve it would be a lots easyer then cutting the computer case.

[MarkTime]

Hey Cyberius,

btw (same to YOU)...was just reading your avatar...

but back to the subject...I'm working on a project...just as a hobby in my spare time, where I am collecting data from online auctions using a bot, and going to perform some statistical analysis on them.

answer questions like, just how much does the length of the auction impact the price, using real math...and other questions, like the time of day the auction ends...the day it ends.

Or, for commodity items like gold, how does the spot price affect the price as the spot price is rising...or as it is decreasing.

I don't know why I'm exactly mentioning this on this thread...but if anyone has a question that needs answering like that...I would love having more questions to *try* and discover the answer too.

Then we can have actual math...real answers...to these common questions and speculations.

Dunno if I ever will finish...I finish about 20% of the projects I start...but still, sometimes I finish them...so theres a chance.

[slippymadfrog]

I agree with Red.  You really never know what is going to happen whether your selling or bidding.   I personally have had items with a bid of around $50 in the last fifteen minutes of the auction shoot up to $300 by auction's close.  I have also had items sell for a fraction of the EBay average for like items.  You also have to take into consideration the quality of the item.  A cherry A4000 will typically go higher than one that is damaged or status unknown.  I would like to think that price is heavily influenced by accurate pictures, proper description and seller's integrity....the jury is still out on this one though.  

One thing that really annoys me is sellers who list a used item and use a corporate image of the item in new condition.  There are these great pictures of this brand spanking new item and the description reads something like this "LQQK - Widget IV - The Ultimate in Widget Technology!  - Don't be fooled by imitations - This is the Real Deal! -  Upgrade your Widget to a sleek new Widget IV....etc."  Then a little lower you read "This auction is for an untested used Widget IV - As Is"  Then I see that item sell for retail price.  I would not miss these types of sellers at all.

When I am selling I want to get a good price but not at the expense of misleading someone.  When I am buying I want to get a good price but I am willing to pay a fair price if everything looks good such as pictures, description and seller's rating.

When bidding, remember that there is usually another one around the corner and never bid more than you are comfortable with.  If you are making a planned purchase , I would recommend  performing a completed auctions search for the item you intend to buy.  Find out the average price and use this amount as your initial price ceiling.  Then adjust this price depending on factors such as item's quality, seller's rating, S/H charges etc.  


Dave