8 Feb
2011
8 Feb
'11
9:17 a.m.
On 8 Feb 2011 at 8:28, C Sullivan / A Baumann wrote:
That won't happen, which is increasingly why a lot
of "normal" people
are now avoiding eBay. It's so rife with fraud and "bad faith actors"
(of which PayPal can be included in those descriptions) it's better
off just dumping stuff at Goodwill.
The variety and spirit of the old eBay seems to me not to be what it
once was (FWIW, I started with eBay before eBay hosted photos and was
unpopulated enough that your ID could just be your initials). I miss
some of the other specialty auction sites, such as OnSale, where
slightly out-of-date IT gear could be purchased at great savings, but
that's another story--onSale's bid model--automatic closing extension
probably did them in as much as competition from eBay.
Nowadays however, I'm just as likely to find an item being offered
through conventional retail channels at a better price for non-
vintage items. eBay to me, by and large, is just another storefront
with lots of "Buy It Now" and not much real auction activity (A lot
of auctions start off at virtually the same price as the BIN price,
so I wonder why anyone would bother to bid to save $0.50 on a $20
item and risk not getting it.)
This was driven home to me the other week after I broke a piece of
glass cookware from a set that I've had since 1974. I went looking
for a reqplacement and found perhaps 20 offers--not a one of them an
auction, but just a storefront for someone's thrift or antique shop
all with BIN, no auction.
And that's fine--and perhaps more profitable for eBay. I'm grateful
for the view sort that says "Price + Shipping low to high", because
it gives me my true cost of an item, when shipping can be very
expensive--something that other retailers could learn by.
So eBay by and large is just another e-storefront for me. It's
particularly useful for electronic component purchases--there's
nowhere local to buy a handful of TTL chips, but I can get them
shipped for next to nothing from Beijing at rock-bottom prices if I'm
willing to wait a bit. Mouser and DigiKey probably get the same
stuff from China anyway--and their shipping costs more.
And yes, on occasion, I do snipe. This originally started as a way
to overcome the inequality of a 14.4Kbit internet connection over
those bidders with T1 lines. At that speed, it takes a fair amount
of time to reload a page just to see if you hold the current high
bid.
I joined eSnipe when it first started (and that was my fourth sniping
package/service), so I still enjoy the original terms of service--
free for any gavel less than $25 and a $100 cap on fees no matter
what the final price on expensive items. I'd be an idiot not to use
it--I just set the snipe for whatever I'm willing to pay and go away.
If I get the item, fine; otherwise there's always tomorrow.
Bottom line--for me, sniping, when I use it, is mostly a matter of
convenience. There's nothing in this world that I really need other
than food, shelter and love. Everything else is negotiable.
All the best,
Chuck