17 Oct
1999
17 Oct
'99
2:52 p.m.
>>Either bid at the end, and I mean well within
the last minute if not the
>>last 10 seconds or so, or bid the full amount you are willing to pay for
>>the item.
>
> If you're bidding on something that you really want, be prepared to be awake
>and in front of your machine when the auction ends. Everyone learns this
>after
>a while.
Or just bid your full amount to start with. Lots of
people use eBay like a
email store and just place an order, with a bid that delivers 90% of the
time.
I've done that - usually for some oddball item that nobody else would
likely want, anyway.
I've been following the E-bay auctions for SCSI drives closely in the
past month or two, and what's *really* amazing is that sometimes there'll
be 4 identical items, all from the same seller, all closing within minutes
of each other, and in one auction the drive is bid up to $180.00 and in an
another auctions the cost settles around $60-$70.
Someone here said that E-bay is perhaps one of the harshest marketplaces
around, implying (I think) that it's pure open competition with commonly
available knowledge, but this isn't always the case: some of the bidders
haven't a clue as to what's going on, and instead of treating the auction
as what it is - a business transaction - they get caught up in the
frenzy of bidding. (It takes at least *two* such bidders to bid the
price up to ridiculous heights.)
I personally don't understand "sniping" at all - it isn't necessary.
Set your maximum bid what you're willing to pay. If someone else outbids
you, you didn't "lose" - "losing" is when you pay more than
you're willing,
not when someone outbids you!
--
Tim Shoppa Email: shoppa(a)trailing-edge.com
Trailing Edge Technology WWW: http://www.trailing-edge.com/
7328 Bradley Blvd Voice: 301-767-5917
Bethesda, MD, USA 20817 Fax: 301-767-5927
17 Oct
17 Oct
3:54 p.m.
On Sun, 17 Oct 1999 CLASSICCMP(a)trailing-edge.com wrote:
I've been following the E-bay auctions for SCSI
drives closely in the
past month or two, and what's *really* amazing is that sometimes there'll
be 4 identical items, all from the same seller, all closing within minutes
of each other, and in one auction the drive is bid up to $180.00 and in an
another auctions the cost settles around $60-$70.
That is one aspect of Ebay that I don't understand -- that some sellers
will put multiple identical items up at the same time potentially keeping
their bid prices down by preventing a war between two anxious prospective
buyers over one item. It seems to make sense to put a large number of
different items out at once instead.
That is one reason that I don't worry too much if I see an item that I
want and I get out bid. The smart sellers with several such items will
put them out one at a time and I know I just need to check back the next
week to find his/her next item.
I tend to collect things on ebay which are useful with my classic
machines; bootable CDROM drive, tape unit and 1 GB SCSI drives for my
VS3100M76 & RS6000 220 and DSSI drives for my 5400. They doesn't seem to
be an indordinate shortage of these items to escalate prices unreasonably.
paul
4:25 p.m.
I've seen this, too. On one particular item that I wanted,
in viewing the "View Sellers Other Auctions", I noticed that
he had a number of them to sell. Spread out over a few days.
I would bid on one and someone would outbid me. I'd bid on
another and someone would outbid me. I finally just said forget
it, this is getting ridiculous. :-)
Jim Webster
I've been following the E-bay auctions for SCSI
drives closely in the
past month or two, and what's *really* amazing is that sometimes there'll
be 4 identical items, all from the same seller, all closing within minutes
of each other, and in one auction the drive is bid up to $180.00 and in an
another auctions the cost settles around $60-$70.
9:31 p.m.
On Sun, 17 Oct 1999, CLASSICCMP(a)trailing-edge.com wrote:
I personally don't understand "sniping"
at all - it isn't necessary.
Set your maximum bid what you're willing to pay. If someone else outbids
you, you didn't "lose" - "losing" is when you pay more than
you're willing,
not when someone outbids you!
I dunno, man. For me, a "win" on eBay is quite simply this: I got something
that I would have a hard time getting otherwise, or paid less than I would
ordinarily have to pay.
"What I'm willing to pay" isn't always a set amount. If, at the
beginning of
an auction, I decide "I'm not going to pay more than ten bucks for this!",
then
if I allow myself to be outbid by a buck or two, I didn't really want said item
anyway, right? It's very much a matter of "should I let this go, there'll
be
another one" and "can/should I wait for another one to come up".
-Dave McGuire
9:40 p.m.
I personally don't understand "sniping"
at all - it isn't necessary.
Set your maximum bid what you're willing to pay. If someone else outbids
you, you didn't "lose" - "losing" is when you pay more than
you're willing,
not when someone outbids you!
I only am happy to pay a fair price for stuff I really need. I have a MUCH
longer list of stuff I want, and that has to come at the lowest bid
possible, even if that means I don't get the items some times. Sniping is
opportunity bidding, gamesmenship, but still part of the rules.
Besides the "game" is to make the best deals you can, buying or selling.
Live auctions do for me what pro wrestling does for others. Shopping is
nothing like it, and prices are the only real difference.
9040
days inactive
9041
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