eBay. irritating or what?

[Daniel]

Is it just me or is eBay a load of crap if you're a buyer :crazy:

You either get dopey people who are happy to pay more than retail or people who wait till the last 30 seconds and start bidding then in an effort to win the auction so inevitably think you've won an auction only to find when you refresh 4 seconds before the end of the auction that someone's outbidded you.

:mark:

[slinkster]

This happened to me a few times too... but I guess that's the nature of auctions unfortunately.

[Drew]

Lol you're an idiot if you place a bid at least a minute before ending time, why push up the price for no reason?

Also one thing about ebay, I don't understand where people find so many things, I seem to find little and others find amazing things there :s

[306 Cosworth]

I hate the people that put in their first bid in the last 30 seconds, glad i'm not on dial up though!

[Dave B]

I've had a few bargains through eBay so can't compain - waiting for that last five seconds has saved me a fortune :D

[DonnieDarco]

I'm afraid I do that too. I never bid until the last minute, and then I set an impossibly high max bid, that I know nobody will be able to guess in time.

I really don't see the point of bidding more than once throughout the auction because as Drew said, its pushing the price up. My way, there might be a couple of bids as people try to outbid me, but then the time runs out.

I prefer to use buy it now wherever possible though, so I don't do that constantly :D

[pino]

I'm afraid I do that too. I never bid until the last minute, and then I set an impossibly high max bid, that I know nobody will be able to guess in time.



After been robbed (of many great rally-models, in the last few seconds) so many times, that's my strategy too :up: :p :

[jim mcglinchey]

ebay has become a real sellers market, people are getting silly money for old tat, but the thing that has started to annoy me, as Dan says, is that buyers are paying more for an item on ebay than you'd pay in the shops.

Can someone do a link to Weird Al Yankovic in case anyone hasn't seen it.

[Donney]

I always set a maximum and don't care about the time when the auctions finish. I always know how much I'm willing to pay, that's good about being poor :D

[Flat.tyres]

I always set a maximum and don't care about the time when the auctions finish. I always know how much I'm willing to pay, that's good about being poor :D

thats what i do. doesnt matter then if people wait for the last 5 seconds. In fact, it helps because by the time theyve put in their price and realised its too low, the auction has ended :D

[Daniel]

ebay has become a real sellers market, people are getting silly money for old tat, but the thing that has started to annoy me, as Dan says, is that buyers are paying more for an item on ebay than you'd pay in the shops.

Can someone do a link to Weird Al Yankovic in case anyone hasn't seen it.
Yup! It seems just like people are too lazy to type in www.hotmail.com (http://www.hotmail.com) into the address bar (they type it into google :crazy: ) people are too lazy to go to http://froogle.co.uk or www.pricegrabber.co.uk (http://www.pricegrabber.co.uk) and find out how much something is worth new they go and pay more on eBay........

As a consequence I'll probably have to buy everything I wanted (i'm building a mountain bike) at retail prices rather than paying more and getting used tat :p

[schmenke]

Yep, most items on e-bay are typically over-priced.
I purchase from e-bay only when I can't find the item from other retail sources; then placing my bid only in the last few seconds :D

Has anyone every had a bad experience with e-bay purchases? I've only ever had one minor one where an F1 dvd set I purchased was very poor quality. I had suspicions from the start when I won the bid at a very low price :mark:


Daniel, if you're building a mountain bike, there are many good on-line suppliers from where you may find good deals on components (many ship globally). I typically look for the "bargain-bin" section of the web page :)

[fruit]

try chain reaction in N Ireland, great prices often and really quick turnround in my experience.

Fruit

[Drew]

Often there are a few good bargains on ebay for sure!

Currently it's good for us Brits to buy from the USA due to exchange rates :)

[Gobber]

I hate the people that put in their first bid in the last 30 seconds, glad i'm not on dial up though!

The 'last second' bids are generally made by sniper programs. These make the bid for you a few seconds before the auction closes. I admit to using them if there's something I really like the look of as it saves ramping up the prices. The best I've found is ezsniper, but there are many. Most give you a few free snipes to have a go. Some may say it's unethical, but to be honest, if the seller gets a decent price either way I can see no harm, and ebay have no probelms with them.

[DonnieDarco]

I've never heard of these sniper programs! Any last second bids I make, are made by ME. :D

[Daniel]

The 'last second' bids are generally made by sniper programs. These make the bid for you a few seconds before the auction closes. I admit to using them if there's something I really like the look of as it saves ramping up the prices. The best I've found is ezsniper, but there are many. Most give you a few free snipes to have a go. Some may say it's unethical, but to be honest, if the seller gets a decent price either way I can see no harm, and ebay have no probelms with them.
That's what I suspected actually. I don't think it's right that people use programs like that but if they want to it just shows how sad they are....... I think if you want something just bid as high as you want. |At the end of the day everything has it's value....

[ioan]

Best way to buy cheap is to bid with less than 10 seconds remaining, otherwise you are just increasing the final price you might have to pay!

There is always the risk that your internet connection won't work at the last moment, but "no risk no fun"! :D

[ioan]

I think if you want something just bid as high as you want. |At the end of the day everything has it's value....

Yeah and lose it by 50 cents and than be sorry for a while?! :rolleyes:
I think last second bidding is the best thing to do and it get's you the best price there is.
Every time there was a bid ending at a moment when I had no possibility to bid, and posted a maximum bid in advance, I lost by 0.50€, so it isn't the way to go, that's for sure.

[Daniel]

Best way to buy cheap is to bid with less than 10 seconds remaining, otherwise you are just increasing the final price you might have to pay!

There is always the risk that your internet connection won't work at the last moment, but "no risk no fun"! :D
The thing is it's really false economy because quite a lot of the time you can get stuff brand new cheaper by going through froogle or pricegrabber or pricerunner.

Fruit :) A good site I've found for searching for bike products is www.bikepimp.co.uk (http://www.bikepimp.co.uk) :)

[Mark]

1st rule of auctions.. Set your limit and stick to it. Even if it is only 50c more, that's 50c too much!

[Daniel]

Yeah and lose it by 50 cents and than be sorry for a while?! :rolleyes:
I think last second bidding is the best thing to do and it get's you the best price there is.
Every time there was a bid ending at a moment when I had no possibility to bid, and posted a maximum bid in advance, I lost by 0.50€, so it isn't the way to go, that's for sure.
I personally think last second bidding is a bad thing for sellers so sniping should be prohibited. Traditionally without sniping people bidded as high as they wanted and it drove prices up to however much people wanted to spend. Now almost no one bids and then a sniper comes in and bids in the last few seconds to get a cheap price. Who loses out? Sellers and buyers who are taking their time to bid the "normal" way.

[Gobber]

I personally think last second bidding is a bad thing for sellers so sniping should be prohibited. Traditionally without sniping people bidded as high as they wanted and it drove prices up to however much people wanted to spend. Now almost no one bids and then a sniper comes in and bids in the last few seconds to get a cheap price. Who loses out? Sellers and buyers who are taking their time to bid the "normal" way.

That's a bit like saying it's unfair that people now have fangled automobiles, when we should be going around in horse and carts. It's progress I'm afraid and I'll use it if it helps me. At the end of the day, with a sniper program it doesn't guarantee you win - you still have to put in a maximum bid so you still have to place a 'value' on what you're after.

[Mark]

But it does go against the principle of an open and fair auction, after all in a real life auction you can see that someone else has made a bid and you will have time to respond before the item is sold.

I did read something.. somewhere about something where the only people allowed to bid during the last hour of an auction are people who have already made a bid?

[Daniel]

But it does go against the principle of an open and fair auction, after all in a real life auction you can see that someone else has made a bid and you will have time to respond before the item is sold.

I did read something.. somewhere about something where the only people allowed to bid during the last hour of an auction are people who have already made a bid?
What he said.......

It's an underhanded way of winning auctions and it's not fair on those who aren't willing to be underhanded.

[Daniel]

That's a bit like saying it's unfair that people now have fangled automobiles, when we should be going around in horse and carts. It's progress I'm afraid and I'll use it if it helps me. At the end of the day, with a sniper program it doesn't guarantee you win - you still have to put in a maximum bid so you still have to place a 'value' on what you're after.
I hope Ebay UK and US and the rest of the world follow Ebay Germany's lead and ban it and ban the accounts of people who do it. It's not progress. It's sneakyness......

[Gobber]

I hope Ebay UK and US and the rest of the world follow Ebay Germany's lead and ban it and ban the accounts of people who do it. It's not progress. It's sneakyness......

I'm sorry but I really don't see it as any more sneaky than sitting with your finger poised over a mouse ready to press with your bid with ten seconds to go. It's exactly the same apart from the fact that I can be getting on with other things whilst the computer does this for me - they are meant to be labour saving devices after all!

[ioan]

In the end it's Ebay's fault.
Normal auctions end only when no more bids come from the potential buyers. On eBay there is a time limit that made the use of snipers possible. Why don't they end a bid at the moment when no more bids are expressed on the article for let's say 5 minutes?

[airshifter]

Oh Boo Hoo!

Imagine that, not everybody gets exactly what they wanted in an auction. I'm drafting my email right now to inform Ebay they should either shut down or change their rules, because some people don't think it's fair! :laugh:

Ebay is simple, and if a person really wanted the item they have options just like a live auction. Simply drive the price up early and be willing to pay the higher price. You also have the option to bid at the last second, which contrary to opinions here, it not unethical at all. It simply takes advantage of the people who didn't exercise the first option and regretted it after the fact.

I've only purchased a few things on Ebay, and all bids were made within the last few seconds, with the exception of one item in which the price wasn't really a consideration.

[Flat.tyres]

Whats the problem? play by the rules, bend the rules where you can, make your money go further and use any trick in the book.

If you dont like it, dont use it.

[Dave B]

My bigger problem with eBay is their casual attitude to counterfeit items and fraud. So long as they're making their percentage they don't appear to give a monkeys.

[ioan]

1st rule of auctions.. Set your limit and stick to it. Even if it is only 50c more, that's 50c too much!

Compared to the official price in the shop is still many many € cheaper. And sometimes you might have to wait for months or years for the same item to be sold again. So 50 cents more might be worth to stick there until the last second.

[schmenke]

The 'last second' bids are generally made by sniper programs. These make the bid for you a few seconds before the auction closes. I admit to using them if there's something I really like the look of as it saves ramping up the prices. The best I've found is ezsniper, but there are many. Most give you a few free snipes to have a go. Some may say it's unethical, but to be honest, if the seller gets a decent price either way I can see no harm, and ebay have no probelms with them.

I agree.
Placing a bid during the last few seconds is smart bidding. If a tool is available to assist with this, then so much the better.

[Iain]

I am bloody furious with eBay right now. Made a bid on an item I've been after for years, it was at £36 with 10 seconds to go, I made a max bid of £50, it gets beaten with 3 seconds to go and no time for me to fire in a higher bid. Bloody sniper programmes no doubt. Bunch of cheats! :angryfire

I am now going off to break some things with a large hammer........

[N. Jones]

I've seen way too many Lionel trains sell for WAY more than what they were worth on ebay.

I gave that site up long ago....

[Flat.tyres]

I am bloody furious with eBay right now. Made a bid on an item I've been after for years, it was at £36 with 10 seconds to go, I made a max bid of £50, it gets beaten with 3 seconds to go and no time for me to fire in a higher bid. Bloody sniper programmes no doubt. Bunch of cheats! :angryfire

I am now going off to break some things with a large hammer........

so, £50 was the maximum you wanted to bid, right?

And you were outbid, right?

and your unhappy about it, right?

Why not just put in the max you were prepared to pay and if a punter with a sniper wanted to bid mpre, then youve lost nothing.

bidding in a room is slow and you see action slow down towards the end. Just accept that on ebay, it all happens in the last 20 seconds. Think about how much you are prepared to pay and enter it. no sniper program is going to out bid you if youre prepared to pay more than the other bidder. Thats how auctions work, isn't it?

What pisses people off is that they think thyre going to screw the seller and suddenly find that the insulting amount they thought they would get away with has been outbid by canny bidders at the last second.

Ha!!!