The Zen of eBay - Interesting Stories?

[JayKeeley]

I hate people who sit by their computers waiting for the dying seconds of a bid, just to get their last bid in at the final moment. I had three cool bids going on last night for Veles, Graveland, and something else, and with one minute left to go, I was outbid by some joker on all of them!! I couldn't get a follow up bid posted in the last 60 seconds!!

....And then, today, I get an e-mail from some knob telling me that they noticed I was bidding for Graveland and had lost. Meanwhile, he has a Graveland CD which he's willing to sell me privately if I quickly send him some money via PayPal!! I told him to send me the CD first.

Haven't heard from him since.

 

[NAD]

Yeah, that's happened to me before, those last second assholes!!! I try to be around a computer during the last 5 minutes of an auction if its important.

I've had those "I happened to notice that you look like a sucker er-- I mean, I'm selling one too" emails, I delete or tell them to get bent usually.

 

[MadeInNewJersey]

*whistles and looks away sheepishly*

 

[Erik]

I got outbid on Dark Tranquillity's "A Moonclad Reflection" 7" once, got a mail from someone who told me he could sell me his copy for €50. Sure enough I sent him the money (+€8 shipping), and sure enough the record arrived, in excellent condition and all. Maybe that was stupid of me, I dunno, but this fellow happened to be honest. Guess I got lucky, eh?

Anyway, bidding in the last few seconds is THE way of bidding on eBay if you really want something. You have to, or someone else will.

 

[NAD]

I never said I didn't do it myself... but I did feel a little dirty when I did.

 

[MadeInNewJersey]

I never feel guilty, since most people are assholes and I figure they're basically getting what they deserve.

Not you though Ali.

 

[JayKeeley]

Anyway, bidding in the last few seconds is THE way of bidding on eBay if you really want something. You have to, or someone else will.

Yeah I like when it works in my favor. But I don't like it when others beat me to the bid. Does that sound selfish?

 

[J.]

I hate people who sit by their computers waiting for the dying seconds of a bid, just to get their last bid in at the final moment

I do that all the time.

The people that I can't stand are the people who bid more than three times on a single item. Why don't they just put the highest amount of money they are willing to pay on the first bid, instead of adding a dollar or two on their 5th or 10th bid?

Even though I do wait until the last seconds, at least I only bid once.

 

[Erik]

The people that I can't stand are the people who bid more than three times on a single item. Why don't they just put the highest amount of money they are willing to pay on the first bid, instead of adding a dollar or two?

Because they, like a lot of people, think

1) "RIGHT! I'm NOT going to pay more than $50 for this item no matter what!"
2) (gets outbid by $1) "Eeek... Hrrm... Welll... Maybe I could pay $54 after all... I mean, $4 isn't all that much, is it..."
3) (gets outbid again) "WTF! I'm not going to let that @#$%$€ outbid me again! He's just ASKING for it!" (raises bid to $60)

 

[J.]

Which is why I wait till the last seconds, to bid once.

There's a reason it's called a maximum bid.

 

[MadeInNewJersey]

I've also been known to bid the fucking hell out of something just so the other fucker has to pay the now egregious amount.

Fuckers.

 

[JayKeeley]

Yeah I know we've all got to do it, but I just feel that we're also entitled to bitch about it when we get beaten to the bid.

Does anyone see bids for items when the person suggests that the shipping price will be calculated once the bid is over? I won a bid like that once, and the fucker told me the shipping was $5 - and he lived in Philadelphia!

I argued the case, and got him down to $3, but what a rip. Now I always contact the seller up front if they don't list a shipping cost. People make money on the fucking shipping thinking they're being all clever by listing items at $0.99 and then add shipping at like $5.

It never worked for Amazon either - they've yet to turn a profit.

 

[MadeInNewJersey]

And there is then the time-honored method of enlisting some dummy bidders (i.e. friends) to bid on your items and drive the price up. Works every time.

Whoops, did I just say that out loud?

 

[MadeInNewJersey]

The shipping fees do irk me somewhat. Most people will automatically charge between $3-$5 to ship a single CD, when you can pretty much ship that same CD (with jewel case mind you) anywhere in the U.S. for about $1.50 first class. I called some little cunt out on that fact, and he bitched that it was to cover his "other expenses," like padded envelope, etc.

Fucking twats.

 

[J.]

hahaha, I did that for a friend of mine at work, and it worked to perfection. I charge $3 shipping, but that's because I have to get my ass up earlier in the mornings to make it to the post office.

The only time I'll bid more than once is to get rid of the Buy It Now option so no one else can get it immediately.

 

[NAD]

I've also been known to bid the fucking hell out of something just so the other fucker has to pay the now egregious amount.

Fuckers.

Now THAT is cruel. Done it.

My one eBay bitch is I once paid over $30 for a Danzig single-CD, only to see somebody else win the exact same CD for under $10 the following week. Oh well, it was worth the $30, even if it was only for ONE song.

 

[Erik]

Yeah, 'cause padded envelopes cost $3.50 a piece. Mhm.

 

[J.]

$3 shipping = $1.29 postage + .60 envelope + gas money to the post office + cost for making me get up early in the morning to mail the CD

I think that's pretty fair.

 

[bloodfiredeath]

I've been an eBay addict for over 3 years now, and sniping is a beautiful artform that I almost always use. Funny because I am so used to it, that even when there are no bids on an item, I bid with less than 10 seconds left. I'm such a dork, when I bookmark and auction, I then set a reminder in outlook 15 minutes before it ends. Ah, the luxury of sitting on the internet all day at work...

I can't stand it when people bid on shit the first day it is listed. What is the matter with these people? No common sense at all. My advice to others is always 'bid once, bid late.'

 

[Erik]

I can't stand it when people bid on shit the first day it is listed. What is the matter with these people? No common sense at all. My advice to others is always 'bid once, bid late.'

You can do this with stuff that's not very sought after/rare that you kinda want, but not for too much money -- lay a $3 bid the first day, and if you win, great, if you don't, doesn't matter. But for stuff you really want, I agree that last-minute bidding is the one way of doing things.