RE: Subject: Re: What you hate to see on ebay
> well aware of "snipers", but NO bidding activity in > 8 whole days? It sure > does make you wonder. > > Tanya. I think some of these things happen because lots of people only look in on the auctions once a week, instead of constantly, and then select the option to see the auctions that are ending today first. Searching for bargains on stuff with several days to go doesn't make sense to lots of people. If they run across something they just must have, that is closing in minutes, they start bidding against whatever proxy is the current high bidder. Once a bid that is close to the ballpark value of an item has been bid, it's not unusual to see that price hold there for days, especially if there is a reserve which has not yet been met. There are lots of strategies to bidding on auctions. I've talked about mine. I bid once per item, after doing my homework, and set my max bid at the most I am willing to pay. If I win, OK, if I lose, OK. I've gotten some stuff and I've missed a lot but I never paid more than my research said I should pay. I usually bid on things fairly early, but have come across some last minute, and "Buy it Now" bargains too. I generally don't win on the last minute bargains because I only bid once at my max price. Remember that there are millions of people browsing through eBay auctions. Though the number of people "gaming" the system is increasing, the number of new users is increasing also, and probably at a faster rate of growth. Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by ignorance. Have you noticed the large increase in the number of camera stores selling on eBay? The millions of eBay shoppers are a far better market than the stores have where they are located (for the most part) and used equipment gets higher prices on eBay, as well as not sitting on store shelves gathering dust. Buying and re-selling on eBay is a growth industry now. Len --- - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
Re: Subject: Re: What you hate to see on ebay
I would agree with John's assessment here. I use Ebay for my other hobby, amateur radio, and what John describes is quite often the case there. Auctions in that arena are often "won" and "lost" in the last 45 seconds with very little bidding activity during the time the item was posted on Ebay. I "watch" items I am interested in and don't bid 'till the end. Sometimes I "win", sometimes I "lose" unless I wish to ensure that I win with a premptive bid - a risky strategy. Mark - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
Subject: Re: What you hate to see on ebay
Yeah, the only thing is that Buy It Now isn't available to Australian bidders! :-( I do understand the need of course to watch an auction very closely at its conclusion and to bid accordingly if you REALLY want something, I have done this myself, so I guess it makes me a "sniper" as well. However, as you pointed out, it is when they are new bidders with no feedback and especially when they signed up on the day of the auction, that we all need to be watching our backs! The story of being contacted the following day by the seller claiming to have had the highest bidder withdraw from the sale - now that is so blatantly obvious that that person should be barred from selling just on this action alone. I mean if they're not happy with the way the auction is heading, the should have either put a reserve on it or just advertised it as a "for sale" in the newspaper, rather than hoping that bids on an auction reach a certain level Well, we live and learn, and the internet is host to many and varied characters! - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
Re: Subject: Re: What you hate to see on ebay
On Mon, 26 Mar 2001 08:38:21 +1000, you wrote: snip > I am >well aware of "snipers", but NO bidding activity in 8 whole days? It sure >does make you wonder. > >Tanya. If I don't really want something, unless it ends at a fabulous bargain price, I bid on it in the early or middle stages of the auction. If I "sorta" want something, I bid a modest sum during the last couple of hours, and forget about it til the auction is over. If I really want something, I bid a carefully considered price during the last few seconds of the auction. I believe there is a lot of shill bidding on Ebay. That's why I don't just stick a full-price bid out there and leave it. A shill could take on two email addresses, gradually driving up the price to my maximum, then the username which outbids me cancels his bid, leaving me the high bidder, but at an artificially inflated bid price. When I see guys with little or no feedback driving up the price, I get the heck out of there. Early bids drive up the final price, and early bidders seldom win auctions for the good stuff. So if you want to lose the auction, or want to drive up the price, bid early and bid often. It doesn't take long for savvy Ebay buyers to learn this lesson. Really good equipment can go for days without a single serious bid, then receive a flurry of bids in the last few minutes. Note: one way to keep up-to-date on "the good stuff" is to monitor the bidding of several prolific buyers of Pentax gear. Some people place a bid just to track the auction. "Buy-It-Now" is currently the best hope for Ebay bargain hunters, but you have to be looking at just the right time, and able to make a quick decision about the purchase. This information is provided free of charge, and is worth at least twice the purchase price. -- Happy Trails, Texdance http://members.fortunecity.com/texdance http://members1.clubphoto.com/john8202 - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
Subject: Re: What you hate to see on ebay
I think I tend to agree with Chris, however, I have often wondered if this is a common practice on Ebay - for example the auction for the p30t that I lost the other day - it sat on au$121 for 8 days with not an ounce of activity and then finally only two hours before the close of the auction, it doubled in price, with a war going on with my proxy bid and this other person continually driving the price up. I wasn't there to put in one final higher bid (thank god, it would have been too much to pay anyways), but the auction ended on au$270! Again, this doesn't explain the fact that this person won the final auction bid, unless of course it backfired on him and he thought that I would continue to outbid him! Of course, it could have been the same sort of circumstance as the auction David posted, and I am well aware of "snipers", but NO bidding activity in 8 whole days? It sure does make you wonder. Tanya. - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
