Crazy bidders on eBay

[Anonymous]

i have some stuff go for outragous prices on ebay people are crazy the latest mellow mike offering went for 810 bucks!!!!!!

[jfugate]

QUOTE: Originally posted by 8500HPGASTURBINE

Yes but would you be willing to give your ebay name & password to auctionsnipe (which they require)?? They would be able to go into your "MY EBAY". Even though it doesn't contain secret info I still think it's a bad idea. I am sure some people have there personal PAYPAL account info the same as there Ebay name & password. Now that would be a real security risk.

Agreed ... bad idea to have your ebay account and your paypal account have the same login and password.

I change the password on my paypal account every few months just to be safe. [:D]

I've had my credit card number stolen, but never paypal. The nice thing about paying with paypal is you don't give the recipient of the payment anything to steal. But to pay with a credit card, you give them your number, expiration date, and the CCV number off the back of the card ... just exactly what they need to steal you blind if they have a mind to.

Further security is to have a special credit card you use just for online purchases. Then if someone steals your card info, just cancel the card and dispute the charges, then get a new card. Meanwhile, your main bank account remains untouched. Believe me, fraud on your main bank account is a *real pain*, so you don't want to use that account to make online purchases!

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jfugate

With over 100 million bidders on ebay, you can expect a few of them to be irrational.

It's the irrational bidders that blow the proxy bidding model out of the water on ebay. That's why its best NOT to bid on an item until the last possible moment. Otherwise you run the risk of irrational bidders seeing your interest, and then repeatedly incremental bidding on the item, driving the price up to unreasonable levels.

If you snipe bid (as last minute bidding is affectionately called by seasoned ebayers) then you run the best chance of getting the item at a more reasonable price, in the price range you were willing to pay. http://auctionsniper.com enables you to snipe bid automatically so you don't have to physically babysit the item to place your last minute bid.

Your soooooo right about bidding. What I do it "Watch the item" first. It goes into my folder and I watch to see if anyone had bidded on it. If it goes more than 2 bidder, I turn my back on it. Do anyone every ask the seller a question. Some sellers don't know what they have and describe it wrong, but people like me know what they have and they sell it dirt cheap. I saw a couple of Athearns for 0.99 with no bidder's. Why? because the seller said it was a rubber band dirve or so they thought. Look at the pics closely as I don't buy anything without pics unless the seller is certain of what the have and lettting go dirt cheap

[AltonFan]

QUOTE: Originally posted by davekelly

So if a guy is charging $30.00 to ship to a Kato diesel you won't bid on it, even if a bid of $10.00 would win it?

First of all, I don't typically buy trains on ebay; my experiences have been with other items.

In general, even when buying from a conventional dealer, I prefer to keep the shipping charges to as small a percentage of the total payment as possible. To my mind, it doesn't make sense to pay $5.00 shipping on a item priced at $5.00 or less, especially if the item could be obtained without incurring the shipping charge. (And one needs to be vigilant that discounts are not being eaten by shipping charges.)

Second, an excessive shipping charge on a low-priced item is a "warning flag". Something is out of order right at the beginning; one good way to resolve problems is to avoid them in the first place.

(The specific example I have in mind is a pipe with a $.99 opening bid, and a $99.00 shipping charge. Frequently, the seller is based in a foreign country, and the description is written in very poor English. I just see too many places for trouble to start.)

Finally, especially on a highly desirable item, one has to allow for the possibility that bid price will rise to MSRP, and the excessive shipping charge will still be assessed.

Of course, all of this really means that a bidder has to use common sense, consider shipping costs when placing a bid. Also, it is probably not a good idea to go impulse buying on ebay.

jfugate:

I have to thank you for calling my attention to the www.auctionsnipe.com website. I suddenly don't feel like "a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest" when bidding at ebay. It certainly has some useful features in addition to the bid scheduling. And it does help curb overbidding.

Thanks again.

[davekelly]

ham,

So if a guy is charging $30.00 to ship to a Kato diesel you won't bid on it, even if a bid of $10.00 would win it?

[ham99]

I usually bid as soon as an item comes up if it is something I really want. I seldom watch the end of an auction. It's too easy to get caught up in the excitement and pay too much. I lose a lot of auctions that way, but most things will come up again if you have patience. And many times I get it for my opening bid. The biggest "no-no" for me is an unrealistic shipping charge. No matter how badly I want an item, if the shipping charge is a rip-off, I won't bid on it. I've lost money shipping items I've sold, but not much. I can usually estimate shipping charges to either coast [I live midway] and list them; no charge for my time in packing and shipping. Another "no-no" is the item listed as HO/N/O when it obviously has to be just one -- not a power pack or scenery material, but often vehicles or structures. Or no scale listed, just model railroad XXX.

[Jacktal]

Did someone ever imagine what it would be like if an item was up for bid with only a minimum bid amount displayed?One would then bid "his" max amount without knowing if he's high bidder or have been outbid.Wouldn't that give snipers a hard day?Winner would still pay let's say a dollar over next highest bidder.Wouldn't this be fair?Just a thought.......

[davekelly]

I don't think it's just on ebay, it's just that ebay makes it possible for the world to view a transaction. Is there anyone that can honestly say "I've never paid too much for anything" or "when I buy something I'm always 100 percent rational"?

[Anonymous]

Rarely do I not snipe when I bid.

I even did some form of sniping back when I had dial-up.

QUOTE: Originally posted by BRAKIE

QUOTE: Originally posted by Todd McWilliam

I swa an idiot pay 122.00 for an Athearn GP35 RTR Reading straight out of the box, no extra details. First hobby sells them for 57.00.

============================================================================
Todd,That was the type of things I was talking about in my reply.Thats way above MSRP.
BTW..I seen them for $54.99..[:D]

Maybe that's like a guy paying nearly $20 for my CSX MOW flat car(Athearn). Twice I've had that happen to me, and one had two or three missing stirrups.

And I'll take a wild guess and say that I've bid against some of you[:D].

[BRAKIE]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Todd McWilliam

I swa an idiot pay 122.00 for an Athearn GP35 RTR Reading straight out of the box, no extra details. First hobby sells them for 57.00.

============================================================================
Todd,That was the type of things I was talking about in my reply.Thats way above MSRP.
BTW..I seen them for $54.99..[:D]

[Anonymous]

I see alot of buy it now items at full MSRP. I simply get a discount without paying shipping at the LHS. Who do these folks think the bidders are riding a turnip truck?

Now. If a item is OOP (Out of Production) and I happened to see it on ebay... all bets are off. I carry a "Warchest" and snipe the last few moments of the auction. The happy seller counts the dollars and gets the item in the mail. I use the theory that I carry more dollars than sense and scare competition away for this item.

Strange isnt it?

[jfugate]

Guys:

Just go to google and type:

optimal bid strategy online auction

You'll get a bunch of "long haired" research papers to read, full of charts and graphs and calculus statistics formulas.

But the upshot of it all is bid your maximum price as late as possible in the auction if you want to pay less for the item yet still win the auction.

[davekelly]

Joe,

I think the a report concerning the computer modeling would be a very interesting read! I would be especially interested to see how the modelers handled the great "unknown" - human nature - what I call the "wow, if I only bid $2.00 more I might win it" factor. I always thought ebay would make for a fantastic socialogy or shrinkology thesis. I love ebay. Not just for what I buy, but from just seeing what's out there and what people are wanting to buy. Ebay proves that "one man's junk is another man's treasure." Every time I start to shake my head at something there - I'm reminded of the Pet Rock mania. Who'd of thunk that? I guess I don't look at it as "what an idiot" but rather proof that the human factor is what makes life fun!

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Mathematical computer models of ebay auctions show that bidding your maximum moments before close results in winning the item at a lower price

Could you post a reference? That sounds interesting and I'd like to read more.

Mike Tennent

[Todd McWilliam]

I swa an idiot pay 122.00 for an Athearn GP35 RTR Reading straight out of the box, no extra details. First hobby sells them for 57.00.

[Derailedtoosoon]

Watch some of the model train retailers sites on E-Bay. Anyone can buy the same product in their store or on their store's web site for less than the final E-Bay bid, most of the time.

[Anonymous]

Mellow Mike is getting a pretty good price out of his latest effort.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Custom-Weathered-TTX-Spine-Car-Set-UPS-Trailers_W0QQitemZ5989346251QQcategoryZ19141QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Pretty sweet unit to be sure, but not sure whether I could really go $400 + for it.

But there aren't only crazy bidders on eBay, there are some goofy sellers too. Last year I was high bidder on an auction at $25, but it didn't meet the reserve price. So they relisted it, and the second time I was high bidder at $27, but it still didn't exceed the reserve. Then they listed it a third time without a reserve, and I won it for just $19...felt like I got a bargain on that one![8D]

[SpaceMouse]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jfugate

Mathematical computer models of ebay auctions show that bidding your maximum moments before close results in winning the item at a lower price.

You want to win the item *AND* pay the lowest price to win -- right?

Early proxy bidding only works if no irrational bidders happen upon the item. Out of 100 million ebayers, irrational bidders abound, and if you've placed an early proxy bid, they will repeatedly incrememtally bid and drive the item price up on you, making you pay more than you would have had to pay if you had waited until the end of the auction to do a snipe bid.

Take NOTE: you may still win the item with an early proxy bid, but if you bid the same exact amount as a snipe bid you usually pay less for the item.

Dang Joe, I was reading this last page thinking someone aught to say what you just did, then before I could say it you beat me to it--and threw in statistics as well.

Dang.

[jfugate]

Mathematical computer models of ebay auctions show that bidding your maximum moments before close results in winning the item at a lower price.

You want to win the item *AND* pay the lowest price to win -- right?

Early proxy bidding only works if no irrational bidders happen upon the item. Out of 100 million ebayers, irrational bidders abound, and if you've placed an early proxy bid, they will repeatedly incrememtally bid and drive the item price up on you, making you pay more than you would have had to pay if you had waited until the end of the auction to do a snipe bid.

Take NOTE: you may still win the item with an early proxy bid, but if you bid the same exact amount as a snipe bid you usually pay less for the item.

[dwRavenstar]

Imagine for a moment that you're at a live auction. The item you saw before the start of the auction is coming up somewhere in the next three offerings. Your bladder is about to burst but your wife is sitting next to you. Before leaving for the head you ask her to bid on the item if you can't get back; telling her what your ceiling price would be. The actual auction starts at the moment of the initial bid and can close at a moment's notice. When you return and find that your max bid was beaten do you accept the fact you wouldn't have wanted it that badly, berate the wife for doing exactly as you'd said or look for the guy who outbid you by a few dollars and invite him to bring it out to the parking lot?

I've always considered Ebay auctions start with the final five minutes of the offering time. You're either on your toes or out on your backside if you don't play the game well enough. "Sniping" is a bad thing if you leave for the john and let the wife running the show as per your instructions but if you enter your max bid, either days or seconds before the end of the auction you've taken your stand and must accept the consequences, good or bad.

You've gotta "Keep yer HOYA! (head outta yer backside) and after the fact remember that tears contain salt and that could ruin even the most premium beer.

Dave (dwRavenstar)

[Anonymous]

Antonio has a good point - always factor in the shipping price when setting your max proxy bid !!

For example, if the max you want to pay for the item is $60 and the shipping is $10, I would make my max proxy bid $50. If the shipping price is too outrageous, forget the item and bid on another one later !!!

[AntonioFP45]

Common sense that this will happen occasionally with harder to find items.I've been a sniper and have been sniped. So if you are sniped.....you're sniped! Move on! Unless it's an ultra rare item.......another item will show up sooner or later.

I waited til the last minute to bid on an Atlas SCL U36C. Being that it was 2:a.m, I thought that "It was in the bag!" [;)] Not so. I was sniped and the winner beat me by .50 cents! [:0] Total price with shipping was $55. I sighed and thought "I hope he enjoys it."

But then......about 2 weeks later there was another one up for bid. I got it for $47 dollars! Wala! Wala! [:D][8D] Not bad for a locomotive that retails for $90+ at local hobby shops. So this was a case where "being sniped" benefited me! [:)]

Still though, I firmly stand on that if the LHS has that item for a few more dollars; please.....by all means support that LHS. I purchase my items at Happy Hobo Trains as often as possible. I one day discovered that a P2K unit that I happily paid $60 for on ebay, Happy Hobo Trains had an identical locomotive on sale for $51! I wanted to slap myself silly. [D)] Top it off, some of these ebay sellers' shipping charges for small items have gotten ridiculous! $10, $12, $14, etc for shipping USPS?! Someone's padding their pockets. I've found that in many cases with Ebay bids, when the cost of shipping is added in, the difference between Ebay and the hobby shop has been usually under 10 bucks! I'd rather give Kevin a reason to stay in business as his shop is one of the finest here in Florida.

Peace!

[Anonymous]

Mike is right.

If you set a max proxy bid, no sniper in the world can beat you - unless they out bid your max amount.

And if that is the case, then you really didn't want it for any higher price, did you ????

Worked for me in over 30 buys.

But as I said, I don't need e-Bay anymore - too little remaining to get, so will just order those items direct from ModelTrainStuff or buy at my LHS !

Just got the "account being deleted" e-mail from e-Bay.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by EMT49

QUOTE: Originally posted by EMT49

QUOTE: Originally posted by jfugate

With over 100 million bidders on ebay, you can expect a few of them to be irrational.

It's the irrational bidders that blow the proxy bidding model out of the water on ebay. That's why its best NOT to bid on an item until the last possible moment. Otherwise you run the risk of irrational bidders seeing your interest, and then repeatedly incremental bidding on the item, driving the price up to unreasonable levels.

If you snipe bid (as last minute bidding is affectionately called by seasoned ebayers) then you run the best chance of getting the item at a more reasonable price, in the price range you were willing to pay. http://auctionsniper.com enables you to snipe bid automatically so you don't have to physically babysit the item to place your last minute bid.

snipe bidding is for a@$holes thay should all be banned from ebay

I for one enjoy sniping. I don't use any snipe bidding software, I just wait until 30 seconds and bid. It's how I win all my items from stupid people who think they can bid and walk away and win it.[:p] Hey, it's a tough world out there......

[palallin]

As a seller, I always post feedback when the payment hits. As a buyer, I refuse to post feedback till after the buyer has. Feedback on the buyer should be dependent soley on the arrival of the payment, not held hostage by the seller in order to garner positive feedback from the buyer.

[Anonymous]

I think the most sane approach to bidding on EBay is by proxy. You simply bid the maximum you're be willing to pay and forget it. If someone else is willing to pay more, so be it.

If someone "snipes" my bid, the fact that it's at the last second is irrelevant. It could have been two days earlier for all I care. I'm not going to pay more than what I think it's worth. Today, next week, or 2 seconds before an auction ends.

Mike Tennent

[Berk-fan284]

Crazy bidders- I am guilty of it on a couple of occassions I got into a couple of bidding wars when competition overode common sense.? Snipers - fact of life get used to it, I'm one of those "fools" that uses proxy bidding because I work nights so 95% of the auctions end while I'm at work and nowadays I have a better idea of how much I am willing to pay and a rough idea on how "rare" it really is or isn't. I have only ever seen 1 Rivarossi HO scale DM&IR YELLOWSTONE on ebay and I was fortunate enough to win it. Pretty well everthing else has shown up eventually on ebay again and often in better shape for a better price.

[Anonymous]

You are so right.

QUOTE: Originally posted by BRAKIE

Guys,I have seen "Buy It Now" prices at full MSRPs.I seen common and available cars and engines go for prices higher then MSRP and higher then some local discount hobby shops or on line discount hobby shops...Naw,some folks is so wrap up in e bay they think they're getting a good deal when in all truth they are paying more or near MSRP when you add the shipping costs in..
Don't believe me? Check for yourself.

[1shado1]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jadormdrache

Ive only purchased on ebay twice the first item was shipped but ended up at my parents house( my fault, I hadn't looked at ebay since I moved out) and I also ordered a P2K NYC S-1 Switcher, still hasn't gotten here and I don't really know whats going on, do ebay sellers have to notify you when it's shipped or can they just ship it? the first order came with a message from paypal when it was shipped, I haven't gotten a message for the second item yet.

Sellers and buyers are not REQUIRED to communicate at all, actually. I have purchased things off of ebay from folks with a 25,000 positive feedback rating, and these people are obviously selling on ebay for a living, not to just unload some junk from the garage. I figure people like this are busy enough without needlessly having to read or respond to unneccesary emails. When I win an item, I'll immediately pay via Paypal, which provides the seller my shipping address. No need for me to bother the seller otherwise. My item usually arrives within 2 weeks of payment. I post feedback, and the seller posts feedback. A painless transaction for both, without needless (and time consuming)conversation.
How did you pay for the item that you are waiting for? How long ago did you pay for it?