E-BAY experts?

[tatans]

So how does e -bay work, really? I bid on 2 identical items from different sellers, same item,same condition,etc. one I paid $5.00 + $8.00 shipping, the second I paid $11.00+ $15.00 shipping, how can shipping be double?? o.k. I'm really happy with the deal, Now here's the quandry, there were 16 identical items for sale, so I looked at them all, some items were as high as $30.00 with 11 bidders still bidding, some items were $5.00 and 2 bidders with 2 hours to go, and they sold for $5.00, What were these other people doing bidding on the same item(different seller) for $30.00 when they could have got it for $5.00 ? ? Do they not know there might be the same item elsewhere on ebay for a cheaper price? Am I missing something here??? I have seen this happen many times. I cannot figure this out, and yes, all the items were identical, all wrapped,same product, Help me out with some sane answers, please.

[Anonymous]

Lots of sellers are dihonest and look for any way they can to pad a sale.

QUOTE: Originally posted by tatans

So how does e -bay work, really? I bid on 2 identical items from different sellers, same item,same condition,etc. one I paid $5.00 + $8.00 shipping, the second I paid $11.00+ $15.00 shipping, how can shipping be double?? o.k. I'm really happy with the deal, Now here's the quandry, there were 16 identical items for sale, so I looked at them all, some items were as high as $30.00 with 11 bidders still bidding, some items were $5.00 and 2 bidders with 2 hours to go, and they sold for $5.00, What were these other people doing bidding on the same item(different seller) for $30.00 when they could have got it for $5.00 ? ? Do they not know there might be the same item elsewhere on ebay for a cheaper price? Am I missing something here??? I have seen this happen many times. I cannot figure this out, and yes, all the items were identical, all wrapped,same product, Help me out with some sane answers, please.

[tommyr]

If I find more than one listing for an item I want I put a watch on all of them & near end of the auction bid on the lowest. I suppose a lot of bidders just bid on the first one they see without checking. Pretty dumb (more money than brains)
Tom

[Anonymous]

I do not e bay but i think i shuold

[Anonymous]

What a ca-wiky-dink

[cjcrescent]

Plus they get into what I call a feeding frenzy on the bids. They want the item but get outbid fairly quick and rather than search for a similar or another same item, they bid again on the same one. Pretty soon you get an item that is now more expensive than if you bought it from an LHS because a couple of bidders or so get wrapped up a gotta have it at all costs attitude.

[Anonymous]

i don't ebay yet but, everyone is always talking about it so i think i'm going to start

[skiloff]

I got burned early on on ebay thinking that I might never come across the item I was bidding on, but you know what? I haven't seen one yet that it hasn't. I'm very conservative on ebay now. I set the price in my head that I'm willing to pay and snipe my bids. Sniping is waiting until the last second and then put in your maximum bid you are willing to pay. If you win, great, if you lose, you don't have time to rebid and you don't get caught up in the frenzy. Snipe bidding also keeps the price down because there is almost always some yahoo out there that will just keep bidding until the price is ridiculous. Get two of them and you wish you were the seller.

Another tip, ALWAYS carefully read the shipping cost. As On30Shay said, some guys are greedy or just plain dishonest and jack up the shipping cost in order to make a profit, regardless of selling price. ALWAYS factor in the shipping cost when bidding.

Finally, check other items the seller of the items you are interested in has. Most will combine shipping on multiple wins (though email them well in advance to ensure they will - some of those greedy guys won't) saving you some money.

[cacole]

I've seen a lot of G-scale items go for more than MSRP, even though they were available from on-line retailers in abundance for much less. It's usually a case of people not knowing the true value of an item and think they are getting a bargain just because it's an auction site. Some people are even addicted to bidding on e-Bay, whether they really want the item or not.

[rrinker]

Shipping is set by the seller. If they don;t list shipping charges in the auction, ask. If I don't get an answer, I don't bid. Always consider the shipping charges when figuring how much you bid. Winning an item for $1 with a $15 ship charge costs you the same as if you won for $12 with a $4 shipping charge. But outlandish shipping charges should be reported to Ebay - the seller is simply trying to avoid Ebay fees by having a low selling price backed up with a high shipping and 'handlng' charge.
I've sold enough varied items that I have a pretty good idea how much is REALLY costs to ship things. I don't pad the shipping costs, but I've STILL had people complain. I just ignore those. Oh - you complained about being charged $3.85 shipping? Why, look on the package - it cost me EXACTLY $3.85 People that charge ridiculous shipping - I just won't bid, unless the price is low enough to make up for it.


--Randy

[Anonymous]

Make sure you know what the item is really worth and how much TOTAL you are willing to pay. Subtract the shipping and bid that amount. I don't wait until the last few seconds but some people do.

Don't bid if they won't combine shipping. Don't bid if the sellers rules are twice as long as the items description is. Don't bid if the seller has recent negative feedback.

Just some rules I follow.

[Anonymous]

Another thing to be aware of: A lot of sellers on E-bay have at least two accounts, so they actually bid on their own auctions, artificially inflating the price in the process. If they end up with the winning bid, it's not a great loss on their part, and they can just re-list the item at a later time. I don't really have much of anything to do with E-bay, and have never used it to bid, buy or sell anything, but these warnings have come to me from some folks I know who do use it. Just be aware of what you are dealing with, and know the price (including shipping) that you are willing to pay.

A lot of folks probably remember when Chip (a.k.a. Spacemouse) posted regarding his grief concerning a purchase on E-bay. He was promised one thing and delivered something else. So, as in all things involving money, let the buyer beware. I personally prefer to buy new items from reputable vendors, either on or off-line. Even at that, I have at times been disappointed with my purchases at times. I remember ordering some high powered stereo equipment for my first car when I was a kid. It was new from J.C. Whitney. They advertised the product as it was shown on the package, but did not live up to how it was represented. Live and learn.

[JohnT14808]

Having never eBay'ed, I can't say much cept as others have said...Let the buyer beware!!

[jsoderq]

Couple things here. If you don't do your hommework, sooner or later you are going to get the weinie. Rarely are identical items priced greatly different. You might think so, but such is not usually the case. There are lots of subtle variations in items, and not everything listed as "new" is really new.
Having said that, I often pay a higher price for an item from a reputable seller that I am acquainted with rather than gambling with an unknown.

[Anonymous]

If I am at a trainshow and am presented with ... say... 8 copies of a wanted item on several different vendor's tables.. I will try to get the one with the best price (As good condition as possible)

I sold an item that was between similar items closing earlier than mine and in front of items closing after mine. I priced my item a little bit less than the trend. My price was lower than others who had a batch of the same thing for "Buy it Now" so I sold it.

There was a bidding war of sorts for items similar to mine closing earlier than my auction so i knew that there is a demand for it.

I try to get a better price at the Hobby Store first, then turn to Ebay if I cannot find the item needed.

[dehusman]

The whole key to E-bay is to know the value of what you want, to read the descriptions VERY carefully, to set a limit to your bids and to have teh will power to stick to your limit.

Out of a hundred or so purchases, I have only been unhappy with 3 or 4 and most of the, I was partially to blame for not reading the descriptions properly or the item was described properly but turned out not to be what I had wanted. So far I haven't been ripped off outright.

The people that are bidding above MSRP are either not aware of the true value or just in a feeding frenzy to win the auction. I had bought a train set for under $50. Another guy was selling the same thing for over $600. Go Figure.

The differences in shipping may be based on the location of you and the seller, how much the seller is putting into the packaging and how much "pad" the seller wants on things.

Dave H.

[Berk-fan284]

I agree with the above postings: bid the maximum you think it is worth, snipe bid if you want (I don't I am usually at work when 80% of the auctions end), comparison shop for condition,price and shipping charges, payment methods, and check the seller's feedback rating(s) for amount of feedback,negative feedback (amount and type of negative feedback). If you are in doubt of anything about the item, deal or seller walk away from it as previously posted it will show up on auction again (often at a better price and condition).

[Anonymous]

People don't do their homework, that's why similar items go for different prices. Simple as that.

Some time ago I was offering a zoom lens for a Pentax 110 SLR camera. It sold for $175.00 or so. At the very same time, someone else was offering the camera and several lenses including one like mine; the whole lot sold for $100.00! If my winner had checked around he could have gotten a lot more for less! Great when you are a seller!

Bob bOudreau

[davekelly]

I have noticed that some sellers with several of the same item for sale list them separately with different shipping/handling costs. An interesting tactic by sellers which results in interesting bidding. Let's say the seller has three of the items with the following s/h price: free, $5.00 and $10.00. If I were to want all three of these, I would figure out how much I would spend total for each, let's say $20.00. I would then bid, $20.00, $15.00 and $10.00. Thus the difference in selling price for identical items. There are those, however, that refuse to bid on items that have "outrageous" shipping and handling charges and would bid $20.00 on the first item (free shipping) but will not bid on the third ($10.00 s/h) even if the winning bid would be $1.00. It's a principle thing I guess.

jsoderq makes an interesting point. Sometimes it is worth it to pay a little more for something from a seller that has excellent feedback (always check feedback). Of course sometimes something can be purchased from a brand new seller at significant less price than an established seller. Is it worth it to take the risk? That's a personal choice - I've gotten several good deals with excellent service from brand new sellers. You can make the argument that these guys will go the extra yard to build up feedback. On the other hand, you could get burned.

I pretty much have no "concrete" rules except for those with terrible feedback. I don't use the "don't buy from anyone with less than 99 percent postive feedback" as there are some less than standup buyers. Read the negative feedback, the sellers response and check the listing it relates to (if it is still available). It is fascinating to see a buyer post negative feedback with a comment like "high shipping cost" when the shipping price was clearly posted on the listing. On the other hand, be aware of feedback that says "took six weeks to ship" "doesn't answer emails" etc. I sometimes check the feedback on a buyer that posts negatively - sometimes that is very very interesting. As stated, I don't avoid sellers with "outrageous" shipping and handling charges if the total price is within what I want to spend.

Bottom line. Do your homework. Be realistic with your expectations.

Dave

P.S. I have over 500 transactions on ebay. Everything from model trainstuff, to live fish, to motorcycle engine parts to electronics to garden plants. I think I've been somewhat disappointed with about 5 items and very disappointed with 1 item. I'm pretty OK with that percentage.

[joeyegarner]

I Ebay every day, you can get some really good deals. One thng you need to watch out for, the inexperienced bidder(low feedback). These bidders will pay large premiums over retail and bid up to a dozen times just to win the item. Some people charge way too much for shipping. For instance it dosen't cost 6.85 to ship an HO scale box car. So always check the shipping price first. The most important thing to do is bid what your willing to pay. That may be 10.00 or 20.00 over the current bid, but what is it worth to you? Just think before you bid, no more than its worth, don't do battle with another bidder unless your pocket can handle it. Consider buying "lots" of cars. Keep what you want and use the rest to become an ebay seller. Hope I've helped someone.

[Tracklayer]

When you find an item you're interested in, click "Watch item" which you can keep up with in "My ebay". Only deal with sellers with a clean history - though some may have a negative or two (read feedback results carefully). Never bid right off the bat, but rather wait until the last second. If you end up paying an extra five dollars for the item than what it's worth, consider that it would cost you that much in gas and time to drive to the hobby shop to buy it. Most of my locos and rolling stock were purchased this way...

Tracklayer

PS - I am by no means an ebay expert, so follow my instructions at your own risk...

[oleirish]

I just had an experience on E-BAY yesterday ; Item retails for $79.99 in MRMAG,on E-BAY a seller is asking $115.00 and $119.00 Plus shipping.for the same Item,I ask him why he was selling the item for so much,he says that is what everyone else is doing.Go figure?????????/This guy is is an top seller,All a person has to do is be carefull and read full back groung on the seller,any red back off and look some where else.
[2c][2c]JIM

[Anonymous]

A fool and their money are soon parted on ebay.
Use a store instead, save the hassle and the money.

[palallin]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Shermanhill1

Use a store instead, save the hassle and the money.

Not very helpful unless you are buying current production in-stock. For those of us who aren't buying only the "latest-and-greatest), we have to look elsewhere.

Also not very helpful if the nearest store which stocks even simple scratch-building supplies is 100 miles away.