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Quick Ebay Rant of The Day

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Posted by steveblackledge on Monday, September 19, 2005 1:42 PM
I got out bid on some boxcars Aggro had on Ebay, *** and blast it i wanted the BN one so much, but i could not watch the last two hours so got out bid
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, September 19, 2005 2:56 PM
Just a word of "CAUTION" . My fiancee purchase a whole bunch of Suydam kits from Ebay member "JTEN1". DO NOT,I repeat DO NOT purchase a thing from this guy!!!!! The kits that my fiancee purchased totaled over $100.00,and the most expensive one was for the Day and Night Water Heater Company. This clown (JTEN1),stated in his "ad" for this item that ALL pieces were in the kit. BULL[censored]!!!!! I am missing ALL four sides of this kit,the roof tops,as well as the angle pieces to build it. The kit is now worthless,and i am not able to build it.To top it off,this guy forced Ebay to close my fiancee's account,due to that I had a scuffle with this jerk before on some kits that were not full kits. So,what is happening,we are giving this guy till this Wednesday to answer the email we sent(never did respond to others we sent him).If no response has been made,then we are going to call him and find out what is going on. If this guy refuses,then there will be a contact to the District Attorney in his city and state. I dont want to scare the rest of those that buy stuff on Ebay,I am just letting you all know, NOT to buy from this guy,as you may have the same problem we are having.
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Posted by csmith9474 on Monday, September 19, 2005 3:05 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by cnwfan11

Just a word of "CAUTION" . My fiancee purchase a whole bunch of Suydam kits from Ebay member "JTEN1". DO NOT,I repeat DO NOT purchase a thing from this guy!!!!! The kits that my fiancee purchased totaled over $100.00,and the most expensive one was for the Day and Night Water Heater Company. This clown (JTEN1),stated in his "ad" for this item that ALL pieces were in the kit. BULL[censored]!!!!! I am missing ALL four sides of this kit,the roof tops,as well as the angle pieces to build it. The kit is now worthless,and i am not able to build it.To top it off,this guy forced Ebay to close my fiancee's account,due to that I had a scuffle with this jerk before on some kits that were not full kits. So,what is happening,we are giving this guy till this Wednesday to answer the email we sent(never did respond to others we sent him).If no response has been made,then we are going to call him and find out what is going on. If this guy refuses,then there will be a contact to the District Attorney in his city and state. I dont want to scare the rest of those that buy stuff on Ebay,I am just letting you all know, NOT to buy from this guy,as you may have the same problem we are having.


I hope you negged him straight to he**, although it looks like you didn't!!!!!!! I belive you can stick 'em on mail fraud too, if you did not already know that. Hopefully you can get this guy NARUd if it is deserved.
Smitty
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, September 19, 2005 3:27 PM
I just started ebaying and won all three items i bid on.....I think I better not bid on anything else for a while =). and no, I didn't overpay on any of them. got a Kato Mikado for $65, and 2 Atlas FA1s for $12 and $19.25. I am pretty happy =)

Martin
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, September 19, 2005 4:07 PM
I've gotten nooked only twice on eBay. The first time I bought a rare Athearn/Walthers covered hopper. I got it, and the top hatches and the bottom...uhh...(I'm having railfan black-out..oh yeah!)bays were literally drenched with glue.(Dried of course) Nowhere in the description did the guy mention anything about glue residue. I e-mailed him and naturally he was an [censored] about the whole deal. So I ended up leaving him negative feedback and resold it, with an accurate description, for more than he got! And he didn't leave me negative feedback. Another time I sold a locomotive to a guy. He got it and claimed the chassis had been painted. He also said the handrail had been broken in one place, and that it didn't run. He continued on to scream at me because I had advertised it as "like-new." So, being the nice guy I am([8D]), I refunded his money, including shipping. Oh, and he was in Canada, so shipping was steep. I got it back, and it was not painted a different color and it did run, just like any other Bachmann.(Rough as heck) But about the handrails...well, They were broken completely off in three or four areas, much more than just one. It also had a broken horn, which he failed to mention. I was to believe that he "vandalized" the locomotive before he returned it, so I contacted the guy, but he had conveniently disappeared. No feedback was left from either party. I try my best to maintain my perfect feedback score for both of my names. But I'm afraid that one of these days I will run into some jerk whom I will pay and he will leave negative saying I didn't and disappear.

eBay is FULL of idiots, morons, jerks, you name it.(Insert any word you please) You just have to be careful.

Now, about the whole bidding situation. Yesterday, something un-explainable happened. I set my timer for 1 min. and started it no less than with 1 min. five secs left. I submitted a bid with 4 seconds left, meaning, more or less, 9 seconds cushion time. I got the old "Sorry, but the bid cannot be submitted because the auction is over. So I quickly go back to the auction page, and refresh. 1 second remaining. My bid was not submitted. I dunno how, but there's something fishy... So I was pretty ticked for a while.

By the way, I was bidding on Aggro's BN box car. Obviously someone's clock was off. I doubt it was mine.

uspscsx
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, September 19, 2005 4:08 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by Koorstag

I just started ebaying and won all three items i bid on.....I think I better not bid on anything else for a while =). and no, I didn't overpay on any of them. got a Kato Mikado for $65, and 2 Atlas FA1s for $12 and $19.25. I am pretty happy =)

Martin

Congratulations on your first eBay wins! Be careful, it's addicting...

uspscsx
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, September 19, 2005 4:12 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by MAbruce

QUOTE: That has nothing to do with it.

Huh??? Sounds like you have too much gas in your turbine...

That was uncalled for.[tdn] Let's not turn another legitimate post into yet another flame-fest.
uspscsx
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, September 19, 2005 4:44 PM
Hey guys there are always lottery tickets, bigger payoffs and less chance of being snipped or disapointed with the "winnings".
"And the rant beat goes on, on, on, on"
I have to ask why I have read this far in this rant?????!
Will [banghead] OH the joy the joy when I stop ... here!
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Posted by davekelly on Monday, September 19, 2005 4:48 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by cnwfan11

Just a word of "CAUTION" . My fiancee purchase a whole bunch of Suydam kits from Ebay member "JTEN1". DO NOT,I repeat DO NOT purchase a thing from this guy!!!!! The kits that my fiancee purchased totaled over $100.00,and the most expensive one was for the Day and Night Water Heater Company. This clown (JTEN1),stated in his "ad" for this item that ALL pieces were in the kit. BULL[censored]!!!!! I am missing ALL four sides of this kit,the roof tops,as well as the angle pieces to build it. The kit is now worthless,and i am not able to build it.To top it off,this guy forced Ebay to close my fiancee's account,due to that I had a scuffle with this jerk before on some kits that were not full kits. So,what is happening,we are giving this guy till this Wednesday to answer the email we sent(never did respond to others we sent him).If no response has been made,then we are going to call him and find out what is going on. If this guy refuses,then there will be a contact to the District Attorney in his city and state. I dont want to scare the rest of those that buy stuff on Ebay,I am just letting you all know, NOT to buy from this guy,as you may have the same problem we are having.


I bought two structure kits from JTEN earlier this summer (checked my records to make sure) and had no problems. I did a quick check and this guy has over 4500 positive feedbacks with a percentage of 99.9 - many of those leaving feedback have hundreds of feedbacks themselves, so I don't think it's all from shills. Hopefully this will be squared away to everyone's satisfaction.
If you ain't having fun, you're not doing it right and if you are having fun, don't let anyone tell you you're doing it wrong.
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Posted by areibel on Monday, September 19, 2005 7:35 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by cnwfan11

Just a word of "CAUTION" . My fiancee purchase a whole bunch of Suydam kits from Ebay member "JTEN1". DO NOT,I repeat DO NOT purchase a thing from this guy!!!!! The kits that my fiancee purchased totaled over $100.00,and the most expensive one was for the Day and Night Water Heater Company. This clown (JTEN1),stated in his "ad" for this item that ALL pieces were in the kit. BULL[censored]!!!!! I am missing ALL four sides of this kit,the roof tops,as well as the angle pieces to build it. The kit is now worthless,and i am not able to build it.To top it off,this guy forced Ebay to close my fiancee's account,due to that I had a scuffle with this jerk before on some kits that were not full kits. So,what is happening,we are giving this guy till this Wednesday to answer the email we sent(never did respond to others we sent him).If no response has been made,then we are going to call him and find out what is going on. If this guy refuses,then there will be a contact to the District Attorney in his city and state. I dont want to scare the rest of those that buy stuff on Ebay,I am just letting you all know, NOT to buy from this guy,as you may have the same problem we are having.


OK, a couple things- $100 won't get you a District Attorney involved, They'll tell you to go to small claims court. And it will probably cost you more than that in filing fees. OK, you will get them back if you win, but are you both in the same state? Then where are you going to file? Sad, but most of the unscrupulous sellers on Ebay know what it will take to catch them, and they stay just out of reach. You'd have to prove criminal conspiricy to defraud, and this guy's got 99.9% positive feedback- won't happen!
And second- you did this before, with the same seller? He nuked your account so you couldn't bid on his stuff, so you used your fiances' to bid again?
Caveat Emptor, Dude!
Cambridge Springs- Halfway from New York to Chicago on the Erie Lackawanna!
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Posted by 1shado1 on Monday, September 19, 2005 9:57 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by MAbruce

QUOTE: Originally posted by 1shado1

QUOTE: Originally posted by MAbruce

QUOTE: Originally posted by chewie8han

I'm not really sure why everyone has so much of a problem. If you put in a bid of $10.00, and someone bids $10.50 with 5 seconds or 1 second left, they beat you. THEY BID MORE. It's not when you bid. It's how much you bid. If you're willing to go as high as $20 in a last second bid, why not just put that in earlier? That's what I do all the time, and that's how I've gotten 80% of my stuff. Yes, I've lost some auctions, but they all went over the amount that I was willing to bid.


So true! Sniping is for those who want to pay too much for things. They might get the thrill of winning, but if often comes at a cost that is higher than what I was willing to pay. Patience and self control is the key to winning auctions at a reasonable price.


WRONG! Sniping is the only intelligent way of bidding on Ebay. It makes far more sense to bid $10 for an item in the last few seconds than it does bidding $10 for the item 3 days before the end of an auction. Sniping is more likely to get you an item at a lower cost.

Jeff


[(-D]Jeff - you crack me up. Thanks for the good laugh.[(-D]


It might be funny if you knew what you were talking about. Unfortunately, you don't. Let's suppose that an item has a current high bid of $8.00, with 3 days left until closing. Let's say the max that I'm willing to pay for the item is $10.00. If I bid my $10.00 with 3 days left, and am shown as high bidder at that $10.00 amount with 3 days left, all my bidding early has done is alerted other bidders that they need to bid higher than my current high bid of $10.00. But by waiting until the last possible second to bid my $10.00 (if the item is still shown below that price), I make it far more difficult for others to bid a higher amount than my last minute bid. By sniping, there is less chance of the price of an item being driven sky high by fools that just need to see themselves as the high bidder with 3 days to go, which counts for nothing, as the high bid at the end is what counts, not who is high bidder with days left. Why is this concept so difficult for so many folks to understand? I DO agree that restraint is warranted in any case, so as not to overbid (value wise), whether sniping or not.

Jeff
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, September 19, 2005 10:35 PM
My most expensive purchase was not on E-Bay. It was MSRP+9%sales tax+$7entry fee+ 4.5 gal. of gas (120 mile rnd trp)+ chili burger (more gas) +tums (see more gas). Parking was free. This must have freight car ended up being double retail. All of my E-Bay purchases have beat that combination.
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, September 19, 2005 11:12 PM
Darn I had no idea my one post was going to generate three pages of responses! LOL The backshop and carshop only went for about $55 each, which was about $15 over retail, and shipping was the same as Walthers. Only reason I was willing to pay the extra $15 each was because I've now bought about 6 kits on ebay, and every single one of them was LESS than retail, so I've actually saved about $50 or more, which is how I justified paying a little more for these two OOP kits.

The only way I snipe is at work, where I have an ISDN connection. I play the game with two windows open with "Confirm Bid" screen as one of them and the item page as the other. Personally I've never heard of the software sniping, but this way works fine for me. I tried the 'bid your max first, and walk away' idea and lost every single auction I ever bid on. I've sniped 8 kits so far, and won 6 of them, so I doubt I'll change my methods. Either way, there's some other items I'm watching right now, and they end tomorrow afternoon, so hopefully I'll be able to come away with a couple more wins.

I agree ebay can be addictive, and sometimes fraudulent with sellers, but to me, it's just as easy to get duped by paying retail price for something when you could've bought it cheaper elsewhere. I play the game as fair as I can, and I don't let myself buy more than I can afford. Sometimes I just walk away because I know I don't have the extra cash on hand to buy what I want right now. Gambling of any sort is not something I'm keen on, and while some people see auctions as a form of gambling or lottery, I still think there's a better chance of winning on ebay, so long as you keep your head about you.

Anyways, good luck everybody, and to those who frown upon sniping and ebayers in general, I'm sorry I don't agree with you, but to each his own.

Ya'll have a great night!!
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Posted by dgwinup on Monday, September 19, 2005 11:54 PM
Children, children, children! Am I going to have to separate you boys? Don't make me come down there!!! Darrell, President of the Anti-Flamamation League (and only member, so far. Annual dues are only $1,000. Send it to my PayPal account. I'll send you a subscription to our bi-annual flyer.) [}:)][:D][}:)]

1shado1, RIGHT ON! I tried to say that earlier, but you said it more clearly than I.

Folks, all early bidding does is drive up the price for everyone! Remember, just because YOU think something is worth $10, doesn't mean EVERYBODY thinks it's worth $10. Bid your $10 early, and somebody will outbid you almost every time.

Follow Jeff's lead and you will win more auctions. Or sign up for some sniping software. End of story.

Darrell, presidentially quiet...for now
Darrell, quiet...for now
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Posted by 1shado1 on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 12:19 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by dgwinup

Children, children, children! Am I going to have to separate you boys? Don't make me come down there!!! Darrell, President of the Anti-Flamamation League (and only member, so far. Annual dues are only $1,000. Send it to my PayPal account. I'll send you a subscription to our bi-annual flyer.) [}:)][:D][}:)]

1shado1, RIGHT ON! I tried to say that earlier, but you said it more clearly than I.

Folks, all early bidding does is drive up the price for everyone! Remember, just because YOU think something is worth $10, doesn't mean EVERYBODY thinks it's worth $10. Bid your $10 early, and somebody will outbid you almost every time.

Follow Jeff's lead and you will win more auctions. Or sign up for some sniping software. End of story.

Darrell, presidentially quiet...for now

Darrell,
I use Snipeville for my bidding. It's completely free, but you can't snipe any less than 3 seconds before the end. I'm sure you win more items by bidding at only 2 or 1 second before the end.

Jeff
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Posted by MAbruce on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 6:42 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by 8500HPGASTURBINE
So in other words a sniper will pay more for things or more then you are willing to pay at the local hobbie shop?? Why would someone pay more on Ebay then what they could get it for at the local hobbie shop? DUH!!


Sorry, but when did paying more than hobby shops come into this? I would not be bidding on something at a price that I could get cheaper at an on-line store or a LHS - assuming the item is still available at one. I've done some dumb things in my life, but I'm really not that stupid!

QUOTE: Patience and self control is the way you will get left behind. It's the cut throat kill attitude that gets most very wanted items. It sounds stupid but it's either kill or be killed on most things on Ebay. If I took the Lora Ingles attitude my shelves would be empty.


If that's the way you want to approach bidding on ebay - fine. It's a free country. My shelves are actually full of the things that I wanted at the prices I wanted to pay. If you are satisfied with the state of your shelves - great. I'm happy for you!

QUOTE: Huh??? Sounds like you have too much gas in your turbine...


I got your Turbine right here [:(!]


In hindsight, I probably should have put in one of those smilies to indicate that it was said in jest. In other words it was a JOKE. So please lighten up a little. [:)]

Also (and I am serious on this one) let's remember that this is a hobby and ebay is only a place to shop. I don't think it's worth getting all bent out of shape over. You have your way of bidding and I have mine. Sounds like we're both happy with our strategies, so let's leave it at that and let everyone else judge for themselves which method they want to use.
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Posted by MAbruce on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 7:00 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by 1shado1

It might be funny if you knew what you were talking about. Unfortunately, you don't. Let's suppose that an item has a current high bid of $8.00, with 3 days left until closing. Let's say the max that I'm willing to pay for the item is $10.00. If I bid my $10.00 with 3 days left, and am shown as high bidder at that $10.00 amount with 3 days left,...


I think you just went wrong on your example. At this point you might be shown as the high bidder at the next bid increment (maybe $8.50 if the other bidder didn't set their MAX bid higher - or didn't set it above $10 to begin with). If you are the highest bidder at the next increment, then your MAX bid is still hidden and ebay will proxy bid for you up to $10. If you don't want to pay over $10 for that item, and you lose the auction, then the winner paid more than you wanted to.

To me the point is not only to win the auction, but to win it and not pay more than you wanted to.




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Posted by davekelly on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 8:54 AM
I'm pretty much of the opinion of use the bidding method that works for you. Some like sniping. Some like just entering the max they want to pay. I've won using both, I've lost using both (I have about 400 transactions). Some folks enjoy the "hunt" of sniping, some would rather just enter an amount and check back later to see if they won. Deciding on which method is a balancing act between probability of winning, price and convenience. If your having fun with it and getting what you want at a price that is reasonable (to you and you only) then that's the best way to play the ebay game.

Dave
If you ain't having fun, you're not doing it right and if you are having fun, don't let anyone tell you you're doing it wrong.
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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 9:45 AM
MABruce is right. When you bid (no matter whether early or late) only the amount which is the minimum over the previous bidder's highest bid is shown to the world. Example;
an item is showing a current bid of $20.50, you are willing to pay $24.50 so you enter $24.50. The previous bidder had a high bid of $22.50 so if the increment is $0.50 your bid will show up at $23.00 keeping your $24.50 hidden until say someone else bids $24.00 in which case your bid will automatically raise to $24.50. What happens then depends on whether one of the other bidders decides he/she is willing to go higher in which case you will be outbid. If $24.50 is the true max you will pay then someone else will win the auction. I see sniping as good only for preventing a bidding war on a popular item that several bidders are trying to get at a bargain.

Bob DeWoody
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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 10:29 AM
For some who have read my first reply I thank you,though I disagree with what some say.A feedback to me doesnt mean a thing.Maybe there are other buyers who have bought items from this guy, got jipped,contacted the seller,and yet they have gotten NO response from him.These kits were bought freely by my fiancee out of her own free will,for my upcoming B-Day and Christmas,well so much for this happening.Though when you are forking out $51.00 for a kit,you ARE expecting that ALL the pieces are to be in it.I do NOT like being lied to when someone is saying that the items will be shipped out on the 6th of September,and instead are sent out on the 14th,via Priority Mail.(Somethings wrong here folks,why the long wait?)When the package arrived I checked ALL the kits to see if the pieces were there for the 6 that were bought,and the Day and Night Water Heater kit was the ONLY one that had missing pieces..........why?If someone says it was the cost of the kit...B.S.!!!! This seller made a false advertising statement about this kit,and yet he is "suppossedly" getting away with it, think again.Yes I will contact the legal people who handle mail-fraud and the like. I have already talked to my future father in law whom is a police officer,and I have a few contacts.We have contacted Ebay,and still there is no response from them regarding this matter.We were told by a on-line rep of Ebay that they are"under staffed and over worked due to alot of complaints and congestion from buyers." GEE I WONDER WHY?!!!! Myself,I am done with Ebay.I am stupid to be buying MR stuff on Ebay,when I could AND should be dealing with sellers at train shows,as well as my local hobbyshops, that ARE MORE HONEST and TRUSTWORTHY than this loser I dealt with.I attend 3 train shows here in Wisconsin.Trainfest in Milwaukee,The SCWD/NMRA Train Show in Madison,and the Titletown Train Show in Green Bay.With these vendors I get a better deal,as I know these vendors,yet when you want a certain item that is discontinued and hard to find,yes i'm sure Ebay and other auctions are handy ,though its the price and cost as well as wondering "if its all there"for the item.My only question is to the people reading this post,how would you feel if you had this same situation,and what would you do?Do you feel that this person should get away with "robbing" you of good money and parts of a kit that is worthless,and useless? Would any of you like me to sell you a MR item that doesn't work,or is missing pieces,and rob you of good hard worked for money?,or would you like to deal with someone who is going to tell you ALL that is wrong or missing from the item?The point of this is getting a good product for the price you pay for it.You wouldn't buy a new car and then find out alot of things dont work or are missing would you?
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Posted by oleirish on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 11:06 AM
I love it when people who do not know anything about model railroads, bid on E-BAY,they catch the bidding fever and go nuts[:D][}:)] If something sells for $79.99 retail I see the same item go for well over a hundred dollors or more.All a person has to do is check the item out in M.R.mag.[:)][2c]then place a bid"simple"
JIM
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Posted by sebamat on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 11:19 AM
sniping or not??

If it is an 'once in lifetime' ocasion you can try sniping , but do not forget that most probably you were not the only one to think like so, so better shoot high, because you do not have a 2. shot! I had a few times were snipers shot in my bid, but not high enought...
Today is sniping so common that it really came back to 'who is offering more'.
Only, until a few minutes before end the prices are unrealistically low, and you start dreaming that this is your lucky day.... and then get disappointed 2 minutes later.

For recurring items I just place my bid and wait and often enought win it.... but not always! It is some time I am looking for an ICRR 4-6-0 J.Casey engine and always offer 45$. Just everyone else in the world seems to think is is worth 65$... so who is the stupid, me or the others????

sebastiano
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Posted by davekelly on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 12:04 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by cnwfan11

For some who have read my first reply I thank you,though I disagree with what some say.A feedback to me doesnt mean a thing.Maybe there are other buyers who have bought items from this guy, got jipped,contacted the seller,and yet they have gotten NO response from him.These kits were bought freely by my fiancee out of her own free will,for my upcoming B-Day and Christmas,well so much for this happening.Though when you are forking out $51.00 for a kit,you ARE expecting that ALL the pieces are to be in it.I do NOT like being lied to when someone is saying that the items will be shipped out on the 6th of September,and instead are sent out on the 14th,via Priority Mail.(Somethings wrong here folks,why the long wait?)When the package arrived I checked ALL the kits to see if the pieces were there for the 6 that were bought,and the Day and Night Water Heater kit was the ONLY one that had missing pieces..........why?If someone says it was the cost of the kit...B.S.!!!! This seller made a false advertising statement about this kit,and yet he is "suppossedly" getting away with it, think again.Yes I will contact the legal people who handle mail-fraud and the like. I have already talked to my future father in law whom is a police officer,and I have a few contacts.We have contacted Ebay,and still there is no response from them regarding this matter.We were told by a on-line rep of Ebay that they are"under staffed and over worked due to alot of complaints and congestion from buyers." GEE I WONDER WHY?!!!! Myself,I am done with Ebay.I am stupid to be buying MR stuff on Ebay,when I could AND should be dealing with sellers at train shows,as well as my local hobbyshops, that ARE MORE HONEST and TRUSTWORTHY than this loser I dealt with.I attend 3 train shows here in Wisconsin.Trainfest in Milwaukee,The SCWD/NMRA Train Show in Madison,and the Titletown Train Show in Green Bay.With these vendors I get a better deal,as I know these vendors,yet when you want a certain item that is discontinued and hard to find,yes i'm sure Ebay and other auctions are handy ,though its the price and cost as well as wondering "if its all there"for the item.My only question is to the people reading this post,how would you feel if you had this same situation,and what would you do?Do you feel that this person should get away with "robbing" you of good money and parts of a kit that is worthless,and useless? Would any of you like me to sell you a MR item that doesn't work,or is missing pieces,and rob you of good hard worked for money?,or would you like to deal with someone who is going to tell you ALL that is wrong or missing from the item?The point of this is getting a good product for the price you pay for it.You wouldn't buy a new car and then find out alot of things dont work or are missing would you?


Maybe I missed something, but did you try contacting the seller and explaining the problem in a civil way? You know, like if you bought something from the LHS and found out something was amiss? I don't think you'd charge in his shop and call him a fraud. Sometimes mistakes happen. Given the feedback this seller has, it would appear to me that he/she/it would want to work something out. If you don't think that word of bad customer service gets around, do a search here on Hobby Circle (or was it Circle Hobby?). And I do think feedback has a purpose. If this seller was constantly ripping people off, I would assume that there would be more than a few negative feedbacks posted.

Could you perhaps post the URL for the listing in question? It should still be available on your fiance's account - either as awaiting feedback or as feedback left. It's hard to really get an opinion with only one side of the story.

I would be interested in learning what the DA's/civil attorneys opinion is on this one.

Again, I hope you can get this situation straightened out.

If you ain't having fun, you're not doing it right and if you are having fun, don't let anyone tell you you're doing it wrong.
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Posted by dgwinup on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 1:02 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by modlerbob

....... I see sniping as good only for preventing a bidding war on a popular item that several bidders are trying to get at a bargain.

Bob DeWoody


A good point, Bob. Sniping may prevent a bidding war (how many bids can eBay handle in 2 seconds?).

The practice of sniping has another side benefit as I see it. It helps to keep ALL hobby pricing in line by not letting the bidding go high early in the auction. I had always wanted a UP Big Boy (N scale). I watched them sell on eBay for a long time and they were always over $200, frequently over $300, and a few that hit the $500-600 range! I patiently watched and eventually sniped a bid that was UNDER $200! (Including postage!) I have not seen another Big Boy go for that little in over a year! I am sure the seller would have preferred a higher bid, especially given the sales history of these things, but he was very nice about the transaction and we were both satisfied.

Just recently, there was a Santa Fe catwhisker A-B unit opening at $100. I placed a bid of $100.01 to open and had the high bid for the ENTIRE auction. It sold for $157+ in the last few seconds! I am amazed because there were other identical auctions with a Buy-It-Now price of $140! So even sniping isn't immune from the fanatics who care more about winning an auction than they care about what they are buying. Sort of a "more money than brains" proposition. LOL

I hate to see prices jump way out of line because it has a bad effect on the hobby in general. It also can influence manufacturers in their pricing. Why produce something to sell for $100 when buyers are willing to pay $150 for the same thing. If I were a manufacturer, I'd set my price at $150 and sell all I could make, *** the young hobbyist who can't afford it! "We don't need no stinkin' kids in OUR hobby!" (Dripping satire here, folks. Don't flame me for it!)

The end result of all our discussions is that everyone has an opinion on bidding on eBay, and no one can say that their method is best. It all goes down to what an individual prefers and what he or she is successful with. There will always be someone out there who is willing to pay more than you for an item. I just don't like to help them do it!

Darrell, bidding quietly...for now
Darrell, quiet...for now
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Posted by csmith9474 on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 1:03 PM
You may want to call the customer service number if you want to talk to a real person, but ultimately eBay will explain how the are "just a venue". eBay doesn't care as long as they get their listing fees.
Smitty
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Posted by trainboyH16-44 on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 1:15 PM
Is ebay really good? I've never been on it because of restrictions on this network, but will probably be getting internet at home soon. It's a good place to find old models? And how do the prices compare?
Trainboy

Go here for my rail shots! http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?userid=9296

Building the CPR Kootenay division in N scale, blog here: http://kootenaymodelrailway.wordpress.com/

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Posted by tcwright973 on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 2:10 PM
Hi Trainboy,

It seems to me e-bay can be a useful resource. Especially if you can't find a particular item any where else. Not long ago, I won the bid for an Atlas "Buffalo & Pittsburgh" GP-38, new in the box. I can't tell you how many web sites I visited or e-mails I sent looking for this engine over a period of weeks and weeks. It just didn't seem to be available anywhere. I was willing to even go over retail when it showed up on e-bay, but it wasn't necessary. I prefer to deal with my LHS, but sometimes they are limited in what they can do.

Tom

Pittsburgh, PA

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Posted by trainboyH16-44 on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 2:17 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by tcwright973

Hi Trainboy,

I prefer to deal with my LHS, but sometimes they are limited in what they can do.

I prefer that too, but not for engines. I get them from a sort of dealer that sells them. I once saved up all my money ($250c)and went to my LHS to get an SD90MAC, and they were out, so I got a kitten instead. True story. I did eventually find out that this dealer sells locos, and he had an SD90 or 10 in stock (Still does 2 years later) so now I have 2 cats, and an SD90. Win/win,eh?
trainboy

Go here for my rail shots! http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?userid=9296

Building the CPR Kootenay division in N scale, blog here: http://kootenaymodelrailway.wordpress.com/

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Posted by MAbruce on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 3:00 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by 8500HPGASTURBINE

MAbruce,

I hope you knew I was joking. I still love ya fellow MRR. I love topics like this. man I'll bet JSHRADE never saw all this comming [:D]


And I promise to use more smilies [:D][:D][;)]
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Posted by 1shado1 on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 10:06 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by MAbruce

QUOTE: Originally posted by 1shado1

It might be funny if you knew what you were talking about. Unfortunately, you don't. Let's suppose that an item has a current high bid of $8.00, with 3 days left until closing. Let's say the max that I'm willing to pay for the item is $10.00. If I bid my $10.00 with 3 days left, and am shown as high bidder at that $10.00 amount with 3 days left,...


I think you just went wrong on your example. At this point you might be shown as the high bidder at the next bid increment (maybe $8.50 if the other bidder didn't set their MAX bid higher - or didn't set it above $10 to begin with). If you are the highest bidder at the next increment, then your MAX bid is still hidden and ebay will proxy bid for you up to $10. If you don't want to pay over $10 for that item, and you lose the auction, then the winner paid more than you wanted to.

To me the point is not only to win the auction, but to win it and not pay more than you wanted to.







Yes, but it doesn't change the fact that by sniping instead of bidding early, you leave a lower "target" amount visible for others to bid against. This makes it easier to acquire items at a lower price.

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