Yet Another eBay Rant...More Like Lament

[Phog Allen]

Good afternoon fellas. I recently started looking for a certain type of old camcorder for a specific purpose. They are not rare but I just don't have one. So first I do the "smart" thing and look at The Artist Formerly Known As eBay. Much of what I found was of dubious quality and a good bit priced in the "what are they smoking?" range. Those things are irritating enough but what drives me crazy is the businesses and their sniper software. Now before we all chalk this up to a disgruntled bidder that should have bid higher hear me out. I know many make their living but would to God there was an alternative.

What drives me crazy is the snipers who are obviously either shilling for businesses or artificially driving up used prices on electronics to almost silly levels. Remember, used electronics have always been huge gambles. It is why you don't get squat for them in the paper classifieds or pawn shops. Let alone paying any kind of real money sight unseen. The person who out bid me had 253 bids in the prior 30 days. ALL of them were in camera and video department. Of the bids only three auctions had more than one bid. Obvious sniper willing to jack prices up a bit and try to make a thinner margin on the return sale on the 'Bay later or whatever. It just drives me crazy that what was once America's largest garage sale is nothing more than a quick sale business scheme with old time used car salesman tactics. On a couple of the items I looked at I had to specifically ask about things like chargers, functions, etc. Good lord. I think I will just post a wanted ad on Craigslist or hit the garage sales. I also have some things working with B&B members so it will be alright. Just kind of depressing really. The Old Grey 'Bay she ain't what she used to be.

Cheers, Todd

[Prince]

That's why I do not snipe. I enter my max bid then sit back and wait. I've missed out on a lot of items over a buck or two, but then I figured I've saved myself much, much more than that.

[Bruce Wayne]

I can't even tell you the last time I bought something on Fleabay.

[Slash McCoy]

Sniping, not sniping, it's all the same. You offer the most you are willing to pay and if someone outbids you then oh we'll. Too expensive for you.

Shills only hurt themselves.

If I see a razor I want and I think it is worth $15 and not a cent more, then that's my bid. If someone else bids $16 then it's. It worth it to me and I don't want it. If it is some idiot bidding on his own razor then his loss. I would have bought it at my price. Don't lose sleep over ebaydiots. You are still no worse off than before eBay started.

[maxman]

I'm baffled by the make an offer feature of ebay.
Every time I make a reasonable offer it gets denied.

I'll watch the item for months and no one buys it.
Surely a little less money is better than no money?

[Phog Allen]

Slash and Marc, definitely get your points. Certainly no worse for wear. Just disappointing is all. And yeah the make an offer is joke.

Cheers, Todd

[shavervinnie]

There's nothing on ebay that would get me very worked up. In the last couple of years I've only bought a handful of items on ebay and they were BINs. In fact, I only scan the BIN entries now. If it's not offered that way, I'm not interested. No bidding from me. No drama. I either buy or I don't.

[Doc4]

I'm baffled by the make an offer feature of ebay.
Every time I make a reasonable offer it gets denied.

I'll watch the item for months and no one buys it.
Surely a little less money is better than no money?

You assume reasonableness on the other side. (Heck, I assume you are accurate in assessing your own reasonableness.) Maybe the other guy is a "wait for top dollar" kind of guy, or is mistakenly optimistic about the value of whatever he has.

Then again ... when I make an offer and it's accepted, I invariably think "dang, I obviously offered too much ... this guy must be laughin' at me ..."

[buffdaddy]

I usually only buy small things here and there on Ebay. Think the last things I bought was a couple wall chargers for my phone and dock for my tablet. When I'm interested in an item I filter on the "buy it now" sellers and see who has the cheapest prices (and cheapest shipping prices). More times than not you can find a really good price on an item. Just have to do your homework and shop around and see how much that paticular item is selling for at a big box store or website.

[AdrianR]

Ebay sure aint what it used to be...I blame the 'Pawn' reality shows on TV - gives some folks an inflated sense of what things might be worth.

[Kentos]

The main reason for sniping is I can place bids on, say, 5 different Kirsten pipes. If I win one, the rest are cancelled. It allows me to low ball bid many auctions to ensure I get what I want.