Oddmanout84 Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Well, I lost my first real bidding war for something on Ebay. Was going to get myself a nice pair (used) of fender mirrors, but noooo... Someone snaked them out from under me at the last second. If its someone on this forum, all I can say is, you lucky dog, you. Next time gadget, next time... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eec564 Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 I've found that if you're bidding on something nice, the odds of someone else using a computer to bid for them many times at the very last second is very high. For much of the good stuff, bidding on ebay is unless you've set a ridiculously high bid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oddmanout84 Posted January 14, 2009 Author Share Posted January 14, 2009 The fact that it was only 2 people bidding on the item (myself included) and the fact that my browser decided to lock up when I tried to outbid was like sweeft keek to teh crotch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 I like the sniping programs. I set my price and walk away. It notifies me if I won. I have no buyers remorse for bidding up higher than I intended to after being caught up in some 'bidding war'... You can get those mirrors for $100 each brandy new... What did the used set go for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kennysgreen280zt Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 My dad still does last minute bidding with his wristwatch. Its great fun to watch. If its something I 'gotta' have I usually just put my max bid on it and call it good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_furious Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Never, ever, EVER bid using the internal interface in eBay. Why tell the entire world you're after something and give them a chance to outbid you? Figure out what the maximum amount is that you want to pay for an item, enter it into a sniping service such as Esnipe, set the buffer time to one second, and win every time, or never pay more than you want to. Bidding wars are for the computer illiterate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZZZeee Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 ^^^ That's absolutely correct. Don't get caught up in the moment. Set your max price w/ a 3rd party snipe tool and go have a beer... or whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzzzed Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 i dont like telling people about Esnipe. the less people that know about it the better. If every one uses it we might as well just use ebay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oddmanout84 Posted January 14, 2009 Author Share Posted January 14, 2009 You guys are all absolutely right. I guess I just didn't use ebay enough before to justify using a third party program. Maybe now that I'm finding all sorts of deals for parts I will. TonyD; Mirrors were black, and had some paint flecked off in areas. Total price they started at was $180. I think the winner ended up paying $210, plus $40 shipping from Thailand. Every time I see these on ebay they're usually around that price, maybe marked up to $250 if shiny new. Since you've seen them for $100 each NOS, you must know of some better sources... Edit: Datsunspirit had a chrome set in Dec $250 NIB, Sold out. Another site I found had a new black pair for $350, but I can hardly justify spending close to $400 with shipping for a modern heated mirror, let alone one that doesn't have the gadgetry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZZZeee Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 i dont like telling people about Esnipe. the less people that know about it the better. If every one uses it we might as well just use ebay You have a point but not everyone will let loose of the few dollars per month these services cost. Also, some people just like that last second thrill-of-the-moment when they personally hit the "Bid" key. These snipe tools have been around for many years and most people still don't use them. Besides, if someone's gonna' win at a lower price it may as well be one of our HZ brethren, right? Okay, I'm back to my reading now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Since you've seen them for $100 each NOS, you must know of some better sources... Edit: Datsunspirit had a chrome set in Dec $250 NIB, Sold out. You found the source...it was from there for a cost of $100 a mirror, NIB. I bought them at their booth at the MSA West Coast Nationals...as did several other people. They brought a CASE of them and sold every set they came with. Actually, I probably paid less than that, because I piled on so much stuff, he started throwing on magazines and collector car die cast book sets saying 'discount'... I bought a lot. My wife would be a bit miffed. She found the mirrors, and put them IN HER CAR. When I went looking for them, I was asking her: "Did you see the new Nissan Mirrors I had in the white bag?" Oh, those are in my car. "Why are they there?" I thought you bought them for me and were going to put them on because I hate the mirrors that are on it! "Well, you didn't tell me you hated the mirrors, so NO, they are NOT for YOUR Z, they are for mine. If you want them, next year I'll pick up a couple more sets for yours and a spare set just in case. You DO know these are the Fairlady Fender Mirrors, not standard door mirrors, right?" Ooooh! I like those fender mirrors, can't I have those on my car, you're not going to do anything to that old Fairlady any time soon. I can use the mirrors now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oddmanout84 Posted January 14, 2009 Author Share Posted January 14, 2009 Wow, that's depressing... Not just that I found the source was sold out, but that your mirrors were snaked out from under you by your own wife!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_furious Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 "Well' date=' you didn't tell [i']me[/i] you hated the mirrors, so NO, they are NOT for YOUR Z, they are for mine. If you want them, next year I'll pick up a couple more sets for yours and a spare set just in case. You DO know these are the Fairlady Fender Mirrors, not standard door mirrors, right?" Ooooh! I like those fender mirrors, can't I have those on my car, you're not going to do anything to that old Fairlady any time soon. I can use the mirrors now! *sound of grinding teeth* Oh, man...I suppose one should be happy to have a wife that shares the car hobby, but that's a whole other dilemma that comes along with it; battling over parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Crow has been eaten by her at times as well: "You can't bring any more cars into this yard unless one leaves!" Several months later, sheepishly she approaches me: "Er, someone wants to give us a Fairlady ZX, and I kind of want it as a driver..." Well, what happened to 'one comes in one leaves'? "Er...well, we will have to suspend that rule because I found this one!" Oh, Ho! So it's different when it's your found-for-free Z that you want to 'clutter up the back yard' with, is it? I think at that point she made the female equivalent of Homer Simpson's "D'OH!" and I continued: Hey, have them take some pictures and send them to me, I don't really want a ZX around wasting space if I'm not going to get any parts off it. I need to see it before I'll go get it. (I feigned reluctance pretty well, but truth was I really didn't want it around. It's still a distraction. Meh!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzzzed Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 You have a point but not everyone will let loose of the few dollars per month these services cost. Also, some people just like that last second thrill-of-the-moment when they personally hit the "Bid" key. These snipe tools have been around for many years and most people still don't use them. Besides, if someone's gonna' win at a lower price it may as well be one of our HZ brethren, right? Okay, I'm back to my reading now. The one i use is free to use Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZZZeee Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Hey TONY... they're ALL like that. You may as well lay back and accept it. ZZZZED... that's great!! IIRC, so was the one I used but I dealt too much for the free account. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pharaohabq Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Might as well snipe it yourself, bid at 15 seconds gives you time to rebid. it's up to you if you do and no worries if someone snipes you, it's the same game. Worthless to bid days in advance. it just lets people know you're interrested and ups the chance that they'll be waiting to rebid against you. the Watch item is your friend. just look out for shipping, it's the real killer. I've been bidding for years, I think I've been out sniped once. certainly not worth paying a monthy fee for a "service" Phar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZZZeee Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 ^^^ He tried that but his browser puked on him at the worst possible moment. And never, never, NEVER give yourself time to re-bid. ALWAYS wait until the last 5 seconds and bid the MAX you're willing to pay. This WON'T drive the price to your max bid... only up to the increment higher than the next highest bid. Plus this takes time and demands your presence at that precise moment... not always convenient. Why not just use a free and reliable snipe tool? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 I know several times I have had my snipe 'bumped' to an odd figure (well below my max) by someone trying to 'cheap snipe' in the last 5 seconds. Coming back and watching it all end is a PITA. Several times I've been the 'highest bidder' but still below reserve, and I've contacted the seller with a 'buy it now' offer for multiple parts where they give them all to me well below their individual reserves, near what I originally was 'high bid below reserve'. I couldn't get, say, an 8# HKS Flywheel for $250 because reserve or Buy it Now was 350, but I did get THREE of them for $750. That, obviously stated, is if you have the $750 to spend on three flywheels you know will sit for some years to come because you only really need one... THIS is why I bought 40 Foot Locking Sea Containers for my property! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oddmanout84 Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 yeah, like last night I was bidding for a pair of smoked headlight covers, looked like the ones from MSA. Even with me setting my max to $50 I was below reserve... The buy it now was like $104!!! And these things sell from MSA and Blackdragon for around $62... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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