Snaaaaaaaake!!

[ZZZeee]

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...

 

Yes and what were you willing to pay? What would you have been happy to pay? Go through a 3rd party snipe tool and bid your max, for Pete's sake, and WIN!! Or... search forever and waste all your time for crying out loud!!!

[Oddmanout84]

Oh, no... this time I was just complaining about the reserve, lol. I was willing to pay a small degree less than the price MSA offers at, which is why I'm trying to go through ebay for most of the things I need. All about saving money on the project so I get more bang for my buck.

 

If I get outbid on something, so be it. Guess it just wasn't meant to be. Still not rabid enough to go and get a sniping program, I'll try my luck "manually".

[Tony D]

It's not a question of "Rabidity" at all. It's a matter of how you value your time. I literally can't afford to wake up and B.S. around at 2AM for an auction ending then. I know what I want to bid, and no sense telegraphing that I'm interested until the very last second.

 

It's far easier for me to see it, enter it, and forget about it till it notifies me I have to pay for it. I pay for it, I await delivery. I take delivery, it's mine. No drama, no associated crap to worry about.

 

Either you want it or you don't. I don't have the time or inclination to watch the bidding process. What does 'manual bidding' do to forward your goal of gaining the item. If it can be done automatically, why not? Less chance of malfunctions, missed keys, slow connections, any number of reasons to AVOID manual entry. Why NOT go with the most efficient way to bid?

 

Manual Bidders?

 

Those that do are the ones I would consider 'rabid'---there is something there that they need to have satiated.

 

Too much drama for me. I want it, I set my bid, and if I get it, fine. If not, oh well. nothing Rabid about it at all. Just don't have the time to waste.

[Oddmanout84]

It's not a question of "Rabidity" at all. It's a matter of how you value your time. I literally can't afford to wake up and B.S. around at 2AM for an auction ending then. I know what I want to bid, and no sense telegraphing that I'm interested until the very last second.

 

It's far easier for me to see it, enter it, and forget about it till it notifies me I have to pay for it. I pay for it, I await delivery. I take delivery, it's mine. No drama, no associated crap to worry about.

 

Either you want it or you don't. I don't have the time or inclination to watch the bidding process. What does 'manual bidding' do to forward your goal of gaining the item. If it can be done automatically, why not? Less chance of malfunctions, missed keys, slow connections, any number of reasons to AVOID manual entry. Why NOT go with the most efficient way to bid?

 

Manual Bidders?

 

Those that do are the ones I would consider 'rabid'---there is something there that they need to have satiated.

 

Too much drama for me. I want it, I set my bid, and if I get it, fine. If not, oh well. nothing Rabid about it at all. Just don't have the time to waste.

 

Well, I'm not debating that lots of people use these third party programs with success, or calling them "rabid". I was using that term for myself (should I find myself getting to the point where I use Ebay every day, for every thing, for hours on end). Then maybe I'll get one of those programs, but for now I'm just casually using the site. Hopefully I don't get to that point, unless it involves me making a business out of it.

Honestly, if its something I really want, I will stay awake/ get up early for bidding on it. But that's just because it doesn't bother me (I can blame the military for my screwed up sleep habits). As long as its only once in a while, I don't mind it.

I'm not calling people who use the programs junkies or anything, that's their preference. My preference is just to download as little as possible because I'm frankly more paranoid of viruses/keyloggers etc. For now, I just don't use Ebay enough to warrant it.

 

Sorry for the misunderstanding.

[Tony D]

You're just missing the point is all. I haven't been on E-Bay for months.

I just don't want to waste my time. If I go there, I'm looking for something I can't find elsewhere. That means I need it, or want it.

 

As such, I take the steps to accomplish that with as little effort on my part as possible.

 

I don't want to be there any longer than required, and there is no downloading of anything. It's all internet based. The servers they use are usually in close proximity to the E-Bay servers so they can have better chance than I can of getting in without a problem.

 

This is not some sort of search-bot, or anything at all that is resident on your computer. It's just a place that places your bid for you. The program is on their servers, not your computer (at least the one I use, not sure about the others, but I figure it's similar.) Not any different than a Yahoo Mail Account, really.

 

You can choose to have them have your pay information, or not. They don't have mine, I pay myself after notification of winning.

 

The payment is totally separate, and something totally in your control if you so choose.

 

I just like the convienience of not having to be tied to my computer in order to get something I need or want. There is other things I can be doing.

 

Even at 2AM! Sleep, Suds, or Sex come to mind immediately, in any particular order you want to sort them.

 

The question is, 'which would you rather be doing?'

[ZZZeee]

Oddmanout84...

 

Sorry if I seemed critical of your bidding preferences. That wasn't/isn't my intention.

 

I used to buy/sell quite a bit on fleaBay and it was all about efficiency for me. Before a 3rd party sniping tool became available I spent LOTS of time being there to bid at all hours of the day/night and I often missed bids for one reason or another. That snipe tool was a true relief for me and, if I ever bother with that type of business again, I'll surely be streamlining everywhere possible. A good snipe tool would be at or very near the top of the tools list along with automated shipping lables, freight pickup, etc.

 

At any rate, my experience is just different than yours. Sorry if I seemed overly zealous regarding this topic.

 

BTW, I've hated fleaBay for a long time now and haven't bought/sold through them for years... but that's another story.

[Oddmanout84]

Heh.. You and Tony D have good points though. Also, I guess I am be bit new to the game in terms of knowing how these "sniping tools" work. That's a relief now that I know the details of how the programs work a little better, so maybe I'll consider that in the future.

 

Truthfully, I started this thread in the Non Tech board as a joke, more or less. The winning bidder was "e***c". I can't tell if there's more than three hidden letters in the middle, but I was curious if it was EvilC. I thought this would be terribly funny and ironic if it was, as it was seeing his V8 Z in person this fall (CTZCC Fall event) that finally convinced me to drop money for the mirrors!

[ZZZeee]

^^^ Hah!! Yeah, that would be funny. Did you PM EvilC to ask him if he won that bid?

[Montezuma]

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

 

Yeah, I sold them to you because I knew you were a Hybridz guy. I thought the price was fair and I was happy to make the deal. I still have one in the garage plus one for a Miata. Doing business with Tony is great, he pays right away.

[S130Z]

I got sniped out of a brand new pacesetter header that I was the highest bid at $76 that I literally bid on in the last 5 seconds. I was more pissed than I had ever been in my life.

[Tony D]

SHHHHHHHHHHH! The prices, names, and quantities were changed to protect the guilty!

 

And to give him some insight into good guys that will deal IF you make it worth their while. What may be listed as a 'reserve' may just be there to insure against the .99 cent snipe of a $500 part. And really, I can't blame anybody for doing that---you're selling it to get money for it, not simply give it away.

 

If I'd been up late and bidding...chances are I never would have made the second effort.

 

The way the internet/eby thing works, sniping is about the closest equivalent I can come to compared to making a face-to-face deal. I've been known to walk into a couple of guys arguing over price, blurt out what I'll pay and hand someone a card. Then walk away.

 

Some times, in person, I've had guys stop in mid sentence, go 'seriously'? and the sell me the part FOR LESS MONEY than the guy the were arguing with! They at that point would rather just get the money than haggle over it. Especially if the guy is a bottom-feeder. Not saying I'm not...or that I will make some astoundingly high offer (Eggers & Vicers mechanical FI ITB's notwithstanding)... But when someone WANTS to sell something to clear out his basement. Selling 3 for X and coming away with 3X is MUCH better in their eyes than arguing three times and getting X-$20, X+$50, and X/2 for the last one.

 

If you get the impression I hate drawn out negotiations, you're right. Either I (or you) want it or you don't. It's one of the reasons I don't say much at the Pomona Swapmeet. If I see something, and the guy floats a reasonable tender...I'll buy it. I don't like fishers, and I don't go fishing... most of the time. I won't argue with the guy to support my fishing claim. I can't understand getting upset about being sniped---if your bid wasn't the highest, then you aren't supposed to get the item! just because someone wants an item and puts a bid in higher than yours is no reason to get upset. I see it as bottom-feeders getting what they deserve! If you weren't cheap about it, you would have bid higher and gotten the item. Trying to get something cheap has it's perils. Everybody is trying to undercut the prices to their own benefit, what does that serve but greed? It's the reason many companies don't support the hobby, price shopping and the inability to let somene make a living. It is a double standard. If THEY don't get it as cheaply as possible, it's a Crime. If someone charges more than THEY think they should, it's a Crime. It's like people want subsidized everything. I think a lot of it is due to never having been on the other side of the counter and having to make a living trying to sell stuff at an honest profit to an ungrateful consumer marketplace.

 

My tow rig was a fishing expedition admittedly, but the seller seemed happy to have it out of his yard, and I get something that I 'need' for this or that. And I'm not paying an arm and a leg. But it was the same sort of deal. He'd been offered by separate buyers a total payment about $500 more than I was offering for the total, and showed up with cash because I said I would. That means I'm serious about my offer.

 

Nothing I hate more than someone who makes an offer and then won't back it up with a pruchase if you say 'yes'... They should be beaten.

 

I digress...

[ZZZeee]

Tony... I think many of us feel severely spanked after this. Now excuse me while I go soak my stinging flaming red behind in cold water.