[time-nuts] OT: eBay bidding question

[SAIDJACK at aol.com]

In a message dated 4/28/2007 15:59:47 Pacific Daylight Time, didier at cox.net  
writes:

>I  believe this is correct, that is where sniping does not work too well  
>(manually or automatically). If you wait for the last second, and your  
>bid is below the reserve, you may not even realize until after the  
>auction is over. It actually still works the way I want it to. I bid  as 
>high as I am willing to pay, and if it's too low, I don't get the  item. 
>Pretty simple. Frustrating, but simple  :-)


Well, you can also contact the seller after the auction and offer them  to 
buy the item A) in a private auction B) outside of Ebay (against their rules  I 
think, not sure if this counts for failed auctions as well), or tell them to  
relist it with a more realistic price. One would be surprised how many sellers 
 are just itching to get rid of their items, even below their original 
reserve  once they went through an unsuccessful listing... One just has to be a bit  
resourcefull.
 
Also, a reserve if used successfully is a way to prevent having to sell an  
item well below a pain point to the seller. A reserve with a low initial  bid 
is a way to get around human nature and make people start bidding, which -  as 
said earlier by someone else - will make the flock go crazy once an initial  
(low) bid has been placed by someone. It's all about human nature.

The most interesting experience about auction addiction (similar to  gambling 
addiction in my opinion) is going to a real life Test & Measurement  auction, 
and seeing the unsuspecting crowd sit in front and the following  happen:
 
   * Bidders bid against themselves. This happened so far in  every auction I 
went to. The Auctioneer just loves these kinds of naive folks,  and it makes 
for nice entertainment.
 
   * Bidders bid against an imaginary bidder, the auctioneer will  call a bid 
from the "back" of the room that does not exist. Who can prove this  
happened. Thats why the professional bidders sit as far back in the room as  possible. 
I have also witnessed this numerous times.
 
   * Bidders get into an adrenaline rush, and bid up items far  beyond their 
new retail price. One would be surprised, this happens ALL the  time, 
especially for high-desirability items such as laptops etc.
 
  * Bidders will buy sight-unseen. I went to a recent auction  where there 
were about 12 Agilent Spectrum analyzers for sale. Most of them had  stickers on 
them "Repair" etc. I tried them all, all of them broken in one way  or 
another. Again human nature prevailed and folks bought them in a buying  frenzy with 
no return right for outrageous prices (far above what one would pay  on Ebay) 
- the pro's were just sitting back and asking themselves what  in gods name 
is going on - LOL.
 
Ebay is great if you have a good strategy on how to use it. No buyers  
premium, world-wide sourcing, $2K insurance, great prices if you wait long  enough. 
I have so far found everything I needed on it at the price I wanted to  pay. 
For one item (a 2GHz scope plug-in) this took me over two years to do, but  in 
the end I got it :)
 
bye,
Said



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