• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

eBay... A disappointing black hole of despair.

#21
Look at it in a positive way Hector_G. You probably missed out on a bass with a twisted neck or some other form of damage common on a lot of fleabay items and have now learned the fine art of bidding. With a bit o' patience you'll get what you want and still be able to eat and pay the Man his rent in the mean time.
 
#22
Ebay is for those who have money resources, and are willing to use them. My problem is that I buy stuff on Ebay for a price, and always find it cheaper elsewhere. Example: I bought a dbx 160A for 399.00 back in December, only to find TB members selling theirs for 225.00. I don't go to Church as often as I should, but I am of the belief that if God wanted you to have that bass, he would have allowed you to get it. Hope I have not offended anyone with the "G" word but there will be better things to come along for you. Be patient bass brother, you'll see!
 
#23
pedulla-2007 said:
Ebay is for those who have money resources, and are willing to use them. My problem is that I buy stuff on Ebay for a price, and always find it cheaper elsewhere. Example: I bought a dbx 160A for 399.00 back in December, only to find TB members selling theirs for 225.00. I don't go to Church as often as I should, but I am of the belief that if God wanted you to have that bass, he would have allowed you to get it. Hope I have not offended anyone with the "G" word but there will be better things to come along for you. Be patient bass brother, you'll see!
Click to expand...

The thing that people forget is that if you see it on eBay, you'll see it again. And again. Don't pay more because you think its the last time you see it.

Also, remember that people who mis-list are your friends. I recently bought a cool piece of studio gear. It was listed as a compressor...but it's actually a 4 channel analog gate. I recognized the fact that everyone who wanted a gate would miss this piece. It was also listed as 'local pick up only". Now that seemed weird, since the seller would ship everything else. I contacted the seller and he confirmed that they'd ship and it was a listing mistake. The gate that normally seems valued between 150 and 300 dollars sold for $10.50. To me.

Recently I've also purchased an Aphex compressor, a dbx 266xl and several MDX-2200. All for well under going rate. Be smart and you don't have to over pay.

If you're finding that you're paying more on ebay than you would otherwise on a store website, then you need to be doing your searching and research better before going to ebay.

The cool thing about ebay is that you can set up custom searches and use them repeatedly. Great for catching mis-spells and mis-posts.
 
#24
Unless you're an inveterate gambler, I'd use eSnipe or one of the other services. Saves a lot of nerve-racking anticipation and silly thoughts like "I can put in fifty more bucks" at the last second. You put your max bid in, how many seconds to toss it in (I usually used 4 seconds), and forget about it until you get emailed whether you won or lost. Simple and allows you to keep your sanity. Not everyone likes to gamble, and the "winner" sometimes didn't really win at all. They overpay, pay for a defective item, decide they dislike it, etc. The gambler mentality of ebay makes people lose their heads often enough that it's worth it for ebay to keep it that way.
 
#25
All really really good eBay advice. Like I said, I'm completely new to eBay. I've known about it of course forever, but never actually tried it.

So you're all right,
I need to calm down,
realize items will come up again,
don't be compulsive,
don't let the competiveness overwhelm me,
and just keep an eye out everywhere, not just eBay.

Thanks for the advice guys.
 
#26
Hector_G said:
All really really good eBay advice. Like I said, I'm completely new to eBay. I've known about it of course forever, but never actually tried it.

So you're all right,
I need to calm down,
realize items will come up again,
don't be compulsive,
don't let the competiveness overwhelm me,
and just keep an eye out everywhere, not just eBay.

Thanks for the advice guys.
Click to expand...

It certainly can be fun though...I personally enjoy feeling like I got a deal on something or got over on something. Back around 2000 or 2001 I bought my 1973 Precision on ebay. I talked with the owner and his wife and exchanged a series of emails so I was confident they were legit. And I ended up with it for $700 dollars. By asking, I also scored several additional things...the bass came with EMG's installed, but they hadn't listed the fact that they still had the original pickups in working order. They also had a set of vintage reissue pickups, strap, strap locks, etc. They threw those in to the case for me too.
 
#27
I don't understand how people can get mad buying on ebay. It's called a MAX BID for a reason. At the last second, enter your max bid (the maximum amount you want to pay!), and hope it is higher than anyone elses. Sure, sometimes it may look like you have been beaten by $10. But what ebay doesn't show you is that guy had a max bid $150 higher than yours. If you get beaten, the only reason is because the other guy was willing to pay more money than you, not because he entered at the last second. Guaranteed win on every auction? Just put your max bid as a ridiculous amount of money. You'll never get sniped again!
 
#29
A lot of time people forget to factor in the shipping cost too. If you're getting a 40 dollar something, but paying 15 bucks to ship it, you're really only getting a 55 dollar something.

Also, if you're going to take chances, then be prepared if it doesn't work out so good. On occasion waaay back, people were pretty naive about posting pictures, etc. Of course, if you're willing to do the leg work, you could get some great deals because there was no picture.

On the other side of things, I've been holding out for cheap MDX-2200 compressors. New they sold for under the 100$ mark, so I wasn't going to spend more than 40 bucks for them used. They kept selling for 50 or 60 and I kept waiting. Until someone put 3 up. They also were new and had no feedback. Due to the number available and the new member thing, the price dropped...right to the under 30 bucks rate. And that's how the ebay economy works. Of course, it's a risk to buy from someone with no feedback, but at the same time, at worst I'm out of less than 100$ if the deal goes south. The story on the auction pages seemed pretty legit and believeable, so I did it. Lo and behold, I have tracking right now for 2 units and have been guaranteed some refund on shipping for doing two units at once.

BTW, I still do searches for 'old bass' 'beat up bass' 'junk bass' and a bunch of other stuff because you never know what people will post as...
 
#30
Bidding on anything before the last five minutes of the auction is a waste of time. If you do this, the seller will simply bump the price himself to see how far you're willing to go. If no one buys it hey, just put it up again.
 
#31
In regards to the actual question of whether or not you`ll see a deal like that again, I can promise you that you will. I`ve seen many corvettes go for around $300-$500 because I too at a time was hunting for one. Kept checking back after I sniped one and similiar deals kept happening.
 
#32
Hector_G said:
I've only within the last 2 weeks have begun experiencing eBay. Finally decided to give it a try.
So I guess I'd better sharpen up on my bidding strategies.
Click to expand...
OK, listen up, then:

DON'T BID. Enter a snipe and forget about it.

It's to the point now that the only people who actually bid are shills (lots of them) and hopeless newbies.

Invalid Link Removed
 
#33
I used to do my own shill-bid detective work (waay back before all this paypal and other nonsense, like 1998-2003), and it was amazing how many winning bids came from "friends" with minimal or zero ratings where the item would pop up again from the same seller "because the deal didn't go through". I got so fed up with it that I blackmailed a seller for something I wanted and lo and behold, I got it at minimum bid! I know it still happens, but I don't care to buy much on ebay anymore and when I do, I snipe it.
 
#34
ggunn said:
My advice is to decide the absolute most you would be willing to spend on the item based on its true value (to you) and submit it as your one and only bid with less than a minute to go, and then go away and don't watch.
Click to expand...

Wonderful advice!
I've bought/sold a dozen basses on the bay as well as a heap of other items and have seen people get sucked in and pay well over the odds for an item. A "win at all costs" mentality or ego refusing to concede defeat maybe.

Stingray 4 in lavender? I'll bid $900 and that's that!
 
#35
Your strategy seems like the correct approach for eBay. Decide the maximum that you want to pay and enter the bid. Enter your bid near the end of the auction - I usually enter it in the last minute or 30 seconds. I've not used a snipe software tool. I like Buy It Now sales too.

I did win my Warwick Thumb 5 with hardshell case on eBay for around $900 two years ago. That seemed to be the going rate then and it was several hundred less than a used Thumb was selling for at the Guitar Center nearby.

There will be many more auctions on eBay so dont worry too much. Also look on the classifieds on TB. I've had much success with two purchases from fellow TBers in the last month.

Have a great day!

Dave
 
#37
I know it's already been mentioned a couple times, but that bit about "see it once on Ebay, don't worry, you'll see another one" is really true most of the time. There are occasional super-rarities that won't show up again for another year or two, but if you've got the time, they'll be there eventually.

The only exception I personally have seen in 10 years on Ebay was a purple silk tuxedo that was custom-made, one of a kind, and it happened to be in my size. Odds of another custom-made purple silk tuxedo in my size showing up again... pretty slim. :p
 
#38
I have a friend who sells a lot of gear on E-Bay. He cruises the pawn shops, flea markets, thrift shops, and garage sales looking for stuff he can turn for a profit on E-Bay. He picked up a Black '73 Fender Jazz at a pawn shop for only $300. I keep trying to talk him into selling it to me, but I couldn't afford it. He let me borrow it for a gig once.

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu351/waynechr/HPIM4974.jpg
 
#39
bongomania said:
There are occasional super-rarities that won't show up again for another year or two,...
The only exception I personally have seen in 10 years on Ebay was a purple silk tuxedo that was custom-made, one of a kind, and it happened to be in my size. Odds of another custom-made purple silk tuxedo in my size showing up again... pretty slim. :p
Click to expand...
Ha!...I recently saw a coat that was an official uniform of The Ray Charles band. Magenta, with an embroidered silhouette of Ray on the pocket. Man, I would have loved to have that!
Here's the link. http://cgi.ebay.com.my/RAY-CHARLES-CREW-STAGE-COAT-1970-80s_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQitemZ280336757436
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back