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New Ebay Rules??

#21
Plinkerton said:
There is one gripe I have with ebay.

Well, probably more, but one that would change the way ebay works, and be a real auction house.

There is a website, gunbroker.com, that deals in firearms. The way they work, is that after the bid cutoff, the bid has to stand for 15 MINUTES before it's accepted as a final bit. This is like the "Going once, going twice!" period.

What happens with this, is that, the seller gets top dollar for what people are willing to pay, and the buyers actually get to pay what the item is WORTH to them, not just who can throw in a bid at the lucky 2 seconds left mark.

If ebay was like this, everyone would win. The buyers deserving of the item would get it, the sellers would make more, and ebay could charge the sellers more, since their item sold for more.

As it is right now, all the smart people know its stupid to bid anytime before the last 10 seconds of the auction.

All you're doing is driving the price up.

Anyway, that's my gripe with ebay.
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I'm very familiar with gunbroker.com I understand what you are saying and agree with most of your points. My only thought is that makes for a totally different game from the buyers perspective. In my situation, buying tooling and supplies for my business, it's nice to be able to snipe or work with other bidders. The last minute bidding on gunbroker has driven me, as a buyer, CRAZY several times and waisted my time in the long run.
 
#22
I didn't see this mentioned but they do still show user ID's until it breaks $200. So you can still people watch the cheap stuff.

My peeve with the bay is secret reserves. I won't bid on anything without a clear minimum price. It gives me a weasely feel so I just avoid those.
 
#23
PilbaraBass said:
there's still good stuff out there...

only differences are:

1) Sellers are more knowledgeable, so the "bargains" have disappeared...(this was inevitable)

2) Ebay is now flooded with cheapo clearing house type stuff...making it difficult to sift through the weeds...

I recently picked up an inexpensive Yamaha pacifica 112 guitar for about 1/2 of what I'd pay new...and it was a fine bargain, IMO.
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yeah, I recently got a Paul Reed Smith on Ebay for a thousand dollars (about half what they sell for, new). The guitar *is* new, for all practical purposes. It's in pristine condition, not a mark on it--I've seen new guitars in stores in worse condition. The thing is, there was a reason for that low price--it was stolen. :P Luckily, the detective that came out to my house to check the serial number said I don't have to return it, so I'm not out anything myself... just be careful what you're buying, and from who. When you can, check the item out to make sure it's a legit sale.
 
#24
Bryan R. Tyler said:
Eh, no biggie so long as the bidder can still read the seller's info and the seller can still read all of the bidder's info. I've never understood why people worry about sellers having their own prices jacked up. You only bid what you're willing to pay. If they make it too high, you stop bidding. It's not like they owe us a low price or something.
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True, but based on a similar logic, shouldn't the seller be willing to let an item go for the minimum bid if only one person is interested? If they wanted more for it, they should have set the minimum bid higher. I have no issue with other people bidding and making me pay more for whatever I'm bidding on, as long as they fully intend to buy the item if they win the auction.

I only bid as high as I'm willing to go, but why should I pay more than I have to if I'm the only one actually trying to win the auction?

Shill bidding is against eBay's rules, but it's tough to identify it beyond speculation. For example, I bought a Sadowsky SA200 on eBay about a week ago... I was the first person to bid on it, and about a day later, someone with no feedback bid on it 7 times until my bid was just below the original Buy It Now price. I had placed my maximum bid fairly early in the auction's lifetime, which I now realize was a mistake (thanks for the tip Son of Magni.)

Anyway, the bids seemed fishy to me, so I sent an e-mail to eBay reporting my suspicions, but I never received a response and nothing happened to the auction, so I can only assume either a) my suspicions were incorrect, or b) eBay couldn't confirm whether or not "Bidder 3" was a legit bidder.

If the bidder turned out to be a real person, I'd be cool with that, but it's this uncertainty that annoys me. Not that this little rant of mine has a whole lot to do with the "Bidder #" changes, but it would certainly be nice if eBay provided more options for us as users to identify shill bidding, not fewer.
 
#25
The system gunbroker.com uses is better for the seller. If you are the seller you want buyers to bid against each other like in a live auction. I have seen people get carried away at live auctions and pay well above market value for items. This sometimes get started on eBay auctions with new members that don't understand the game.

If you are buying then the system eBay uses is definitely better for you. You can still occasionally get are real bargain with a last minute bid.
 
#34
Actually I arose on the correct side of the bed this morning, this thread is really off topic as it covers ebay switching how they do business and why you do or don't like it. Basses come from trees but I wouldn't start a thread about our diminishing forests in the basses forum. All I am saying is you should attempt to keep threads in the correct forum. Penguin: I don't have hissy fits as you call it, and won't be a gear basher (SX comment) because someone tried to direct me to the proper forum.

you guys have your fun with my response now, Later
 

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