Stupid Ebay (rant)

[ss81]

I've had this happen several times now in the past few months: I'll be interested in an underrated piece of semi-vintage gear that in every previous auction has sold for what I consider to be a very reasonable price. But then, as soon as I take interest in that guitar or bass, every subsequent auction gets bid up to way past previous selling prices (this is not due to any excess bidding on my part). I hate that some people seem to get so caught up in the bidding that they care more about winning the auction than the actual worth of the item they're bidding on. Yes, I know, it's worth that much to them so that's what it's worth; my problem is that ebay allows the demand curve to be dictated by people who aren't very sensible about money! I'm sure that there are some individuals in our society who would pay $10 for a gallon of milk if supermarkets employed the same auction-style format, so thank goodness we don't set the price of food that way! Some people aren't reasonable enough to step back and say "okay, this instrument isn't really worth more than what this other person is bidding, I'm going to suck it up and wait for the next auction to come along". I think sometimes people think that the specific guitar or bass they're bidding on is going to be the last one of its kind to ever go up for auction! The problem is that this screws over more level-headed bidders like myself, because every time a bidder like that comes along, they just push that demand curve right up and let every future seller know that they can get that much for that piece of gear. It's supply and demand at its ugliest for buyers (incidentally, it's great for sellers, except that my auctions only seem to attract the more level-headed bidders I spoke of !)

It's not the end of the world, I think I'll live, just wanted to rant .

 

[Blackbird]

Let's not litter the "Basses" forum with non bass related topics, m'kay?

Paragraphs would be helpful too. Help others help you.

 

[SnoMan]

Paragraphs have no place in a rant.


We're lucky he used any form of punctuation. Gotta take what you can get man.

 

[trog]

Don't bid on an item till the last thirty seconds, then stick in your maximum price. Never lost an item like that, and it means I never get caught up in 'bidding wars'.

'eBay' certainly isn't a stupid company/system. They want people to spend more, and that's what people do.

 

[buzzbass]

Don't bid on an item till the last thirty seconds, then stick in your maximum price. Never lost an item like that, and it means I never get caught up in 'bidding wars'.

'eBay' certainly isn't a stupid company/system. They want people to spend more, and that's what people do.

I kind of do the same thing. I place my max bid and then let the proxy take care of it. If I win, great. If not, oh well. I just landed a sweet set of SRT4/Viper seats for my Dakota for $350, sweet !

 

[MJ5150]

I think sometimes people think that the specific guitar or bass they're bidding on is going to be the last one of its kind to ever go up for auction!

Since you already know this, don't get so worked up about missing out this last time. Be patient, keep an eye on other places besides eBay also.

-Mike

 

[Toasted]

*Paging Bruce Lindfield, Bruce Lindfield to OT please*


Edit: Whilst I think on, food prices are set that way - just on a grander scale.

 

[Alex]

Don't bid on an item till the last thirty seconds, then stick in your maximum price. Never lost an item like that, and it means I never get caught up in 'bidding wars'.

+1

I usually wait until the last 3-5 seconds. I'm so badass

 

[Alex]

as soon as I take interest in that guitar or bass, every subsequent auction gets bid up to way past previous selling prices.

It just seems that way, dude. Trust me.

 

[Alex]

I would just like to say that I do not understand people who bid with days left to go in the auction. Do they really think that they're going to win the item like that? All it does it drive the price up. It ticks me off.

But hey, it's good when you're a seller, so I'm ok with it.

 

[jive1]

Bruce!?!?!






[Lindfield]

It's that E-bay is conducive to this type of behavior, is why it is evil. It plays to people's greed, ignorance and materialism.

[/Lindfield]

If you had only listened to Bruce, none of this would have happened.

 

[SnoMan]

Praise Bruce

 

[smperry]

I wait til the end to bid my maximum price too...unless of course there's a great BIN.

Marshall

 

[smperry]

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2913657&postcount=3

M

 

[guy n. cognito]

Bruce can't post right now. He's riding the train, listening to his iPoo and talking on his mobile.

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Don't bid on an item till the last thirty seconds, then stick in your maximum price. Never lost an item like that, and it means I never get caught up in 'bidding wars'.

'eBay' certainly isn't a stupid company/system. They want people to spend more, and that's what people do.

Too true, thats what i do, its also the art of being a dick

 

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

Is there a particular time of day when you get on eBay? If you bid on auctions that end when there are likely to be many other interested buyers online, you'll probably see the selling price go pretty high. But if you can find an auction that ends when the bidders are likely to be sparse, you could get a bargain.

 

[plexibass]

I would just like to say that I do not understand people who bid with days left to go in the auction. Do they really think that they're going to win the item like that? All it does it drive the price up. It ticks me off.

But hey, it's good when you're a seller, so I'm ok with it.

ummmmmmmmmmm.......actually i've won 3 dan armstrong basses by doing that. stuck in low bids, at least i thought they were, and won all of them, 2 in the past week. it just depends on the auction.

 

[Blackbird]

*Paging Bruce Lindfield, Bruce Lindfield to OT please*

Bruce has a fan club now?

I've been a using eBay almost as long as I've been posting on TalkBass, and I think eBay is nothing but a tool - It's not good or bad, it just depends on who's using it, and the majority of good people out there shouldn't be denied the opportunity to conduct business this way because some folks are not reliable. That's life, and the stakes on eBay are not that much higher.

This is not a test. We are in the 21st century.

 

[Passinwind]

I would just like to say that I do not understand people who bid with days left to go in the auction. Do they really think that they're going to win the item like that? All it does it drive the price up. It ticks me off.

I've won several auctions with a single bid days before the auction closes. The price I bid was what the item was worth to me, end of story. But in most cases the proxy bidding never got to my ultimate number. So what difference did it make that I bid way before the auction closing?

What the bid number looks like at any time but at the end of the auction doesn't concern me at all. For me at least, the best way to avoid bidding on emotion is to just ignore the whole auction after I put in my single bid.