Collectors on Ebay acting like morons

[matimo]

Auctions arn't there to save you a buck, you're just bitching you can't get a good deal every time you enter one. There are several reasons people use auctions instead of buy it nows when it comes to condition, location, or how rare it actually is.

[hoshichiri]

Auctions arn't there to save you a buck, you're just bitching you can't get a good deal every time you enter one. There are several reasons people use auctions instead of buy it nows when it comes to condition, location, or how rare it actually is.

It's not that people expect to do better using auctions vs. buy-it-now... it's that auctions require the greatest resource we have: time. You have to spend time on an auction. You have to watch it progress & keep track of the bids. You have to clear your schedule around the time it ends so you can get in your snipes/defend from them. And you have to make this investment of time without any guarantee you'll actually get the item, let alone get a deal on it.


It's obvious why a seller may prefer an auction- if they're lucky, they'll get more than the item is worth out of it. But there is no blanket reason why we as buyers would prefer to use auctions, aside from the chance to save money in exchange for time. Of course there will be exceptions- but I don't see a problem with people getting frustrated with a system that applies gambling mechanics to commerce.

[bikingjahuty]

Auctions arn't there to save you a buck, you're just bitching you can't get a good deal every time you enter one. There are several reasons people use auctions instead of buy it nows when it comes to condition, location, or how rare it actually is.

I don't expect anything. I go for auctions because there is the possibility of getting a better deal, but I go in knowing that the auction could go high or stay low. What doesn't make any sense is when people drive auctions past the current BINs when it would have been far easier for them to just click But It Now on another listing instead of waiting out 7 days, hell even 24-hours just to pay more of an item they could have bought elsewhere for cheaper and easier. There is always the possibility that the seller is shill bidding on their own item in order to drive the price up, but given how often this happens I doubt this is the case the majority of the time. Besides, I've heard eBay has got very good at being able to detect shill bidding.


Various other things like people getting in bidding wars days before the auction ends and fixating on a specific listing when they could just get it elsewhere make little sense. I don't think that sense and rationality have anything to do with people overpaying during auctions, no, it is something way more instinctual and irrational that causes this behavior.

[sworddude]

I actually don't see the problem here why people are complaining about ebay auctions.

Ebay actually kinda **** it up as far as auctions go

Time is not extended when somebody snipes an offer at the very last seconds. The mental aspect of a bidding war is like pretty much gone thanks to this. Bidding war damage is at a minimum even with very rare items since you cannot endlessly bid someone up at those very last seconds unless you do it beforehand when time is plenty before it ends but that's not the same as doing it before an auction might actually end since in a bidding war at the end you cannot think clearly since time of only 1 minute is pretty limited.

As far as auctions go I'm pretty sure a buyers should be lucky with a site like ebay, since on other auctions sites where time actually gets extended at the very last second when someone bids those are the places where real bidding wars might occur.

Prices will stay lower at ebay auctions thanks to the non extensions of time. obviously if somebody really wants an item they will just put in a high offer but those extra bids will most likely not happen with the ebay system. In those rare chanches it is higher it's usually with very special items or if the condition is just way better than any other examples on the market.

Also I'm pretty sure that the bad system of ebay auctions without the time extensions that would prevent sniping like any normal auction method are the reason why there are way less auctions now than in the past. Auctions can end very low thanks to sniping rarely does one see a bidding war thanks to this. Good for the buyers for the sellers it's a gamble wich is not in their favor unless an item is very special but even than you might try your luck with offers on other sites instead of risking it on an auction.

For the buyers you will most likely save some money unless the item is in very nice shape a better example than the ones listed in the current market only than chances might be high for an auction to end up higher than a buy it now but even than thanks to ebay systems since an auction ends at a speicific time with sniping there is still a higher chance that it ends up in the lower end.

Sniping is called sniping for a reason, people miss there chance to bid on an auction since they originally thought they had the highest bid. but with the ebay system it is kinda impossible to place another bid when somebody snipes at the last second. Have seen plenty of people missing auctions thanks to a snipe wanting to place another bid. ebay has a great system for buyers to keep the prices in auctions lower than on any normal bidding system.

[bikingjahuty]

Relevant to this topic I remember something that someone told me several years ago regarding their response to someone outbidding their top dollar on a game they were bidding on. I will call this revenge bidding since the point of the bidding is no longer to win the item, but to make the person who outbid them pay more money for the item. What this person did was if his maximum bid, aka is real bid that he put in to actually win the item, was outbid, he'd then start bidding a few bucks higher for no other reason than to make the person who outbid him pay more money. Obviously this can backfire and he could mistakenly outbid them, then becoming the top bidder on an item that is now way overpriced. According to this guy, most of the time the person they were punishing for outbidding them would mistake their bidding as a challenge rather than an attempt to make them pay more money, and then they'd outbid his revenge bids.


Keep in mind the guy who told me this was one of the most sleazy, unethical collectors I've ever met. He used to tell people their games were worthless in order to get them for a better deal, tell employees at pawn shops that their games were really valuable once he found out other collectors/resellers were beating him to deals at those pawn shops, and all kinds of other petty, stupid shit. Revenge bidding was just another tool up his sleeve of underhanded douchbaggery.

[gf78]

For those who haven't or just plain refuse to use ebay, I will say that there are a great many collectibles I would have never acquired otherwise. Including my Iron Maiden First Ten Years Japanese box set. 

[kypherion]

I don't bid, I don't have the free time to snipe bids on ebay.

[seberhusky]

A lot of people use automatic bid snipe apps now that pre-bid for them by running script commands, so that has a lot to do with it. Also, people think it's a game now to place stupidly high bids to outbid the other person, just to ruin  the auction for them. Troll bids. They will never pay for the item, the seller relists the game, and they go onto the next one. They use throwaway eBay accounts to do this with that have no PP account attached.

I was bidding on a copy of Twilight Princess for the Gamecube last year because I have an ex-Hollywood Video rental and I would like the original copy. Some idiot moron comes in with a $444.00 bid an hour before the auction ends just to be an asshole. he won the auction not surprisingly.  I emailed the seller and I said "can you just sell the game to me for my max bid (I had placed a $25 bid on it) since the bidder that won it is a shill bidder?" It took him about 2 weeks to reply back, but I guess he finally seen the bidder that won was not going to pay the $444.00 and he was going to be broke either way.  I got the game for my maximum bid that got pegged from the troll bidder and paid within 5 minutes.

[BinaryMessiah]

I haven't bid on an eBay item in 7 or 8 years. Unless it's available for Buy It Now I don't bother anymore.

[droaa]

Im a last sec bidder because why would you want to go at war with many days remaining. Once it gets to the nitty gritty is when you start to decide how bad you want said items. Sometimes I have gotten lucky with items where is like 1 bid the whole time and with only one person watching said item resulting in an easy win. But for the most part, I prefer the buy it now or even best offer option. The first item I ever won a bid on which was also a last minute sniping was my 60GB PS3 which as of a few days ago now that I think about it happened 10 years ago. Damn you father time.

[ignition365]

I only go for auctions if it's something relatively rare (only has auctions) or if all BINs are ridiculously high and auction is the only chance of a decent price.

[droaa]

I only go for auctions if it's something relatively rare (only has auctions) or if all BINs are ridiculously high and auction is the only chance of a decent price.

This too

[betelgeuse]

On auction listings, I’ll pick a price I want to pay and bid at the last second. If I win, great.  If not...I didn’t spend more than I wanted to. Everything else purchased on EBay is “buy it now”.

On a side note, if I see the same bidder with 2 bids in a row, I can’t help but bid it up by one increment

[pzeke]

What are my thoughts? Let them be morons.

This is more a thing of shill bidding rather than people being morons, although I won’t deny mentally impaired people roam eBay quite often. Shill bidding is against eBay TOS, but it happens everyday, whether the seller knows it or not; it's a common occurrence. People fuel a bid war simply to raise the value of an item. Scarcely will you ever see any one of these auctions get completed.

Nonetheless, bidding wars are a thing to behold, and they've entertained me quite often.

I personally prefer BINs (with BO if possible), but I do bid from time to time. I have no shame admitting I snipe the stuff I want, as I’ve gotten a good number of deals this way. I hate having to wait for auctions to end, though.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the commodity of thrift stores and the like around where I live, so eBay has for the most part been my only option.

Auctions arn't there to save you a buck, you're just bitching you can't get a good deal every time you enter one. There are several reasons people use auctions instead of buy it nows when it comes to condition, location, or how rare it actually is.

I've personally saved money when choosing an auction over BIN. Granted, I have a set amount that I am willing to spend and don't go over that amount regardless of how much I want whatever I'm bidding on. But yeah, you can save money if you choose auctions over BINs, especially if all the BINs available are ridiculously priced. The truth of the matter is auctions can be a waste of time, whether you win or not...especially if you don't.

I only go for auctions if it's something relatively rare (only has auctions) or if all BINs are ridiculously high and auction is the only chance of a decent price.

Pretty much what I do, too.

On auction listings, I’ll pick a price I want to pay and bid at the last second. If I win, great.  If not...I didn’t spend more than I wanted to. Everything else purchased on EBay is “buy it now”.

That's what smart people do, otherwise you'll end up buying out of impulse and have buyer's remorse when eBay recommends you another listing for the same item at a better price.