OT: Ebay pooched my Auctions!

Can't you simply disagree with me, rather than implying that I have some sort of personal defect?

Yes, I know how the mechanics work. And I know that any sniper who tells me they're not doing it to beat out some other guy so they don't get outbid (and/or have to pay more), is either lying or delusional.

(snip further self-justification)

Reply to
Dave Hinz
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You're right, of course, Dave, the idea is to buy low and sell high. Ebay is not a true auction. If it were, then there would be no point whatever in sniping, would there?

Sellers would love it if bidders bid early. The reality is you can get stuff cheaper if you put in your bid right at the end where no auction-crazed competitor can outbid you. There is nothing immoral or dishonest about bidding late, it is simply a wise thing to do from the seller's point of view.

It is the way things go right now. If you bid with an hour left, you will get the item maybe 1 time out of 100. If you bid the same amount with 10 seconds left, you might get it and you might not, but your odds are really substantially improved.

Sellers (which it looks like you're one of) don't like this, this is one of the very few things on ebay which isn't 100% in their favor.

Grant

Reply to
Grant Erwin

On Sun, 17 Sep 2006 14:19:11 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Gene Cash quickly quoth:

Do the words "...and the horse you rode in on." mean anything to you? ;) I happen to LIKE sniping. Why should it matter to the seller when you bid as long as you bid? The price someone (other than a cluebie) will pay will remain the same. It just isn't openly bid incrementally.

99% of auctions will remain untouched by sniping.

As do folks from that far southeastern state... Just how do you go about making snipers "pay 15% over retail", sir? (This oughta be good.)

Hey, eBay changed the rules without notifying bidders. That sucks.

Gene, if you can't detect a facetious comment when you read it, how the heck are you going to fare at the Polls in November? You poor, poor Floridians, I swear...

-- Real freedom lies in wildness, not in civilization. -- Charles Lindbergh

Reply to
Larry Jaques

On Sun, 17 Sep 2006 15:02:42 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Gene Cash quickly quoth:

So you just told an outright lie to us for fun, did you? Yo mama should slap you for that, son.

Clueless Oldbie.

WTF? Go ahead and bid high. I'll wait for a better deal, like 1/2 that price, or 1/4 of it. "People should actually realize they need" sounds like a mind control game, Gene. What ARE you smoking? Haven't you ever heard of competition? It abounds on eBay and is why the company is doing so well. But if they start playing games with snipers, they're the ones who will end up losing. eBay ain't the only game in town and the other auction houses are gaining ground daily. With eBay's help, they'll do so at a greater rate. C'est la guerre, non?

Reply to
Larry Jaques

Last thing I bid was two weeks ago - 5 seconds before the end of the auction. The only reason it was a whole

5 seconds was that I was trying out esniper which doesn't allow anything less (though I suppose I could wade through the source and make it do so).

I normally bid manually 2 seconds before end of auction, and have never seen the extra screen you refer to in the OP.

Reply to
Steve Ackman

On Sun, 17 Sep 2006 10:52:54 -0400, with neither quill nor qualm, snipped-for-privacy@lycos.com quickly quoth:

When sniping, you only bid once, and he was screwed out of that by eBay games. I've seen extra advertising screens pop up when I'm trying to get into MyeBay, too, and I don't like it. Methinks it's time to have a little chat with them.

I hope everyone who has been irked by their new games contacts them directly, too.

-- Real freedom lies in wildness, not in civilization. -- Charles Lindbergh

Reply to
Larry Jaques

On Sun, 17 Sep 2006 10:44:12 -0700, with neither quill nor qualm, Grant Erwin quickly quoth:

No, the point is that eBay changed their method of operating the site without notifying us bidders prior to those changes. It sucks.

Yes, we should be.

-- Real freedom lies in wildness, not in civilization. -- Charles Lindbergh

Reply to
Larry Jaques

Buy low, sell high. Isn't that what they teach in business school? Randy

Reply to
Randy Replogle

And, with any other auction on the planet, if you win and get it cheap, you either a hero or a putz skinflint. If you lose, the other guy did something underhanded and dishonest.

Been to many an auction where things sold above retail, and to others where I bought things, and wanted to get the hell out of there because I literally stole them from some poor schmuck who was just trying to raise some money.

Steve

Reply to
Steve B

The second thing I learned is to search completed listings to get a clue on what the item has gone for in the past.

Wes S

Reply to
clutch

Try jbidwatcher, it works GREAT for me. It runs both under Linux as well as udner Windows, and does a AAA+++ job.

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Reply to
Ignoramus14670

I have a buyer account and a seller account separately., As a buyer, I always leave feedback first and when I feel that a neg is appropriate, I just leave one. As a seller, I feel that a transaction is not over until the buyer leaves feedback. Just because I got paid and shipped the item, does not mean that the buyer is a good person, say if they file a fraudulent claim or some such.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus14670

well, my 2 cents on this topic

when I'm selling, I leave feedback for the buyer when I get paid. then I ship the item - some sellers leave feedback, some don't - ok..... I got a couple of negs from buyers who were pissed that I charged them more than the value of a stamp to send an international package - but again, most international folks have been understanding and easy to deal with.

When I buy, I leave feedback when the item arrives - so far I haven't gotten stiffed on an item or gotten something that wasn't what I asked for, so I haven't left neg feedback for a seller.

I have left neg feedback for buyers - in every case, when they don't pay and also don't respond to an inquiry

my suggestion, leave honest feedback and just don't sweat it.

Reply to
William Noble

Cuz then you could neg him without fear of retribution.

The buyer should be the first to leave a positive. The seller then can reciprocate without fear of unfair retribution. Or, both withhold.

Consider it from my point of view as an eBay seller. I have a feedback score of 629 with 100 percent positive over 8 years. More of the same positive feedback is of no value to me, especially considering the harm a negative would do. At this point I have virtually no incentive to bother with it. I'd rather be calumniating on Usenet.

Reply to
Richard J Kinch

Perhaps, but attributing the same thing to both effects is delusional.

Reply to
Dave Hinz

Well, that buyers get stuff for less money, and sellers sell for more due to sniping, could theoretically be possible if sniping makes more people bid on stuff in general.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus14670

I disagree. There are greatly different levels of "pay your money, get your merchandise."

There is barely getting what you expected and getting more than you expected.

Properly packed vs falling apart.

Shipped next day vs next week.

Good communication vs none.

I agree all the cutesy, repetitive crap is meaningless.

--Andy Asberry recommends NewsGuy--

Reply to
Andy Asberry

Aside from crappy packing, as long as I end up getting it, I don't care. I have had purchases take a long time to get here. In some cases, it was sent

8 days after I paid, in some cases, it was sent on the first, and it took twelve days to get here from 200 miles away. We just had a package arrive in Australia three weeks later than the PO told us it would take. We were ready to refund the customer. Luckily, it all worked out okay. Sometimes, it's tomfoolery, and sometimes it's just reality.

All's well that ends well.

Steve

Reply to
Steve B

Ye Gods and little fishies! This thread has certainly brought the semi-literates out of the woodwork.

Anyways...

To address your initial query, what you described has not (yet) happened to me, but I have been thwarted by having to re-sign in - strange because I hadn't left the page alone nearly long enough for the cookie to expire.

No biggy though. As soemone else said - there's always another one coming along soon.

-- Jeff R. (which makes me, at 31 deg S, "JR South, I guess )

Reply to
Jeff R.

I'm using Icab, with pictures disabled, no popups etc, but it still takes way too long.

Reply to
Nick Hull

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