OT: Ebay pooched my Auctions!

I started writing a website that would help vision impaired people browse ebay. It tries very hard to use as little images as possible (where they are not necessary) and just generally to have as little text as possible. This has not been finished, but will be beneficial to dialup users as well as to the vision impaired.

What I already have is a simple ebay front page alternative, with several ebay searches (new, completed, by seller, by bidder, feedback, etc) searches, links to popular ebay destinations etc, all on one very simple page. A few alt.marketing.online.ebay readers report using it. I usually never visit ebay front page, last time I visited it was years ago, it is too slow to load.

My page is

It does NOT use ebay affiliate links. I make no money from it, but I like saving time with it. It loads in under a second and has 5 kB of HTML..

i

Hi Dave, you're right when you say:

I didn't have any intention of "implying that I (you) have some sort of personal defect" and so I apologize if this is the impression you received. Where I come from "it looks like you don't get out very much" is meant to indicate you've missed acquiring a particular piece of knowledge in your travels through life, an experience many of us have had. Again, I'm sorry if I've offended you; I should remember the rules of slang and you might try being a little less sensitive to imagined slights.

The purpose of the buyer is to win but win within the framework of the rules. Sniping does not violate any rules. Some can not adapt to others rules. I've both won and lost auction items due to sniping and consider this part of the game. For some, conducting business on ebay, this is not considered a game. If these people are sellers then they may feel people are bidding less because of sniping. I say "too bad"; work within the rules of the venue or discuss changes with ebay. It's useless to just whine about something and not try to do anything about the reason for your complaint.

dennis in nca

I think every time I can remember I had to put in my password after clicking on place bid, so I just assumed it was part of their security. Not saying I've never not had to do it, but I don't remember it not happening. Besides, it says there there will be confirmation so I expect at least one extra screen anyway, so I get through all that and wait on the last screen until it's time.

-- Regards, Carl Ijames carl.ijames at verizon.net

Dang, Iggy, that's fantastic. I've got that added to my startup tabs in firefox.

Let me be more clear. I see what you were, and are saying, and basically it's "screw everyone else as long as I've got mine". Right?

WHERE DID I SAY IT DID?

Or sell from a store format with "buy it now", like my last 50 or so sales.

Read what I'm writing, Dennis. I'm not whining about it. I'm saying that I'd pay extra for the "dynamic finish" or whatever you'd like to call it. People still bidding? Keep it open until they're not, for 5 minutes. I'm also saying that people who pretend they're not sniping to get lower prices, are either lying or delusional. That's not whining, it's two statements of fact.

If you disagree with me, that's _fine_, but don't go pretending I'm making points that I'm not.

"Dave Hinz" wrote

People still bidding? Keep it open until they're not, for 5

Let's just keep it open for another 24 hours, just to be fair, eh? To those who forgot. To those who had to work late. To those who had a dead battery. To those who missed their train. To those too stupid to use a proxy or a snipe.

WE MUST BE FAIR!

Steve ;-)

Dave, I am very happy that you like it.

i

You don't have to actually bid in the last five seconds of an auction. Fifteen or twenty seconds is quite enough. The thing to avoid is making someone else think "Gee, I just got outbid, maybe this is actually worth more than I thought, hmm, yeah, I'll bid a bit more." That sort of thought process takes at least a few seconds; then the guy needs another few seconds to actually do the bid. If you bid fifteen seconds from closing, there won't be time for someone else to complete all that thought and action. You'll still likely get outbid by someone who bids five seconds from closing, but that guy would have outbid you anyway; he was another sniper. (That's true even if he bid earlier; some people hedge against loss of net connectivity by making a modest bid earlier, then come in late with a killer bid.) So relax and give yourself a little time; fifteen seconds is enough time to click through an extra screen, even if you are on a modem.

Well Dave, we meet again. You say:

Sorry to disappoint you, although you are begining to sound like some sanctimonious bore, but listen close: I did not have sex with that woman...oops, I mean.... I play the game according to the rules. The rules work to my satisfaction. You want to change the rules to make yourself more satisfied. I say go ahead if that's what makes you happy. If you can't understand this I give up on you.

Then following some of my other general comments on the thread you say:

and you say: > Read what I'm writing, Dennis. I'm not whining about it. ....etc.< and then you say: > If you disagree with me, that's _fine_, but don't go pretending I'm making points that I'm not.<

Dave all I can say is "It's not always about YOU". Try to cool down and reread my post and you should easily see the seperation between the first and second part of my post.

On the other hand, if you're only trying to get my goat, I have a different explanation for you. If this should be the actual case please let me know and I'll be happy to reword.

Dave. The following message is NOT only for you.

Once again. If you're a business person on ebay and are unsatisfied I'd suggest you do everything possible to change the rules to make you happy. Without business people (unlike the early, and in my opinion happier, days of ebay) ebay can not continue. Allthough the front line person you may contact may not show it, ebay is very interested in what will add to their bottom line. Perhaps a seperate auction catagory for sellers and buyers who don't like sniping and a seperate venue for those that do (bad, bad)? I'll be happy to play by any equitable rules they come up with.

dennis in nca

Unless there are 3 or 4 other folks doing exactly the same thing...

Gunner

"If I'm going to reach out to the the Democrats then I need a third hand.There's no way I'm letting go of my wallet or my gun while they're around."

"Democrat. In the dictionary it's right after demobilize and right before demode` (out of fashion).

-Buddy Jordan 2001

Well, that's going to happen, but your snipe attempt will get registered and sorted out even if many are doing it. Sniping only is a small defense against a small group of people. I've been out-bid or out-sniped several times. Just gotta hope if you are patient you will find what you need eventually.

"xray" wrote

One major point about ebay - Whatever you are bidding on, there will be another one along shortly. So, if you are outbid, out sniped or out maneuvered, not to worry. Just set favorite searches and they notify you.

Another good tactic is to just check a couple of times for new listings. Many times I have seen people list items with a too low BIN, and the first person who sees this low BIN snatches it.

Steve

Yes, very nice. Maybe eBay could learn something from you.

Mark

Except for low priced staples, consumables etc, I actually try to lose the great majority of things that I bid on (or get them without compating bids). I figure that this is a good way to avoid overpaying.

i

I am glad that you like that ef.algebra.com alternative ebay frontpage. Feel free to use it...

i

You can't do much about giving time guarantees on stuff shipped surface post I'm afraid. Neither the buyer nor seller can have any expectation of timely delivery. If that's what you need, it should go air or via a carrier like DHL etc. Now if you paid for this service & delivery was slow, that's different - I'd be hassling the carrier using the shipping number.

Shrug. I've gotten stuff from England in less than a week and stuff from the USA in 3 months. I sent a D1-3 faceplate to a friend of mine surface and it took 10 weeks to arrive IIRC.

I'm in Australia.

PDW

I disagree. It's a multistage process.

First, the buyer has to pay. If this is done in a timely manner, the seller should acknowledge it. After all, he's got his payment.

Next, the seller has to ship promptly as per spec, and pack as per agreement. If this is done, the buyer has gotten a timely delivery of the goods and should acknowledge this.

Last is the issue of whether the goods met spec.

In essence the current feedback system has too coarse granularity to be really useful.

PDW

Yeah. Like I said, then the buyer leaves the positive, then the seller reciprocates. If any of your steps fail, then you mutually withhold. This is not perfect, but that's the way it works at arm's length.