MRR Auctions - No Sniping? What fun is that?

DUH!!! I don't bid. I just find it totally insane ... I can't help wondering if it isn't some money laundering scheme?

Paul

If it's the only place you can find it I'd understand. But a lot of this stuff is available on the net from reputable dealers @ or below what it gets bid up to on EBay. I went looking for an example, and of course, I can't find a good one right now. However, I did find this:

"

\ 3139674500&category=19134"

A Rio Grande #5326 the Kato box is labelled UP #3633. "Custom painted"? ~it looks a lot like the #5336 I have on the work bench right now. The front safety stripes are inverted on the "custom" job, unlike this actual photo:

"

" and the stock Kato #5336.

Current bid is $69.99 but, there are 6 days left in the auction. I picked up 3 recently on the net for $79.95 each. I'm guessing it will go for more than that by the end of the 6 days (could be wrong?). And don't get me wrong, I hope he gets $1M for it. I 've seen this "bidding frenzy" at live auctions. I recognize it but, I sure don't understand it.

His has a plow on the front, $1.95. The handrails at the steps are wrong (ok he mentions that and the missing horn). In the actual photo they are white. I spent $5 on some Microscale decals and can renumber the other two units. I have to paint the numberboards white and put black outlined number decals over that. I'm still looking at under $85 a unit (there will be some shipping on EBay I don't think it will be less than the $7.95 I paid for the 3 I ordered, and they came within a large order, so all of the $7.95 is not rightfully on the SD45's).

Paul

And we snipers win! :-)

Now THAT'S what really p*sses off the non snipers. :-)

-- Cheers Roger T.

of the Great Eastern Railway

It's pretty sad if that's what it takes to give one a sense of self-worth. :-)

I can't see how you come to that conclusion. If you use the proxy and bid your maximum sniping is a non issue. The last minute bidder has to go higher than your max. If you enter a bid that is less than your max and get out bid at the last second then you will have received an "on the job training" lesson on how the game works. The earlier bidder has the advantage because of the proxy-you just need to be able to determine what you want to pay and not get influenced by what others may do. I usually wait until some where near the end of the auction just so I can see where it's going. If it is getting out of hand I don't even bother with it. I like the eBay system because I can enter a proxy bid and don't have to be a slave to my computer.

J.Bright

Nope, I have only bid on E-Bay three times in the past two years, I think. Lost one, won two.

It's the "Holier Than Thou" attitude of the non-snipers that gets me and, as the other poster wrote "Non-snipers are whiners.

-- Cheers Roger T.

of the Great Eastern Railway

Mr. Bright: Thank You for the Most Intelligent piece written on this subject. The topic should close now but will probably live for another couple months!:)

I absolutely Do Not understand anyone calling someone else names like is done in the quotes (>) below -- this is totally beyond me and any system of logic and//or ethics.

JIM

-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: MRR Auctions - No Sniping? What fun is that? Date: 22 Jul 2003 06:12:59 GMT From: snipped-for-privacy@aol.com (JHBRIGHT) Organization: AOL

Newsgroups: rec.models.railroad References:

I can't see how you come to that conclusion. If you use the proxy and bid your maximum sniping is a non issue. The last minute bidder has to go higher than your max. If you enter a bid that is less than your max and get out bid at the last second then you will have received an "on the job training" lesson on how the game works. The earlier bidder has the advantage because of the proxy-you just need to be able to determine what you want to pay and not get influenced by what others may do. I usually wait until some where near the end of the auction just so I can see where it's going. If it is getting out of hand I don't even bother with it. I like the eBay system because I can enter a proxy bid and don't have to be a slave to my computer.

J.Bright

Why can't they do the same thing?

I want it exactly the way eBay does it. I like the set end time. Waiting in 5 minute increments at the end of the auction could take awhile on a hot item couldn't it?

I could look at where it came from originally. A friend of mine received the original e-mail and forwarded it to me because he knows I like auctions.

CBix

Who cares about live auctions? We are talking about online auctions. Different rules. Online auctions like eBay are better than live auctions, in my opinion.

It's difficult to argue with success stories like eBay.

For eveyone who snipes do not feel guilty. The great thing about the process is that anyone can do it. It is not limited to people who have the secret formula.

And if you get sniped on an item wait about 5 minutes because there will probbaly be another one listed. Learn from the sniping experience and get that item at the last minute like the guy did to you (as if it was yours before the auction ended anyway).

I still hae the laugh at how looney this arguement is. It's like non snipers think the item is theirs and was stolen from them because they are the highest bidder all week and then someone gets the item at the last minute. In my opinion its lazy or naive to get upset at the last minute bidder when they do this and lose the item. If you want to bid early and sit and wait that's fine, I do it all the time, But I never get mad at someone who outbids me, regardless of how close to the end time they bid.

See then we DO have something in common after all :-)

CBix

According to the Oxford American Dictionary one of the definitions of "snipe" is as follows: "to make sly or critical remarks attacking a person or thing"

Hey Rick Jones is a sniper too welcome to the club!

So if we follow this through that snipers are scum...

Jim

Sniping has incresed my net-worth, does that count?

Roger, you got it exactly correct. Some people are just unhappy because they do not get their way. They want everyone to conform to their version of what is acceptable and what is not. EVERYONE has the same opportunity to bid at any time before the auction ends. It disturbs them that someone might bid on "their" item at the last minute. But the reality is it is not about them at all. It is business between the bidder and the seller and no one else. Why should I as a bidder take the other bidders into consideration at all? My assumption is that if they want the item they will bid high enough to win it. If they do not then I will. End of story.

CBix

You have it exactly right IF YOU SEE IT THAT WAY.

Snipers don't have a problem sniping. Anti-snipers do. It seems to be a black or white subject with very little gray.

I happen to find sniping distasteful. Like cheating on an exam, I believe it's a moral decision, and my value system won't let me do it.

Brian

Jim you are right. That kind of name calling comes from a poor upbringing and a general frustration with the world. All we can do is pity them. CBix

I have to agree with the last sentence. Sniping is part of the game. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

Don

-- snipped-for-privacy@prodigy.net

snipped-for-privacy@yahoogroups.com moderator: snipped-for-privacy@yahoogroups.com co-moderator: snipped-for-privacy@Yahoogroups.com

Actually I've seen several of those... kind of silly really, to cut out a possible higher bid. But one seller a few months back had very "strongly worded" terms threatening anyone who placed a bid in the final seconds. I'm kind of surprised he could dispute a legitimate bid. The seller can make their own terms with regard to payment and shipping, but within the ebay venue, a bid placed in the final second is as good as one placed in the first second. The guy was a jerk and I wouldn't have bid on anything he had anyway, but in 4+ years I've been buying and selling on ebay, I've never had a _seller_ bitch at me for sniping. I did have one question my sanity, but that's a different story :-)

Andy

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- Pre-Interstate Urban Archaeology

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I thought I could go to this newsgroup and encounter some friendly conversation. Granted there is some here but there is a lot of these kinds of comments here. It's not very nice to say things like that to people in public.

Terry