Jay,
What an item is worth is all relative. Many times I don't know what an item is
worth, and if I am the only one that has bid on it over several days, it
doesn't
give me much feed back as to what the demand is, so I'm not sure how high to
bid. Nobody likes to pay top dollar for anything (unless they have money to
burn), and the natural instinct is to start bidding low, and raise your bid as
necessary (just like a real auction). I've always tried to conduct myself in
an
above board honest and sincere manner (what you see is what you get), but
unfortunately there are 'opportunist' out there that always try to take
advantage of us honest folks, and exploit any hole in the system.
The other thing I don't trust about ebay, is that I get the distinct impression
that some people offering items use another alias, or have someone else, bid on
their own item to push the price up (sort of a 'secret' reserve price), to
entice the highest bidders to bid even more. I know this is hard to prove, but
as you know, if it can be done, it IS being done. I have several times watched
someone 'feel out' my bid, until the bid amount is only a few dollars more than
my highest bid, but always close enough to make me bid a few dollars more for
something I really want or need.
I guess it's just the principle of the thing that gets me. If these people want
an item, them come out of the shadows, and bid upfront, so that everyone can
take it into consideration and bid accordingly (just like a REAL auction).
If everyone started using the 'last minute' technique, then all items would
show
zero bidders until the last 60 seconds, and the person with the fastest
Internet
connection wins!
Regards,
Bryan Vandiver -(59-bugeye)
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>To: Lancer7676@aol.com
>CC: Bryan.Vandiver@eng.sun.com, spridgets@autox.team.net
>Subject: Re: Manifold for a Fish Carb?
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>Boys and Girls,
>Question.
>If something is at auction and you decide you are willing to pay, let's say
>$100.00 for it and someone outbids you, why is it the higher bidder's fault
that
>after the fact, you decide that you would have paid more than $100.00, but just
>failed to enter a bid for that new maximum amount?
>
>Why not just r e a l l y think about what the item is worth to you and bid
that
>amount?
>
>And if your response is going to be "Whatever I bid someone will outbid me.", I
>don't buy that argument.
>
>Jay Fishbein
>
>
>Lancer7676@aol.com wrote:
>
>> In a message dated 12/14/99 1:54:03 PM Eastern Standard Time,
>> Bryan.Vandiver@Eng.Sun.COM writes:
>>
>> << referring to those F*#$! bidders on ebay that don't bid at all until
>> the last 60 seconds, to try and get something for a low bid without giving
>> previous bidders a chance to bid again (like in a real auction). >>
>>
>> Yeah Bryan--I have been beaten out of some items by those vermin. I work, so
>> I am at a disadvantage when an item is going off during work hours--plus I
>> cant stand vigil over an e-bay site. Wish there were some way they could
>> work it so folks who really need an item can stay with it and the item truly
>> goes off at the highest bid.
>>
>> --David C.
>
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