Topic: bummed when you get sniped on ebay

[digiacomo racing]

That is a great attitude if you never want to finish a bike...

that's what i think about when i ride my unfinished bike down the road. oh wait, it's finished

[amemoryoncelost]

 The only reason I was willing to pay that much is finding a bike that nice in the northwest is kind of random and everything seems to cost more out here. I'm into jetskis and finding a jetski out here as cheap as you can find them in the midwest is ridiculous. Also, I was able to check out the bike and it was in better condition than he listed it as. The rust on the pipe was at a minimum and with a little elbow grease, I think an SOS pad could have taken care of it. The tank was in perfect condition, no chips or scratches, the only place where it was even an issue is where the seat touches it, which you can't see anyways. The guy had original toolkit and manual in original pouches. Bike started up real easy from being dead cold.
 I'm in touch with the seller and if the buyer doesn't come through for some reason, he said he would sell it to me at a lower cost. Either way, I already have a possible lead on a bike up in Seattle, so I'll just keep working on the 400F and see what comes along. Things happen for a reason and you never know what tomorrow might bring.

[seaweb11]

Winners remorse?

   I have never felt sad paying to much. 

I want it, I need it.......I got it

[merc2dogs]

 Myself, I don't worry about sniping. I just determine what I'm willing to pay, and place that as my bid, then forget about it till I get a won, or outbid notice on it.
 
 That's my advice, bid what you are willing to pay and let it go, forget the sniping just bid what you want to pay and call it good.

Ken.

[toycollector10]

I borrow money to snipe for things I don't need to impress people I don't know and who don't care  

But seriously ffolks, if you don't snipe you are never going to be a winner. And talking about prices. I have just paid $24 for a piece of rubber half the size of my little finger. Because that part will stop the gas dribbling all over my garage floor and stinking the place up and I really, really need it, I bought it at that price.

There's a world of difference between the cost of something and the value of something.

[Gordon]

But seriously ffolks, if you don't snipe you are never going to be a winner.

Nah, there have been plenty of times when my snipe bid was beaten by a bid someone else placed hours or days before.  Sniping only beats out the low-ballers or people who think they'll always have a chance to place another bid. 

I mainly do it so I don't have my money tied up for days and can cancel my snipe if I find a better deal or decide I just don't want the item anymore. 

[Terry in Australia]

But seriously ffolks, if you don't snipe you are never going to be a winner.

Nah, there have been plenty of times when my snipe bid was beaten by a bid someone else placed hours or days before.  Sniping only beats out the low-ballers or people who think they'll always have a chance to place another bid. 

I mainly do it so I don't have my money tied up for days and can cancel my snipe if I find a better deal or decide I just don't want the item anymore. 

That's true Gordy, another benefit of sniping is that if you do change your mind you can cancel the snipe and walk away, something hard to do if you've committed yourself with a high, emotionally driven bid.

[Ricky_Racer]

One of the great differences between women and men is that men will pay $10 for a $5 item they want, while a woman will pay $5 for a $10 item she'll never use...    RR

[sbc1320]

Love to snipe and the best I have done is with 2 seconds left on the clock. If I think someone might snipe me and I really want it, then I just go in just before its up and raise my bid by a considerable amount if I can afford. Then you are only going to pay whatever it takes to get past the snipe.

[Terry in Australia]

The problem with EBay, and ironically, what has made it so successful, is that the auctions are timed.

There are other auction sites out there that have "proper" auctions, whereby the auction doesn't end until the bidding is exhausted, (if someone tries to "snipe" the auction the finish time is extended by a couple of minutes) and this is a much fairer way of doing things, but surprisingly, these types of auctions are much less popular than EBay.

Why? Because like a property auction, the "emotional bids" flourish, and it becomes a one horse race, whoever can find the most money to spend on an item will win. With a timed EBay style auction, a lot of these guys don't have time to put on another bid, so quite often a less "well heeled" EBayer will win.

I've sold stuff on EBay too, and on a couple of occasions I've had the guy with the second highest bid contact me and tell me that he was prepared to pay more and how unfair EBay is, blah blah blah, but that's the way the EBay system works, it may not be "fair", but it's the most successful online auction site in the world, so if you don't like it, don't use it. Cheers, Terry.    

[fixahonda]

I use ebay quite a bit and generally will only place my bid in the very last few seconds of an auction. This especially holds true to something that only has one low bid on it. I have never used a sniping program though. I do kind of like the rush of popping in and snagging an item when another buyer is refreshing his screen to (what he thinks will be) his "you have won this item" page. I guess I'm just mean like that sometimes.
This unfortunately has cost me a few things as I have the attention span of a 2 year old and just forgot to bid.

I don't begrudge people who do use the programs though, or even the people who bid it up really high when it's got a lot of time left. It's really all about what someones willing to pay. Unless it's some super rare item, someone will list at least one more. Most likely quite a few if you are patient.

As a seller, I do like to see when the emotions get involved though. I sold a set of handlebars from a '39 Harley a few months ago and two guys bid them up to around $650 in the last ten minutes of the auction. I was quite pleased.
As a rule I usually try to end right around 8:45-9:15pm est. That way, regardless of US timezone, most people are home from work, have had dinner and are ready to battle it out.

[MoTo-BunnY]

feeBay user here since March o' 1998!  I have a love / hate relationship with them though and I think they REALLY need some competition, as they are far too cocky being the only real game in town, with their constant fee increases, lousy customer service, etc (Google, hellllO - where are you???)

That being said, half my bike is from eBay finds!  lol  Gawd I have gotten some killer deals - I will say a token "sorry" for those I have sniped, but honestly - too bad, sooo sad!     Heck, I don't even USE a bid program - just have broadband and fast reflexes.

Consistency is everything too - keep checking all the time as you never know what is going to be listed, especially with a good BIN price (buy it now). The other night, just before I went to bed at like 3am, some guy had JUST listed a bunch of early CB500 and CB750 stuff, like it had been up for 5 minutes. GOOD stuff too, like handlebars with complete controls, matching pairs of sidecovers, complete brake systems, etc. - all with BIN prices of like $20-30 a set!!! I hit the BIN on the CB500 bars/controls and while I contemplating buying it all from him (damn, I really should have, but money has been tight lately) that stuff started popping like crazy - ALL gone within 20 minutes. . . LOL.

Sometimes its just all about the timing (and being neurotic dedicated enough to keep checking all the time!)   

[754]

I am going to disagree with Raul..

 I used to search ebay dilligently, I mean WORK at it...at one time I was buying stuff for a 31 Indian, 27 Harley, 60,s Ducati plus Whizzer and bicycle stuff. Oh and 750 parts once in a while

 When I found stuff mislisted and by oddball search or luck by techniqes I used, THE LAST THING I WOULD do is alert other collectors to my finds by bidding on it.

 Sometimes I would try to get it before auction end. The harder you WORK at it, the better the results. you only get out what you put into it..

[Raul CB750K1]

When I found stuff mislisted and by oddball search or luck by techniqes I used, THE LAST THING I WOULD do is alert other collectors to my finds by bidding on it.

Yeah, we tend to consider ourselves smarter than everybody else. Do you think that if somebody lists a "CB750 short chainguard" or a "CB750 sandcast case", just because nobody has bidded until there is one hour left, there aren't a hundred people waiting to jump at it like carnivorous hyenas? That's naive, there is no way to get one scarce thing for a song. Or just because a watch seller with 10.000+ feedback starts his auctions at $1, do you think you can get it for $5? Nobody will last 10.000 transactions on eBay by losing money.

[Steelo]

I didnt even get a look in when I went to bid on these K7 exhausts 
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310048172203

[754]

Actually Raul I mean more like this,

I find an 101 Scout tank listed as Harley Racing tank, which I bid on and won. Now the 101 guys I was bidding against back then probably would have  outmoneyed me had they known. As it was I made a c-note on it when I sold it later..

I used to search a light for Whizzers, marked *** *******, occasionally I would fond one not listed as a whizzer light. get them for 1-25.00 shipped. Then list a Buy it Now for 80.00 before I went to bed, and when I got up, they were sold.

I used to buy carbs, listed as H-D and other stuff, and then resell to Ducati & Guzzi guys  in Europe for a good profit. I remember getting one out of Venuzuela of all places, it went to Europe, think it was off a Falcone..

just a few examples.

[markjenn]

There are two good strategies for bidding on Ebay:

1.  Set and forget - plug in the max amount you're willing to pay and forget about the auction.  If you win, you win, otherwise, it was more than you were willing to pay.

2.  Sniping - use a good sniping program and play the timing game.

What's not smart is sniping without a sniping program by manually entering a bid that is less than you are willing to pay and then battling with the sniping programs at the last second.  You'll almost always lose.  You're taking a knife to a gun fight.  And you're actually encouraging the snipers because you're not making competitive bids until the last second, when they've got you out-timed.  You're playing into the snipers hands.

Sniping vs. "set and forget" will occasionally get you something cheaper, but not often, especially for something that is likely to have a fair number of bidders.  I don't bother with sniping program and don't get a lot of stuff, but every time I lose, the item sells for more than I think it is worth, so how can I complain?

- Mark