Topic: bummed when you get sniped on ebay

[amemoryoncelost]

 Been watching this super nice 75 CB550F on ebay for the past week. Sold so many items to help fund it and in the last 30 seconds, sniped. Kind of bummed, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. Got any stories to share so I don't feel like I missed out on the chance of a lifetime. I even went down and checked out this bike this morning, nicer in person than the pictures showed. Was also the same bike, even color, that my mom and dad rode down the west coast, so there was a little sentimental value there.
Here is this auction...
I guess there are other bikes out there and more time for me to save and maybe dump some money into my 400F, bummin' for sure...

[strangedaze39]

Beautiful bike, sorry that you got sniped. I really think since sniping on ebay started, it's sort have lost it's magic. Oh well just another invention for the lazy.

Hope you find another beauty. Thanks for sharing your story.

SD

[fuzzybutt]

happened to me, day before yesterday. i'm trying to buy a 74' or earlier fuel tank for my 750k. in the last SECOND i got sniped

[inline4]

Yea that IS a bummer! Sorry you didn't get it man.
What REALLY sucks is that the winning bidder has only 12 transactions. Losing it to an old ebay pro is one thing, but............................................

Sorry, I know that doesn't make you feel any better.
Better luck next time; another will come along.

[amemoryoncelost]

 Well, I got in touch with the seller and he seemed kind of bummed that I didn't get it, but was siked to see I raised the price a few hundred and said that if the buyer didn't come through, I had dibs on it for 2350.00. Which is more than I want to pay for any bike, but considering the condition, it's worth it I think, especially for the NW. I mean, I only paid $400 for my 77 400F, so paying $2000 seems out of the question. Thanks for the replies though, I'll get over it and maybe in a couple of days I'll get a call from this guy and I'll still get the bike anyways...

[Gordon]

That sucks that you didn't win the auction, but keep one thing in mind.

A higher bid placed on the first day of the auction (or any other time during the auction) will beat a lower last second bid every time.  In the end, it's not the timing that matters, it's the amount.   

[mystic_1]

Let me take this opportunity to apologize to all of you if I've sniped any of you in the past. 

Not that I've done so recently, mind you.

mystic_1

[Gordon]

I make no apologies for bidding within the set (and publicly advertised) time frame of the auction.

[amemoryoncelost]

 I'm just bummed in general that I didn't win, lol. Not so much about the last minute sniping, which I probably have been guilty of in the past. I mean, i waited until the last 5 minutes to bid on this bike, guess I should have waited longer. We'll see what happens, maybe I find an even better bike next week. 

[Terry in Australia]

"Sniping" has been around as long as EBay, I joined in December 1999 and as I only had "dial up" net access, I got sniped all the time.

I now pay for a snipe program, and most auctions I snipe, I win. Like Gordy says though, the auction is always won on who's bid the most in the auctions time frame, not how much you might have bid, so no point crying over spilt milk.

Just hope the new owner doesn't take to that mint 550 with the matt black paint and the hacksaw................. 

[754]

Once you realize that some people have more money than you, you will get over it..

 They are actually paying a lot less than you are if they have a way higher income..

[digiacomo racing]

I only use Ebay when i have to. and i will only buy it if it has a buy now.

[754]

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

[mark]

"Sniping" has been around as long as EBay, I joined in December 1999 and as I only had "dial up" net access, I got sniped all the time. I now pay for a snipe program, .............

Joined 6-99... still don't think the 'net is worth much more than $4.95 a month - still on dial-up..... still getting sniped and still sniping along just fine without the aid of some program. (of course it helps that most auctions don't end at 3 a.m. local)

As for the original question.....

Of course we get bummed when we get out-sniped.

Example:

Nice clean original 350G gas tank with one of those aftermarket gauge/cap deals and the original thumb button latch(no recall lock). It sat there all week with no bids. It got a $56 bid with a minute left. I bid a fair bit more with 6 seconds to go and some other schmuck got it 3 seconds later.


oh well.

[Cbass182]

happened to me, day before yesterday. i'm trying to buy a 74' or earlier fuel tank for my 750k. in the last SECOND i got sniped

I think I was bidding on that tank too...Got one today though for my 71...

(well technically yesterday, it's Monday 2:47AM where i'm at...)

I got sniped on two different sets of exhaust recently, just can't catch a break...

[Terry in Australia]

Nice clean original 350G gas tank with one of those aftermarket gauge/cap deals and the original thumb button latch(no recall lock). It sat there all week with no bids. It got a $56 bid with a minute left. I bid a fair bit more with 6 seconds to go and some other schmuck got it 3 seconds later.

You didn't bid enough, so you didn't win. Don't despair, I've got one of those aftermarket gauge/cap deals that I'll sell you for 56 bucks. They're pretty useless, but they do look nice...........Cheers, Terry.

[greasy j]

it's happened to me, too. that's how I found out about it. I got a program that does it for you (baygenie) from a buddie. but I never really use it. like the other guys said, if you're bid is higher than the other bidders it doesn't matter when he bids.

ebay sucks, but I remember when you were at the mercy of the one junkyard in town and they could charge you 40 dollars for a cracked headlight bucket or whatever. now at least there is some variety and healthy competition. if you think about it it's made finding parts 1000 times easier.

[Raul CB750K1]

Have you ever heard the term "winner's curse"? It happens to everybody who wins an auction.

When the final price of an auction is set by the highest of the maximum bids, the winner can be almost certain that he paid more than it was worth, because everybody else thought it wasn't worth that much.

Forget about sniping. Set your maximum fair, reasonable price and forget about it. If you win, good, if you don't win, another one will pop up. It is the only way you will get things at a fair price, and quite some at a bargain when nobody else bids or somebody -as it has happened to me- simply forgot to bid.

[Terry in Australia]

Winners curse Raul? With respect, what rubbish. As far as setting your maximum fair price etc, all you're doing is inflating the price. By sniping, you're not showing your hand and letting the seller, and the other bidders, what you're prepared to pay.

This might sound paranoid, but as a regular EBay buyer with over 500 transactions (the vast majority being CB750 related) over the last 8 years, there are other buyers who know me from previous transactions, and they will search me out to see what I'm bidding on, and try to snipe me, if it's what they want. I know they do, because I do too.

By my using my snipe program to bid in the last couple of seconds, and not adding that item to my "watch list", they don't know I'm there, and by the time they do it's too late, I've already won.

EBay doesn't suck, it's a fantastic resource for me, I used to religiously go to swap meets in the off chance I'd find something I wanted at a price I could afford, I'd spend heaps of bucks for crap that didn't fit, plus gas to get there, plus admission, plus food, now I just turn the computer on and hit the search button. Sometimes I don't win, but that doesn't matter, I don't need any of this stuff, I just want it!

[Boost_Junkiee]

I just turned in a few parts seller for using false names to bid up their items. One of them got booted for sure. I was trying to buy a set of carbs when i noticed that there were multiple names like d***s then another name like w***d would outbid me, then another name simliliar in pattern would bid and bid untill it outbid me. All of the fake names had the feedback hidden and you couldn't tell what they bid on etc. watch for that and turn them in. Ebay will boot them!

[Raul CB750K1]

I just turned in a few parts seller for using false names to bid up their items. One of them got booted for sure. I was trying to buy a set of carbs when i noticed that there were multiple names like d***s then another name like w***d would outbid me, then another name simliliar in pattern would bid and bid untill it outbid me. All of the fake names had the feedback hidden and you couldn't tell what they bid on etc. watch for that and turn them in. Ebay will boot them!

A couple of months ago, ebay changed their policy. Now the auction bidders are anonymous unless you set it otherwise. Therefore, w***d means nothing, it doesn't even mean the bidder nickname starts by "w" and ends by "d".

That the seller self-bids in his items? So what? He is just trying to determine what is the maximum you are willing to pay. If he doesn't want to sell for less than "X", he can always set a reserve price. If you are not willing to pay "X" for an item, don't bid "X" because either the seller or other buyers will outbid you. They say that people only in a lifetime owns a black car, and I say sellers sell only once in a lifetime items for a buck. After the first time they learn the lesson and manage to sell for more, either increasing the starting price -what I do-, setting a reserve price or asking their friends to bid.

It is very easy to spot a self-bidder: they will always come back to you with a second chance offer. They aimed too high and outbid you. The best thing you can do is ignore them and let them pay the final value fees and relist the item.

I don't care if sellers see I'm watching the item, nor do I care if somebody snipes me. There are mainly two categories of eBay articles I buy: things I want but doesn't need, and things I need. For the former, I bid low enough so if I win they are indeed a bargain. There is no point in buying things you don't need at market value: you can do that anyday.

For the latter (things I need or are scarce), I bid according to how bad do I need them or how much time do I have to waste waiting for the next one to pop up.

As I said in the post regarding "eBay forcing the use of Paypal", you can always choose not to buy or sell on eBay, so if somebody finds that sniping is the way to go then so be it, to them the "winners curse". I just bid what I want to pay, and until now, there is not one thing I have searched on eBay that I haven't been able to buy sooner or later.

[GammaFlat]

The whole "snipe thing" is the only way to fly.  If you make your decision early on, then set up a snipe, a couple of good dynamics occur:

#1 you don't give yourself a chance to "get caught up in the moment" - your number is your number,
#2 you don't give anyone else a chance to have an emotional response to your bid either,
#3 you're less likely, but not completely protected from being victimized by straw man bidding where the seller and/or his mates conspire to artificially raising the price. 

The way to think about ebay is in a "cold, calculating" way.  When folks get all frothy in the final moments is often when things get artificially expensive.  The emotions that can capture the best of us have no place where money and value is on the line. 

[bozo4onion]

Is that really an F. I thought they all had hidden gas caps and 4 into 1 pipes. Like mine.

[hapsh]

Been watching this super nice 75 CB550F on ebay for the past week. Sold so many items to help fund it and in the last 30 seconds, sniped. Kind of bummed, but I guess it wasn't meant to be.

If you read his description I think it sold on the high side.  It was not mint condition, the pipes were rusting through, paint was faded, and surface rust in many areas.  I would have paid closer to $1600 for it.  Also I think he was talking it up a bit by saying it would do 110mph and still have throttle left.  Prices get way over inflated on ebay from time to time.  I remember about 6 years ago there was a rash of new ebayers that seemed to be caught up in the newness of ebay.  It was very common for items like used DVDs and electronics to sell 20% higher than the same thing retail.  I even spoke to a few friends that told me it was like a gambling rush.  They would get so caught up in the moment that they would overpay well over what they intended.  The key to using ebay is to never get your heart set on anything or you will most likely pay way more than it is worth.

[dagersh]

Recently I was bidding on an a CB450 K1 tank.  I got emotionally involved as I wanted it for a project I am working on.  I was willing to go north of 6 bills for it, and I did.  The winning bidder, was still above me in the last few seconds of the auction.  I was pissed, but I was not willing to go further.  Well, I just won the same year tank in MUCH better condition for a lot less.  Remember, put in your max bid and stick to it.  If you get sniped, the winner was simply doing the same thing.

Now, I just need a righthand sidecover to replace the one I got sniped on....

Gersh