I hate eBay. I wish I would learn my lesson....

[TomV]

Not sure where this post belongs. Mods: Move it to where it does if this is the wrong forum.....

The saga: I am moving into a new house soon and am planning to upgrade my nano tanks (10g, 29g, and 2.5g) to two 75 gallon tanks. I talked to a guy at a flea market who had one and made a deal with him to buy it.

.... he broke it getting it out of his garage.....

So, I found some ads in the newspaper and local ad magazines...... ALL SOLD

So, next, I found a 75g on eBay that was in my state. I bid on it. It had a BUY IT NOW price, but I relied on my GF for advice since I was doing this project WITH HER for our new house. So, I bid lower and the BUY IT NOW disappeared.....

I was outbid by a DEALER in the last 10 seconds of the auction.

Right now, I am beside myself. So, please excuse my rage.

I should have learned my lesson about eBay and the GREED within before when something similar happened to me there.

Is it me? Or is it justified that I think most dealers are greedy leeches when they go to flea markets at 5 AM, outbid people on eBay, and outbid people at auctions just so they can sell the item at a higher price and pad their already well padded bottoms even more with the fat of the land?

I know. I know. It's the "American Way". I just think it's greedy and distasteful behavior. I wont bid on anything on eBay again. I wont play this game again. If it says BUY IT NOW, I will do so. Otherwise, it's just an exercise in beating the rats to the cheese.

 

[BCT182]

WHOA! Take it easy! Like the saying goes, "When one door closes, another door soon will open". Good luck finding a tank Tom
Brett

 

[wrightme43]

It will all work out exactly the way it is supposed to. For me when something doesnt turn out the way I wanted it to, it is usally for the best. Sometimes I dont see that for years later, genrally that is how it works for me. On ebay people use what is called sniping software. It holds your bid till the very last second and is timed to bid when there is no time left to update and bid again. You can buy it on ebay for sometimes as low as 20$ it should pay for itself very rapidly. I buy alot of stuff for resale on ebay. I lose more auctions than I win though. For me I try to make a maximum purchase price in my mind, and no matter how much I want something not bid over my price. Ebay is great as long as I dont get emotionaly attached to something before I own it. When I have done that, I felt exactly like you did today. I am willing to bet if you are paitent you will find a better deal, on a better set up and be happier. Just my two cents. Steve

 

[DonW]

You have to keep in mind that dealers that sell on ebay give a buy it now option because that is what they need to make a buck. Most have hundreds of registered names. They simply out bid you, if you are lower than they are willing to go. This is how some make a living, sound crooked but they are running businesses without a store front.

Don

 

[wrightme43]

Diggin the MY LOG Don, How did you set that up and link it in? Steve

 

[DonW]

Diggin the MY LOG Don, How did you set that up and link it in? Steve

Steve,
Its a free program called aqualog. Real basic, it will create a htm doc. I then use a program called autoftp. When the htm file changes the auto ftp program uploads it to my web space.

Don

 

[wrightme43]

Cool, I will go and check it out. Thanks.

 

[gobie]

Hey Tom I Feel Your Pain Bud. I Have A Love Hat Relationship With Ebay. I Have Found That Many Times Dealers Have 2 Identities For Ebay. One For Sellin And The Other Incase They Don't Feel That They Are Getting Enough For A Product. Trust Me It Happens! I Wouldn't Spend Any More Than 100.00 For A 75 Gal Tank That Is What I Spent On Mine New. If You Really Want A 75 Real Bad Go To Perfect Mfg. They Will Sell You A Tank Dirrect.

 

[TomV]

Wow! Where did you find a 75g for $100? Up here in New Hampshire, they charge $130+ for just a bare tank.

 

[bswim]

I've gotten some screaming deals on ebay but I never bid until the last 10 seconds. If I'm not gonna be around for the close I wait around for another one to come along.

If I'm in a hurry to get something I don't go to ebay. It's amazing how many people get caught up in the bidding frenzy on there and at live auctions too. I've seen alot of stuff go higher than retail.

Some good deals in the middle of the night too. Not to many people to bid against when 90% of the country is sleeping. Another good time is early afternoon before I go to work. Everyone here is at work and the east coast is still at work too.

Know what you're shopping for is worth, Bid in the last 10-20 seconds and look for auctions closing at odd times.

Not long after HALO 2 came out I bought HALO 2, brand new, Madden 2004, brand new and NASCAR 2004, used from 3 different people, had a grand total of $53 with shipping. Not bad since the first game was $50 retail.

 

[bswim]

Oh, one other thing.

if you see someone running their own auctions up, it's called schill bidding and is illegal, REPORT THEM TO EBAY!!!!

For the first time they put your account on hold for 30 days and pull all your auctions. So they're stuck with the listing fees and have lost their income for the next 30 days.

They do it again and they're booted off ebay all together.

 

[bigreefer]

ebay is a game... bid the most your willing to pay, if ya win ya win if ya ont ya dont

 

[jasontatro]

I love Ebay. I will wait until the last 5 seconds to outbid someone.... tis the name of the game.

 

[bswim]

You can put in the most your're willing to pay early on and then let the proxy bid for you.

The only problem with that is that in the last 10 seconds we snipers are going to run it up pretty high. And odds are you still won't get it.

But like bigreefer said, decide early on what your max is, stick to it, if you win great, if you don't keep checking back.