Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
At The Back => Time Out => Topic started by: dave_mc on February 03, 2008, 06:15:49 PM
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Hi guys,
i'm kinda thinking of buying something on ebay... i guess does anyone have any tips about how to "win" an auction? one of the things i want has no reserve, the other has a reserve which hasn't been reached yet... which is better, to try to snipe it in the last few seconds, or to enter in your maximum bid and hope the proxy bidding does its work?
how safe is it, really? How about paypal? (both items claim to be covered up to a certain amount if you use paypal)
would you buy from someone with 0 feedback? (they have started up an ebay shop, to be fair, and offer 7-day returns, i suspect they're just new, they have pictures of the item etc.)
it's entirely possible I'll chicken out, lol, but I might as well ask to see. As you can probably tell, I'm totally new to ebay, by the way.
Cheers guys. :)
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I don't usually set a large maximum bid, but over the course of the auction, bid steadily/manually.
have had issues with paypal, suddenly denied that you have a source registered :?
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thanks. :)
what do you mean by "denied that you have a source registered"?
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Definitely best to try and 'snipe' in the last few seconds in my experience. Although if there is very little interest in the item/no bids, then the seller sometimes just withdraws the listing altogether. In the case of a shop I doubt that would ever happen though.
If you are going to try and bid late, best to do it RIGHT at the last minute. Last SECONDS to be precise. Just don't leave it too late. If you're dead serious about winning something, get a stopwatch or something, and sync it with how much time is left on the auction (saves refreshing the page constantly). And then you can time the bid so you hit the button right in the dying moments. Sneaky, eh! :twisted:
I use my dads ebay/paypal account, and never had any problems so far. You're biggest problem is probably getting an arsehole seller. Like the Jackson I won a while ago for a cheap price, (the guy hadn't put a reserve on), and he refused to sell it to me. Other than that, you should have no problems.
The 0 feedback thing I'm not sure. Get in touch with them beforehand, and try and determine their sincerity if you're unsure. Plenty of good pictures is usually a good sign of a genuine seller (as long as the item their depicting is the genuine article of course). If it's a new, private seller, with one picture taken from a website, and a limited product description, then obviously be wary.
Common sense basically. But everyone has to start somewhere, so 0 feedback doesn't mean "uh oh".
Hope that helps somewhat. :D
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I had a 'Jolly' experience getting my latest guitar.
He wanted a minimum bid of about $1000 for something worth a lot less that. When you have a bar-steward like that all you need to do is drop them a mail asking the reserve price.
The guy was rude about it all when I offered him $500 for it (That's a good price considering there was a day to go with my bidding at $300 of which I knew he was gonna re-list it).
The auction ended and he demanded more than than what I bid for it( $750!!).
I had a lil' bet with him that I would let him relist it and whatever the bid went up to I would buy it. And what a result I got! $400 and a negative feedback for him after he/she/it was such a sore loser.
Any other Ebay stories?
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EDIT: ^ thanks. :) from what i'm hearing, people seem to have more horror stories of people refusing to sell at the price, rather than being gipped. am i right?
thanks sam, that's a good help.
could someone explain how the sniping works, though? surely, even if i do get in in the last few seconds, if someone else has set their maximum bid as higher than mine, their bid will be updated to be bigger than mine automatically? or am I wrong there?
I know about the 0 feedback... everyone has to start somewhere (i'll have 0, for example). The description seems kinda limited, but he does have about 4 or 5 pictures of said item. and, as i said, the fact the dude has a shop (where he's selling a bunch of band t-shirts as well) seems to suggest he isn't on the gip, but i guess you never know. he seems to have been registered for about 3 months... again doesn't necessarily mean he's on the gip, but hard to say.
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EDIT: ^ thanks. :) from what i'm hearing, people seem to have more horror stories of people refusing to sell at the price, rather than being gipped. am i right?
thanks sam, that's a good help.
could someone explain how the sniping works, though? surely, even if i do get in in the last few seconds, if someone else has set their maximum bid as higher than mine, their bid will be updated to be bigger than mine automatically? or am I wrong there?
I know about the 0 feedback... everyone has to start somewhere (i'll have 0, for example). The description seems kinda limited, but he does have about 4 or 5 pictures of said item. and, as i said, the fact the dude has a shop (where he's selling a bunch of band t-shirts as well) seems to suggest he isn't on the gip, but i guess you never know. he seems to have been registered for about 3 months... again doesn't necessarily mean he's on the gip, but hard to say.
I think Sniping is when someone puts a bid in at the very very last second.
What is it your bidding on anyway?
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^ thanks. yeah, i know, i meant did sniping beat automatic bidding if someone else has set up automatic bidding with a higher maximum price than my sniped bid?
and i'm (possibly, if i can summon the courage) bidding on some guitars, of course. :)
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^ thanks. yeah, i know, i meant did sniping beat automatic bidding if someone else has set up automatic bidding with a higher maximum price than my sniped bid?
and i'm (possibly, if i can summon the courage) bidding on some guitars, of course. :)
No Problem.
I guess if two automatic bidding types are going at it I wonder what will happen :lol:.
Then regarding your request is only one thing you can do. PM the seller and possibly settle it outside of the bid.
I guess the only way to beat the robot is be a robot :P.
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^ thanks. yeah, i know, i meant did sniping beat automatic bidding if someone else has set up automatic bidding with a higher maximum price than my sniped bid?
and i'm (possibly, if i can summon the courage) bidding on some guitars, of course. :)
If I had your Legra, my life would most likely be complete. Most likely. PDT_006
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Paypal just decided that there wasn't a bank account(source) linked to it.
Kinda handy when halfway through trying to pay, contacted the seller and explained, sent a cheque.
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I just bid in the last 30 seconds and you pretty much guaranteed a win, the only thing that can go wrong is that someone else has a higher maximum bid than you, in that case they win it. But i just put a figure as high as whatever i'm willing to pay for the item in, in the last 30 seconds and usually you win.
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I think it depends on what guitar your going for too.
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i have just has a slightly dubious thing happen on ebay.
i was bidding on a pedal against someone else , it got up to £27 - a fair price for the pedal but my maximum was about £33.. actually i wanted to pay less than that but i must admit to getting caught up in the bidding.
Then i was slightly dissapointed when the item recieved a few more bids in the last half an hour that took it over my max by about 50p.
nothing strage about that i know but Half an hour after its finished i get a second chance offer message from the seller that says
Hey, thanks for bidding on the pedal. Some bloody new member outbid you and then emailed saying they can't pay! Its still available if you fancy it. If not I can just relist. Regards, Roy
so now i am a bit suspicious. would someone really change their mind so quickly and if they did would they be so quick to let the seller know?
What i really dont like is that the second chance offer came with a price of my maximum bid of £33 rather than the highest real bid of £27.
I know its not much money but it makes me suspicious that the seller was just trying to push the price up by getting another account to bid on the pedal... anyway i am bidding on some other stuff but if i dont get them i may make him a fair offer of £27... dont see why i should pay more than that since no real bidders offered more
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I have a 99.8% (635) feedback rating, which is split 50/50 selling/buying
I would be very careful about 0 feedback sellers - particularly if they are selling high value items.
Also be aware that there is the issue of Cinese sellers punting fake high end guitars. They're usually easy to spot though. A genuine seller is equally easy to recognise imho.
Never get involved in haggling before or after an auction ends. The price that it ends at is all you should be paying and you should know exactly what the shipping cost will be to your address.
If the seller asks for more money or refuses to sell, simply refer them to ebay regulations and ask when the item can be expected to arrive at your address. If the response is the same leave negative feedback outlining why its a negative.
As a buyer I always let the seller leave feedback first :wink:
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i have just has a slightly dubious thing happen on ebay.
i was bidding on a pedal against someone else , it got up to £27 - a fair price for the pedal but my maximum was about £33.. actually i wanted to pay less than that but i must admit to getting caught up in the bidding.
Then i was slightly dissapointed when the item recieved a few more bids in the last half an hour that took it over my max by about 50p.
nothing strage about that i know but Half an hour after its finished i get a second chance offer message from the seller that says
Hey, thanks for bidding on the pedal. Some bloody new member outbid you and then emailed saying they can't pay! Its still available if you fancy it. If not I can just relist. Regards, Roy
so now i am a bit suspicious. would someone really change their mind so quickly and if they did would they be so quick to let the seller know?
What i really dont like is that the second chance offer came with a price of my maximum bid of £33 rather than the highest real bid of £27.
I know its not much money but it makes me suspicious that the seller was just trying to push the price up by getting another account to bid on the pedal... anyway i am bidding on some other stuff but if i dont get them i may make him a fair offer of £27... dont see why i should pay more than that since no real bidders offered more
Dont touch it mate.
That's a classic shill bid scam. I would decline and look for another seller with that pedal.
See this link.
http://www.ukauctionhelp.co.uk/shill.php
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Yeh that happens quite a lot, don't walk into those.
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i have just has a slightly dubious thing happen on ebay.
i was bidding on a pedal against someone else , it got up to £27 - a fair price for the pedal but my maximum was about £33.. actually i wanted to pay less than that but i must admit to getting caught up in the bidding.
Then i was slightly dissapointed when the item recieved a few more bids in the last half an hour that took it over my max by about 50p.
nothing strage about that i know but Half an hour after its finished i get a second chance offer message from the seller that says
Hey, thanks for bidding on the pedal. Some bloody new member outbid you and then emailed saying they can't pay! Its still available if you fancy it. If not I can just relist. Regards, Roy
so now i am a bit suspicious. would someone really change their mind so quickly and if they did would they be so quick to let the seller know?
What i really dont like is that the second chance offer came with a price of my maximum bid of £33 rather than the highest real bid of £27.
I know its not much money but it makes me suspicious that the seller was just trying to push the price up by getting another account to bid on the pedal... anyway i am bidding on some other stuff but if i dont get them i may make him a fair offer of £27... dont see why i should pay more than that since no real bidders offered more
Dont touch it mate.
That's a classic shill bid scam. I would decline and look for another seller with that pedal.
See this link.
http://www.ukauctionhelp.co.uk/shill.php
I had a stupid ex-girlfriend who used to do that sort of thing (having two accounts and bid on her own stuff to push the price up). I told her it wasn't a good thing to be doing but she said she knew better - then ebay banned her under all her accounts, which was the right thing to do...
Ebay got busted for this on TV a while back so they are a lot more vigilent about it
Have a look t the bid sniping programmes like http://www.bidnapper.com/
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Is automated sniping very common? That would just be bloody annoying.. PDT_033
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Is automated sniping very common? That would just be bloody annoying.. PDT_033
I have had twice when purchasing guitars PDT_046.
The first one was a lovely gloss black Godin Multiac and the other was an Fender HM (Phew!).
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thx for the advice guys - think i will report it to eBay!!!
I have had people suggest i do the same thing before.. and it has been quite tempting but i prefer honesty over profit. It was a bit hard when i sold my vox ac30 ss for £200 less than one that sold a few days before but i know my item was honestly listed and the buyer knows he got a great deal. I still got more than i payed for it so no real loss
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Paypal just decided that there wasn't a bank account(source) linked to it.
Kinda handy when halfway through trying to pay, contacted the seller and explained, sent a cheque.
thanks, i figured that's what you meant. :)
If I had your Legra, my life would most likely be complete. Most likely. PDT_006
haha, just because you have some kickass guitars doesn't mean you don't want more kickass guitars... :evil:
but thanks! :D
I just bid in the last 30 seconds and you pretty much guaranteed a win, the only thing that can go wrong is that someone else has a higher maximum bid than you, in that case they win it. But i just put a figure as high as whatever i'm willing to pay for the item in, in the last 30 seconds and usually you win.
thanks, joe, those are the tactics i meant. basically bid in the last few seconds, and input the maximum bid you're willing to go up to at that time too?
:)
I have a 99.8% (635) feedback rating, which is split 50/50 selling/buying
I would be very careful about 0 feedback sellers - particularly if they are selling high value items.
Also be aware that there is the issue of Cinese sellers punting fake high end guitars. They're usually easy to spot though. A genuine seller is equally easy to recognise imho.
Never get involved in haggling before or after an auction ends. The price that it ends at is all you should be paying and you should know exactly what the shipping cost will be to your address.
If the seller asks for more money or refuses to sell, simply refer them to ebay regulations and ask when the item can be expected to arrive at your address. If the response is the same leave negative feedback outlining why its a negative.
As a buyer I always let the seller leave feedback first :wink:
thanks. the dude is based in the UK. The item looks genuine to me, i'm obviously not an expert though. :)
I've heard not to get involved in the type of stuff you (and wez) mentioned. I have no intention of getting involved in that. :)
Is automated sniping very common? That would just be bloody annoying.. PDT_033
is it legal? don't really want to get involved in that, to be honest. manual sniping, fair enough, automatic, not so much... :)
again, thanks to everyone for the advice, it's helped a lot. :)
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Yeah Dave, if you 'snipe' but someone elses automatic bid is higher, you're gonna lose out. So 'snipe' but with your highest bid.
The second-chance thing Wez was on about; I don't see how you can denounce it's a scam unquestionably. Second-chance offers are dodgy because they can come from people other than the seller (or at least they used to be able to; now bidders identity seem to be hidden on every auction). But if it's from the seller, who has a good feedback rep, there is no reason to assume that it's dodgy. Wez, I doubt someone would use another account to push the price up £6 mate. (but of course, use your own judgement; if it seems dodgy, then leave it.).
I may be being too optmistic, I dunno, but if it's a trusted (feedback-wise) seller, ebay can be, and usually is, perfectly safe.
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As a buyer I always let the seller leave feedback first :wink:
I have to disagree, as a seller how do I know the buyer's even received the item until he leaves feedback (unless I e-mail him)? All I'm worried about is getting my money, the buyer's side of the deal is much more complicated - how quickly did the goods arrive, how well packed were they, were they accurately described etc.
If a buyer leaves me positive feedback, I know the whole transaction's complete - I have my money and he's happy with his goods. So I have no possible reason to leave negative feedback (except pure malice!).
On the other hand, if I the seller leave feedback as soon as I get my money, the buyer can still come back and claim it didn't arrive, or he just didn't like it, or something. And there I am having said what a super chap he is for paying...
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Yeah Dave, if you 'snipe' but someone elses automatic bid is higher, you're gonna lose out. So 'snipe' but with your highest bid.
if i snipe the way crazy joe suggested (i.e. snipe in the last 30 seconds or so, but also put in a maximum bid so e-bay will bid or me), would that counter-act that? that way i'm not paying over the odds to make sure i get it, but i'm covered if someone else is using automatic bidding too?
or do I have that wrong?
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Oh, and I hate this term "sniping" - it implies it's somehow sneaky to bid at the last minute , when in fact it's the only sensible thing to do.
If something ends in a week there's no point putting in a bid now. All it needs is two idiots to spend a week bidding against each other and it's putting the price up for everyone else. Whereas if everyone puts in their maximum bid near the end, they'll put in the most they want to pay instead of an amount to beat the current high bid. Potentially bad news for the seller, but good for the buyer.
There are only two reasons for bidding early:
- to turn a "Buy It Now" into an auction (waste of time if there's not a big gap between the starting price and the BIN price)
- to "sound out" a reserve price which hasn't yet been reached.
And finally (sorry, I know I'm being really pompous :wink: ):
Don't use an automated "bid assistant" - it places a bid for you as soon as anyone else bids, so it's just forcing the price up early as I said before.
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thanks philly, that's what i thought. if i were going to use that automated bidding, i'd do it at the last minute anyway. :)
how about sounding out reserves, as you suggested? any tips on that?
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if i snipe the way crazy joe suggested (i.e. snipe in the last 30 seconds or so, but also put in a maximum bid so e-bay will bid or me), would that counter-act that? that way i'm not paying over the odds to make sure i get it, but i'm covered if someone else is using automatic bidding too?
or do I have that wrong?
You're not putting in a bid and a maximum bid, Dave, you're always putting a maximum bid. So if the next highest bid is nowhere near your maximum, you pay just enough to win - not the maximum amount you bid.
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You're not putting in a bid and a maximum bid, Dave, you're always putting a maximum bid. So if the next highest bid is nowhere near your maximum, you pay just enough to win - not the maximum amount you bid.
ahahaha, i get it now! :lol: i told you i was new to this!
thanks philly, much appreciated. :)
EDIT: back to the reserve price thing. If i enter my bid (the most i want to pay, as i now know :lol: ), if that's higher than the reserve, will that automatically bid enough to beat the reserve if no-one else bids? or how does that work? as i said, any tips on sounding out reserves would be cool (just in case anyone missed it as a few posts have been posted since i asked that). :)
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back to the reserve price thing. If i enter my bid (the most i want to pay, as i now know :lol: ), if that's higher than the reserve, will that automatically bid enough to beat the reserve if no-one else bids? or how does that work? as i said, any tips on sounding out reserves would be cool (just in case anyone missed it as a few posts have been posted since i asked that). :)
Yep, when you bid on a reserve price, if you bid below the reserve it registers your bid but says "reserve not met". But if you bid over the reserve - say £500 when the reserve's £350 - your bid will register equal to the reserve price of £350. Until someone else bids.
Bidding on a reserve is just a shot in the dark really - if you reckon something's worth £350 but currently standing at £100 with the reserve not met, then try, say, £250. An amount you'd be absolutely happy to pay if you had to.
I say it's worth sounding out reserves because a lot of people have very high reserves, which is dumb because they may receive no bids high enough (if everyone bids late). And having a reserve costs a fortune for the seller in listing fees, because they're based on both the reserve price and the final selling price.
I don't like reserves, as either a buyer or a seller. I think it's better to just set your starting price as the minimum you'd accept, then hope it goes higher. Unless you're brave enough to go the "99p starting price" route, which guarantees some bids but it's too risky for me. :lol:
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Wez, I doubt someone would use another account to push the price up £6 mate.
that was my initial reaction as well.... but lets not forget that they only stopped when they had reached my maximum bid, whose to say it wouldnt have been more money if my maximum had been higher. if they hadnt emailed me straight away with a second chance offer i dont think i would have been suspicious. Hard to beleive that someone bids 3 times in the last hour of an auction then straight away turns around and says they dont want it.
but anyway, i won an auction on another pedal i was looking at so i will just go with that. I still think i should report the incident to ebay and let them make the decisions
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^Ah, I suppose.
Yeah handing it over to Ebay can do no harm really. And if something doesn't feel quite right then no point in taking the risk.
And Dave, you can simply ask the seller what the reserve price is. It says in the ebay FAQ or whatever that there is no problem doing that, and sellers are surprisingly willing to tell you in my experience. :)
P.S. Phil; Cannot emphasise enough how much I agree on the subject of early bidding. It annoys me SO much! :twisted:
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Yep, when you bid on a reserve price, if you bid below the reserve it registers your bid but says "reserve not met". But if you bid over the reserve - say £500 when the reserve's £350 - your bid will register equal to the reserve price of £350. Until someone else bids.
Bidding on a reserve is just a shot in the dark really - if you reckon something's worth £350 but currently standing at £100 with the reserve not met, then try, say, £250. An amount you'd be absolutely happy to pay if you had to.
I say it's worth sounding out reserves because a lot of people have very high reserves, which is dumb because they may receive no bids high enough (if everyone bids late). And having a reserve costs a fortune for the seller in listing fees, because they're based on both the reserve price and the final selling price.
I don't like reserves, as either a buyer or a seller. I think it's better to just set your starting price as the minimum you'd accept, then hope it goes higher. Unless you're brave enough to go the "99p starting price" route, which guarantees some bids but it's too risky for me. :lol:
Thanks philly, great help as usual.
So basically when sounding out the reserve, you could bid pretty low (but higher than the existing bid) several times to try to get close... until you actually either unearth the real reserve price, or the price gets higher than you want to pay.
Correct?
^Ah, I suppose.
Yeah handing it over to Ebay can do no harm really. And if something doesn't feel quite right then no point in taking the risk.
And Dave, you can simply ask the seller what the reserve price is. It says in the ebay FAQ or whatever that there is no problem doing that, and sellers are surprisingly willing to tell you in my experience. :)
P.S. Phil; Cannot emphasise enough how much I agree on the subject of early bidding. It annoys me SO much! :twisted:
thanks sam. i'd thought of that, but presumably there's nothing to stop them telling you a price higher than the actual reserve? then again, if no-one outbids you, you'd get it for the actual reserve price anyway, presumably.
bit late though, i already messaged the dude, don't like to message him again until he answers. :)
thanks guys, i appreciate this. You're definitely helping me a lot so far, i feel now i have a rough idea as to what's going on.
just one last thing (i think!)... suppose the price stays static for several hours (or days)... does this mean no-one has bid higher, or does it mean that someone may have entered a higher price, but it just hasn't shown up yet? do bids always show up, basically? (that made more sense in my head... hopefully you understand what i mean)
:)
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Bids allways show up.
The auction would normally state the current highest bidder - and if you are a bidder, it would certainly tell you if you were outbid.
if it didn't - Then nobody would ever bid more than once :P
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^Yup.
Automatic bids work just like manual ones, in that they will show up as the highest bid in exactly the same way.
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ok, thanks guys. That helps a lot. :)
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So basically when sounding out the reserve, you could bid pretty low (but higher than the existing bid) several times to try to get close... until you actually either unearth the real reserve price, or the price gets higher than you want to pay.
Correct?
Correct! :D
And as Sam said, you can always try asking. I quite often end up having long email exchanges with prospective buyers asking loads of questions - then they don't bid. :lol: :roll: The only thing I can't stand is when someone asks to end an auction early.
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The only thing I can't stand is when someone asks to end an auction early.
I find it even worse when they ask me to stop a BIN auction early - sure, pay the buy it now price!!!
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Back to the pedal question - lowish value item - suggests to me that the seller got a mate to bid it up a few ££ in the hope that the last minute bidders would come in and top the price - then when it didn't happen the seller needs to take the hit and offload it to the next guy in the queue.
(Of course this 'getting a mate to bid it up' is based on a hypothetical scenario that none of us who sell on eBay will have ever used in the past.. Honest! No, really....)
:D
On the last minute bidding issue - let's face it - why do folk bid at the last second? Because they are hoping to get the item for a 'bargain' price - we all like a good deal!
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So basically when sounding out the reserve, you could bid pretty low (but higher than the existing bid) several times to try to get close... until you actually either unearth the real reserve price, or the price gets higher than you want to pay.
Correct?
Correct! :D
And as Sam said, you can always try asking. I quite often end up having long email exchanges with prospective buyers asking loads of questions - then they don't bid. :lol: :roll: The only thing I can't stand is when someone asks to end an auction early.
thanks!
things are looking not too great, though... one of the guys said he'd prefer to sell to someone with higher feedback (how the heck do i get feedback if no-one will sell to people with no feedback? buy loads of cheap things I don't even want?!?! :evil: ) and also that postage to northern ireland would be extra (despite saying he'd ship to the UK, and last time I checked northern ireland was in the UK, that's the whole reason it's called the UK FFS! :evil: :x ), while the other guy (with 0 feedback) hasn't even replied to my message, so i'm not chancing it.
Sorry for the rant, i was ill this morning, and now this. Not terribly pleased, you could say. :lol:
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Sounds like you're dealing with numbskulls, unfortunately, Dave.
I bought a guitar from Norn Iron just a few weks ago, and they got it to England next day with Parcelforce 24 (my local Parcelforce depot didn't actually succeed in delivering it to me that day, but that's because they're mindless lazy dolts...).
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The problem is that in NI almost every mainland UK (read English) supplier hits you with a huge extra charge, and the wierd thing is that they all use Parcelfarce who don't charge extra !
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thanks for the commiserations, philly and rob... i guess they feel if they don't make so much profit on the item, they can make it on the postage. annoying, though.
I guess I'll wait a few days... been looking at second-hand tokai fender copies, they seem to come up reasonably frequently. so i'll not get too annoyed just yet. :)
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haha, the guy who didn't answer me didn't get his reserve price. serves him right. and i'd have definitely paid more than the final (unsuccessful, i assume, since it didn't reach the reserve) bid.
schadenfreude is awesome. :twisted:
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Is that Gaelic?
:-)
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Just read this - eBay are going to prevent sellers from leaving negative or neutral feedback about buyers.
So is it just positive feedback or none at all? And will sellers be able to respond to negative feedback from buyers? I'm not sure, but it seems unfair to me.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7228460.stm