E-bay complaints: was Re: "Response" from seller with the "Apple-1"

[Jim Isbell, W5JAI]

Amen and Amen.  

I sell a lot on E Bay (and buy also) but I have a policy that if there
is no bid on my item 6 hours before closing, I pull the item.  I will
NOT sell it to a sniper who wants to get it for 1 cent over the
minimum bid.  If there is a bid on it then its a fair auction, but if
you watch a real life auction the auctioneer does not say "going,
going,  oopes theres a bid, gone."  After a lat minute bit he will
open it up again for more bids.  E Bay used to do that back in the
beginning.  If there was a late bit it automatically extended the time
for 5 or 10 minutes.  But they dont do that now, so I pull the item if
its not getting bids.  Another tactic I use is to raise the starting
bid at 6 hours till end if there are no bide.  This will get some of
them off the pot.

Now, do I snipe?  Yes I do, but I dont bitch when the auction ends
early or if someone outbids me or if I forget to come back to the
auction and miss the ending.

On 7/4/05, Joe R. <rigdonj at cfl.rr.com> wrote:
> At 10:22 AM 7/4/05 +0100, Phil wrote:
> 
> >
> >Here's a fine example of why I can't stand it.
> >On Sunday morning I added an item to my watchlist - a Microprofessor MPF-1,
> >complete, boxed, with manuals. Supposedly perfect condition too. Also checked
> >that it was still pointed at my Gmail address. It was. The auction was due to
> >end at 4PM on Sunday (ie. yesterday).
> >
> >When did I get the "Item is ending within 5 hours" message? That's right. 5
> >minutes ago. Followed by an "Item has ended, YOU LOSE!" message. Fecking
> >stupid thing.
> >
> >And people wonder why I hate ebay. What really pisses me off is that it's
> >done this to me THREE TIMES this week, to three different email addresses.
> >Bleagh. I wanted that MPF, too - it only went for £16 - my max was way higher
> >than that :( :( :(
> 
>    Don't take this personally BUT:   Why didn't you bid your max bid the
> first time???????  If you had you would have won the item.
> 
>    What is it with all you people that want to wait till the last second to
> bid and then you whine when don't win. Late messages aren't necessarily
> E-bays fault. The InterNET is a network of servers, relays, etc and
> messages can be delayed for many reasons. That's one of the good things
> about E-bay's system, you don't have to be there or even on-line when the
> auction nears it's end, the system will do the bidding for you. I NEVER get
> outbid on things that I really want. I'm sure Al and others can tell you
> the same thing. You lost because you wanted to play stupid games with
> E-bay's system!
> 
>    I don't understand why some of ypeople on this list are always
> complaining about E-bay.  Where else do you think you're going to find a
> complete Microprofessor MPF-1 for £16 and never leave your desk? If you
> want bargains you have to go hunt for them or take the occasional one, like
> this one, that show up on E-bay.  If you don't like E-bay's high prices
> then get off the computer and go start looking in the surplus stores, scrap
> yards, flea markets, etc etc etc. There are still PLENTY of bargains to be
> had. I have a LOT of great computers (3x SB-180s, 2x Rubicons, 2x Altairs,
> 10x Intels, 13x AIM-65s, HP-9100, 4x HP-35 Red Dots, 5x HP-1000s, PDP-8,
> etc etc etc etc) and NONE of them came from E-bay. I got ALL of them the
> hard way, by LOOKING!
> 
>    my 2 cents worth,
>    Joe
> 
> 
> 


-- 
Jim Isbell
"If you are not living on the edge, well then, 
you are just taking up too much space."
W5JAI
1967 UltraVan #257
1936 SS-100 (replica)
1970 E-Type
1982 XJ6
1985 XJS
1988 XJ40