Re: OT: another happy Ebay story

On Jun 24, 9:24 pm, "Jim Carr" <newsgro...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"Derek Homsberg" <dhoms...@xxxxxxx> wrote in message

news:Opxfi.404$Od7.156@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I don't think they're bad at all. Anyone can use them. Most of them are
free. The one thing they do, is tend to keep prices down, so they hurt
the seller. Bidding as the auction goes along tends to get people
involved and bids go up. When I bid on ebay, if there are no other
bidders, I will bid the minimum, just in case no one else bids. If there
are other bids, I'll wait till the end. Even then, I don't always win.

I find it funny that you and others are sucked into using the terms win and
lose. When you "win" an auction it means you were willing to pay more than
anyone else on the planet at that time. That's more like losing, isn't it?

Nope. "Winning" is getting something you wanted for a price that you
were willing to pay which you would not have got if someone had been
willing to pay a bit more (or, perhaps, had applied a better bidding
strategy than he did). Or, "winning" is getting something at a price
(including shipping) that is lower than you could get an equivalent
used item (including tax) over the counter someplace near enough your
home to drive to (and balancing the uncertainties of [a] you cannot
touch and feel the condition of something from an eBay auction, versus
[b] the chance of finding exectly what you want in a local pawn- or
used-merchandise shop is far, far smaller than through the huge market
of eBay).

Clearly, the strategy of any auction house is to create a
psychological climate where you (and at least one other) get so
involved in the competitive aspect of the activity that you actually
pay more than you would otherwise have been willing to pay.

Canny bidders, however, decide upon their maximum bid early, then
either bid or wait until the last minute to "snipe", but never exceed
their pre-determined maxima. I've let a lot of things go without
bidding, because I prefer to wait and "snipe" at the last minute
rather than drive the price up by incite someone else's competitive
urge during the entire course of the auction. If the bidding goes
beyond what I have decided the item is worth to me, I never get to bid
on it at all.

Other times, I have sniped in a last-minute bid, only to find that
someone else had already entered a higher maximum bid, so the only
result of my bidding was to drive the price up for him. Tough ol'
tamales, I say; if he wasn't willing to sustain that last-minute jump
he shouldna bifd that much. I'm sorry I drove his price up, but I
don't feel any *guilt* about it.

This weekend I bid early (on a Stratocaster) because I was going away
for the weekend, and I set my maximum bid at $1.66 over my theoretical
maximum. I won the auction by $1.66. For me, this was a "win" (if
the axe arrives in decent shape) because (a) it was less than the
cost of equivalent Strats on consignment in my local music shop and
(b) it matches my specific criteria more closely than anything I have
seen on consignment there.

To be specific, I bought a Midnight Blue Strat with a maple fretboard
and hardshell case for $301.66 including shipping. In my local shop
there is a Sunburst (which I hate) Strat with a maple neck (which I
love) for $299+tax and a Midnight Wine (which I like) Strat with a
Rosewood fretboard (which I don't much like) for $249+tax, and neither
includes a case. So I got a color I really like with the fretboard I
prefer and a hardshell case for about 300 beans. Actual condition of
the axe TBD, but if arrives in good shape, I say "I won."

-Richard, His Kanubic Travesty
--
Richard Hopley, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
Nothing really matters except Boats, Sex, and Rock'n'Roll

.

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