WORLDWIDE Chapter 149 Message Board

StephanG · Chapter Member

For me it is simple. Ebay is what it is. Good, bad, whatever if you want to play you have to learn how it works and then figure out how to use it to best advantage.
I can't touch the items but for me the same applies for most places I buy.
Sometimes the pictures are bad but other times they are good. If I buy from Jon there are none so again for me it is not such an issue.
I ask a lot of questions and after a while you get a feel for how much you can trust someone.
Sniping doesn't bother me because I do my homework and work out what I am prepared to pay.
If someone else is willing to pay more what does it matter how they placed their bid. I will loose anyway.
I use sniping sometimes if an auction ends at 4.00 am but mostly I prefer to place a bid myself at the finish time.
I usually manage to get the ones I really want.
As I recall a certain ex NAWCC auction thread used a system where you had to hold the winning bid for 5 Min's ( or something similar ) before you were declared the winner.
I don't recall that system was perfect either and there were still problems.

darrah · Chapter Member

I use a 3rd party to snipe. I place my best offer and move on. If I win I win. If not, there is always more stuff around the corner. By doing this I solve four things, 1. try and keep the bid down by sniping, 2. don't get caught up in a bidding war, 3. support the internet economy, and 4. frees up my time AWAY from the damn computer.

ronwatch · Chapter Member

It seems there are two major bones of contention on ebay discussion - sniping and schill bidders.
First sniping. The good side and the good side (no I did not err because I see no bad side. Sniping brings the seller the highest price for their item (good for the seller) I snipe 100% of the items I get on ebay. (I bid 1 second before end and with no software and most times get the item.) Thats the only way to beat the software (1 second snipe). I've done this since 1998.
Second schill bids. Good for the seller. ( I know it's illegal ) but it is essentialy done at every auction in the world and the way it's done is legal. Have you ever wondered when the auctionier starts the low bid on an item that you know is worth at lot more. It starts at or below the unrealist low estimate in the auction cataloge. ( to get stupid people to the auction thinking they are going to get the item for an unrealistic bid or spark an intrest ). Well the auction house can bid the item up to the un-disclosed researve which is more than the esitmate. So many times your not bidding against a real bidder. It's legal in just about every aution in the world. So when an ebay shill is bidding for their pal they know the researve and do exactly what the auction houses do and kick the bid up just under the researve with no risk of winnig the item.
So the moral of the story is - if you don't like the way the game is played- don't play !!!!!
Ron

MartyR · Chapter Member

ronwatch · Chapter Member

Jon · Chapter President

There is only one type of good auction--A PURE AUCTION WITHOUT RESERVES OR MINIMUMS! And, these are usually old estates or where the person has passed. Remember, most of the reserve auctions are dealer inventories. It is illegal for a consignor to bid up his own stuff, but it is done and I have observed it in the US. When I see it occurring, I refuse to bid.

ronwatch · Chapter Member

Jon · Chapter President

Come again--I attend any major watch auction that has the goods!

And, I do my share of passing "the ram hat!"

ronwatch · Chapter Member

Jon · Chapter President

There basically have been very few superior American pocket watch auctions. Bundens, Goldberg, Goodman, Atwood come to mind that were good.

StephanG · Chapter Member

Even a pure auction can be fiddled. I remember going to an auction of a deceased estate where there was a large workshop full of equipment. I was there with a couple of friends to bid on some of it. We watched as a bunch of other stuff was sold and just before they started on the equipment a new person appeared.
When the equipment came up he bid on every lot and made sure he won no matter the cost. The first few went expensive but he made his point and the next few went cheap. Then someone else had a go and again he won at a high price. This pattern continued for all the equipment and once it was sold the bloke left.
Turned out he was a dealer and he did not care the cost of each item. He worked on the cost of getting the whole lot. I think there was only one item he let go and the price was so high you could have bought a new one and then had some change.
There is no perfect system. Just some you like more than others because you are better at those ones.

Jon · Chapter President

When I stated "PURE" I was addresing the reserves, shilling, owners bidding, and other nonsense auctioneers try to pull!

THE ONLY PROBLEM AT A TRUE, PURE AUCTION MIGHT BE OTHER BIDDERS......BIDDING AGAINST YOU!

(REMEMBER MY FASOLDT SALE STORY IN A COUNTRY AUCTION?)

StephanG · Chapter Member

The GAME is always the same. The seller wants as much as he can get and the buyer wants to pay as little as he can get away with. Anything else that happens is just strategy like playing chess. The trick is to know all the moves and allow for them. The only way both sides can win is with a "buy it now price" they are both happy with.

Jon · Chapter President

Wait a minue, I was addressing public auctions.

Not all parties want the top prices--some auctioneers just want to move the goods, others MILK the stuff (like up in NH--milk city).