Talk about RIPOFF. . .

Dewhistle · Post by **Dewhistle** » Mon Aug 12, 2002 1:42 pm

Looks like there haven't been any suckers so far.

merlinthedog · Post by **merlinthedog** » Wed Aug 14, 2002 8:51 am

I have had good experiences with ebay. My first whistle was bought at the whistle shop. Not knowing anything about what they cost I bid about 15.00 on a sweettone. I, of course, won the bid and was presently suprised when Thom only charged be the selling price. (great way to gain repeat customers)

Wandering_Whistler · Post by **Wandering_Whistler** » Wed Aug 14, 2002 11:12 am

Thom did the same for me, quite some time ago. I had bent a Guinness whistle that a friend got me for X-Mas, and was hoping to replace it before said friend came and visited. I knew he'd ask if I liked it, and would be disappointed if I didn't play it. In any case, I bid about $1.00 less than what the whistle went for locally, and won. The bid was a few dollars more than Thom sells 'em for, and he knocked the price down for me. I've bought all my new whistles through him since. Far as I'm concerned, any businesmann who has a great sense of customer service, and has good prices gets all my support.

Greg

On 2002-08-14 10:51, merlinthedog wrote:
I have had good experiences with ebay. My first whistle was bought at the whistle shop. Not knowing anything about what they cost I bid about 15.00 on a sweettone. I, of course, won the bid and was presently suprised when Thom only charged be the selling price. (great way to gain repeat customers)

tkelly · Post by **tkelly** » Tue Aug 27, 2002 11:01 pm

I think this guy needs a better supplier. No $50 gens this time -- only $14 for a $6 whistle. And $9 - $14 for an acorn.

I guess people must really buy them or he wouldn't keep doing it.

Tery

OutOfBreath · Post by **OutOfBreath** » Wed Aug 28, 2002 10:58 am

On 2002-08-28 01:01, tkelly wrote:
I guess people must really buy them or he wouldn't keep doing it.

It's sometimes amazing what people will pay for stuff on e-bay. For a long time (until my computer at work was stolen) I had kept a complete archive of a completed auction I'd stumbled across for a Martin guitar strap and strap button.

It was a nice strap and button, but two complete idiots got in a bidding war and bid the final price up to a few HUNDRED dollars for something they could buy in any music store for around thirty bucks.

Both of the idiot bidders were experienced eBayers with feedback of over thirty in one case and over 100 in the other. (I.e. they weren't shill accounts set up just to screw the seller.)

Compounding the stupidity, the seller was a music store that listed the same item continually so while these idiots were bidding up the price on this one item, there were three more identical items closing within the following four or five days that hadn't received a single bid.

I don't buy a lot of stuff on eBay, but I went ahead and purchased some sniper software anyway just because I got tired of complete idiots bidding the prices up so high. Since I've been "sniping" I've often been outbid, but at least not by someone who is only bidding because I did!

John

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Wed Aug 28, 2002 11:05 am

My pet peeve is the eBay bidder (regardless of experience) who bids against himself placing consecutive bids on items with NO RESERVE thus needlessly driving the price up.

tkelly · Post by **tkelly** » Wed Aug 28, 2002 12:35 pm

I guess we're venturing off topic here, but what is sniper software?

Tery

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Wed Aug 28, 2002 12:56 pm

Bid placing software or service. Have a look at these:
http://www.auctionstealer.com/home.cfm
http://www.auctionsniper.com/

[ This Message was edited by: Tony on 2002-08-28 15:01 ]

JohnPalmer · Post by **JohnPalmer** » Wed Aug 28, 2002 10:06 pm

I've seen Thom's Guinness whistles go for $20, on eBay. JP

Grannymouse · Post by **Grannymouse** » Thu Aug 29, 2002 8:35 am

And then there was the blond who said......
"I was worried that my mechanic might try to rip me off, I was relieved when he told me all I needed was turn-signal fluid."

Gm

[ This Message was edited by: grannymouse on 2002-08-29 10:37 ]

OutOfBreath · Post by **OutOfBreath** » Thu Aug 29, 2002 11:12 am

On 2002-08-28 13:05, Tony wrote:
My pet peeve is the eBay bidder (regardless of experience) who bids against himself placing consecutive bids on items with NO RESERVE thus needlessly driving the price up.

Actually, you won't bid the price up doing that (though I agree it's irritating). If there are no other bidders then all you are doing is upping your proxy bid, which merely raises the maximum amount the proxy bidding will go to on your behalf if other bidders join the game.

This incremental bidding does reveal a considerable amount of ignorance or, er, "enthusiasm" on the part of those who do it though. You see them inch their bid up a little at a time until they top the current high proxy, only to have to come back and do it again when someone outbids them, and so on.

The bottom line is that you should decide what something is worth to you and place only one bid for that maximum amount. You will only pay that maximum amount if someone else bids you up to it. If no one else bids against you, you'll get it for the minimum increment. This saves time, frustration, and you don't end up paying three times what something is worth because you got "caught up in the excitement."

For the person who asked, Sniper software will automatically place your proxy bid in the closing seconds of the auction. This offers only one advantage, others don't have time to react to your bid so if you've got one of those idiot incremental bidders participating, you will win without them pushing the price into the stratosphere. If there are smart bidders in the auction, ie. those bidding their maximum proxy and walking away, there is no advantage to sniping. If the smart proxy bidder has bid more than you are willing to bid on your "snipe" then he is going to win the auction and you are going to lose. In fact, if his proxy bid was the same as your snipe bid he is going to win because he got his bid in first.

Perhaps the biggest advantage to sniping is that it is impossible to get caught up in a bidding war. You set the software to place your bid at the close, you forget about it, and by not even looking at the auction again until after the close you can't be sucked into a bidding war.

John