eBay Bidding Or/And Gambling

R

ruben

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Since some week ago I have been following two Olympus 35RD. One of them was advertized as having shutter blades starting to stick. The other was advertized as fully working.

The two cameras were to end by a difference of two hours, being the sticky bladed the first.

Personally I thought I had a chance for the damaged one with a max bid will of 49 dollarettas, which is the maximum the local authorities will pass without 17% additional tax plus bureaucracy.

The other one, the fully working, I followed just to be informed of what a working RD in good conditions may cost these days.

The results and the biddings ended in an absolutely crazy finalle.

This is the link for the sticky blades:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=250292360063

and this is the ling for the fully working one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=110288146705

Both sellers US, and 100% feedback.

Never loose hope,
Ruben
 
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You have to suspend your belief system when bidding on eBay; it does not follow the usual trends of a market economy or whetever else they teach about supply and demand in business school. eBay is a world of "I gotta have it" and/or "the thrill's in outbidding somebody else" mentality, and as such, you are dealing with irrational beings who could care less about market trends or market value, or the fact that, in some cases, they could buy something new at B&H for less than what they bid.
 
22 bids for the broken one going to a last minute bidder. 3 bids for the working one. I never count a win or a sale until the fat whoever sings.
 
Ruben, can understand you - purchasing from USbay, I also watch prices not to run over hassle-free limit. I'm happy for getting Lynx 14 without major pain. Watch that SP's and one "proper" will pop out - right for you, it will be listed "for Ruben; Cheers, your ebay angel".

And I'm not heading for SP, if this helps :) At least not now...though I suspect I'm done getting more fixed lens RF's.
 
Ebay can be crazy. We have GAS, ebay addicts have , I don't even know what to call it. Biditis I guess. Run up the price (knocking you out of the running) then back out of the deal.
 
The starting price was the key on this one.....

The starting price was the key on this one.....

The 99 cent starting price started a string of bidding. The 59.99 on the good camera inhibited bidding. Bidding is the name of the game on eBay. If there's no activity, nothing about condition of the item will sway the activity. The camera with the 59.99 start price got passed over and not posted on most peoples watch list.

As I teach eBay classes, this is a fundamental point. If the person who wanted the protection of a 59.99 start price wanted activity, he/she would have used a 99 cent start and a 59.99 reserve.

There are some fundamentals that ring true over and over, and this is a primary one for eBay. I have documented this phenomenon over and over and it has not changed for 7 years in my research.

The people who hate the reserve system and use start prices for protection are quite simply wrong and fighting an entrenched aspect of the system.

But hey, if the hard heads out there simply won't learn, I am quite happy to take advantage of the way the system works for me. I make good profits on eBay. I have repeatedly bought and sold the same item without more than simple cleanup, and doubled my money. Buy, and relist, buy and relist... using the rules I've learned.

The searching methods are unique. There are about seven points of each auction that dictate activity and high final prices, and violating those inherent rules results in limited activity and low final prices.

The trick is to work the system for the low final prices and restructure the auctions toward high final price results.

Logic is not prevalent, but that's relatively true in the majority of marketing.

When I start my class sessions, one of the first instructions to students is to tell them to turn off the logical function of their brains and soak in what the research shows, and how to do it. I also tell them to turn off the spell function and mis-spell, mis-spell, mis-spell and randomly search key words. Much money in mis-spelled listing and mis-directing key words.
 
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I'll throw in another 2 cents, any mechanical camera more than 30 years old needs a good CLA. The one advertised as working is in reality, or at least in my book, no better than the one advertised as needing work.

People that buy these cameras, on here or eBay, should give it the benefit of the doubt and figure on sending it in for a CLA.

If your not concerned about a perfect camera a drop or two of lighter fluid will fix the sticky shutter.
 
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