eBuy is evil !

[darkkavenger]

Hello folks!

Well that's the 1st time I'm bidding on something on eBay, currently a 50/2.8 Tessar pre-war lens, and seems like there are others interested in this lens 😉

Well, I just wanted to share what many of you must know already, that struggle to win, the stress and also sometimes frustration 😉

I don't mind if I lose it... I think that probably by the end of the week, if my wage arrives, I will offer myself a nifty Orion-15 28/6.5 in Kiev mount from my local shop 😉 (for about 90$, not bad huh ?) 😀

 

[Kim Coxon]

I don't suppose they have any in LTM and if so, would you like to get one for another RFF member and pass it on?

Kim

Hello folks!

I don't mind if I lose it... I think that probably by the end of the week, if my wage arrives, I will offer myself a nifty Orion-15 28/6.5 in Kiev mount from my local shop 😉 (for about 90$, not bad huh ?) 😀

 

[darkkavenger]

I don't suppose they have any in LTM and if so, would you like to get one for another RFF member and pass it on?

Kim

Last time I was there, they also had one in LTM ... I will see if I can afford to get one in LTM, and sell it to another member by adding only shipping costs 🙂

 

[Poptart]

Here's how you win an auction on eBay: wait until the final 20-30 seconds to bid, then bid the highest amount you'd ever be willing to pay + $15 for good measure. You'll almost always win.

 

[Frank Granovski]

That's more or less what I do except that I go for the buy it now option if it's available and it ain't too high.

 

[darkkavenger]

😀 thank you !!

 

[Sean Chan]

Here's how you win an auction on eBay: wait until the final 20-30 seconds to bid, then bid the highest amount you'd ever be willing to pay + $15 for good measure. You'll almost always win.

That's what everyone do, I suppose, but there are always a few early bidder who pushed the price to a level that even "the highest amount you'd ever be willing to pay + $15 " is still lower than the current price.

But somtimes there is basically no one bidding the item and just you.

The most painful expereince on e-bay for me is that when bidding overseas items where an item is ending at 4a.m. local time I usually have to put my bid before goining to sleep and usually waking up in the morning seeing the item ended 1 dollar above my highest bid.

 

[Poptart]

I feel your pain. I lost a sweet set of alloys for my Subaru on an overnight bid.

 

[darkkavenger]

Well that went over my maximum (75$) Feel free to check, it's ending in two hours ...
Tessar 50/2.8 :

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7572769380&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEBI:IT&rd=1

 

[VinceC]

I've only bought a few items by auction, but I use a more Zen-related approach. I determine the maximum I'd pay for it, add about $20, and post the bid three or four days before it expires. I then go about my business (but do ocassionaly check the site if it's an item I'm really interested in -- if I get outbid on it, that's where the Zen kicks in, because I've already put in my max-bid). Then, after doing yardwork, or a good-night's sleep or whatever, I check in to see whether I'fe won or not. If I won, I'm happy. If I lost, another one like it will probably show up sooner or later, and I might need to rethink the most I'd be willing to pay.

I know there are folks who jump in during the last minute to try to grab their items at the lowest price. When I look at the bid histories on things I've bought, I see that several folks have tried doing that and failed, because I was bidding on an item I rationally wanted and so was willing to pay a rational, fair-market price. There was one time I got a rare (to me) book at half the expected price, and I felt so guilty about paying so little for it that I sent the seller a good-sized "tip" to clear my conscience.

The EB* auction site does a great service by making obscure items available to the world. I don't expect something to sell for a quarter or 10th of its value even though that kind of thing happens in junk shops and flea markets. The way I see it, I'm not spending all my time trolling through junk shops and flea markets, so that adds value to the item right there.

Fifteen and 20 years ago, I was getting Shutterbug magazine airmailed to me, then, the day it arrived, calling around to shops that were advertizing the used gear I needed, then more or less buying it sight-unseen. This was expensive, time-consuming, and the gear wasn't always what I expected, condition-wise or model-wise, because I never saw a picture. The auction sites have faults, but don't forget that they do tend to work.

 

[Poptart]

So why aren't people like you bidding on my auctions? All I get are lookie-loos and cheapskates.

 

[Frank Granovski]

So why aren't people like you bidding on my auctions? All I get are lookie-loos and cheapskates.

What are your auctions? Anything pristine and under-priced? 😎

 

[chenick]

I think eBay is pretty good. Without it I wouldn't have my lovely Olympus 35 SP, or my dirty, brick of a Mamiya SLR or my broken Cosina SLR or my other broken SLR that I returned or my free Industar 61 lens 🙂

I don't think I'll be buying any more cameras on eBay though*, it's often a bit of a gamble. RFF's a good source, plus I have a good camera repair guy who often has interesting stuff. I still buy lenses, though I expect Russian ones to need relubing.

Several times I've really wanted something and I've been pipped by a last minute bidder who put in a slightly higher offer. So, if I really want something, I have been known to resort to auctionstealer.com, it's free and bids in the last 20 secs or so... I know I'm evil. But then again, as poptart says: "bid the highest amount you'd ever be willing to pay + $15 for good measure."

-Nick

*never say never though 🙂

 

[kmack]

Here's how you win an auction on eBay: wait until the final 20-30 seconds to bid, then bid the highest amount you'd ever be willing to pay + $15 for good measure. You'll almost always win.

Being the CSB that I am, I will bid early with a low ball price below what I really want to pay and then let it ride. I particularly choose items ending early in the morning on weekdays. I may not win many but the auctions I win usually are good deals.

 

[darkkavenger]

To lighten my heavy heart, I bought paper and chemicals, and was hoping to find again that Orion-15 in Kiev mount, but instead they had 2 of them in M39, and two Russar-20 in M39. Of course the prices were interestingly high. Bah! 😛