Why I HATE ebay (rant)

[ToyStory Fan]

Here's the story, a few weeks ago I am noticing that my Dolby Digital Decoder (Marantz DP870) is now giving me a turn on/off thump thru the speakers. Not happy about it. I can either a) send it in for repair (min $100 repair/diagnostic), b) buy a used one off ebay, hard to find but possible ($100-$150) or buy a new receiver with DD, and all of the power and features my existing one has ($1,500-$2,000). I luck out and find one on ebay $79.99, buy it now $149.99, 5 days into the auction NO bids.

I e-mail the guy for a little more info...no response. I decide for $80 I'll have a go at it with 2 days remaining. No other bids. I am watching it in the closing minutes...1 min left hit refresh, BLAMM lost it.

I am speechless, what a load of CRAP! Because this guy sniped me with no time left on the clock I don't get a chance to up my bid - YES I BID MANUALLY...I'm not a fan of proxy bidding because it allows the seller to have friends drive the price up...and if any of you DON'T think that happens, I've got bridge to sell ya'.

On top of it I have a feeling the buyer/seller are related. I know I'll never be able to prove it, but I'm betting the guy used an alternate name/e-mail to be able to punch-out of an auction that he thought he'd get more action on and didn't. Maybe it's a stretch, but I was an auditor for 6 years and did a few forensic accounting assignments, but the names both contain a form of American Indian flavor to them born of fire and lilwing.

I don't know maybe it's sour grapes, but I have never been a big fan of ebay because of all of the fraud and this (right or wrong) makes my case (in my mind) against them even stronger.

Sorry for the rant, but I was besides myself earlier today when I saw I got sniped.

 

[C.Ann]

Sorry to hear you lost out on something you wanted so badly, but let me give you a sellers perspective on this..

I've only being selling for about a month now and there have been SEVERAL times that an item of mine had NO bids until the last minutes and then a flurry of activity sent the final bid to an incredible high (considering what my original opening bid was)..

And then there was the lady who kept bidding against HERSELF - there was virtually NO ONE ELSE BIDDING ON THE ITEM - and she ended up "winning" the auction at about 7 times the amount it should have cost her had she NOT been bidding against herself.. I'll NEVER figure THAT out!

Much of eBay has no rhyme or reason to it.. Yes - there are scams - and snipers - but there are also a vast number of truly honest and fair sellers out there as well..

Basically eBay is a form of gambling - on both the buyers part - as well as the sellers part - and sometimes one or the other "loses".. Try not to let it sour you on eBay forever - at least it wasn't a shady seller who took your money and then never sent you the item..

 

[dandave]

ToyStory, I have sniped and been sniped. It does sting to be on the losing end, and I'm sorry you were. If the seller was using a shill, perhaps it's for the best, though.

C.Ann, I haven't messed with eBay much in the past few years, but the situation you described with the woman bidding against herself has me curious. Are you sure that she hadn't put in a rather large proxy, and others were bidding as well. Or did you perhaps have a reserve on the item you were selling?

 

[C.Ann]

Originally posted by dandave
ToyStory, I have sniped and been sniped. It does sting to be on the losing end, and I'm sorry you were. If the seller was using a shill, perhaps it's for the best, though.

C.Ann, I haven't messed with eBay much in the past few years, but the situation you described with the woman bidding against herself has me curious. Are you sure that she hadn't put in a rather large proxy, and others were bidding as well. Or did you perhaps have a reserve on the item you were selling?

-------------------------
No reserve - no one else bidding.. The ONLY possible explanation I can come up with (and believe me, I've wracked me brains over this one) is maybe she set up proxy bids and went away on vacation - therefore not realizing that no one else was bidding..

I also had a woman pay me $15 (PLUS shipping and handling) for a video (that was NOT rare, collectable, or anything of that nature) that could be purchased in a store right now for less than $6.00..... Maybe she doesn't live near a store, but still.. There's some "weird" stuff that goes on at eBay - but I guess that's what happens when you get a "gathering" of SOOOO many people in one place..

 

[dandave]

That's strange, C. Ann. It has been a while for me, though. Used to, you couldn't bid against yourself by raising your proxy on a straight (non-dutch) auction.
I think a lot of people overpay, because it is entertaining simply to bid. I think others may be homebound for one reason or another.
In any case, I wish you continued success as a seller!

 

[epcotfan]

Sniping comes with the territory. If you aren't willing to put in a proxy bid then it will most likely happen. I've been outbid in the last few seconds on many auctions. Someone was obviously willing to pay more than I was. No big deal. If I wanted it that badly I'd put in a higher bid or use "buy it now" I've been a seller for 5 years and there have been many instances where several people bid at the last moment. Many buyers wait to the last moment to get the best deal. They (like yourself) don't want to put in a high proxy bid. Rather they take their chances and bid hoping to snag the item in the last few seconds at a lower price. I love Ebay.

 

[Grog]

Been sniped, and have done some sniping of my own before. With the way they run the auctions (with a time limit) it can get to be dog eat dog somedays. I think a good alternative would be that if there is a last second bid, the time limit should be increased by five minutes. This gives everyone a chance to win (except the ones that might not be monitoring the auction) and the seller can make a bit more money if new bids keep coming in.

As for the seller/buyer being the same person...possible, but they wouldn't be able to do it from the same computer. The DH of a co-worker of mine sells sports memorabilia on Ebay. Once when he was getting no bids he had my co-worker log in on her account to put in a bid to get things rolling. Ebay picked up on the fact that the seller and bidder had the same IP address. They both were suspended for 30 days and given a warning not to do it again or their accounts would be terminated.

I have also been sniped when I have tried to get the item for less than it's "Buy it now" price. Those are the risks. If it's something I can't live without then I put in a high proxy bid.

 

[4greatboys]

I have sniped and been sniped--more than once. Its always great to get your items but it is not any fun to lose it. I usallyy wait til close to the end of auction to bid. Every time I bid right away the price always start to go way up. If you wait til later seems like the price stays reasonable. Plus there are people who pay whatever to get the item they want--for instance the meal vouchers go for way more than they should.

 

[AlisonY2K]

no complaints here. I made around $180 last week from selling items on EBay. Everyone except one person has paid so far.

 

[JOC]

I usually wait until the last day of an auction and put in the highest amount I'm willing to pay for that particular item (if the price isn't already too high for me).