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| Moderated by: 3T | ||
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smith1792 3T WIS 
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I've been buying thing off of the Bay for 8-9 years now. While it is a decent place to find "deals," there is one practice that chaps my butt...BOTS! These damn things have just about ruined the Bay for me. I can't tell you how may times I've been "outbid" on auctions (especially on watches) by these infernal things. It just seems to be an unfair practice. If you want a certain price for your item, put a reserve on it. I think I'll stick to my WIS fora to find my "deals" from now on. The Bay can jam it! Stu |
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Jeep99dad 3T WIS 
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Sorry for the stupid question.... I am not an Ebay expert... what does BOTS mean? |
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chunkychew 3T WIS 
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I believe bots are a program where you can enter what you would bid the item at and at the last second, it will place your bid and snipe the item. :) |
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Nabco 3T WIS 
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I'm not sure your problem is with bots...there are services you can purchase that will snipe an auction for you in the last seconds...it's more likely that is what is happening. My strategy on eBay is to put the highest price in I'm willing to pay for an item...if i win the auction great...if i do not, all that means is someone else was willing to pay more than i was, so it really does not matter if someone puts in a bid with 2 seconds left or not...if it is higher than I'm willing to pay...who care. Just my 2 cents... |
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bigrustypig 3T WIS 
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Sad to hear about your eBay headaches. I have my own headaches with PayPal. I get blocked all the time. It must be something about their security algorithms that show me as a security threat . And yet I have a sterling credit track record. I signed up for PayPal about 4 months ago and after 4 attempts, simply gave up. Now, I just prefer buying watches, straps, buckles, etc face-to-face. Might be a blessing in disguise.One bidding tactic I can share with you (though I think you know this already) when you bid is to purposely give a "freak" bid. This means that when you bid say US$200 for something, simply add US$0.05 cents more. Another example, if you bid US$1,000 for somthing, add a dollar and 5 cents. Bids are won by the highest bidder, right? Chances are folks think in logical, whole round numbers and this causes the same highest bids to lump together. But if you bid with that small change, you have better chances. Hope this helps.:) |
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smith1792 3T WIS
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I thank you all for your input. It was more venting than anything else, but it's still a kind of slimy practice. I'll probably keep perusing the Bay and biding and buying. Just not right now. Y'all be safe. Stu |
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mcwright Admin 
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Bidding in the last seconds of an auction has become the norm on ebay. I understand your frustration, but I don't know how much ebay is to blame. It can get congested (i.e. with bidders) in the final seconds and I have placed a higher bid only to have it not accepted as it didn't make it through in the final seconds. ebay loses out in that case. Not sure what they can or could do to prevent it. On the other side of the coin, ebay has progressively gotten more and more expensive for the small seller. Rates have continued to rise with ebay fees accounting for around 12% of your take depending on your listing choices. Plus, Paypal takes their cut of about 3%. Ebay used to be all about the person who put a few items up for auction they didn't need, etc. Now ebay is bloated with businesses hawking items with the buy-it-now programs. About 55 to 60% of ebay sales are in non-auction programs these days. Maybe even higher. Last edited on Tue Sep 22nd, 2009 03:03 am by mcwright |
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smith1792 3T WIS
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BRP, I too like to play mind games. Sometimes for my own amusement, I'll put a bid in of sequential numbers. "Yes, I'll bid $123.45 please." I'm weird. What can I say? Stu |
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Paxman 3T WIS 
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Jeff, you certainly are a "security threat"!face4.gif I won't use a snipe and always manually bid in the last seconds with my highest price willing to pay formatted to end some funky way, ie. $22.73. We can all agree the Bay ain't what it used to be.:( |
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Paladin 3T WIS 
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I have to say that I don't buy on auction because I don't have the time to watch an item until the last second :(. I, like Nick, simply put in the highest amount I'm willing to pay and let the chips fall where they may. (I have gotten some deals though; I saved over $200 on my electric guitar and it was in excellent shape :D) Also, I look for items with a "Buy Now" option. Sometimes you can a decent deal, other times you find out the seller is an online retailer (just like you can on Amazon) and you may be able to deal directly with the seller rather than go thru E-bay. Just my opinion though.:) |
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Upside 3T WIS 
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I seldom buy from ebay or surf it. When I do I prefer items that have a buy now option and I'd rather deal with the seller directly. Paypal getting in bed with them made things worse for me. I find that it won't let me use my credit card, only my bank acct. This seems to give me a worse exchange rate than my CC does. Sometimes getting my watch fix can be a frustrating endeavour. |
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KenC Admin 
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The problem with putting in your top bid, as opposed to sniping (I do not even know how to do it - it takes some sort of special software) is the every time a bid is made, you top bid instantaneously bids the item up and creates higher prices. The BOT simply places your highest bid at the last second and you pay the increment over the last highest bid without creating a "bidding war" in the process. Don't give up, get your own BOT. |
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