Advertising Ebay Auctions that aren't Buy It Now

[Delberthot]

I remember there being a thread done a few months ago about people who post threads telling us about stuff that's for sale on Ebay where there's bidding involved and not Buy It Now stuff.

There are very few bargains to be had on Ebay these days and I for one get annoyed when there is something I am watching with the chance of getting something cheap appearing on a thread here.

The reason I get annoyed is that I have gone to the trouble to look through the listings and find stuff myself. As soon as its posted on here then its open to all 10000+ members on here as well as Google etc.

Buy it Now auctions are fine as whoever hits the BIN button gets it, not the highest bidder. The same goes for auctions that have already finished and looked suspect or contain something that we can all have a laugh about.

Ebay is open to everyone so its not like I have a monopoly on bargains but its the fact that I've gone to the trouble to rake through the crap to find something I like only to have someone on here tell everybody about it which invariably leads to pushing the price up.

It is handy for letting people know what is out there but if you know someone that is looking for something in particular then PM them about it.

My intention here is not to start an argument and for a while we were only posting BIN auctions on here but now seem to have started posting lots of "this is cheap, I wonder what It'll go for?" type threads - the answer is that chances are it will go for more now that you've mentioned it than if you had waited until after it to tell everyone what a bargain someone got.

I can understand that someone has seen something that looks like it will end up as a bargain and want to tell everyone but can't you resist the temptation until after the auction finishes?

What does everyone else think, am I wrong here?

Its one of the few things on the forum that really f*** me off - in fact I think its the only thing

[Mr. Foxen]

Chances are some other people here will be watching it too. This way, you can say 'I'm watching that' and pm and make a gentleman's agreement not to compete with each other and push the price up. I've done it where I was planning on putting opening bid only on something, and some0ne else was planning on bidding. They ended up getting it for opening bid, but if I had bid that it would just have cost them more, this way I got first call on it when he resold.

[Ou7shined]

I feel your pain mate (it's happened to me several times) but it's a free world what can you do about it.
I guess a quick PM to who ever posted it saying "do you mind deleting your post as I was trying to catch a bargain there and you may have inadvertently put it in the spotlight" might work then again they could just tell you to GFY.

[Shambo]

If somebody posts about a bass I'm bidding for on Ebay, (which they have), I have to congratulate them on their good taste in instruments, not get my knickers in a twist.

[Cat Burrito]

I suspect most of us have had this but it's also an opportunity for people to pass judgement on whether I'm deluding myself thinking about placing a bid. There are sellers who advertise elsewhere so it's not the most annoying EBay trait - other people posting on here probably has more advantages than disadvantages.

[wesfinn]

It is annoying yes. But it is a public auction and also I find it quite handy when someone else is kind enough to share info and save me some time of trawling through the bay for a gem! Outshined's Pm solution is a good call!

[molan]

I must admit that this has happened to me a few times but I came to the conclusion that there are no real out & out bargains to be had on EBay that haven't been spotted by someone here as well as me.

I've PM'd people a few times about stuff I think they might fancy (rather than posting in the Ebay section) and almost every time they've already spotted it and are 'watching' it on the Bay.

[Delberthot]

[quote name='Shambo' post='845798' date='May 23 2010, 03:14 PM']If somebody posts about a bass I'm bidding for on Ebay, (which they have), I have to congratulate them on their good taste in instruments, not get my knickers in a twist.[/quote]

I don't know what you're preferences are but I don't wear knickers thank you very much.


I know that there will be others who are likely to already be watching something I am but they've actually bothered to find it themselves.


How could you PM someone to ask them not to bid on something if you don't know they're planning on bidding for it?

Edited May 23, 2010 by Delberthot

[Shambo]

[quote name='Delberthot' post='845840' date='May 23 2010, 04:18 PM']I don't know what you're preferences are but I don't wear knickers thank you very much.[/quote]
I don't doubt that for a second. I do think this is a fuss about nothing. Whats the point in an Ebay Links subforum without links to live auctions? I thought the outcome of the last thread we had on this matter was that you can't expect people not to post links on items other members might be bidding on, and that from thereon in, only logged in BC members would be allowed to see this subform.

Edited May 23, 2010 by Shambo

[JMT3781]

i think if posting details of interesting auctions stopped one person from being ripped off by a dodgy "original 60's p bass" or whatever then its worth doing it. Its nice having 10,000+ people who may know more about the item in question to give you a thumbs up or a thumbs down.

Agree with the PM'ing

[Bassassin]

If this is a genuine issue then arguably the Ebay Links forum should be closed - if it's not to point out interesting/potentially cheap things you've spotted, then it serves no purpose. If people want to plug their own auctions (which doesn't actually happen often) then there are the other For Sale boards. Since the first time this came up I don't often contribute my "finds" to the JapCrap or Rickenfakers threads any more - it had never occurred to me that posting things I'd found would put noses out of joint.

The other side of this is - what actual difference does it make? I suppose I don't know about anyone else, but if I intend bidding on an Ebay item, then I know how much I'm willing to pay and won't go above that - if I'm outbid (or, more usually if it goes past my personal ceiling before I bid) then bye bye, another one will be along soon. And realistically, based on my own experiences as a seller, if an item has 250+ watchers - all of whom are potential bidders - then it's hard to imagine how a handful of bass forum members are going to make a significant difference to the final price. And that final price is the bottom line, it's very much a truism that a well-listed, well-described & well-photographed auction [b]will[/b] achieve its market value, no matter how much you'd like to get a crazy bargain. There are exceptions, but not too many.

Jon.

[lemmywinks]

I pretty much agree with you Delberthot, i think highlighting bargain BINs is great, i'd much rather someone off here benefited.

I'm unsure as to how much of a difference posting auctions makes but can fully understand how frustrating missing out on a bargain would be, especially on collect only stuff where there's not going to be too many bidders.

I've bought quite a few bits off eBay recently for the starting bid (not bass related - mostly boring bits of furniture!) and i love getting a bargain as much as the next person

[wateroftyne]

I'm of the opinion that it should be left as-is. C'est la vie.