Posting eBay bargains... the problem.

[Weird War]

Why don't we put this to the vote?

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='Weird War' post='99547' date='Dec 5 2007, 01:31 PM']Why don't we put this to the vote?[/quote]

I don't think it needs to be an official ruling, a simple agreement?

My view is that BIN opportunities are ideal fodder for general consumption. However, if people feel strongly that there is a case for publically outing any auction items then we may as well leave it as is.

[Beedster]

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='99029' date='Dec 4 2007, 06:14 PM']I've always thought this and I've voiced an opinion on it once or twice but I feel that it needs raising again!

We all love eBay bargains and secretly hope we are going to bag that xyz bass or amp that no one else has seen as it's in an incorrect category etc.... then you come onto BC and it's been flagged up on here for all to drool over! Bang goes potential bargain.

Isn't it a bit defeatist to flag up all auction equipment on this section? Fair enough if it is a Buy It Now that others might not have seen, first come first served great but you may well be urinating on someone else's parade by letting all and sundry know about it.

I can appreciate that we are just trying to help out fellow BCers who may want something that we ourselves don't want and it is very community spirited but I feel that if it isn't a Buy It Now item we are potentially pushing up the price for those members that have already spotted it.

Please feel free to call me a miserable git and argue otherwise. However, bear in mind that I have personally highlighted several BIN bargains for members and have even PMd links to items that I know members are interested in, so I'm not being a money grabbing barsteward. I simply think that it is self defeating posting about every potential bargain that we come across![/quote]

Hi John
I'm in a rush so haven't read the responses to your original post. I suggsted the ebay forum as a place where BIN equipment could be posted to stop the bloody dealers buying it and then immediately relisting it at 250% markup. I think you're right regarding other items, especially as no doubt quite a few dealers are now registered on this forum! I will generally only post about BINs on here as there is nothing more annoying than being the high bidder on a 1964 Fendre Percision Base listed in Bathroom Furniture that no-one else has seen only to have it shoved on here for everyone to bid on with an hour to go! There's a few discrete networks on here whereby a few guys PM each other with details of stuff they know might be of interest, a much better solution.
Chris

[pete.young]

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='99301' date='Dec 4 2007, 11:50 PM']'IF' one of my (our) fellow BCers was selling the item then surely the more coverage and higher bids the better... So that's not particularly well thought through![/quote]

The point , not very well made, was that some BC might be very happy to have an item he was selling highlighted in this forum, and your
proposal would prevent it.

[quote]You may not agree with my point of view as is your prerogative. Highlight all the links you like; all I'm trying to point out is, it may well hack you off if you happen to come across an item of particular interest to you, that you're hoping to bag at a bargain price, when a 'fellow BCer' points it out to all and sundry thereby ruining any chance of you getting a bargain![/quote]

File under 'sh*t happens'. I suspect that in reality there are very few 'bargains' that go un-noticed .
[quote]I'm simply playing Devil's Advocate as nothing so far highlighted on this section of the forum has ever pertained to anything that I am watching but I am aware of others that have been less fortunate... let's hope it never happens to you.[/quote]

I don't think I have either. I also don't think I've posted anything in here which has prevented someone getting a bargain.

If the mods start to block that kind of posts, they're only going to crop up elsewhere on the forum, where people who are not registered will be able to find them with search engines.

[pete.young]

[quote name='Weird War' post='99547' date='Dec 5 2007, 01:31 PM']Why don't we put this to the vote?[/quote]

Simple majority? The forum has approx 1900 members, so that's roughly 950 votes in favour required. That's not gonna work.

I think we went down the path of 'how many votes is enough' on Bassworld, without coming up with a useful answer.

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='pete.young' post='99632' date='Dec 5 2007, 02:59 PM']The point , not very well made, was that some BC might be very happy to have an item he was selling highlighted in this forum, and your
proposal would prevent it.

[b]If a member has something to sell I'd EXPECT them to flag it up for sale both on the eBay and for sale section![/b]

File under 'sh*t happens'. I suspect that in reality there are very few 'bargains' that go un-noticed .

[b]You obviously aren't looking, I know of another BCer who picked up an 80's NT Warwick Streamer for £360! I admit had that been flagged up on here there'd be more than me all over it but I take my hat off to the guy for spotting it when others didn't.[/b]

I don't think I have either. I also don't think I've posted anything in here which has prevented someone getting a bargain.

[b]As soon as you post a link on here to an item that is up for auction you are potentially flagging it up to 1900 other bassists... forgive me but I kind of think that decreases the odds of getting a bargain![/b]

If the mods start to block that kind of posts, they're only going to crop up elsewhere on the forum, where people who are not registered will be able to find them with search engines.

[b]Who mentioned Mods blocking anything? I just flagged this up to see what others thought and to see if there was a general consensus.[/[/b]quote]

Edited December 5, 2007 by warwickhunt

[Weird War]

[quote name='pete.young' post='99633' date='Dec 5 2007, 03:01 PM']Simple majority? The forum has approx 1900 members, so that's roughly 950 votes in favour required. That's not gonna work.

I think we went down the path of 'how many votes is enough' on Bassworld, without coming up with a useful answer.[/quote]

No, that's not how you'd do it.

You set up a poll, give people a generous time window in which to cast their vote, and act on the result. Members who don't vote - ok, they don't vote - but at least they've had the chance to do so.

[originalfunster]

If it has made its way to the ebay links, and it is something you are specifically after, the chances are you have already seen it on ebay.

I check the for sale section quite often, if for nothing else just to browse at what other BC’ers are selling.
I always look at the ebay link, just to see what is on offer, but I have never thought “oh wow look at that bargain I am going to buy it for the sake that its cheap”.
And I doubt that there are many people that would, unless it was a little old lady selling her husbands all original 1962 MIA P Bass for £25.00…
However if it is something specific like a MIJ Jazz that you are after the chances are you have already entered Fender Jazz or Fender Jazz Bass into the search bar of ebay and have already seen whats on offer.

As several members have stated “BC is a community” so as a community if I see a bargain Ampeg V4B with 2 hours to go at £100.00 should I keep it to myself just on the off chance another BC member has also spotted it and wants to bag a bargain? Or as a member of that same community should I pass on said bargain to other members?

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='originalfunster' post='99950' date='Dec 6 2007, 01:12 AM']If it has made its way to the ebay links, and it is something you are specifically after, the chances are you have already seen it on ebay.

I check the for sale section quite often, if for nothing else just to browse at what other BC’ers are selling.
I always look at the ebay link, just to see what is on offer, but I have never thought “oh wow look at that bargain I am going to buy it for the sake that its cheap”.
And I doubt that there are many people that would, unless it was a little old lady selling her husbands all original 1962 MIA P Bass for £25.00…
However if it is something specific like a MIJ Jazz that you are after the chances are you have already entered Fender Jazz or Fender Jazz Bass into the search bar of ebay and have already seen whats on offer.

As several members have stated “BC is a community” so as a community if I see a bargain Ampeg V4B with 2 hours to go at £100.00 should I keep it to myself just on the off chance another BC member has also spotted it and wants to bag a bargain? Or as a member of that same community should I pass on said bargain to other members?[/quote]

Let me stress again... if it is a members item then stick it up loud and clear for all to see most of them do.

You may be missing the point. BC members will have done a search for Ampeg V4B and may well be sitting waiting for the last couple of minutes (which if you ask any seasoned eBayer on here, is the preferred/only method of getting items cheaper), flag it up on here and someone may well browse by , check it out and make an impulse decision they fancy that.

However most 'bargains' (as Chris earlier mentioned) are misspellings or wrong section listings. Though you may not be in the habit of buying something just because it's cheap you'd be amazed how many people do fancy a change and will have a pop at something if it is cheap enough.

[Musky]

[quote name='Paul Cooke' post='99415' date='Dec 5 2007, 10:39 AM']I've just bagged a cheap 5 string bass on ebay... probably regret it, but I need a cheap 5 stringer asap and the only ones in the shops are outside my immediate budget...

It's this one...

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330194343949"]<a href="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=330194343949" target="_blank">http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=330194343949[/url]</a>

Never heard of the make before... but it came in my range and I (well my proxy) was the only bidder at £69.50 + £16.85p&p

well, we'll see how good it is when it arrives...

[b]If I'd discovered it had been posted in here and I'd ended up in a bidding war with a fellow BC'r, I'd have been upset...[/b]

[/quote]

I should have said that was exactly the kind of auction that could have done with flagging up here - it had been hanging around on ebay for ages. It was in the correct section and available for anyone to find ("5 String Bass Guitar by Cougar" pretty much flagged it up for anyone interested in a cheap 5 string). And given that it had been on ebay for ages, and is after all a cheap brand, I don't think there was much danger of a bidding war.

Edited December 6, 2007 by Musky

[pete.young]

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='99701' date='Dec 5 2007, 04:40 PM'][b]If a member has something to sell I'd EXPECT them to flag it up for sale both on the eBay and for sale section![/b][/quote]

So would I, although there are plenty of people who would disagree with us because they don't like the idea of using
the For Sale forum to advertise Ebay links.

My understanding is that your proposal would prevent the posting of links to auction items in the Ebay forum, which would stop BCers from advertising their auctions. Is that what you are seeking to achieve? In which case, what would be an acceptable use for the forum? I'd be very sorry to see bassassin's entertaining and erudite threads disappear as a result, for example.

And as Beedster points out, many of the dealers who this forum was set up to prevent picking up bargain BIN items are now registered on the forum and should presumably be included in your notion of a BC community.

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='pete.young' post='100135' date='Dec 6 2007, 12:33 PM']So would I, although there are plenty of people who would disagree with us because they don't like the idea of using
the For Sale forum to advertise Ebay links.

My understanding is that your proposal would prevent the posting of links to auction items in the Ebay forum, which would stop BCers from advertising their auctions. Is that what you are seeking to achieve? In which case, what would be an acceptable use for the forum? I'd be very sorry to see bassassin's entertaining and erudite threads disappear as a result, for example.

[b]Members listing things on eBay then using this section of the forum to highlight that sale is something I would positively encourage.[/b]

And as Beedster points out, many of the dealers who this forum was set up to prevent picking up bargain BIN items are now registered on the forum and should presumably be included in your notion of a BC community.

[b]If BCers come on here highlighting hidden gems then they are playing straight into the hands of dealers as you are providing a lovely service by finding items for them![/b][/quote]