Ebay...

Sylvestius

Anyone else have a problem with Ebay?

I've often heard it said that there is a condition 'ebayitis', where people will bid crazy amonts, not because they really want the thing they are bidding on particularly but just because they want to be top bidder and win the race to the finish post!

no that i would... *cough*


Actually the method i use is often one of the one's most people bitterly complain about, the 'deep pockets' method. Where you know you find something realistically worth £20, and if i really really want it, i'll put my maximum first bid on a £60, no one gets close, most give up after £30. Once i did this thinking i was well safe, well the guy went and bid £63, what a nerve! Well at least i had the satisfaction that he'd over payed by miles and miles!

wybrit

I've done the "very high max bid" thing many times expecting to win a coin.

I had my eye on an UNC 1905 sixpence about a year ago - the last year I needed to complete an UNC run of Edward VII. I snipe-bid $225 on it, figuring it would result in an easy win - and lost!!!

At the time I was unhappy, but now I'm glad I did lose that auction because just a few weeks later I stumbled on to a better and very choice example for much, much less.

I am also amazed how often I win a coin for my max bid. It's almost like a conspiracy.

elverno

I think I suffer from the opposite end of the illness. I tend to bid often, and low. Because of that I expect to get outbid on nearly everything and it happens. i'm seldom the person someone had to outbid to get their "must have" item. The plus side of this (though it must sometimes look like shill bidding) is that I win about 1 in 10 of those low bids. I don't think of my activity as shilling, I don't have any relationship other than as a buyer and I never make a bid I'm not willing to pay.

Of course I've had similar experiences to what's been described. Sometimes my max is several times the actual value of the coin or medal. I figure it's a lock and then get outbid by a mile! But if you want something bad enough and your pockets are full...

I wonder sometimes at my own psychological makeup though. There are some guys out there I just can't stand getting outbid on. And there are some medal designs that I can't help bidding on, even though I've already got 3 or 4. What is that I wonder?

AuldFartte

Vern, no way are you shill bidding ... Shill bids are made by an "associate" of the seller with the express purpose of stepping up the existing bid to its maximum amount. I've seen shill bidders "win" the item by one bid increment, then "mysteriously" back out of the deal, and the seller offers the item to the high bidder just below the shill's price. It happens a lot on e-bilge

I have tried to stay away from ebay EXCEPT for auctions by fellow forum members. When I win one (rare because I usually bid too low, and I also bid early 'cause I hate to snipe) I am pretty well assured of receiving a quality piece. I'd rather buy from a website, coin shop, the weekend swaps here, or a coin show.

laurentyvan

the 'deep pockets' method.

This makes sense to me: If I get it at my high bid or lower, I'm happy. If someone overbids me, they can have it at the price. Generally I'm able to get it at much lower than my high bid-that upfront strong price does tend to discourage bidders.

1jester

Where are all the deep-pockets bidders when I'm trying to sell my coins???? Recently I decided to sell some of my investment-grade coins, and these are coins I thought I'd NEVER part with, and I've found that I've lost big on virtually every one. It rather pisses me off!!!



Edit: Of course, there will be some that say that you should never buy coins as an investment, but that's hogwash. And besides, I selected these coins and paid big money for a lot of them, and when I changed my mind to sell them, I didn't expect to lose too much money on them; after all, they're nice coins. Is Sleeze-bay just the wrong venue? Is there a better one? How can you really know what the market value of a coin is unless you subject it to the market (ideally, an auction)? Back to my original point about losing money on the coins: of course, I expected that was a possibility when I bought them, and don't regret the decision. But this topic isn't about investment decisions on coins, but rather ebay as a venue for selling them.

theboz11

I rarely bid multiple times, I like to do the 3 sec snipe with my max bid. Win some lose some, but I have gotten some great buys because of the last second bid. I don't even want anybody to know I am interested, lest I be tailed and out sniped by others.

Jester, I bid much higher on the quarter Anna. Sorry you took the hit.

It is a true wondercoin

ccrdragon

sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I had two bidders in my last set of auctions nibble at each other almost from the start of the auctions to the end of the auctions - they drove 2 gold coins up over 1.5 times the melt value of the coins (which is all I expected to get for the coins). by the same token, I lost my a$$ on a couple of other coins that I paid strong for and lost half the money I had in the coins.

I guess it just depends on when the bidders are active and what they are looking for....

1jester

Boz, I'm glad that coin went to you and I'm not angry that you didn't have to pay more for it. Enjoy!!!!