Bidding on Ebay

[Evan Kubota]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winner%27s_curse

Here's a pretty concise explanation of the winner's curse. The related game theory articles are good as well.

[switar king]

In all of my transactions (122) I've discovered only one rule. Buy what you want for as much as you are willing to spend. It may be a jewel, or it may be a piece of coal. Some people on EBAY are liars, misrepresenting their goods, some are selling things that they found at a garage sale, and have no clue about, some know exactly what they are selling, and are honest. But you will never know until you have the object in your hand if it is a keeper, or trash. The whole EBAY thing is a crap-shoot. I've gotten some great cameras for ten bucks, and some peices of shit for a hundred.

[Evan Kubota]

"But you will never know until you have the object in your hand if it is a keeper, or trash. The whole EBAY thing is a crap-shoot. I've gotten some great cameras for ten bucks, and some peices of shit for a hundred."

Unfortunately, it's true. It's impossible to tell until the package arrives how the camera will function - you can then determine within approximately 5 seconds if it was well taken care of and will not have any problems, or if it was really beat-up and crappy. Out of 4 transactions involving cameras, 2 have been great, and the other 2 have been pieces of shit, yet based on the item descriptions and seller feedbacks, there was no way to tell which were good.

[stianw]

Thank you guys for great info, now i feel ready to jump into the big ebay jungle

[chachi]

Great, just remember not to bid on the same items as me!

[stianw]

Hehehe, hmmmm if i feel evil :twisted: i might

[John_Mann]

I have a love hate relationship with sniping services/software. I love it when Im buying and hate it when Im selling. In reality if you want to buy something off of ebay sniping is "The only way to go"...you will have a much better chance of winning the auction. I use auctionsniper.com it works flawlessly...just look at my paypal account :lol:

[monobath]

"sniping minimizes the effect of it and is thus good for all buyers. the longer the auction the better for the seller."

Yes. If people act according to the common interest rather than completely self-interested, prices will go down and all the buyers will benefit, assuming a continuous supply of merchandise. I frequently think there should be some kind of 'bidder's cooperative' that would maintain waiting lists for certain items, then when the item is listed people can buy them in that order at a much lower price than if everyone was foaming at the mouth to get it. Of course it goes against the concept of the free market and is completely against eBay's rules and terms of service, but it's a good idea.

Some more tips - check the completed items to get an idea what the item usually goes for.

The phrase "common interest" smacks of altruism. I only bid on things I want. Presumably it is desire for an item that motivates most other bidders too (other than compulsive bidders and shills). I have no interest in bidding for the well-being of the seller, and it isn't even possible to do so for the benefit of other bidders. Premature bidding only inflates the price.

So what common interest are you talking about? Every bid before the last few seconds of an auction needlessly benefits the seller. I'm interested in getting the lowest price, not a price that is "fair" for everyone involved.

Use sniping tools (I use auctionstealer) in order to get the best possible price. Just set the highest amount you're willing to spend, and let it bid for you in the closing seconds of the auction. This is as pro-free market as you can get, because there is no artificial inflation of price. Items sell for what they are really worth. Sellers shouldn't expect to get more for an item than it is worth (but more power to them if they do).

[Evan Kubota]

"So what common interest are you talking about? Every bid before the last few seconds of an auction needlessly benefits the seller. I'm interested in getting the lowest price, not a price that is "fair" for everyone involved. "

Maybe you didn't understand the suggestion. I have no interest in giving more money to sellers, either.

The 'waiting list' would be to *prevent* everyone from bidding on a certain item so the first person on the list could get it at a far lower price. This is predicated on the assumption that another item will turn up, which is most likely will.

I hate premature bidding, as does anyone who buys frequently.

Items on eBay do not sell for what they are really worth, because the nature of the auction changes the rules temporarily, especially in the final minute. I'm sure you've seen the recent camera auctions selling for hundreds or thousands of dollars that would not have fetched as much in a normal store. Competition alters the fair market value. My system impels buyers to act with some attention paid to the negative effects of bidding on every example of a certain item. By setting aside specific items for each interested party, everyone pays a lower price.

[Angus]

Sometimes people on this very forum sell items on eBay. We generally know what we are selling and can guarantee that it's working (at least at time of posting).

Use common sense. There *are* genuine reasons with old gear (perhaps older than the vendor) where somebody might say "untested as I don't know how" or "I put batteries in and it runs". Most sellers not specialising in movie gear won't be willing to spend money on a super 8 cart they likely cannot project in order to test a camera. But there are times when such a statement is used to cover up the fact that the seller suspects or knows damned well the camera isn't working properly. Maybe check their feedback, see if any other auctions were photographic gear. If they often sell photo equipment but claim ignorance they steer clear.

If in any doubt, don't bid or perhaps bid only what you are prepared to lose. Ask questions, maybe an unknowledgable seller can be directed to try using an item.

Do check postage costs. If no estimate is given then ask before bidding. Some sellers jack up the postage costs to avoid paying fees to eBay. Basically a small %age of the winning price goes to eBay as a commission but not of the postage. Sometimes an item with a high postage cost goes for a small winning bid - it occasionally worrks to your advantage as a buyer as the high postage has put off other bidders.

Good luck, eBay can be great fun but occasionally somebody gest burned. I've had some great experiences and one or two less than fun.

[mattias]

I have no interest in bidding for the well-being of the seller

well that's still what you do. the basic priciples of the market ecenomy aren't going away just because you ignore them. contrary to popular belief the market economy is not controlled by supply, demand and free will. it takes very little assymetry to throw those 19th century equations straight into the realm of game theory.

Every bid before the last few seconds of an auction needlessly benefits the seller.

of course not. just trust us if you don't understand what we're talking about.

I'm interested in getting the lowest price

then wait until the very last minute.

/matt

[MovieStuff]

contrary to popular belief the market economy is not controlled by supply, demand and free will.

That is so true. People used to buy based on their needs. Now people buy based on their desires and, far too often, because someone else has something that they don't. Ebay is basically just the world's largest yard sale and very few people that stop at yard sales do so because of anything that they can't live without.

But ebay also has another place in today's world. Many of us live in fairly metropolitan areas or, at the very least, areas of higher population density. I have emailed with so many people that sell on ebay, not because they need the money, but because of the social interaction it provides for an otherwise lonely existence in the middle of nowhere. One little old lady told me straight out that she gets a certain swell in pride when she sees someone post positive feedback about her. The money she made meant little to nothing. As long as she didn't lose money, it was a rewarding experience and, for many I have communicated with, the ebay selling and feedback process creates a sense of validation for people that would otherwise seem invisible to society. Those of us that work in film, video or the arts often take the sense of validation for granted because we've been receiving it for so long but there are a lot of isolated people out there that are finding the internet, and ebay in particular, a form of therapy and social interaction.

Huh. Who knew, eh?

Roger

[reedsturtevant]

I've used eBay for almost 8 years (!) and here are some more tips about searching:

- search within the description not just the title as items are often mis-categorized

- learn to use the advanced search language such as "()" for alternate words and "-" to exclude words, examples like
(cir, ciro, guillotine) splicer

(goko, elmo) (viewer, editor) -muppet -sesame -dvd -"elmo-books" -vhs

- save some searches in "My Ebay" and you will get email when new items turn up, some bargains have low buy-it-now prices (I recently paid $5 for a metal CIRO splicer)

Good hunting!

[LastQuark]

My best bargains in eBay are buy-it-now items that sold at very low price within minutes after they are posted. These are top lenses, Beaulieu cameras, and Elmo projectors. These are items that ordinarily will not be seen when doing searches because they are already gone. I am not aware of a service that does this but I have a dedicated server that scour eBay worldwide every minute for these bargains.

In one instance, a seller erroneously posted a brand new Sony miniDV player and recorder for $20.00. These are selling for over $2000. I snatched it up a little over a 1 minute after it was posted. 3 minutes later, my phone rings. The call is from the seller apologizing he made a mistake on the posting. The seller was very concerned. He seems to be a good guy so I told him to disregard the transaction. He was amazed how fast I am in buying the item. Right after he realized his mistake and click his revise button, I already have the item. He gave me a postive feedback and I gave him the same for his politeness in how he approached me to resolve the matter.

Unfortunately, this set-up no longer works consistently in eBay. They made changes that now, on some items, it will take over 2 hours before the item becomes searchable. This means if you are constantly on your PC browsing the categories, you still can get the item before me .
 

[Santo]

"...I have a dedicated server that scour eBay worldwide every minute for these bargains."

That's brilliant. Likely a few other people figured out that trick and ebay had to change -- some people must have made a lot of money doing that as full-time ebay buyer/sellers. How did you program something like that? I mean, how would the server know if something was bargain priced or not?