Thread: I can't believe I lost this one...

So it looks like I may get another crack at these...key word being may...

I emailed the winning bidder right after the auction ended asking him to let me know if he ever wanted to sell them. He replied that he would.

I got another message from him on the 9th saying they weren't exactly what he was looking for, and that he's not a razor collector (by the looks of his feedback he's an ivory collector), and asked if I was interested...

I of course immediately replied that yes, I was interested, and to let me know how much he wanted...

NOTHING. I sent him another message on the 11th, asking if he was still interested in selling them...NOTHING. This guy is toying with my emotions, I don't know what to do

Those are real beauties. I lost/missed a few I really wanted over the weekend.

Bid a bit too late and hit a bit of interwebz traffic... and it's all over.

Originally Posted by milhouse

Those are real beauties. I lost/missed a few I really wanted over the weekend.

Bid a bit too late and hit a bit of interwebz traffic... and it's all over.

You really have to use a web based sniping service to stand a decent chance these days. Bidnip and bidnapper are two that spring to mind. The only times I don't snipe are when I 'Buy it now'.

Wayne

What difference does it make whether or not you snipe? Just bid what you're willing to pay, and if it's more than the sniper you still win just as you would have otherwise. If it isn't, you still lose

am i missing something?

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

What difference does it make whether or not you snipe? Just bid what you're willing to pay, and if it's more than the sniper you still win just as you would have otherwise. If it isn't, you still lose

am i missing something?

Say you bid early and are the high bidder...another bidder who really wants it comes along and sees you on top. He can either bid all that he's willing to pay now, and instantly run up the price significantly, or he can bid incrementally higher until he's the high bidder, or he can chill and snipe it.

Option 1 - the ultimate price it sells for will likely be higher. You (assuming you really want it) will probably see that you got knocked off, and try to outbid him, and a bidding war is on. Thats the scenario that usually results in unreasonably high prices.

Option 2 - He gets to the top spot, but barely...you outbid him, he outbids you...once again, bidding war. Unreasonable ultimate price...no good.

Option 3 - You sit atop the heap, and bidder 2 chills with it. He snipes you in the last 10 seconds...you either win or lose on the strength of your initial maximum bid. You never get the opportunity to raise your bid above what you initially decided you would pay.

Now, I'm not suggesting you would personally do anything but put in your max bid and wait it out. But you have to consider the likely actions of other bidders...human nature dictates that if caught up in a bidding war, people irrationally become willing to pay higher prices...or run up the price for you if you end up winning. If an item is close to ending and there are no bids or a low price, the snipes people set on it will be lower, and the ultimate price will be lower.

So by bidding before the end of the auction as opposed to sniping, the only thing you accomplish is running up the price.

eBay tends to block some of the bidding tools/sites if they see a pattern that suggests sniping. eBay also does not like sniping and may even disallow it. I'd hate to have my account suspended.

I've sniped in the past using a web based service but it doesn't always work.

I literally waited until the last 15 seconds and got two bids in when I was outbit but either missed clicking the submit button or just hit traffic/a time differential.

There was a nice razor or two I wanted. What ends up happening afterwards is that I have the itch and end up buyng a greater number of lesser razors to make myself feel better. I'm sure eBay accounts for the psychology of the auction culture in their business model.

Anyhow, i discovered that, via this kind of bidding, I could have paid my annual car insurance with what I've spent on eBay in the last 45 days or so (some computer stuff too but still).

As I mentioned earlier/elsewhere, eBay is a gamble anyhow, unless you are willing to pay top dollar from a well-known collector/seller. I've gotten two - three stinkers for each nice razor from the 'Bay.

I try to account for that and hope to be able to either offer free or low cost newbie razors from what I call the stinkers, provided they can be properly cleaned up and honed.

Anyhow, collecting and restoring is still fun though nothing beats finding some hidden gem in a local shop.

I'm actually looking into a grinder to see if I might be able to salvage some of the crap with large chips in the blades. They tend to either not sell or sell for very little. Again, potentially nice newbie shavers and as long as I make my money back, it would be satisfying.

Wow, that was a lengthy post.

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

What difference does it make whether or not you snipe? Just bid what you're willing to pay, and if it's more than the sniper you still win just as you would have otherwise. If it isn't, you still lose

am i missing something?

Yeah. The time difference.
Most auctions end when I am asleep. So if I bid X, what usually happens is that someone bids X+1$ and I lose. the only reason they knew how much they needed to bid is because my bid was there first.

When I snipe, this doesn't happen.

Really beautiful razors - i also wanted them, but unfortunately not a $400 want. few days later I picked something else with similar lines, but I still keep going back to these just to look at the pretty pictures....

Anyways, I really hope you get them.

Originally Posted by Mejnoon

So it looks like I may get another crack at these...key word being may...

I emailed the winning bidder right after the auction ended asking him to let me know if he ever wanted to sell them. He replied that he would.

I got another message from him on the 9th saying they weren't exactly what he was looking for, and that he's not a razor collector (by the looks of his feedback he's an ivory collector), and asked if I was interested...

I of course immediately replied that yes, I was interested, and to let me know how much he wanted...

NOTHING. I sent him another message on the 11th, asking if he was still interested in selling them...NOTHING. This guy is toying with my emotions, I don't know what to do

Be patient, don't let him play with your emotions. There'll be more nice razors on ebay in the future.

I like bidding on items days before the given auction ends, even knowing I wont get the item in the end.
Simply because it might entice the previous high bidder to top me off, so on and so forth. In the end none of us gets it and the sniper pays more than if we hadn't had a little back and forth bidding war.