Thread: I'm never going to get a W&B Meatchopper at this rate....

If you hate ebay, seek other places that sell razors. I.e. historical items
I just bought another razor from Jon.

Originally Posted by Rajagra

I'll add that if you really want an item then:

1) Bid what you are willing to pay!!! It makes you immune to snipers. They will only beat you if they are willing to pay more, in which case the fact that they sniped is irrelevant. Proxy bidding means you may win the auction at much less than your maximum bid anyway, so don't mess about with silly low bids.

2) To avoid a bidding war, bid as late as you can.

3) Learn to snipe. It's easy to calibrate your timing* so you can bid within a second or two of the auction end. Often there will only be one serious bidder against you , often a sniper himself. Guess what? Most snipers are too foolish to follow rule 1 above. If you place a sensible bid within 3 seconds of the auction end he won't be able to respond and you could get a bargain.

Errr, ummm, the definition of sniping is to get your bid in at the last possible moment... If you think you're going to have time to make another bid after your snipe then you've FAILED at sniping both conceptually and in practice.

(*) To calibrate your timing: Get the clock up onscreen alongside the ebay page, or use a real clock/watch with seconds display. Let's say the time is 10:32 and 35s. Wait until it's 10:33 and hit refresh on the auction page. Read off the time remaining on the auction: suppose it's 4 minutes and 20s. Add that to the time when you hit refresh. 10:33 +4m20s = 10:37 and 20s. You need to place your bid 1 to 3 s before that time. BUT remember that when you bid you are taken to another screen to confirm the bid. So what you actually do is place your sensible bid at 10:37 and place your mouse over the confirm button. At 10:37 and 17s click confirm. Or wait a second or 2 longer if you feel brave and have a good internet connection. It's a lot easier than it sounds. And trust me, your heart will be racing even if you are bidding on something cheap and unimportant!

or you could just use a free sniping service that does all that for you?

Originally Posted by Quick

Errr, ummm, the definition of sniping is to get your bid in at the last possible moment... If you think you're going to have time to make another bid after your snipe then you've FAILED at sniping both conceptually and in practice.

Some snipers just outbid the previous high bid by a small amount, assuming that will win the auction. Yes, they are full of fail.

I can outsnipe the free sniping services every time.

Well, on one hand W&B are one of the most abundant razors out there.
But then so are the ducks.
What I'm thinking is that the reason you can't get one is that too many people think just like you. They are not magic - a lot of them are really nice razors, but so are a lot of other brands.

Of course, it's easy for me to say this, when I have that many of them. But if you have more time than money bid a lot and sooner or later you'll catch the tails of the distribution. It's just probability after all - ask our friend Jimbo

Originally Posted by Rajagra

Some snipers just outbid the previous high bid by a small amount, assuming that will win the auction. Yes, they are full of fail.

I can outsnipe the free sniping services every time.

Ummm, you may be under a misconception? ALL bids go through the eBay proxy bidder (at least the sniper I use does). So even when a sniper is used the winning bid will be no more than 1 increment over the second highest bid.

Snipes are the best thing ever for buyers. It enforces good, logical bidding practices. Since the snipe goes in at the last second you don't have the opportunity to make an emotional overbid. And yes, by definition, it would be an overbid. You have objectively decided the max you're willing to bid on an item and entered that value as your snipe. Since you won't have an opportunity change it, overwhelmed by emotion as you see it slipping away for a few dollars more than your max, you're prevented from overbidding.

Since ALL bids (on regular auctions) go through the eBay proxy bidder there is no logical reason not to enter your max bid first. (Ok, fine, maybe you're thinking of some psychological ploy to enter a low ball first, let the opposition think they've beaten your bid, and then enter your real bid later after they've relaxed...) Why enter a bid lower than your max? If your low ball wins it, your max bid would have won it for the same price. In the context of a single item, the only advantage sniping has over another (rational) buyer is if they don't realize they are bidding through the eBay proxy bidder and think they are entering flat bids. The only downside of sniping is for the seller, who otherwise capitalizes on emotional overbidding.

I suppose you could argue that snipers give you an advantage over non-snipers in that most give you the capability of grouping items and making a win mutually exclusive. The sniper will automatically cancel all other bids if you win one of the items in a group. So if the non-sniper only wants one of a dozen items they may have to wait for the result of one auction before entering the next one. They would have to bid on items serially to leave time to cancel other bids if they win one.

Now if a sniper (or non-sniper) is not entering his max bid then he's not rational. You're correct that sniping won't fix stupid.

Sorry for the hijack...

Originally Posted by gugi

Well, on one hand W&B are one of the most abundant razors out there.
But then so are the ducks.
What I'm thinking is that the reason you can't get one is that too many people think just like you. They are not magic - a lot of them are really nice razors, but so are a lot of other brands.

Of course, it's easy for me to say this, when I have that many of them. But if you have more time than money bid a lot and sooner or later you'll catch the tails of the distribution. It's just probability after all - ask our friend Jimbo

I agree totally, but for some clarification I have not been looking for a W&B chopper necessarily, just something with that same size, look, etc. I wouldn't limit myself to one sheffield brand when there are so many good ones. Just seems to be that everyone wants the beefy blades on ebay these days.

One of these days the probabilities will work out in my favor

Originally Posted by gugi

Well, on one hand W&B are one of the most abundant razors out there.
But then so are the ducks.
What I'm thinking is that the reason you can't get one is that too many people think just like you. They are not magic - a lot of them are really nice razors, but so are a lot of other brands.

Of course, it's easy for me to say this, when I have that many of them. But if you have more time than money bid a lot and sooner or later you'll catch the tails of the distribution. It's just probability after all - ask our friend Jimbo

I only want it because I have RAD. I have 4 great shavers right now and 2 are 7/8 extra hollow ground. I .... just...want the damn meat chopper!!!!

I will win eventually!

Originally Posted by Quick

Ummm, you may be under a misconception?

I only ever bid once, and I bid in the last 3 seconds. (If I'm around.) Correct me if I'm wrong, but no online service guarantees better than 5s to the end of the auction? 5 seconds is just enough for a person with multiple windows open to realise they've been outbid and put in a new bid. So while there is no need to "beat" an automated service just by sniping later, it does help you deal with live bidders who use dodgy tactics.

I'd quite like the option of using a bidding service for when I'm not around, but I don't trust their security completely. Same for software running on my machine.

Unless I see a really nice meatchopper lined up eh?

Honestly, if you bid what you are willing to pay, it doesn't matter when you bid. Whether you bid right at the start or snipe at the end, if someone eles is willing to pay more than you, you will not win the auction.

But what about bidding wars, you might say. Isn't it more likely that someone will decide to outbid you if you bid early? This will only make a difference if THEY bid more than THEY are willing to pay. I suppose that would result in you losing, but, like I said before, there are plenty of razors out there for everyone (for the most part).

Haha! I won! For under $50 too. *victory dance*

ANTIQUE STRAIGHT RAZOR #94 OLD CHOPPER 1840'S WADE&BUT. - eBay (item 120387800724 end time Mar-08-09 17:56:54 PDT)

Actually I think I got a couple more in a 12 razor lot I won too.... : \