Do the Ebay sellers check the merchandise?



#37

Our beloved friend cobubba has neg feedback


#38

Quote:
Do the Ebay sellers check the merchandise?

"I have no way to test it" = It doesn't work.

#39

Indeed .... sellers try to hide behind clever wording. The most common is .. I don't have a way to power it up so I did not test it. In many case it is not hard to put batteries and see what happens. The ones that really make me shake my head is the seller HAS A POWER SUPPLY .. but will not bother to use it!!!

I had a case or two like that. I left the seller a negative feedback and refused to alter it when TAS asked me to.

Namir


#40

Are you saying that Ebay itself approached you regarding feedback, and requested that you rescind it?!

#41

PLUS... he guaranteed the unit to be in working condition. Buyer claims he/she sent it back but did not get a refund. Negative feedback on TAS is not something to be envied. If you're gonna play the game you gotta learn to play it right.

I have tried unsuccessfully to purchase a few choice models of late (HP 45, HP 67, HP 25C) only to be outbid - by an unknown bidder - in the last 3 seconds of the auction. The prices paid for some of these units are, in my opinion, exhorbitant and I am increasingly disillusioned by TAS.

Jeff Kearns


#42

You said, "The prices paid for some of these units are, in my opinion, exhorbitant and I am increasingly disillusioned by TAS", and I have to wholeheartedly agree!

#43

The prices paid may be bad for the buyer, but I'm sure they make the sellers very happy. :)

I don't understand why ebay keeps a hard deadline on the end of an auction. If it was up to me, I'd extend the end time by perhaps 3-5 minutes after a last-minute bid to give other bidders a chance to counter. New bids would continue to extend the end-time. It would get rid of snipers, give buys a chance to get items they really want, and increase the sale price for sells. Since the minimum bid increment goes up geometrically, it wouldn't be possible to extend the bidding forever without going broke.


#44

Quote:
... It would get rid of snipers...

Not really, it would just change how the sniping services operate.

For buyers who wanted to win without staying up until 2AM Friday morning, could still put a loop in the snipe program like this:

Initial Bid: $100
Bid Increment: $5
Max price: $125

The above settings would not extend the auction more than 5 times or past $125, which ever came first. It still gives an advantage over the human buyer who must carefully time a page reload, and be on a computer through the end of an auction. I suggest it would arguably not change the ending dynamics or the trading price in the long run, since the MAX Price will likely stay around "Fair Market Value", while snipers lower the initial bid, hoping for a deal. More bids does not always equal higher price.

Not that I have much experience buying or selling online or keep track of tens of thousands of historic HP calculator prices. ;-)


#45

FYI, from eBay's online customer support site (http://contact.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?CustomerSupport) I get from a search for "I want information about the automatic bidding system":

When you place a bid, enter the maximum amount you're willing to pay for the item. No one will see this amount.
We'll place a bid that is just high enough to make you the high bidder or meet the reserve price if there is one. This means you could win the item for less than your maximum bid amount.

We'll continue to bid on your behalf to keep you the high bidder until the bidding reaches your maximum amount, and we'll send you an email each time we bid. If you're outbid, we'll send you an email so you can bid again if you want. The winner of the item is the one with the highest bid.


#46

Jim,

Not sure if you realize Allen was talking about external bidding services that submit bids electronically for you.


#47

I'm aware of it. I was just trying to point out that there is a means to use eBay to help automatically bid for you under certain conditions without the use of external proxy services or sniper programs.

#48

Quote:
... It would get rid of snipers...

Not really, it would just change how the sniping services operate.


I agree it would not get rid of snipers, but it would prevent the sniper from winning the auction strictly on the basis of timing (which is the goal of sniping).

In other words, if the incremental bidder is not paying attention to the auction near closing time, the sniper still wins. But if he is paying attention, then he has another chance to submit an incremental bid. The same would hold true for additional snipes near the end of each time extension. If you really want to foil snipers, then have the duration of time extension vary randomly. The time extension would be posted on the auction page, but the ending time would not be made available electronically to the sniping service.

As an aside, I can't see why some people are so opposed to sniping. Some say it's "unfair." I disagree. If all bids were required to be submitted as a snipe, then it would be analogous to sealed bids. Everyone gives it their best shot, and the high bidder wins. What could be fairer than that?

But the auction sites like incremental bidding, because it keeps bidders coming back and looking, so they might see something else to bid on.


#49

Quote:

I agree it would not get rid of snipers, but it would prevent the sniper from winning the auction strictly on the basis of timing (which is the goal of sniping).... if you really want to foil snipers, then have the duration of time extension vary randomly.


You can easily prove that sniping is NOT about timing by placing a higher bid at any time. If you are willing to pay a dollar or a cent more than everyone else is (subject to minimum bid increments), you win- it does not matter when the bid was placed.

On any given auction, you have no way of knowing how many snipe bids were placed for that item and later annulled because the bidding passed the snipers max threshold- independent of time.

I agree with you that universal sniping would be as close as possible to the unbiased, sealed bid.


#50

Quote:
You can easily prove that sniping is NOT about timing by placing a higher bid at any time. If you are willing to pay a dollar or a cent more than everyone else is (subject to minimum bid increments), you win- it does not matter when the bid was placed.

True about higher amounts winning, but what I meant is that the goal of sniping is to get a bid in at the next allowable increase level before the incremental bidder has time to react before the auction closes. That is about timing.

By "incremental bidder," I mean the guy who sits at his computer watching the bids rise, then each time he gets outbid, offering another slightly higher bid of his own. In the end he is beat by a sniper because he does not have time to get in one more bid.


#51

My strategy is to enter the absolute top amount I am willing to pay and then not worry about it. If I lose, it means somebody was willing to pay more. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

#52

Quote:
...
By "incremental bidder," I mean the guy who sits at his computer watching the bids rise, then each time he gets outbid, offering another slightly higher bid of his own. In the end he is beat by a sniper because he does not have time to get in one more bid.

I don't feel sorry for this "incremental bidder". If he wants to pay more anyway then why does he not bid a larger amount at once?

It is really strange because of such "incremental bidders" I usually bid only during the last seconds of an auction. If I would bid earlier such an "incremental bidder" ruins the price bidding a little bit more and more until he reaches my maximum price.
If he wants to buy the item why does he not bid the amount he is willing to pay at once?


#53

Quote:
I don't feel sorry for this "incremental bidder". If he wants to pay more anyway then why does he not bid a larger amount at once?

Because he is already be the high bidder. There's nothing worse than being the high bidder, having a maximum bid that is higher than your current bid, and then being outbid in the last 3 seconds of the auction.

The whole "bid the maximum that you're willing to pay" concept assumes that you know ahead of time what that maximum is. This is funny since one of the purposes of a live auction is to get people caught up in the bidding - fundamentally to get them to change their mind about what they're willing to pay for an item.


#54

Quote:
...
The whole "bid the maximum that you're willing to pay" concept assumes that you know ahead of time what that maximum is. ...

Yes, normally you don't know what the maximum is. But you should know what the maximum is you are willing to pay for the item.
If you have bid less and somebody bids in the last 3 seconds a higher price but still lower than what you would have been willing to pay than why do you blame the last second bidder? You could have bidden the maximum you were willing to pay and the last second bidder would probably not have outbid you.

#55

That's the rational way of bidding. And the other is the emotional way. The latter is more fun for the participants, but you've to take care not paying more than you (later) want having paid. So it's the classical conflict between ratio and emotion, known for millenia.


#56

...and that is why good deals are very rare on ebay. Good deals for the buyer, that is!


#57

Irrespective of the pros and cons of sniping and time limited auctions I find it a total mystery that eBay has not at least experimented with traditional auctions i.e. ones that end only when there have been no more bids within a defined time limit.

I can't believe that it would cost eBay any more to hosts such auctions and it would surely bring in more revenue as sniped bargains would be a thing of the past?


#58

Maybe the logistics is against their model?

If you are going to have an auction--say, 10 minutes between bids = final bid, then you have to first publicize the auction, then run the auction. Ebay would have to have a "future auctions" page where each one would have a scheduled start time. Separately, you could go to the "active" auctions page to participate with ongoings, and a "closed" auctions page.

I suppose the seller would pay premiums for "prime" auction times and get a "discount" for auctions in the "middle of the night" (that depends on market, doesn't it!)

It is an interesting idea!

#59

here in new zealand we have TradeMe, www.trademe.co.nz which is the local equivalent of ebay. if a bid is placed within the last 2 minutes of an auction, the ending time is extended to be two minutes beyond the time of that bid - so an auction will only end after there has been no further bidding activity for 2 clear minutes.

incidentally, we also almost universally make payment for TradeMe by direct credit; you send the winning bidder your bank account number and name, and they deposit payment online by direct credit from their bank account into yours. all our banks in new zealand talk to each other (electronically) across a system that is transparent to the customer.

oh, and we have eftpos (electronic funds transfer at point of sale), whereby you can use an eftpos card issued by any bank to purchase goods at almost any retailer. a bit like a visa debit card, only not involving visa and usable by even children.

and we have a ban on nuclear weapons!!

cheers,
rob ;-)


#60

Wow, great systems you have in place there, plus it's a beautiful country. Maybe I need to start packing.

#61

Quote:
and we have a ban on nuclear weapons!!

Here's hoping that your potential enemies also have such a ban.

#62

As long as NZ is an ally of the US, it is a moot point.

The one potential enemy of recent decades most definitely does not have a ban. That would be France.


#63

Quote:
The one potential enemy of recent decades most definitely does not have a ban. That would be France.

Hum.

(One of those frogs diplomatically said.)

By the way, entrance in NZ is very difficult due to very strict ecologic protective laws. If you ran a jogging in your country in the morning and packed in your shoes without having washed them, your arrival in this country would be more than complicated.

Nevertheless I do agree: it's a beautiful one.


#64

Hi Xavier,

Of course I am rather snarkily jesting. The friction between NZ an FR relates to two issues: 1, Underwater nuclear testing in the pacific, which France continued to carry out until shockingly recently and 2. The sinking of the Greenpeace RAINBOW WARRIOR including the murder of two crewmembers.

Obviously the countries are linked by a web of alliances anyway...and France would never threaten NZ in our lifetimes...


#65

I did understand that, and I'm not particularly proud of these events.
Never mind, Bill, in general every country is constitued of human beings who, 'pour étrange que cela puisse paraître', never decided to born there but love their home.

#66

Quote:
As long as NZ is an ally of the US, it is a moot point.

So the ban is a practical one, not philosophical. I.e., as long as we have Uncle Sam to provide his nuclear umbrella, we need not bother with the costs/risks of having our own.

#67

I don't know whether that is the position. But of course we all make those sorts of compromises. No country lives in a vacuum.


#68

Quote:
No country lives in a vacuum.

We do. It's about nineteen years by now... :(


#69

Haha, as in "that giant sucking sound"?


#70

If the reference is the same as that given by Wikipedia... well, yes, but not only that.

We are the hollow men

We are the stuffed men
Leaning together

Headpiece filled with straw.
Alas!


Greetings,
Massimo

#71

Hmmmh, it makes little difference in warfare whether you die in "friendly fire", "collateral damages" or by the enemy's bombs. AFAIK, the same holds in nuclear warfare, but for a larger area :(

#72

Quote:
PLUS... he guaranteed the unit to be in working condition. Buyer claims he/she sent it back but did not get a refund. Negative feedback on TAS is not something to be envied. If you're gonna play the game you gotta learn to play it right.

There's an old saying, "There's three sides to every story, yours, mine and the truth." We've just heard the buyer's side, and cannot take it to necessarily be the unvarnished truth. The seller claims that the item was in perfect working condition when shipped and also stated clearly that there are "no returns." So, any guarantee is essentially worthless, given that it can't be enforced. Can we say for sure that the item was not damaged in shipping? After all, it was shipped to Brazil, and possibly opened at customs. Can we say for sure that the buyer did not damage it through accident, abuse or misuse? Did the buyer contact the seller to request return of the item? Did the buyer even return the item? We only have the buyer's word on this. I'm not siding with the seller here, and would never be stupid enough to buy anything from him, given his attitude and absurd pricing. However, I have little sympathy for people who deal with people like this and then complain when they get burned.


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