50uF + 50uF Ebay sniped !!

[stevesuk]

I have just been sniped for 10 off 50uF + 50uF 500V electrolytic caps on Ebay UK. My bid was £40 and some 'person' bid £41, 8 seconds !! before the end of the auction. I am new to E-bay, is this sort of thing common ? and is there any way to minimise it ? other than sinking to the same level as this kind person.


Anyway, I have just ordered 6 from Mars++ll at £5 each, so it all turned out fine and I learnt a lesson. This 100watt superlead gets more expensive by the day. But, it will have switcheable master volume and possibly half power switch as well.

[Plexi]

Thats pretty much it.. people will never post a bid..but sit and place there bid in the final seconds.. and try to get what they after. E-bay can be good and bad all at the same time. Sometimes you get what you pay for when you do win the bids..sometimes you don't get nothing,or something else. Sometimes the buy it now is ok..but i've seen people go crazy bidding on things used,that you can still buy new,for less money.. and you think,how crazy are they? There are a lot of other places besides e-bay for some of the things like guitars amps parts etc...
Ha then the shipping.. thats the other gamble, if you do win the bid.. if it makes it oin one piece from being shipped through UPS..

I just got an amp..a super twin, that was demolished in shipping..so the people asked me to look at it, and collected the insurance, and gave me the amp. I did manage to get it put back together..

Richie

[stevesuk]

Thanks for the advice Richie. I have had a look around the web and evidently you can get automated software that places bids ' snipes ' split seconds before the end of the auction up to a preset.

[zaphod_phil]

Sniping is completely legal on eBay. After a few incidents like this, I now use a free sniping system from www.auctionstealer.com However, to make it fairer on everyone, I always put a modest bid in near the start of the auction. Then everybody knows I'm in the bidding...

[loverocker]

OK, I gotta confess - I am a sniper (not this particular item, though). Those were the ARS caps, right? Had you bid the first time the guy tried to sell them, you'd have got them.

Here's the bad news: online auctions are designed to reward sniping. I - and now you - learned it the hard way.

And ya gotta use psychology on your bid amount. The last time I won an auction with a bid of £25, £60, £100, £525 - i.e. any 'round' number - was, er... let's see... oh - never! Round numbers only work if you are the only person bidding on an item, so you've got to guesstimate what other last-minute snipers are going to bid, bear in mind how much you want to pay and adjust your figure accordingly.

And Richie's right - sometimes it's silly season on Ebay. All part of the fun

[zaphod_phil]

The sniper will always argue that they won because ultimately they put in the highest bid. There is some truth to this, but it's not a totally satisfactory answer. Personally, I think that only existing bidders should be allowed to place bids within the last 20 minutes of any online auction. And that tip about round numbers is right on. Always make your hi-bid something like 12, 17, 22, 27,.. etc.

[jaysg]

I just got an amp..a super twin, that was demolished in shipping..so the people asked me to look at it, and collected the insurance, and gave me the amp. I did manage to get it put back together...

What's the value of a working Super Twin...put another way, how much do you have to pay someone to take it from you

[loverocker]

Personally, I think that only existing bidders should be allowed to place bids within the last 20 minutes of any online auction.

Why? At Sotheby's, the auctioneer doesn't tell someone who enters the bidding late that their bids aren't welcome because they didn't show their interest earlier. For good reason - the seller would throttle the auctioneer!

Like I said, I also learned the hard way about how online auctions work, but I really don't understand your objection. If you bid up to your limit for an item - which is the #1 Principle of all auctions (real and online) - then that's it. If you're complaining, as I see it, the only reasons are:

(a) when the auctions ends, you say that you wish you'd bid a bit more to secure the item - in which case, you kidded yourself about what your limit was, or

(b) by not taking part in the earlier bid, the snipers have not let on to you how much demand there might be for the item, causing you to hope you can get it for less than it's actually worth (can you feel the moral high ground slipping from under your feet here? ), so you forget all about that #1 Principle and actually enter a low bid instead of your limit for the item... which brings us back to (a)

Don't forget that snipers often don't get their way because they bid a few £s over the current bid with 10 seconds to go, only to find that the early bidder had a maximum that was still higher. And no time to rebid! No sniper looks for sympathy - both sniper and winning bidder did the #1 Principle thing, so there can be no complaints.

[RicF]

I do think an important factor, that Loverocker touched on, is that people tend to bid an item up higher if it already has several bids. The "if someone else is willing to pay this much, it must be worth it" school of thought. I think this is what makes people wait until the last minute to bid in the first place, and what led to the whole concept of "sniping." Personally I try to figure out exactly what I want to spend on an item ahead of time, but I usually wait till the last day to bid.

[loverocker]

If you can be sure to avoid shill bidders, you've got a great idea

[Plexi]

"""What's the value of a working Super Twin...put another way, how much do you have to pay someone to take it from you """

HA... well they had this one i believe it was 600.00 but i got it for free..

yeah i know, not one of there best amps ever made..but.. got 2 speakers,chassi,s transformers..knobs switches,sockets..tilt back legs..logo.handle..etc
and for free to just get it out of the store..it was hard to pass up.

I think it was part of a trade thing they had.. So they got there money..and didn't want to try and fix the amp back. Probably worked out better for them..they didn't have to try and sell the amp.. Just collected the ins. from the damage claim.

Chris over on Ampage gave me a few links..seems the guy that built Claptons amps searched for these transformers,and used them to build his twins he was useing.. well the PT anyway.

they are monsterous trannys..don't know why they would want these..

Anyway..its good to have, since i do repairs,and sometimes people look for used things..

Richie

[Wannatone]

If you can be sure to avoid shill bidders, you've got a great idea

Yep! Sniping! It just doesn´t work to 100%, though.

[zaphod_phil]

I just read the above comparison to real auctions and thought of somthing... A real auction will not end if there is still interest. As long as someone bids, the auction extends.

And this is why you can't really compare a Sotheby's type auction with a time-limited online auction, and hence why the usual arguments in favour of sniping don't completely hold. And also yo do have people physically present in the room yo can see, even if they are agents acting for the real bidders.

Like I explained above, I use a kind of 'fair sniping' system myself.

[Ian]

Hi Guys,

I used to get “Snipedâ€

[loverocker]

[quote="Ian"] Since doing that I’ve never been successfully “Snipedâ€

[Ian]

Hi Loverocker,

Ha! Well that’s thing, you see? Now, like everyone else, I was a bit upset the first time I was sniped in the final few seconds, a bit shocked really ! But now, I just enter my real top bid, then relax & switch off. If I get the goods, then great. Otherwise it doesn’t hurt at all, !

Ian.

Ps;- several nice Tokai’s on eBay just now, inc a “Rebornâ€

[loverocker]

One thing I won't be out-sniping anyone on is the ex-SRV Tokai Strat that's just turned up on Ebay US with a $25,000+ starting bid