Why are people stupid? Ebay and Porsche Parts

[djomlas]

well if people are putting their max proce, and if urs is higher....if they pist it days or hours before the end, and urs is higher, you will win either way.

but if it wasnt for people like that we wouldnt be able to win some parts/things the way we do.

but i do feel ur pain w the idiots

[chiefsalami]

The problem (and it might be the case with this item) is that oftentimes you have newly registered bidders that are on there solely to frustrate and try to screw the sellers. Ebay charges sellers a fee based on a percentage of the final value, and if someone with 0 or small feedback comes in with a massive bid and wins the item, the seller gets stuck with a big bill and nobody to actually pay for the item. Of course, the seller can file a dispute and have the fees refunded, but the process takes about 10 days, you then have to relist your item, and you may have lost that real buyer who moved on to an item that they did win. I've had all this happen to me on multiple occasions. My question is why people even waste time doing this crap - what do they get out of annyoning someone else?

I would have an ebay rule that bidders with feedback under, say 10, would not be able to bid in the last hour of an auction. Kind of an incentive for the sellers because they won't have to deal with this crap, and the bidders would need to "prove themselves" as responsible buyers on ebay.

[RandallNeighbour]

I win most every auction I bid on by following these simple procedures...

1. I know the item's value in the minds of other eBay users by watching similar items come up for sale and go to other bidders.

2. I know what I can get the item new for online from another source and I make sure I'm not spending more than I should be.

3. I watch the item and set alarm clocks and ask my wife to remind me when the auction is about to end.

4. I insure I am logged in and ready to bid by placing a sample bid a minute or two before the auction closes, but I do not confirm the bid. This also helps me check the speed of my connection. If it's slow, I consider this and adjust the time I need to snipe it.

5. I wait until there is 15 seconds on the auction left and jam in my highest price plus a few extra dollars and cents to make sure my bid is an oddball one... ie, $546.69. This weeds out all the "add a buck and rebid" people.

6. I walk away and come back after its closed.

Now another thing I do is to look at the ending time of the auction. If its mid-day on a Tuesday, that item isn't going to go for much unless it's a business product. A personal item won't have a lot of bidders because they're not able to tear away from work to bid. I've gotten a lot of great stuff for really cheap in these auctions. Sunday evening auctions always make more than Tuesday afternoon auctions, that's for sure.

For example, I just bought a black carpet rear storage unit (the one you mount the speakers in) for $50 last week. The seller had no pix on the item, and quoted a hundred bucks for shipping. A quick email to him to ask for a reasonable price on shipping and confirmation that it was the plastic box and not the vinyl one and I was going for it. The auction closed at 3 pm on Thursday. They guy had no idea what it was worth and how to list stuff on eBay.

[ohioboxster]

Sometimes you just cant be at the computer when the auction is ending.

[Perfectlap]

that's true we aren't always around to bid but since this question is in regards to high demmand items (items with at least one daily bid) submitting a "leave and hope" type bid in one of these type auctions is really only helping to raise the final price.
I say make the time or don't bid. This practice would help all the buyers in the long run and thus attract more sellers.

p.s.
RN, you must be the guy who alway beats my $1.01 last ditch bids.
I'll have to change that to $1.99!

[ohioboxster]

There were some tail lights I was bidding on yesterday and it bacame a bad deal by the time the auction ended. I didnt win but did end up bidding 20 bucks more than I wanted to pay. I happened to be at my friends place picking up my car and he bid for me. At one point he said, just another 2 bucks we have time. I said no, it doesnt sound like much until 2 bucks turns into 60 and the lights arent a deal anymore. I wonder how many times we bid against each other on E-bay. My starter came today. Now that was a deal !

[Chills]

Perfectlap I completely agree with you. Why anyone would bid just before the auction ends is beyond me. It usually is a newb or a friend of the seller trying to get the price up, though. Annoying to say the least.