EBAY

[Beaker]

Recently some of us have fallen prey to people that we know bidding against ourselves for items we want on ebay.

Now normally for me if I recognise a username I will email them to ask them what they want the item for and is okay for me to bid against them. I find this to be polite and you will not annoy the person you know by unnecessarily raising the bidding price.

I would just like to know what other peoples opinion on this?

[Austin-Rover]

I personally would not bid at all - because with eBay - a similar item will always come to auction again.

Plus there is also the option of asking a seller if he has any more of the items you want - thus allowing you to have one of your own to bid on without bidding against a fellow club member.



:cool:

[MaestroMatt]

I was going to suggest that we put together a list of our usernames so you would know if you were bidding against a fellow club member - not all usernames are as obvious as Maria's!

[D87 SMW]

Originally posted by MaestroMatt
I was going to suggest that we put together a list of our usernames so you would know if you were bidding against a fellow club member - not all usernames are as obvious as Maria's!

Mine's 'f170ggt.' (well, d'uh. :)) Would be in capitals but it don't let you on eBay. :rolleyes: :(

[malcsmaesty]

personally i would try to outbid them every time.......:rolleyes: not really!! i think i would find out if the club member needed that particular item/part more than i did,then respectfully back off or not bid at all:D

[Simon]

I've fallen pray to it before but I resigned myself to "Fastest finger first" and as far as I'm concerned that's fair enough and the name of the game.

Ebay tips...

1) Install atomic clock which means you can get the last bid in to the precise second.

2) Keep pressing bid button all the time until the end of the auction with your bid figure and that means that no one else can get through to outbid you.

Not that I play dirty on ebay though, these are just a couple of tips passed onto me by a colleague especially in the cut-throat business of bidding for computer bits and bobs where there's some really canny ebayers out there...

If I don't win it I've lost it, to whoever - simple as that. I'd never enter into a bidding war because it just raises prices and anyway most of the stuff on ebay reaches market price or even higher in some cases.

Caveat emptor!

[Maria]

If I see one of our club members is the highest bidder (I'm getting to know most usernames - apologies if I outbid anyone without knowing), I'll leave well alone.

In the case of the cufflinks I got recently, Simon, as someone had already put in a higher bid than yours, I waited for a while to see if you put another bid in, and then put mine in.

Most things do crop up in multiples - if you don't win the first one, another is likely to come along sooner or later.

[SimonR]

This is an annoying problem, being as it's highly likely that people bidding on Maestro stuff will be enthusiasts from this club.

My general policy is to see if I recognise the ID of the highest bidder and if it's one of you lot then I'd usually forget it.

There are exceptions, however, if the item is something that I really need or have been waiting for for a long time then I'll usually bid for it. A case in point was a pair of front wings I got recently and had to bid against another person for, possibly someone from the club...?

If I know the person bidding and don't need it as much as them then I'll leave well alone - another part will be along later.

I must admit that I did feel a slight pang of guilt last week when I used 'buy it now' to get two fuel flow transducers for £15 a piece, but they *are* very rare and I have a use for both of them!

[MGTurbo]

I must admit that I did feel a slight pang of guilt last week when I used 'buy it now' to get two fuel flow transducers for £15 a piece, but they *are* very rare and I have a use for both of them!

You shouldnt feel guilty. If your willing to pay the price, why should you not have them? I got whinged at for bidding on a pair of Maestro headlight cover's, and was told i shouldnt have bidded on them because someone else wanted them?? Normally, if i recognise a user name, and like and know of the person, i would ask them first.

I had a battle with a well-known figure from the MG BBS on Ebay once, and ended up paying the retail price for it, because i was being continually outbid. As it happens, it was the wrong clutch. When i offered said item to the fellow enthusiast for £30 less than i paid (and less than the person was willing to pay in the first place) the person refused, and said he didnt want it! So why was he willing to pay just £1 less than me on the item? :mad:

After that, i no longer do anyone any favour's. It's an auction, and if i'm willing to pay the price, why should i not bid on something? As mentioned, if i know of the person, i would ask first or not even bid at all.

Gareth

[Simon]

Uh Oh don't get me wrong, I wasn't having a go at anyone especially Maria.

"I had a battle with a well-known figure from the MG BBS on Ebay once, and ended up paying the retail price for it, because i was being continually outbid." ...Exactly my point, watch the prices. Things on ebay quickly reach market price, sometimes beyond. Going on ebay is entertaining though.

Has anyone here ever got their fingers burned by buying something duff from ebay?

[Maria]

's OK, Simon, I knew you weren't having a go, but I wanted to make sure you knew I wasn't being nasty to you and outbidding you!

I haven't bought anything duff, but I have had one bad experience. I was trying to buy a clock from Ebay. One seller does custom designs, and I wanted to buy 2, coloured to match the car colours of the 2 people I wanted to give them to. I emailed twice before and after the auction ended to make sure it was OK to get 2, and that he could do the colours I wanted, but didn't hear anything. I sent off a letter expressing my disappointment and saying if I didn't hear anything from him I would leave negative feedback. Typically, he emailed as soon as I'd sent the letter, so I replied to say that a letter was coming his way, and to apologise for the tone of it. He said getting 2 clocks would be OK and a revised price so I sent another letter and cheque.

I got an email a day or so later after the 1st letter arrived to say that if that was the way I chose to do business, he wasn't interested, and that he had torn my cheques up, and left me negative feedback, which I wasn't impressed about. To my mind, if you have an auction going, you ought to check and reply to your emails as often as possible, especially once the auction ends and you need to sort out payment. Not to send anything for a week is not on, and neither is cancelling a transaction when the other party is willing to pay.

[Simon]

Maestro/Montego/Austin Rover clocks. Now there's a thought for a regalia opportunity...

:cool:

[Ricky]

Guilty as charged, take me down.....

Ebay is all "swings and roundabouts" in my experience, I often find myself putting in idle bids for things I would like but don't necessarily need, so at this point i'd like to apologise to rdgelder and matthewsemple, it seems I pulled a particularly dirty trick on matthew, just saw that book there and had to go for it, it had about 5 mins left on it too.....

As for burnt fingers, I think I need reconstructive surgery to my hands after buying my Maestro off of ebay, I wouldn't have said it was my worst mistake but it comes quite close..... which is why i've just won an auction for another car (everyone groan, its a Peugeot 309!) Maybe i'll need reconstructive surgery to most of my body now, especially if my mate finds out what i've done! Will I ever learn?

F153, have you noticed that smc trading have now pushed up the price of a fuel flow transducer now to a staggering £20? It's almost like a stock market, supply and demand and all that, I'm glad I got mine last year, cost me a mere £8!

If anyone sees me bid on a set of twin webers, PLEASE PLEASE and thrice PLEASE don't outbid me, I desperately need them! It's the missing link in making my maestro come back for a second take on conquering the world..... I mean being able to run! I will gladly repent any sins to get my hands on a set of those carbs, and I promise never to attempt a home refurbishment again!

Happy ebaying, i'll know not to outbid anyone now....

Ricky.

[D87 SMW]

Originally posted by Ricky
If anyone sees me bid on a set of twin webers, PLEASE PLEASE and thrice PLEASE don't outbid me, I desperately need them! It's the missing link in making my maestro come back for a second take on conquering the world..... I mean being able to run! I will gladly repent any sins to get my hands on a set of those carbs, and I promise never to attempt a home refurbishment again!


Twin Webers??? Where!? I'm looking for some of those at the moment! :eek: :eek: ;) :cool:

[Ricky]

Originally posted by F170 GGT
Twin Webers??? Where!? I'm looking for some of those at the moment! :eek: :eek: ;) :cool:

You can have mine, theyre somewhat dead after frank spencer here tried a diy renovation job..... Lupmy idle? School dinner custard was smoother!