Ridiculous eBay Prices

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Well, the last time I had a non-redhead show interest she turned out to be young enough to be my daughter, despite looking as aged as me. I take that as reality telling me “Stick to your established, creepy redhead lane.”
hmm. reconsider any thoughts of going into sales....
 
hmm. reconsider any thoughts of going into sales....

LOL. I had my fill of that in the 90s.

Ironically, the redhead before the aforementioned, not-readhead, as well as the one who got married and had a child, are both in Sales.
 
If you move the decimal place on this one space to the left, it could be a reasonable price, but $146.75 is a wee bit high.

 
Just snagged RuneQuest 3e Land of Ninja boxed set in pretty good shape for $50.00 plus shipping. The only damage I could see was the Scenarios book had a tear on the cover which I can fix up easily. It's complete which is a requirement of mine so there's that. Specially when I've been seeing it going for some pretty high prices. (around $225.00 I think I saw it the other day) Someone had a "River of Cradles" but it was missing the three maps. :/

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Well, just dropped two bills and change to get all three volumes (?) of the Japanese Rules Cyclopedia and now I'm trying to see if I can get most of the same rules for under eight bills in boxed set form. This would leave me one boxed set short of the full set of Japanese Classic D&D core rulebooks.

While this is technically my favorite form of Dungeons & Dragons, I do not read a lick of Japanese and have no intention of ever playing the game in that language.

On the other hand, this is one of the very few items I've ever wanted to own just to own it, and it's been bordering on "bucket list" for years.
 
If you move the decimal place on this one space to the left, it could be a reasonable price, but $146.75 is a wee bit high.

Damn, I should sell my FASA Trek stuff, I have pretty much the complete run.
 
Well, just dropped two bills and change to get all three volumes (?) of the Japanese Rules Cyclopedia and now I'm trying to see if I can get most of the same rules for under eight bills in boxed set form. This would leave me one boxed set short of the full set of Japanese Classic D&D core rulebooks.

While this is technically my favorite form of Dungeons & Dragons, I do not read a lick of Japanese and have no intention of ever playing the game in that language.

On the other hand, this is one of the very few items I've ever wanted to own just to own it, and it's been bordering on "bucket list" for years.
Why? The art? Hot for Kanji?
 
Why? The art? Hot for Kanji?
It isn't so much that I enjoy the art-- though I certainly do-- as it's the only localization of D&D that ever replaced the art from the original English-language printing. Plus... yeah, I'd be lying if I didn't say that style of art looks "more like D&D" to me than standard D&D art does.
 
&@&#@$@!# eBay!!! So, as most of you know I've been rebuilding old material I once owned and a few days ago I noted a really complete Thieves' World in great condition up for bid. It also had the Companion and the three adventures that FASA at the time did for it. All of them were in awesome condition. Now, I currently had already snagged Thieves World and the companion, but I'd had no luck previously snagging the FASA adventures.

So because I figured a backup copy of the main box set and Companion wouldn't be a bad thing, I decided to bid on this. Now I also put my high bid in order to keep outbidding everyone. So, anytime someone went to bid my high bid countered it. I also was keeping an eye on it as it got close to ending watching my current bid rise up every so often but waaay under my max bid. Figure most of you know how this works. Anyhow it was supposed to end at 5pm PST and as it ticked over I had won, or so I thought.

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As you see though two others came in after 5pm and outbid me but I had no idea since I thought it was over. I've since learned that if you set your url to UK or one other country that you can see seconds before the damn auction ends. I guess folks who do this slide in right as its ending.

Since obviously the person who placed the auction didn't have it end at exactly 5pm PST, I guess some seconds were involved. So this is the last time I deal with auctions with fucking bidding since the timer is bullshit. Yeah I'm a bit pissed about this.Lesson learned.
 
The trick with eBay bidding is to to use automatic bidding and put in the absolute highest bid you are willing to make. When I used to bid heavily on Lego, I would also set my bid actually just a bit higher. So if my true highest bid was $150, I would bid like $153. That way the person who bids $150.01 doesn't take it away from me. If they bid $153.01 at least I know they really were bidding more than my $150 limit. And in general, don't bid for round numbers like $150 because everyone who knows the system is going to bid some non-round number just a bit higher. If you bid the absolute could not possibly think of going higher bid, plus some slop, you an feel comfortable that if you are outbid, you have been outbid by someone who really was willing to pay more.
 
I feel the need to admit I bid into the realm of ridiculous pricing yesterday, and even bolstered by the gift certificates I’ve collected over the last six years I still got crushed.

There really are people who will pay the crazy prices we talk about on here.
 
I've been outbid on eBay more times than I can count. If my max bid gets outbid, so be it. Some bidders use auction sniper software that bids at the last possible moment. There is nothing wrong with that, as I could do that too, but since I already entered the max amount I am willing to pay, why bother. Do some people pay above the average current price? Absolutely. Some people also pay less than the current average. Other than the tremendous shift to listings being "buy it now" instead of simple auctions, the eBay bidding experience hasn't really changed for decades.
 
It was probably a red head. Taunting you. Teasing you.

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I've been outbid on eBay more times than I can count. If my max bid gets outbid, so be it. Some bidders use auction sniper software that bids at the last possible moment. There is nothing wrong with that, as I could do that too, but since I already entered the max amount I am willing to pay, why bother. Do some people pay above the average current price? Absolutely. Some people also pay less than the current average. Other than the tremendous shift to listings being "buy it now" instead of simple auctions, the eBay bidding experience hasn't really changed for decades.
Yea, the best defense against a sniper is to have a solid automatic bid out there. I have in the past checked near when an auction is going to close and considered if I really wanted the item and upped my automatic bid.

On another side of the coin, I have at least twice jumped on a buy it now price that was well set. That's how I filled out my RQ1/2 collection. That's how I got my Lego 675 "Yellow Castle" (one of the most sought after Lego Castle sets).

Oh, and for a while, I got a real reputation in the Lego community. I had a few folks tell me if they saw my name on the bidding they just didn't bother... I was just getting serious about collecting Pirates and Castle, and would place what I felt were serious solid bids, often at the higher side of what I considered the fair price range.
 
Since obviously the person who placed the auction didn't have it end at exactly 5pm PST, I guess some seconds were involved. So this is the last time I deal with auctions with fucking bidding since the timer is bullshit. Yeah I'm a bit pissed about this.Lesson learned.
Gixen. The answer is Gixen or some other auction sniper. You can bet that's what they used.
 
Sometimes I just liked bidding to jack up the price for somebody else if I knew they wouldn’t stop.
 
I usually bid in the last 3 seconds my max bid. Then I feel fine if I lose.
 
Also, whatever your maximum bid is? Add a dollar or two and a handful of change to it, so you're not beaten by a sniper who outbids you by a penny.

I may or may not have learned that from this thread, but it's good.
 
Speaking of... well, not-ridiculous secondhand prices, Amazon Marketplace has three copies of the Bullwinkle and Rocky Roleplaying Party Game for under forty bucks.

Speaking of snipers, I sure hope there's still one of those left when I get paid.
 
Sometimes I just liked bidding to jack up the price for somebody else if I knew they wouldn’t stop.

I did that for a while twenty years ago. I'd be scrolling through things and think, "this isn't selling for as high as it should. Screw this guy. He's not going to get a sweet deal. I'm gonna jack this price up."

At the time, Transformers Jetfire figures with the armor in good condition were going for about $100. I saw one with a low bid, and that offended my sensibilities for some reason. So, I tossed in a bid of $85 confident that the original bidder had already bid more than that or someone else would come along and outbid me. Well, it seems the original bidder put in $84, so I was now high bidder at $85. I figured I'd just wait until someone came along to outbid me.

No one did.

Luckily, it was something I wanted anyway. It was just at a generally bad time to pay that much for Transformer. I paid for it to avoid any dings to my feedback. I learned my lesson and never did that shit again.

Putting in a bid early just encourages sellers to shill bid anyway. Nearly every time I put in an early bid, the auction gains the attention of some "random user" with no feedback which bids in minimum increments to drive the price of an auction up. If they match my bid (as in exactly match it so they know all they need to do is enter one more bid to be high bidder), they stop and never bid again. If they bid over and the auction wins with them as high bidder... well the seller always has another of the exact same item to sell, so they relist.
 
I did that for a while twenty years ago. I'd be scrolling through things and think, "this isn't selling for as high as it should. Screw this guy. He's not going to get a sweet deal. I'm gonna jack this price up."

At the time, Transformers Jetfire figures with the armor in good condition were going for about $100. I saw one with a low bid, and that offended my sensibilities for some reason. So, I tossed in a bid of $85 confident that the original bidder had already bid more than that or someone else would come along and outbid me. Well, it seems the original bidder put in $84, so I was now high bidder at $85. I figured I'd just wait until someone came along to outbid me.

No one did.

Luckily, it was something I wanted anyway. It was just at a generally bad time to pay that much for Transformer. I paid for it to avoid any dings to my feedback. I learned my lesson and never did that shit again.
Yea, don't place a bid you're not prepared to honor...

Putting in a bid early just encourages sellers to shill bid anyway. Nearly every time I put in an early bid, the auction gains the attention of some "random user" with no feedback which bids in minimum increments to drive the price of an auction up. If they match my bid (as in exactly match it so they know all they need to do is enter one more bid to be high bidder), they stop and never bid again. If they bid over and the auction wins with them as high bidder... well the seller always has another of the exact same item to sell, so they relist.
When I was buying Lego on eBay, I think I did see the very occasional shill activity. If you think you are seeing such activity, report it.

But generally what I saw was honest bidding, so the early automatic bid really is the best way to get what you want. You can either place a solid bid if you really want something or you can place a low ball bid if you're hoping to get a deal and patiently wait for the auction for that item that doesn't attract the right attention and you get the item for your low ball bid or less...

Oh, and another thing I did back in the day, I started using Babelfish to translate German Lego auctions... Though that was at a time when shipping from Germany was relatively cheap. And I was after Lego that had never been sold in the USA so hunting for it in Germany (then Lego's biggest market) was a good way to get stuff.
 
One thing enjoyed, but also frustrated, when was big on eBay years ago was having a nemesis...someone who always seemed to be bidding on the same things as you. Frustrating when lose but exhilarating when win, and also comforting to know your not the only crazy person bidding on this item.
I generally stuck to board games, RPG games and old magazines and zines.
 
I've had me best luck getting great deals on auctions that end early on a US federal holiday. People forget to get up and bid at the last minute.
 
Oh, and another thing I did back in the day, I started using Babelfish to translate German Lego auctions... Though that was at a time when shipping from Germany was relatively cheap. And I was after Lego that had never been sold in the USA so hunting for it in Germany (then Lego's biggest market) was a good way to get stuff.

Oooh. That's a pro-tip right there. I never thought of that.
 
Speaking of... well, not-ridiculous secondhand prices, Amazon Marketplace has three copies of the Bullwinkle and Rocky Roleplaying Party Game for under forty bucks.

Speaking of snipers, I sure hope there's still one of those left when I get paid.
Gixen is just really good for this. I place a reasonable bid to get myself on the list, then put my max I'm willing to spend in Gixen. Then I forget about it until after the auction, so I'm not tempted to raise my max on Gixen.
 
I'm not going to sift through all 9 pages, and I don't think I've posted this already, so apologies if I have done so...

What I would like to see on e-bay is some sort of timer that extends the auction time by five minutes if anyone overbids in the last five minutes. Gets rid of all of the snipers, since others would then have five minutes to consider a counter-bid. This would be great for sellers, which I have never done on e-bay, but I think would also be more fair to buyers.

As to my absolute top bid, I don't always know what it is. If I tell myself $150, would I bid $151? Probably. What about $160? Not sure. I can have a general idea of what I am willing to pay but at the end I'm never quite sure until I see where the bidding goes.
 
I'm not going to sift through all 9 pages, and I don't think I've posted this already, so apologies if I have done so...

What I would like to see on e-bay is some sort of timer that extends the auction time by five minutes if anyone overbids in the last five minutes. Gets rid of all of the snipers, since others would then have five minutes to consider a counter-bid. This would be great for sellers, which I have never done on e-bay, but I think would also be more fair to buyers.

As to my absolute top bid, I don't always know what it is. If I tell myself $150, would I bid $151? Probably. What about $160? Not sure. I can have a general idea of what I am willing to pay but at the end I'm never quite sure until I see where the bidding goes.
eBay for guns had that standard I think since inception.
 
I don't think these are ridiculous prices (maybe some of those Disney things, but for all I know they are reasonable) BUT this is the actual eBay site for Kevin Siembieda:

"From the personal collection of Kevin Siembieda toys, action figures, vehicles, artwork and collectibles. Toys include various Superhero items, Spider-Man, Batman, Star Wars, Micro-Machines and other odds & ends. Once they are gone, they are gone. Most are in good to excellent condition. Low prices."​
 
I don't think these are ridiculous prices (maybe some of those Disney things, but for all I know they are reasonable) BUT this is the actual eBay site for Kevin Siembieda:

"From the personal collection of Kevin Siembieda toys, action figures, vehicles, artwork and collectibles. Toys include various Superhero items, Spider-Man, Batman, Star Wars, Micro-Machines and other odds & ends. Once they are gone, they are gone. Most are in good to excellent condition. Low prices."​
I still regret not buying a piece from the Rifts CCG he had up for years. The artist now works exclusively in digital, so I’ll never see its like again.
 
I'm not going to sift through all 9 pages, and I don't think I've posted this already, so apologies if I have done so...

What I would like to see on e-bay is some sort of timer that extends the auction time by five minutes if anyone overbids in the last five minutes. Gets rid of all of the snipers, since others would then have five minutes to consider a counter-bid. This would be great for sellers, which I have never done on e-bay, but I think would also be more fair to buyers.

As to my absolute top bid, I don't always know what it is. If I tell myself $150, would I bid $151? Probably. What about $160? Not sure. I can have a general idea of what I am willing to pay but at the end I'm never quite sure until I see where the bidding goes.
I've seen auction systems with that, but honestly, if folks would just put in an honest real max bid with automatic bidding, a sniper out bidding them really is out bidding them. And extending the time by a few minutes is only useful if you actually can be available when the auction is supposed to end.
 
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