Missed Bargain of the Century

[Cholly]

AAAARGH! I don't usually post moans and whines but last night I missed out on the e-bay bargain of the century. 30 sprues, a mixture of original Imperial Guard, Ork and Squat arms from the first range of plastic boxed sets plus a whole load of the pistol sprues from Confrontation (the forerunner to Necromunda). These all would have been perfect for my current project so I put my highest bid of £35 (£1.50 per sprue and I've seen them going for £10+ each). Unfortunately I was on the train home when the auction ended and lo and bloody behold I get home, check my mail and I've been pipped at the post for £36 

I screamed a bit, frantically searched for any more being auctioned off, failed to find any and went to bed.

Here's hoping the guy who bought them puts them back up for sale (hopefully not at ridiculously over-inflated prices).

[Daeothar]

...Here's hoping the guy who bought them puts them back up for sale (hopefully not at ridiculously over-inflated prices).

Don't count on it. Knowing Ebay, it will be either someone like you, using the bits for what they're meant for, or they'll show up individually at ridiculous prices, most likely with 'L00K!!, long OOP, Rare, Collectable' in the title...

I feel your pain...

Can't recall how many times this happened to me back in the day when auctions on Ebay were still worthwhile. Many a morning was filled with much wailing and gnashing of teeth, when the rush to my PC right out of bed, to check on auctions that ended in the middle of the night, ended in disappointment.

Those days were over when I started using Auctionsniper though. That little tool also prevented a lot of heat of the moment bidding well above the limits I set myself for items.

However, nowadays I rarely, if ever, bid on Ebay auctions anymore, as the time that real bargains could be found daily are over. So the more your miss chafes of course. Such deals don't come by often anymore.

Still; for those rare occasions, perhaps getting that sniper app could be useful...

[Major_Gilbear]

...Would you have been prepared to pay more than £35? Because if so, then your maximum bid may have beaten the competition's efforts if you'd put it in.

Of course, it helps if you do this very near the end of the auction, to avoid anybody "feeling out" your maximum bid and then going 1p over it (or use Daeothar's suggestion to have the tool do it for you) - which is even more annoying.  

Anyway, I do know how you feel, so please accept my commiserations!

[mellis1644]

Yeah I know what you mean. I don't do eBay often but have come to the conclusion I need to set the max total for the real max price I am wiling to pay - if it comes in less than that then it's a bargain. Non buyers remorse is one of those annoying things with eBay and that's the only way I have found to feel ok about it. I find eBay is tough on the spirit when really looking for bargains.

[Inkpaduta]

That why on Ebay I only do the ones that say "Buy it now".
I have never won a bid.

[fred]

I've struggled to get the sniping tools to work for me - the last one managed to lock my password out.

It does help to have a real highest price in mind - and bid this as late as possible. This prevents people multi-biding to explore your limit. It does nothing to stop sniping - but it does protect a bit, as you have already put in your highest price willing to pay. Remember that even if they bid £10 more than you, they will only pay £1 more than your bid (or whatever the bid increment is at that price).

 The only time I bid early is if there are no bids, and the starting price is quite high - as then I might get it cheaply if no-one is willing to bid higher.

I find having the app on my phone helps both with late bidding and with having saved searches that I can easily review.

[3 fingers]

I don't really buy on eBay now but normally bid at last minute to avoid a bidding war.
In all fairness it only went to 36 as no one else bid. The winner may have put 70 quid down as their max.you never know.

[Momotaro]

I've won e-Bay auctions by 1p; I've lost auctions by 1p.  Unless it's something that really is ultra-rare (and I've found fossils and mineral crystals that I know I'll never find again), chalk it up to experience.

Bid late to stop the seller shilling with fake accounts, and bid sensibly. 

[dbsubashi]

I buy a lot on Ebay, both gaming items and household goods. I used to get upset about sniping, and also chase bids resulting in overbidding. I finally got over all of that deciding my final high price and bidding that. If it goes over, I let it go. After all, I already bid my highest bid. I stopped chading and overbidding also. Now I just enjoy the thrill of the hunt. If I get the item, good. If I don't, then the hunt starts again. And sometimes you just get lucky. I missed GW's Ruins of Osgiliath in the stores, and have been looking for them online. But GW just re-released them, and at a price where I can get 3 of them for the price of one on Ebay.