Oh for crying out loud!!!!

[DHurtig]

Saw a couple of knives for sale on Ebay that I really liked. The ad said 3 knives but only 2 were pictured and described, so that's what I'm expecting. I figured what I'd be willing to pay for them, entered my maximum bid and walked away. A few days later I look and the bid is up to $1 less than my max bid and there has been 33 bids. Some guy upped the bid a dollar at a time 16 times. Then another knot-head ups the bid 2 dollars at a time 11 times. One more bid and they would have been his and I'm thinking that would have been a good thing.

I pay for the knives and then comes the shipping info. What do you mean the knives were picked up by DHL in Pakistan. The item location in the listing clearly states that the knives are in Maryland. OK, tracking info is as folloew. In 3 days the package went from Lahore Pakistan to London England to Cincinatti OH to Omaha NE. Package has now been in Omaha for 6 days.

I spent 15 minute on the DHL website trying to figure out how to contact them. Gave up on that and Googled a phone # for DHL customer service. The nice lady explains that DHL does not service my area. OK, you guys go to Pakistan but not South Dakota. (I knew we were in the sticks, but I never realized how far.) Anyway the nice lady explains that the package has been handed off to a 3rd party for delivery. Now I'm curious as to who has had my package for 6 days, because Pony Express could have delivered it in less time than that.

The nice lady tells me that they will look into the matter and call me back within 4 hours. Of course, I run to the post office and leave my phone on the desk. When I get back there is a message from a young man at DHL. He wants to know if my package has been delivered yet. He leaves a number for me to call if I wish and a message that they will call back tomorrow after 5 if they do not hear from me.

Dear Lord, please tell me who has my package!

[bhn22]

Well, your bids were likely bumped by a shill. The minimum bid being placed over and over is a dead giveaway that your bid was being milked to get every possible dollar. I'd complain to ebay about the deception regarding the shipping origin. They won't do a thing, as long as their fees are paid. I'm guessing that your package is in the mail now. Good luck!

[ElDorado]

Well, your bids were likely bumped by a shill. The minimum bid being placed over and over is a dead giveaway that your bid was being milked to get every possible dollar. I'd complain to ebay about the deception regarding the shipping origin. They won't do a thing, as long as their fees are paid. I'm guessing that your package is in the mail now. Good luck!

I don't think that's necessarily the case, although it could be.

I think a lot of bidders don't understand the proxy bidding, where you put the maximum that you're willing to pay, then sit back and let everyone else do the same. I think many people sit at their computer and bid like they're at an auction, a dollar or two at a time, until the price gets too high. They probably think the previous bidder is sitting at their computer doing the same thing, and they're cursing him for outbidding him every time he bids.

It is dishonest to say the item is in Oklahoma when it is in Pakistan. I think I would complain about that to ebay.

[waynem34]

Maybe a ploy to get you to ship from there not knowing it.I def would not buy or ship to that part of the world.I would not except the package.My 2.

[oldred]

NEVER EVER bid in advance! Unless for some reason you can't be at the computer at the time the sale is up then bidding in advance accomplishes absolutely NOTHING except to drive up the price! It just doesn't make sense, you can't get the item until the auction is over anyway so bidding early is like playing poker and showing your hand. I never bid until the last few seconds and E-Bay has recently made it even easier by showing the count-down clock on the confirm page, I buy shop tooling regularly and have gotten some killer deals but I wait until the very last seconds then bid my max at that point.

[NWPilgrim]

How does proxy bidding work? I have only placed a manual bid but I often see the winning bid was a single bid in the last few seconds. As far as I can see you can't place an automatic bid without first making a manual bud. Can you schedule a single bid to not show up until the last few seconds?

[OBIII]

It's called sniping. You watch an auction that you are interested in, and within the last 30 or so seconds, you put in your maximum bid. Say it's an item worth 100, but the most you want to pay is 75 (including shipping.) If the bid is at 50.00 and the increment is 1.00, when you put in your bid you will be the high bidder at 51.00 with seconds left. The only way for someone to outbid you is if they have a higher proxy bid (76.00) set then you do. I've won a few auctions this way.
OB

[RED333]

It's called sniping. You watch an auction that you are interested in, and within the last 30 or so seconds, you put in your maximum bid. Say it's an item worth 100, but the most you want to pay is 75 (including shipping.) If the bid is at 50.00 and the increment is 1.00, when you put in your bid you will be the high bidder at 51.00 with seconds left. The only way for someone to outbid you is if they have a higher proxy bid (76.00) set then you do. I've won a few auctions this way.
OB

This is the way I get to win sometimes.^^^
O, as to where the OPs knife is, I have no idea.

[a.squibload]

How does proxy bidding work?

On ebay a Max Bid only increases your bid if you get out-bid.
Nobody can see your maximum amount.
If you're out-bid, your bid increases immediately
by whatever step is shown for that item (say 50 cents or
a buck fifty), but it won't increase past your Max.
If the other bidders go over your Max Bid you can bid again
or increase your max bid.
So you think an item is worth 10 bucks, set your Max Bid at
$10, nobody else bids higher than 6 bucks, your bid would
turn out to be $6.50 and you win.

[snowwolfe]

Getting a great deal on ebay can be a very expensive lesson:)

[Hardcast416taylor]

A friend has a sorta strange way of bidding on Fleabay. On an item he wants that is worth about $30 he will bid $150! He reasons he will win because sane people will drop out before that amount? Its his system not mine as I haven`t been on Fleabay since they demanded you have a PayPal account some years back.Robert

[DHurtig]

Well the knives showed up today and they are beautiful. Heavy 1/4" damascus. Two different blade types with matching handles. Good heavy leather sheaths although a bit rustic.

I normally try to be there at the close and bid when it's down to about 5 seconds. I've been told that there is a program that you can enter your max bid and it will automatically bid up to your max in the closing seconds. Sounds like it would be great, but I don't know what it's called.

Dale

[Bad Water Bill]

Let the buyer beware

I saw a Damascus stag grip hunting knife and said I had heard but never actually seen one so I bid and won it.

When it arrived clearly stamped on the side you did not see was "MADE IN PAKISTAN"

It is heavy enough to cut down a large oak tree IF it would ever stay sharp enough to cut water.

It rusts over in a day if you do not cover it with a preservative.

Yes a pretty but expensive wall hanger.:evil:

[oldred]

I think a lot of folks don't understand that the amount you bid is not necessarily what your bid will be, no matter how high you bid the amount the auction will show is only going to be $.50, $1, $10, etc (depending on the price range of the item) higher than the highest bid the item has showing already OR the highest maximum bid someone else has (which will not show). The maximum you bid means that the bid will be automatically increased by the small increments if someone else is also bidding until your maximum is reached, it does NOT just automatically jump to that amount as soon as you bid unless the max bid from someone else is close to the small increment the bid would increase by.


There are numerous BS "urban legends" about people being stuck with huge auction bids on low price items because they accidentally placed a decimal in the wrong place or inadvertently added an extra zero but E-Bay simply does not work that way. For example if a person accidentally bids $2500 on a $25.00 item they would likely get that item but only for $.50 more than the next highest bidder, I suppose if two people made the same mistake at the same time it would go that high but that's a bit of a stretch.

[oldred]

A friend has a sorta strange way of bidding on Fleabay. On an item he wants that is worth about $30 he will bid $150! He reasons he will win because sane people will drop out before that amount? Its his system not mine as I haven`t been on Fleabay since they demanded you have a PayPal account some years back.Robert



His system will almost guarantee two things, one he will win almost every auction and probably all of them BUT, two he is almost guaranteed to waste a heck of a lot of money because of over-paying for items! It's not uncommon for people to get into a "bidding war" and drive the price well above what an item is worth and in that case he would get stuck with the over-inflated finial bid, and of course there are often (a lot more than you might imagine!) shill bidders out there that intentionally drive up the price. These are people who are partnered with the seller or sometimes the seller themselves under a different account, these are usually meant only to guarantee to the seller that the item will bring a reasonable bid but often they will drive the price quite high if an unwary bidder is willing to bid too high. The bottom line is your friend's way of bidding is not only reckless but it's just plain old fashioned dumb and he could very well get stuck for most of that $150 for that $30 item!

[ElDorado]

I have seen cases where two snipers will bid outrageously high at the last second, only to get in a ridiculous (and automatic) bidding war. The winners end up paying hundreds more than the items were worth. And those items were moulds.

Never bid more than you're willing to pay.

[mikeym1a]

Getting a great deal on ebay can be a very expensive lesson:)
Yep. I got mine! I don't 'bid' on any item on ebay, I put it in my 'watch' list, and check on it periodically. If it is something I really, REALLY want, I sit at the computer the last 5 minutes, and watch the bidding. If the price is too high, I pass. If it is within my comfort zone, I'll place my bid in the last 12 seconds. I get what I want about 80% of the time. Yes, I am a sniper! The difference here is there is no counterfire.
:-)

[Bad Water Bill]

Flee bay is making it more difficult to do BUT you can contact the seller and ask them if a "MONEY ORDER" is acceptable with them.

Beginners will say NO but only on rare occasions have I had a seller with over 40 sales tell me NO.

The seller has to pay a fee for using Play Pal.

[oldred]

Yep. I got mine! I don't 'bid' on any item on ebay, I put it in my 'watch' list, and check on it periodically. If it is something I really, REALLY want, I sit at the computer the last 5 minutes, and watch the bidding. If the price is too high, I pass. If it is within my comfort zone, I'll place my bid in the last 12 seconds. I get what I want about 80% of the time. Yes, I am a sniper! The difference here is there is no counterfire.
:-)

Yep that's the way it's done and for reasons I'm not sure of E-Bay actually encourages the practice! In any case bidding on an item days or even hours before it's up is useless and makes no sense at all, it serves no other purpose than to drive the price up since the item is not going anywhere until the time is up. Why tell a perspective competitor for the item that they have competition and then tell them how much you have bid?

[mikeym1a]

Let the buyer beware

I saw a Damascus stag grip hunting knife and said I had heard but never actually seen one so I bid and won it.

When it arrived clearly stamped on the side you did not see was "MADE IN PAKISTAN"

It is heavy enough to cut down a large oak tree IF it would ever stay sharp enough to cut water.

It rusts over in a day if you do not cover it with a preservative.

Yes a pretty but expensive wall hanger.:evil:
As I understand it, (and I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm not) 'damascus' steel is merely 'folded' steel. Raw iron ore was taken and heated white hot, and then hammered flat. The hammering compressed the iron, and helped to drive out impurities. It might be folded as many as 12 times, which gives it 1,028 layers of metal. Those layers are what gives the metal its lovely patterns. Metals like this would not contain chromium, or vanadium, or any other of the rust resisting ores. From what I have seen, these things are made from old truck springs, or old ship plates, and heated and folded, and made into whatever. These guys are quite skilled blacksmiths. If you intend to use it outside, best to keep a coat of oil on it. I've several Pakistani knives. The pocket knives are not worth the money. The 12" folding knives are pretty good, especially considering the price. If yours look good, and will hold an edge, they you got a bargain. If you bought them for purely aesthetic reasons, then you still got a bargain. Ultimately, its how you feel about it that matters. CHEERS!!!

[jcwit]

Getting a great deal on ebay can be a very expensive lesson:)

Only if you the buyer is willing to bid more than an item is worth.

I've made hundreds of super good deals on the Bay. Everything from batteries, oil filters, to Bulova, Accutron watches. Some were even gun related.

[jcwit]

A friend has a sorta strange way of bidding on Fleabay. On an item he wants that is worth about $30 he will bid $150! He reasons he will win because sane people will drop out before that amount? Its his system not mine as I haven`t been on Fleabay since they demanded you have a PayPal account some years back.Robert

Fail to see the logic in that as no one can see what his high bid is!

[jcwit]

Yep. I got mine! I don't 'bid' on any item on ebay, I put it in my 'watch' list, and check on it periodically. If it is something I really, REALLY want, I sit at the computer the last 5 minutes, and watch the bidding. If the price is too high, I pass. If it is within my comfort zone, I'll place my bid in the last 12 seconds. I get what I want about 80% of the time. Yes, I am a sniper! The difference here is there is no counterfire.
:-)

Same system I use and like you it works for me approx. 80% of the time.

[dtknowles]

I have done the snipe thing but I mostly just set my max bid and go about my business. Who knows where I will be when the auction closes. I don't plan my internet activity around my e-bay bidding. I don't win many auctions this way but if I am out bid then someone paid more than I was willing. If I see something I really want I might try to follow the auction but that is rare. I have seen items bid right up to my bid and I found that strange as I usually set odd amounts as my max bid, odd dollars and odd cents, not round numbers. Sometimes I will pay the "buy it now" price if it is reasonable and I am shopping for that item.

Tim

[bangerjim]

Due to spamming and scamming, and proxies, and sniping.....follow my lead: Do NOT EVER USE EBAY!

I used to be VERY active years ago buying and selling when it was a good and trusted site. I never venture on it's evil listings now. Not worth the hassle and heartbreak.

My motto.....buy new, buy local.

bangerjim

[bhn22]

You can't snipe anymore on Auction Arms or Gun Broker. Both have adopted the "15 minute rule" for all auctions. If a bid is placed in the last 15 minutes of an auction, the auction is extended 15 minutes, so everybody who wants to bid has the opportunity. If another bid is placed within that time frame, the timer gets another 15 minutes, and so on. Imagine how high some ebay auctions could go if they did this.

[CastingFool]

I used to buy a lot of stuff on eBay. Learned to determine what I was willing to pay, then put my bid in. If I won, great, if not, no big deal. One thing, never bid on the first item you see. Have patience and take your time. This week, every Tom, Dick and Harry are looking for a 16 brass hammer, and the bids reflect that. Maybe next week, no one is looking for a 16 brass hammer, and you pick it up cheap. I have used a sniper on a few occasions and won, but my max bid is never higher than what I'm willing to pay.

[fatelk]

Glad you got your knives. I would certainly be concerned to see something shipping from overseas that was listed as being here. Definitely fishy.

I bid on an old Mosin Nagant stock a couple years ago, and got into a bidding war. I had bought a rifle with a butchered stock for $25, so I needed a replacement and found a nice one on ebay. I had no intention of going above my $50 max bid but stupidly got into a bidding war in the last couple hours, up to $80 IIRC. I let the other guy have it for $81, then the next day I get a message that the other bidder backed out, and it was available to me for my last high bid before he started bidding, something like $40. I don't know what the deal was, but it worked out good for me.

[MaryB]

Second chance sale when that happens. If you make a mistake and bid to much you can retract your bid.

I usually snipe at the last second on a watched item, rarely pre bid. I did make an offer on a corn stove that I picked up today. Came direct from the factory here in MN and was a very good deal.

[imashooter2]

Free sniping software that allows you to set your bids to hit inside the last ten seconds. I've used it a bunch. Never failed to submit my offer unless I was already outbid.

http://www.biddingscheduler.com/

[a.squibload]

I forgot to mention that I don't do much ebay anymore.
Usually if I need batteries or a flashlight or something cheap.
I like the "buy it now" items, no bidding, no watching.
Can't remember ever spending more than $20 or so there.

[Love Life]

I've picked up some great things form ebay, and all at good prices. I have also paid through the nose for a couple item, but I did it intentionally. They were hard to find items, and I wanted them more than the other bidders.

That is why I love Ebay and Gunbroker. The buyers truly set the price on the auctions. It's fantastic. Paying a fee doesn't bother me. I mean, come on, everybody on here (or close to everyone) is paying a fee to use the internet, electricity, etc.

Now to the knives in the OP- Do you have any pictures? I'd just like to see them. There was a man in Fallujah who made sickle blades, knives, hatchet blades, etc from scrap metal in a little garage attached to a wool merchant's shop. He made some very nice things. Just because it comes from the middle east doesn't mean it's junk.

[10x]

NEVER EVER bid in advance! Unless for some reason you can't be at the computer at the time the sale is up then bidding in advance accomplishes absolutely NOTHING except to drive up the price! It just doesn't make sense, you can't get the item until the auction is over anyway so bidding early is like playing poker and showing your hand. I never bid until the last few seconds and E-Bay has recently made it even easier by showing the count-down clock on the confirm page, I buy shop tooling regularly and have gotten some killer deals but I wait until the very last seconds then bid my max at that point.

This, only bid in the last 4-10 seconds and ensure that you bid plus shipping does not push it past the price of locally available items.
I figure out the price ( shipping included ) that I will pay for an item. When the auction price meets that maximum I simply do not bid. If the current bid is lower than what I am willing to pay ( shipping considered) I will bid my maximum in the last 4 - 5 seconds. If there is proxy bid that is higher - then they can have it. I have gotten the best deals this way. Bid jumping only raises the price.

[Bad Water Bill]

Every time in the last year I have submitted a bid or tried to raise one in the last 30 seconds evil bay will not accept it.

No I do not know how to be a snipe. May have shot a few but.

[DHurtig]

Camera batteries are dead. Have to make a trip to Wally world tomorrow. Get some batteries and then have a cup of coffee in McDonalds and watch the Wal-martians for a while.

[oldred]

Every time in the last year I have submitted a bid or tried to raise one in the last 30 seconds evil bay will not accept it.

No I do not know how to be a snipe. May have shot a few but.


Not sure what your problem is but it's not E-Bay, they actually encourage "sniping" (read their bidding suggestions), if you're on dial-up that may be the problem or satellite delay if you have that type of service but I had good luck even down to 10 seconds or so when I still had dial-up.

One other note about last second bidding, unless you have your E-Bay preferences set to manual sign-in at each visit then before you start that count-down make dang SURE you have recently signed in! Twice I have had my session expire while waiting and instead of taking me to the confirm page on one bid and failing to accept my confirmation on another I was directed to the sign in page! Of course with only a few seconds left by the time I could sign in the auction was over, you must sign in every 24 hours and your session CAN expire while you are on the E-Bay site!

[imashooter2]

Every time in the last year I have submitted a bid or tried to raise one in the last 30 seconds evil bay will not accept it.

No I do not know how to be a snipe. May have shot a few but.

Your solution is in post #30.


Free sniping software that allows you to set your bids to hit inside the last ten seconds. I've used it a bunch. Never failed to submit my offer unless I was already outbid.

http://www.biddingscheduler.com/

[dbosman]

I think eBay would lose millions in fees if the auctions had to run honestly.
I think the average selling prices would go down, quickly, too.
I see many used -allegedly sold items- that I bid on and lost, re-listed by the seller.

And yes I do understand that someone may have purchased 47 identically rusted thingamajigs.


Both have adopted the "15 minute rule" for all auctions...
Imagine how high some ebay auctions could go if they did this.

[a.squibload]

Fees or delivery charges equate to gas I would buy
if I drove to a store, gotta figure them in like 10x said.
Also have seen "shilled" items mysteriously get posted again,
seems like more trouble than it's worth, like burglary for instance!

[Buzzard II]

Stay off flea-bay! Just search around a bit more and you'll find it elsewhere at a better price! Just my .02 cents! DHL usually hands off to the US Post Office. Good luck getting your items! Bob

[oldred]

Stay off flea-bay! Just search around a bit more and you'll find it elsewhere at a better price! Just my .02 cents! DHL usually hands off to the US Post Office. Good luck getting your items! Bob

You can stay off E-Bay if you like but I have gotten some killer deals there, sometimes for pennies on the dollar compared to what it might cost someplace else. I buy machine tooling, end mills, etc, all the time and while I don't "win" every auction I have managed to equip my home shop with brand new name brand tooling for a fraction of what it would have cost me at Enco, MSC, etc, I REALLY like E-Bay!

[Uncle R.]

Also have seen "shilled" items mysteriously get posted again...

This. ^^^^^ I've seen it happen more than once.

Of course I can't know for sure if it was a shill - just that the item was relisted with "buyer backed out" given as the reason for relisting. Was the buyer a special shill account set up by the seller on another computer? How could I know?
<
There are numerous postings here that describe what I consider the best method to use for Ebay.
<
1) Determine what the item is worth to you. It might be wise to include a discount of some percentage to allow for less than completely honest descriptions or flaws that somehow didn't get shown in the pictures. Remember to allow for shipping costs - some unscrupulous sellers will gouge you there if you make assumptions or don't check. If the item is very rare and hard to find and you really want it you might actually want to bump your max price upward. If it's a common find you can discount accordingly.
<
2) Place your max bid in the last ten seconds or so. Don't allow yourself to even consider raising your bid in the heat of the moment.
<
That's it. If you get it you got a good price. If you don't get it that's OK - at least you didn't overpay and there will be another opportunity.
<
Uncle R.

[DHurtig]

This is what all the fuss is over.

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e69/c_latrans/Picture369_zps6e3ef4ce.jpg (http://s37.photobucket.com/user/c_latrans/media/Picture369_zps6e3ef4ce.jpg.html)

[ElDorado]

Those actually look pretty nice. Better keep them oiled like the guys were saying. Congratulations on your find.

[JSnover]

I gave up on eBay years ago. The ******* shills and snipers were one thing. eBay policies were another. Between the them, it just wasn't worth it.

[a.squibload]

Yeah, I have stuff I could sell there but the Buyer has all the advantage
if a dispute arises. Never had trouble but quit selling stuff there
years ago. Might be OK for cheap stuff, less risk.

[oldred]

Two days ago I received over $200 worth of new Putnam end mills for my shop (based on MSC-Direct prices) for a total of $38 including shipping and this is far from being unusual. I don't "win" most of the items I watch but I have outfitted my shop with a BUNCH of stuff from E-Bay, things I simply could not have bought otherwise and I have done so for pennies on the dollar! The key is being patient and NEVER go over your pre-set limit, if some of you guys have your reasons for not shopping E-Bay that's fine but there are some real bargains there and I couldn't be happier with having E-Bay to buy the things I need, E-Bay has saved me a LOT of money!

[Love Life]

Ebay is a Godsend for some stuff. Wool blankets, tools, and random odds and ends.

[jcwit]

Two days ago I received over $200 worth of new Putnam end mills for my shop (based on MSC-Direct prices) for a total of $38 including shipping and this is far from being unusual. I don't "win" most of the items I watch but I have outfitted my shop with a BUNCH of stuff from E-Bay, things I simply could not have bought otherwise and I have done so for pennies on the dollar! The key is being patient and NEVER go over your pre-set limit, if some of you guys have your reasons for not shopping E-Bay that's fine but there are some real bargains there and I couldn't be happier with having E-Bay to buy the things I need, E-Bay has saved me a LOT of money!

Right you are oldred, I have had the same experience with E-Bay, As you say I also don't win many, but then I do win a few and it definitely makes watching worth while.

One case in point, I happen to like priming with the od style Lee hand primers with the screw in shell holders, I watched E-Bay and now have a dedicated Lee Primer for each cartridge size group I reload for. Saves screwing the shell holders in & out of the pot metal hand piece.

At times I also just use the "Buy It Now".



Plus oldred can't be all bad, far from it IMO, after all he obviously likes cats and that is a plus.

[DLCTEX]

I haven't found a bargain on bullet moulds and related equipment on Ebay in several years. I'm glad I bought mine early on in this wonderful hobby.

[a.squibload]

There are some good people on there too.
One time I bought 2 bottles of Goo-Gone pretty cheap,
seller had personal problems get in the way,
after a couple weeks sent me 4 bottles & an apology.
Would buy from her again.