Upset at how the ebay auction went last night

[newbie]

pretty upset at how the ebay auction went last night, ended up the reserve wasn't met on one of the machines, I bid pretty high at the last few seconeds, but another person bid 2 dollars more at 1/12 of a second after I did, and that ended up being the high bid without reserve met. well, now the offer went to the highest guy anyway. I would have gone higher...

guess I am still looking for a C model

[JACKSJE4]

Sounds like the person who bid against you was using a Snipe tool like eSnipe (www.esnipe.com). I personally think sniping an auction is cheating, but I have lost so many wanted ebay items that I started using one (if you can't beat them, you might as well join them). Now I win about 3/4 of the auctions I bid on.

If the reserve wasn't met, then I think the item should have been relisted, not sold to the higest bidder. Perhaps some frequent ebay sellers in this forum will weigh in on that issue.

Jeff

[newbie]

I agree, should have been re-listed, I was kinda confused, since it stated "reserve" not met. Then seller told me they offered it to the highest bid. Should have at least let me have another try at it... since it was very close bidding between us.

Anyone that was watching this item, can see the bid history, the last bidder only bid once too on this item.

never heard of this esnipe ? guess honest guys finish last...

[Drunkenclam]

Not sure about sniping tools. But due to proxy bidding you don't know the highest amount the other person bid. I guess YJA time extention function can be useful.
Although I'm not defending eBay, but they do say you should bid the max your willing to pay on your first bid. But then none of us do.

[dattia]

I use a sniping program... just for the fact that I sat and watched many auctions that I wanted go to someone else at the last second. Several times, this was because my computer froze up or did not refresh in time..very frustrating. With a sniping program, you don't have to worry about being held hostage at your computer for the end of an auction and you are not at the mercy of your computer's finicky performance. I don't find it being dishonest at all... merely the right tool for the job at hand, and we all know how important the right tool is.

The one bid sounds exactly like a snipe... it will sit and wait til the last possible moment to throw a bid in and it will only bid the amount it thinks it needs...even though you can program it for the highest bid you'd be willing to pay. Having a sniping program doesn't mean you will win any given auction... but my success rate with one has been very good.

There are many out there that are good...and low cost. I used to you use Bidnapper... but unfortunately, in this economy, my buying days are on hold.

You said the seller offered it to the highest bidder... did that bidder take him up on it?

Sorry for your frustration, I think we've all been there.

[newbie]

I don't know for sure if the highest bidder took the offer, but I would be VERY surprised if they didn't . They knew much more than I on how to "work" the system, than I ...

left a very bad taste for me ...

Looking at the buyers bidding history, the person, has done this type of bidding on every auction...

[emmadog]

Newbie,
Sorry you didn't win the auction but to quote one of Lt's sayings, "I'm not trying to be smart here" you can't get upset and by implication call the system unfair because somebody utilized a perfectly legal auction tool that you weren't aware of or didn't know how to use. It happens all the time to new bidders on ebay until they snipe and then don't look back. Some people call sniping unfair but it's available to all.
Also concerning letting you ave another shot at it. Yes, I could have but as far as I knew your max bid listed was all you were going to pay. I have no way of knowing that you're going to pay a dollar more or a hundred more. So unless I want to relist the logical thing to do is offer it to the highest bidder. Ebay even has a service for that and it's called "Second Chance Offer". You simply click on it and the info is automatically sent to the highest bidder.
A better course of action for you if you really wanted it would have been to contact me after the auction was over with an offer.
Tons of articles online and on eBay about the ins and outs of bidding.

[newbie]

true, I should have contacted you with my intent,

I was confused though when the auction ended and stated "reserve not met" thought it would be relisted .

[dattia]

Well... I guess you have to consider it part of the learning process... I think most serious Ebayers use a snipe program now... whether they want to or not...they have to.

When I first started using Ebay (and I do not consider myself a serious Ebayer by any means), I use to sit on an auction and bid again every time someone else placed a higher bid... even days before the auction ended. It didn't take long to figure out that I was my own worst enemy in that situation. Then I started waiting until the last minute... while it appeared no one else was interested and I got burned a few times that way... when someone else's bid also popped up at the last second. Snipe programs are generally set to go within 4 or 5 seconds of the auction end... I could not compete with that.

[hanabi]

I do feel your disappointment coming through in your posts and I do sympathise

But I have to say that there is nothing illegal or immoral in using Sniper programs to win Auctions, that said, I have NEVER used one, I like the excitement of being there at 'the kill' so to speak

I have lost out quite a few times in similar scenarios, but I put it down to experience and kicked myself a good few times for not going in there with my best shot when i had the opportunity

If this was the model I think it was, then it was a highly desirable pachinko and bound to attract lots and lots of interest, and you can't really blame anyone for doing their very best to try and win it, and the chances are that it was one of our PachiTalk Members, so the pachinko will have gone to a great loving home to be preserved for future generations,

Sometimes Sellers are not sure what an item will bring, especially unique or rare items, they set a reserve just in case, but it may not be at the right level for the current market

I have had experiences where items haven't reached their reserve, but I have been highest bidder, and the Seller has contacted me to offer the item to me, I usually accept of course, have to be nuts not to

For the Seller this is often more convenient and easier than having to relist an item and wait for a week or more for the Auction to end, then sometimes having the bids retracted or cancelled or having a sale fall through for various reasons, so i can totally understand why a seller would choose to offer to the Highest Bidder should an item not reach it's reserve

Whilst this is really disappointing to you right now, there may well be a really great pachinko just around the corner, that you will win especially armed with the knowledge you have learned from this one

What is it we say around PT? That all is fair in love and pachinko and eBay bidding??

I do wish you luck in your future bidding & winning!!

[emmadog]

Great points Dattia and Hanabi.
People argue back and forth about the legitimacy of sniping but as long as it's allowed it has to be taken into consideration. For auction items with a lot of interest, to not snipe is like going into a gunfight with a plastic spork.

[newbie]

I agree with all points made here, I am not against sniping, didn't know it existed, live and learn , too late for this one unfortunately

[dattia]

Very nice post hanabi! I think it says it all.

Newbie... keep your eyes open, I'm sure something else will come along. Being part of this community certainly has many, many benefits as we are all here with the same interests... and at least one caveat... we are all here with the same interests. Be sure that if anything rare or sought after comes along... there will be many PachiTalk eyes watching it.

Hanabi is right when she says that "all is fair in bidding." It is an unwritten, but understood law here... as it keeps peace and harmony among the membership. It usually works out that the one that wanted it the most, gets it, so bid accordingly. We have come to learn that we win some and we lose others... but in the end, if another PachiTalk member has gotten something we wanted, we share in their joy, even at our own expense sometimes.

Good luck in your future quests!

[newbie]

thanks everyone !! I am feeling a little better now. I'll get over it ...

Just needed a shoulder to cry on

[dattia]

Plenty of shoulders around here.

[Moparformances]

I have never used a Snipe and have no interest in one.. guess im old school.. i usualy wait till the last seconds myself and put in my max.. guess im my own snipe... back years agoe i bid last second with a token bid thinking no one would out bid me.. only to see that a snip bid was more then i bid .. so now i consider my max and just throw it out there... if i loose at least i know i made someone pay dearly for it

the one thing im not a fan of is the resereve.. i kinda get the concept but don't know y it is used so damn often... i have put a resereve on things before, to keep my listing fees down.. but when ever asked i would always say what the resereve is... why people say "i have a resereve but wont tell what it is"??? its stupid.. if ya want 50 bucks for it start the auction at 50 bucks.. if ya would consider less then start it for less... the cost of the resereve is more then the listing fee... now if your selling a car or something then i get the point... but y not tell people ya want $XXXX.xx for it and be done with it.. most of the time i dont bother biding on low cost items with a resereve.. all it says to me is the seller think's its worth its weight in gold...

ok my rant is over..

sorry ya lost your bid

[luckydog]

as a buyer, I enjoy the excitement of manual sniping with a few seconds to spare, sometimes my computer slows down and i lose or i get outbid.

I usually don't bid on auctions with reserves, but,may give it a try if its something i really want.

I've been 2nd highest bidder on things and got offered the same item as the the high bidder for my lower bid.

as a seller I hope snipers are going to bid at the last few seconds to raise my sale amount.

win some, lose some, its all in the ebay gameplay

[emmadog]

Well that's one way to look at it but the point of a reserve is to help the seller out. Many times people are discouraged by a high starting price and won't bid.However if you price your item low to encourage bids then with no reserve then you risk selling for below what you want. So a reserve is designed to get people to bid while keeping the item from selling too low. People put their stuff on eBay to make money, plain and simple. So that means the whole point of an auction is to try and get the most for what you are selling through bids, you're not there to do anybody any favors. If you just wanted 50 bucks for something and no more then the seller should use the "buy it now".
It's fine for people to not like certain features about eBay. This would be a boring place if we were all the same. But at the least everybody that uses ebay should understand and know how all the features work and why they're used.

[Microbus99]

I too unfortunately have joined the ranks of snipers with www.powersnipe.com. When you get beat by $1 in the last 10 seconds when you think you're about to win it really burns you.

You may have another chance though. Not certain but it looks like a Model C is on Ebay right now.

Pachinko Vintage game machine w/ original steel balls - eBay (item 280546054514 end time Aug-15-10 09:40:19 PDT)

[Bigdog]

Could be wrong, but that looks like a "B" model to me.