Report 'em. That’s a big violation of eBay rules.
In that particular case it wouldn’t make sense to not bid the extra nickel, but in real life most examples are farther apart than that - it might have an opening minumum bid of $450 with a buy it now price of $499.95. In that case if no has bid on it yet and it’s getting close to closing it may make sense to go with the lower opening bid.
Depends on shipping too, a few ebayers include the price of shipping if you use “buy it now”; sometimes the cost of the minimum bid plus shipping comes pretty close to the ‘buy it now’ option with no extra shipping.
Jesse,
That’s the key: Research (seller and item)…bid…know when to stop. eBay is fine. It’s the buyers and sellers that sometimes ruin it for everyone.
I agree. The bid for 5 cents less than Buy it Now! price doesn’t make any sense to me, either.
Tom
Yes, things on the big auction web site are stupid, and we just have to live with them.
Luckily, we can get a few good deals once and a while.
Phil
There is nothing wrong with eBay’s bidding procedures in this case, it’s a matter of the first bidder not having too many clues.
Some may say that eBay sucks, but it seems to work for millions and millions of other people just fine, me included. I’ve been mostly a seller on eBay since I joined in 1999, it’s only recently that I’ve made purchases and none have been model railroad stuff. I’m heavy into digital photography and have gotten some great deals on photo accessories and such in the past while.
I bought locally a small pocket digital camera, and its main problem is the small specialty rechargeable battery that it uses. I always have spare batteries for my cameras, and I wasn’t interested in paying $55.00 for a spare one for this camera from local shops. Its smaller than one AA cell. I found all kinds of them on eBay for a few bucks. In two separate “Buy it Now” auctions from one power seller in Hong Kong, I got three batteries and a charger that will work at home in the car - for a total of $27.50 delivered.
In my eBay sales, I’ve sold off a lot of model kits and rolling stock, cameras and accessories and goodness knows what. There is no way that I could have sold mosr of this stuff locally, or achieved the great prices. So to me eBay does not suck!
Then don’t use it.
I find great deals and have saved hundred of bucks on products I found on eBay, but if you don’t like it, then don’t go there.
I like the acutions where you bid and the seller can reject your bid. I keep a list of those guys and don’t waste my time.
If you read my post I STOPPED using ebay so I’m all set and besides I really should be supporting the nearest hobby shop if I want to help keep them in bussiness.
For those who eBay works for…great!, I think it works out best for the sellers than the buyers.
Just my personal opinion.
eBay is, what each individual makes of it, IMO.
On the person bidding a nickel under the Buy It Now price, that depends on when they did that. It may be that the person waited until almost the end and hoped to save a whole nickel that way…[;)]
I have bought several things off the auction site, and almost all were items no longer available through Horizon or Walthers (if they were ever). My area’s LHS’es (within 45 miles or so) don’t have the bargain bins of discontinued stuff usually, or I may go to the 'bay if I have a specific kit or item I’m wanting. For example, I like some of the older Revell MRR kits and got most of mine from auctions. I set myself a price I am willing to pay, use a (dreaded?) sniping program set for that price, and see if I get it. Sometimes I do, but not always.
I do think it’s a good idea to keep track of the sellers who do you right and have reasonable prices (that’s known as ‘My favorite sellers’ on the 'bay). I double check that the seller’s payment options match mine (such as, I don’t use PayPal, so I look for those who have something in addition to/other than PayPal. Also, I check the seller’s number of sales and their feedback (not just how many good ones they have, but what have the most recent comments in their feedback been).
If I don’t get an item, I may save a search for that kind of item and have 'bay send me email notices. I realize I won’t win every auction, and that some items aren’t listed often (or collectors may want to pay way more than I do as a modeller/kitbuilder). But that’s the reality we get to work with.
My [2c]. Hopefully useful for those new to auctions…
Jim in Cape Girardeau
[#ditto]
Too much buy it now stuff. What’s really sad is the internet scam losers. I get PayPal notifications on my other email accounts and not one, ever, on the email account that I use for ebay. I bought a passenger car with a broken “cannecter” once. The people that inherit stuff they know nothing about will get more on ebay than a tag sale and the buyers get some good deals at times. On the other hand, there are an awful lot of “dealers” putting up BUY IT NOW stuff at what my LHS is asking for face to face, no shipping charges.
I live in the mountains of West Virginia, Elkins, the closet hobby shop is 60 miles one way or 120 miles round trip. There is no “local” hobby shop for me. I have sold and bought on eBay for about 9 years. eBay is trying to weed out the bad sellers who charge those high shipping fees, and all one has to do is report them to eBay and hit the back button. The is a click on link at the bottom of all listings, report this listing. The best advise I can give to any buyer new to eBay is to read the full description including shipping charges, some sellers don’t show the shipping charges. In that case email the seller and ask. A lot of new people see the penny auction, without checking out the shipping and handling fees, and they don’t read nothing and place their bid. If they win they’re stuck. I prefer paying through PayPal, your purchase is at least “insured”. If the item is not as described, you paid and not shipped, broken, if you plain don’t like it, send the item back and PP will get your money back no matter what the seller says including he might say in his description, all sales final, no refunds, etc. These things don’t apply at Pay Pal. READ SELLERS FEEDBACK!!! This is one that puzzles me more than anything. I’ve seen buyers complain on the eBay forums who got stuck with buyers with double digit negative feedback gathered in one month alone. And the buyer come crying for help, when he should have read the sellers feedback. There are a lot of great sellers on ebay 98% are legitimate and good people. Railroad Post Office in north Jersey is really great and real helpful on the phone and have a very large inventory of HO. I visited there 3 years ago and felt like a kid in a candy store.
I’ve seen buyers complain on the eBay forums who got stuck with buyers with double digit negative feedback gathered in one month alone.
OOPs that should be " who got stuck with sellers with double digit negative feedback gathered in one month alone"
But on the other hand, I’m looking at some On30 sets that are buy it now for $135+$15 S&H.
Most online retailers have the same set for $180-$220+S&H. I’d hate to see what my not so LHS would charge for the same thing.
There ARE some good “buy it now” deals on there.
loathar…I totally agree with you, I use Buy it Now cause most of the time I want it now and don’t like getting in a bidding war or get sniped in the last seconds of the auction. I too snipe, but don’t like it when I get sniped, LOL.
I visit some of the online model stores to find out what the price’s are selling retail and if the eBay BIN price is fair, I buy it. I’ve only been ripped off 2 times in 9 years and have 100% positive feedback in over 1500 transactions as both a seller and buyer. When I sold stuff in model trains category, they are some of the best buyers I ever had.
I’m kind of with Mark–I don’t really understand the E-bay bidding process at all, so I usually stay away from it. Though I admit that sometimes I search the E-bay site just for the humor of it–for instance a couple of weeks ago when someone was selling a brass cab-forward–piece by PIECE! He’d completely disassembled it and had about 15 or so listings for each part. I figured out that whoever bought it–assuming that they won EVERY bid for it, probably ended up paying about three times what the original was worth, anyway. [:O]
However, for those that understand the E-bay process, I say GO FOR IT! There’s some terrific stuff that shows up on that site, and a lot of it is really reasonable.
Tom [:)]
True, I was over stating my point. Sorry. I’ve taken to ignoring the buy it now stuff in general. I’ll be buying my track and some other large quantity purchases through my LHS, but he’s not stocking DCC equiptment. I bought a few odds and ends bits of rolling stock on ebay when my Plywood Atlantic was growing from one 4x8 sheet to two. I got a terse note saying that I hadn’t left good feedback yet. He was right, and wrong. I accidentally tried to leave his feedback while my wife’s account was logged on. Boy what a newbie mistake that was. And my passenger car with it’s broken coupler? No big deal, it simply brings up the rear of the train.
Let the buyer beware! I don’t think I could buy anything online from someone I have no idea where they are, who they are, for more than say 50 bucks. It’s like going to Vega
Yup, Caveat Emptor!
Not over $50?! Gee I would have missed some great deals over the years if I had a $50 limit on eBay. I think to date the most I have spent on an auction is about $400. I never buy from sellers who do not use PayPal anymore. Using PayPal I have never been the loser. I have always received my money back.
When I list one of my cars, I sometimes put a Buy it Now. Now I start the car at $19.99 and the “BIN” is $49.99. I sometimes get someone bidding $19.99 the first day, and the $49.99leaves. I guess they do it that way so nobody else buys it right quick. I have seen train cars at, well lets say, $99.00 and “BIN” $99.99. I don’t think it makes any sense at all either. I understand the way some people do my way is kinda common sense, but then the other way, I really don’t know. [:-^]
EBAY sucks because you don’t understand it? I don’t understand dreamcatchers but I don’t trash them.
Sorry, EBay, to most of us that "get i****t", it a great resource. The deals I have gotten are far and away more than any bad experience (1 to date). I have saved thousands because of Ebay, and not on MRR stuff either. The more of you that hate EBAY means I have a better chance and getting what I want. That ok with me.
Know what you want, know what it is worth, know the maximum you are willing to pay, and pass on the items that are too pricey, wrongly listed or whatever. Yes its that simple. Who cares that someone has freight at 50 bucks, I don’t BECAUSE I WOULD NEVER BID ON IT TO BEGIN WITH.
Rant over.