Classic British Flight Sim

Hi all,

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that items on EBAY seem to be getting more and more expensive.

For example I recently got into two bidding wars over a couple of items. The first was a CH USB Yoke which started cheap then whoever was bidding against me obviously got the red mist and just kept counter bidding, so much so, that in the end he won. I backed out at around £70. Someone else stepped in and this guy contiued bidding. But unfortunatley for them the item was going to cost them more than supplied brand new. Unlucky.

The second was an aviation book that initially seemed really cheap, so I bid and raised my stakes until some idiot decided to do exactly the same and counter bid me until the end of the auction. I did some hunting around and discovered a 35% discount on the book via WHSmith! So I'm glad this chap won it.

I know this is the whole principle of EBAY but when some people get tunnel vision and forget about value and price and just seem to want to beat you at the auction. :huf:


I feel like sending these folks messages advising them their careless determination has cost them a financial loss.

Although I am aware of scammers who are usually friends or known to the seller. Their aim is to counter bid any legitimate bids in an attempt to get more cash from the purchaser. Very naughty. :curse:


Anyway on these occassions I had the last laugh.

I always do a quick search to find out the retail price of an item for anything I bid on, whether it is books, computer items, art items, etc.

For books I look at Amazon sellers and Abebooks.

A percentage of the retail price defines my maximum bid.

And like you I have seen final bids for used items at way over the retail price for new items.

You just have to have the ability to walk away because if you really want it you can order it online instead. Maybe there is something special about beating someone else

But as for everything being too expensive, not if you're lucky and find no one else bidding eg Flight1 PC-12 £3 :dance:

I have bought a number of books from Amazon second hand traders. Never had a duff purchase yet and since they are all "buy it now" theres no daft competition with other buyers. First come, first served. Often books on ebay get bid above what you can buy them for via Amazon s/h. Just dont let the word spread too wide

Tonks wrote:I always bid at the last second... you either get it for a price you are willing to pay or not. What you don't have time to do is up your bid and thus pay over the (or your) odds!!

Tonks

My record is one second before the auction ended...

I've heard of this EBAY Sniper program to download that bids at the last second. :think:

Last second is my strategy too - didn't mention it before

But I don't bother with the sniping programs - if I'm interested, I'm watching.

The concept is that you don't give away any interest to other bidders, so the naive first timer thinks he's going to win with the minimum bid. Then with about 20 to 30 seconds to go, the bidding can get frantic. As Tonks says, no time for 2nd chance so it's a "this is my max" effort.

So a 10-day auction is a waste of time from getting an idea of final price - more likely there will be more people who have found it and then all bid at the last minute (or not as has happened for me when I've bid £50 and got it for £20).