How dumb can you be?

[schsa]

I was bidding on an item on e-bay. I basically have a $20 limit on anything I buy unless the actual retail is so high that $20 wouldn't even get me in the ballpark with the rest of the bidders.

I had my eye on an item. The retail was $42.00 and with shipping it would have been around $47.00. I stopped my bid at $20 which I thought was quite generous for the item but there were a few other interested parties and I was pretty sure I would ultimately be out bid. The bidding ended at $39. I was shocked! This was a used item. It ended up being a bidding fight between 2 people. With the shipping at $6.50, they could have put out another $1.50 and bought the item new!

What were they thinking!!! Don't people look at the big picture or is it that madness of just trying to outbid the other person? I just don't get it.

[gemini26]

Lol, i have seen that a lot and have thought the same thing!

[freeby4me]

My DH would be one of those people. He's dangerous on e-bay. He collects stamps and if he sees one he likes he's like "someone else will outbid me and then they'll lick the stamp and stick to a wall just because they know i want it" lol, Its crazy!!!

[BigLyd1]

It's funny how some people are. I set a limit for myself on anything I bid on. It's sometimes tempting to try and snatch it at the end but I stick to my limit.

[ezmoney163]

You think that is crazy!!! LMAO
I have to tell you the very first time I ever bought something on eBay I bid on it ( even though there was a buy it now option for $19.99). I bid someone else bid, I was so excited witht he prospects of winning, I kept bidding. I really wanted these shoes. LOL I bid , they bid, the seller smiled really big, I bid again,they bid again, the seller calls spouse to PC and says "LOook at these idiots. LOL" I bid again at the last minute and won for $34.99 + my shippping costs at $6.75 . LMAO I am more careful now when I bid on something. Thank heavens for the lesson!!!

THAT IS HOW DUMB I CAN BE !!!! LOL :D

[Kelsey1224]

I have a similar "how dumb can I be" story.

I'm into scrapbooking and we were going on vacation to Walt Disney World. I work for Disney in California so this was a really big thing.

Anyway...this person was selling 50 punchees in the shape of a Mickey Mouse head. This wasn't an auction for the punch itself...just the byproduct. The bidder even got to pick the color paper...woowooo.

I got in this bidding war with someone and finally paid over $5.00 for these punchees. Shipping was the cost of one stamp...that should have clued me in. I got a little ziplock bag with all these tiny punchees in them. Each one was smaller than a dime.

I could have bought the punch for less than I paid for these little pieces of paper...which are too small to use...LOL!

That was my lesson. Fortunately, it was a cheap lesson which has stopped me from getting in any bidding wars again.

[Myamara]

Do you guys normally bid at the last few seconds or hours or days before? I always bid within the last 30 seconds of the auction and i have had many upset people email me accusing me of stealing the item from them.

Julie R

[ezmoney163]

No usually I bid by proxy. This was the first time I ever bid on anything and I really wanted the rush of wnning!! LOL I GOT IT!! LOL

What a rush!! But that is not what hubby said when he saw how much I could have paid at the stor efor the exact same pair of shoes. $23.98 LMAO

[MsLynn]

Originally posted by Myamara
Do you guys normally bid at the last few seconds or hours or days before? I always bid within the last 30 seconds of the auction and i have had many upset people email me accusing me of stealing the item from them.

Julie R


this is what i do, i go in at the last minute, put in my high bid and if i win, i win, if i don't, i don't

[Kelsey1224]

Originally posted by KissMsLynn
this is what i do, i go in at the last minute, put in my high bid and if i win, i win, if i don't, i don't

Yep...that's what I do as well. I actually had someone e-mail me a nasty comment once when I did just that. I reported her to eBay which made her even madder.

It's called sniping and it is perfectly legal. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

[elsaleh01]

Im one of those snipers.... LOL. i love doing that, although i have never been sent a nasty email..

[schsa]

If it's something that I want and it's within my limit, I wait until the last minute and 20 seconds. I have only lost 1 item doing that. And if I get it, great. If someone comes in behind me, it wasn't meant to be.

I have a retail background so I have a pretty good idea of what a bargain is and what isn't. I picked up a Pendleton suit for $18 and it is beautiful. But there are people out there who bid on junk and pay far more than it's worth. That I don't understand. The whole point is to end up with a bargain or something very special. Paying retail is not a bargain.

[JazzMama]

Originally posted by Myamara
Do you guys normally bid at the last few seconds or hours or days before? I always bid within the last 30 seconds of the auction and i have had many upset people email me accusing me of stealing the item from them.

Julie R

So you're the one!!! I just KNEW someone was out to get the bidders. LOL!!! I had such a problem with trying to get a Halloween costume that I bid on 20 different items over the week only to get outbid in the last 2 minutes on at least 1/2 of them. I finally got it though!!!

[Syrinx]

I've ended up bidding more than I planned to a few times, but every time it's been for something that I would have had a really hard time finding anywhere else.

But like Tina said, I like being the seller when that happens!

I really don't get the people who send nasty emails to the people who outbid them- it's an auction, that's how the game works. I've gotten outbid at the last second plenty of times, but I don't get angry about it. It's annoying, but I'd never take it personally!

[Dolly<3]

Originally posted by KissMsLynn
this is what i do, i go in at the last minute, put in my high bid and if i win, i win, if i don't, i don't

Same here.

I have seen people pay more than what it costs retail too. It's like they just assume that b/c it's on ebay they'll get it for less no matter what they bid. I've seen people start the bids for more than you can get it for retail too.

I can understand seeing something you want and not knowing how much it costs retail, but geez.

[Syrinx]

I know what you mean, I found a listing on eBay today for a book I was looking for- the starting bid was the list price. Why would I buy it from them when I can get it from Amazon at the same price or lower and with free shipping?

[FatWallit]

Perhaps the winning bidder could NOT buy it locally. I buy a lot of items on Ebay that are not available here. Remember Ebay is international, the high bidder could have been someone from outside the US..