[Boatanchors] auction time linked to what timing source?

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

On Thu, Feb 11, 2010 at 8:36 AM, Rob Atkinson <ranchorobbo at gmail.com> wrote:

> If you were in a flea market holding a Lakeshore Limited Bandhopper
> and looking at it and talking about a price to the seller and someone
> rushed up and gave the guy money and grabbed it away from you I bet
> you'd be pretty hacked off.  This is the same thing.

That's a whole different thing, Rob. An auction is not the same as
someone selling you something directly, face-to-face or even over the
'net. I once had a guy selling me a 51J  from an ad come back to say
that 'a bidding war had broken out' for the receiver. Not possible
without the consent of the seller, so I let him keep it. He eventually
ended up getting less for it than I had originally offered because I
ended up getting it from his friend that he sold it to. In a case like
that, it's entirely the seller's fault, not the buyer, including if he
lets someone cut in mid-sentence to buy it.

> It might be okay for dime a dozen stuff but for a rare hard to get
> item I find this practice deplorable.  I hope everyone syncs to the
> eBay clock so as to be there to thwart these last second grab attempts
> from bottom feeders.

It's no harder than purchasing at the corner store provided you're
willing to pay for the item. The problem seems to be that some folks
still think they can get something 'cheap' and bid accordingly, days
before. In poker this would be referred to as showing your hand.
Unlike a sale where something can be purchased at any time, an auction
is an auction for anyone an everyone who wants to participate, until
the very end.

I've "sniped" for decades, including at real auctions log before ebay.
What sense does it make to bid early and get into a battle with others
where winning and ego too often make the decisions? I always got there
early, made a list of what I wanted and what I was willing to pay,
then sat up in the back and watched. Sometimes the bidding went so
high that I never had to get involved. Other times bidding would end
well below what I was willing to pay and I'd start the bidding back
up. Sometimes I still lost when someone wanted the item worse than me,
but I never thought of someone joining the bidding later as being a
'bottom feeder' if they beat me out. More accurately they were just
willing to pay more (hence the biding versus fixed price) and using
common sense in their approach.

Use whatever clock you wish, bid whenever you desire. You'll still
only win the item if you're the high bidder. Throw out a $1000 bid on
a $100 item three days before the auction closes,and chances are
pretty good you'll own it. Value it less than some other bidder and
chances are you won't. Simply stuff, really.

~ Todd,  KA1KAQ/4