[Milsurplus] E-Place

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

On 6/8/07, Falls, Jim <Jim.Falls at conservation.ca.gov> wrote:
> Another reason why I will not do business with them.
> That and all the "snipe-bots". It's not an "auction" anymore........
> I put in the max I'm willing to pay and have never won anything in years. Mebbe I'm a cheapskate.........

Nah, the cheapskates are the guys who still p&m today because they
can't buy R-390s for $25 anymore, or as easily as they could 25 years
ago, and think any old tube gear is overpriced if it doesn't conform
to 1970s-80s boatanchor pricing. Unable to understand, apply, or
accept that whole 'supply vs demand' thing.

I don't mind the sniping bit, it makes no sense to bid early unless
you want to egg someone on. In all the years I went to 'real'
auctions, I bid the same way: look things over ahead of time, sit in
the back, wait to see where it goes. Quite often the bidding would go
higher than I was willing to spend, so I never even had to get
involved. Other times things would die out at a low (to me) price, so
I'd jump in and either win or bid to the limit I was comfortable with.

The biggest difference is the size of the audience: there are a LOT
more folks looking at ebay than your local auction. You're more likely
to find someone willing to pay a much higher price than you. Human
nature being what it is, some will still not bid a huge amount
initially, if they think they can get it cheap. So sniping gives one a
little better chance by not alerting other bidders. In the end, he who
bids the most, wins.

It's the nickel-and-diming along with all the excess ebay fluff and
junk that annoys me. Too much crap on the pages, too many links. As a
result, I do virtually nothing there anymore. It's at least amusing to
look at from time to time, and now and then I find something worth
getting annoyed over. I find it easier to sell directly these days
rather than using ebay. Any lost revenue is easily offset by the
time/shipping/annoyance factors.