[R-390] auction scams

[Jim Shorney]

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On Wed, 31 Jul 2002 09:34:24 -0400, Todd Bigelow - PS wrote:

>I agree completely. Proxy bidding is fine if you can't be there or don't
>mind paying an extreme amount for an item to insure you win. All it
>really does is allow others days to pick away at your bid and, at the
>very least, drive your bid higher than you'd have likely paid if you
>sniped.

I suppose it depends on your philosohpy.  I generally do snipe if I
can, because it's fun abd because, like you say, you can sometimes win
cheaper than via the proxy system.  However, if I use the proxy system,
I have a $$ amount in mind which I do not want to go over.  I think
that if someone is willing to go to the trouble to suss out my top bid
or shill the price up, it's no big deal anyway; if they push it over my
max, that means the seller didn't want to sell it to me that cheap
anyway, or someone else wanted it worse than I did.  If I win at any
price up to my max, I'll never know for sure if I could have gotten it
cheaper, but I won anyway and am happy.  IOW, as far as the final
outcome is concerned, it doesn't make much difference to me either way,
and I don't sweat it.  Life is to short to get all worked up over a
silly auction....

Then there was the time that I won an IBM processor complex on a proxy
bid (had to be away at scout camp that week) for about half of it's AEV
(Average Ebay Value) at that time.  So it does work.

I sometimes post a small opening bid early on if there are no bids yet,
just so I can watch the subsequent bidding and get a feel for how it
goes.  Then I'll dive in with a snipe at the last moment.  Sometimes it
works, sometimes not, but it's all great fun.

- -- 
Jim Shorney      -->.<--Put complaints in this box
jshorney@inebraska.com
nu0c@amsat.org
Ham Radio NU0C
Lincoln, NE, USA
EN10KA
http://incolor.inetnebr.com/jshorney/
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