some ebay bidders are crazy

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Ujjwal
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I was following the bids on a Minolta 3500Xi flash.

There were 2 - one on a BIN of 15 quids; another with a starting bid of 99p. Since the bids were going up, and it was a rather low value item, I got the BIN one yesterday; and expected the one on bid to go for 10-12 pounds (which means I would have overpaid a bit).

The bidding finished just now - it went for 30 quids.

Who all were bidding against each other to get it at that price? Dont these guys do a cursory check?

Simply crazy :wacky:
 
I've had this happen when I'm selling stuff. I had something for sale with a start pice of £129 and a buy it now of £149. It got to 4 days and nothing then someone bid £129 then on the last day there was a bidding war finishing at £220 !!! Bonkers.
 
I've had this happen when I'm selling stuff. I had something for sale with a start pice of £129 and a buy it now of £149. It got to 4 days and nothing then someone bid £129 then on the last day there was a bidding war finishing at £220 !!! Bonkers.

And you are complaining? :D
 
I never understand when I see people spend silly money on ebay, they have internet access so with a little research a guide price can easily be found then STICK to it :shrug:
 
but who are these muppets. Clearly, some one looking to buy a Minolta 3500Xi flash is a niche buyer - and someone who presumable knows his stuff. Why would he go out and pay absurd money for something which is available aplenty on the ebay even as we speak...
 
They are the muppets we want when we have something to sell :D
 
I've had this happen when I'm selling stuff. I had something for sale with a start pice of £129 and a buy it now of £149. It got to 4 days and nothing then someone bid £129 then on the last day there was a bidding war finishing at £220 !!! Bonkers.

I want this !!! :D .. why couldn't they just press buy it now ? or it's not allowed when someone has already put a bid on it ?
 
Not really ( but then I only do film stuff, so I am wierd by definition :D)

IMHO it's hard to do film stuff on auctions. unless it's a nikon F5 or something like that . I've put 135mm f2.8 m42 , and will see what happens, well - how it ends to be exact.
 
well the flash is question is really a flash for film bodies - its a wireless TTL flash on the Dynax si series film bodies, and as far as I know, the wireless TTL does not work on digital bodies. Thats what makes it strange.
 
simples...... Pay the extra to end your auction at a specific time.......... SAturday nights at 11pm are good (drunk buyers buying it now! :LOL:) , and as I buy and sell a lot of golf stuff that works in well at about 9pm on Sundays (European Tour has finished, and sky only getting started on the USPGA)... you can get some silly bids...;)

have also been on the other end of stupid drunk ebay russian roulette bidding.....
 
It is crazy but then this evening I found a for sale thread on another forum I belong to where the chap had put a 50mm Macro lens up far too cheaply (nearly a third cheaper than they go for on ebay) and within minutes there were 6-7 people after then lens he sold it to the first chap and he's now got himself a bargain. If the chap had done a quick search on ebays completed listings he could have got himself a fair bit more for the lens and still made everyone happy.
 
Things are always worth what people will pay for them. not a penny more or less.
 
Who bids before the last second anyway? You just show your hand. :p (not that I bid much)

Bit the max you want to pay the second or two before the item ends. Either you get it at or less than the price you want to pay or you don't get it. The other people then can't counter bid. :p
 
The thing is nobody Buys on E-Bay they WIN;). big difference.


keep the money rolling in bidders:LOL:


Merc the bit richer:naughty:
 
Who bids before the last second anyway? You just show your hand. :p (not that I bid much)

Bit the max you want to pay the second or two before the item ends. Either you get it at or less than the price you want to pay or you don't get it. The other people then can't counter bid. :p

I have bought some good stuff on ebay including my car I never open bid I always spike.

I always look at past sales and never pay more than the lowest price.

I decide what I am prepared to pay knock off a further 15% and bid that.
If I don't get it, there is always another coming along.

Some times it takes a few weeks... but I am not in a hurry.
 
If any of you chaps have epson 4490 now is the right time to sell it . they've gone mad ! last one - 130 + 15 postage no extra good film holders nothing. used to go for about 70-80 + 15 to 25 postage 2 months ago !!! :O :O :O ... MAD EBAYERS !
 
If any of you chaps have epson 4490 now is the right time to sell it . they've gone mad ! last one - 130 + 15 postage no extra good film holders nothing. used to go for about 70-80 + 15 to 25 postage 2 months ago !!! :O :O :O ... MAD EBAYERS !

It might have something to do with being able to scan 4x5 film as only the v700 series are able to and they retail for £500
 
but who are these muppets. Clearly, some one looking to buy a Minolta 3500Xi flash is a niche buyer - and someone who presumable knows his stuff. Why would he go out and pay absurd money for something which is available aplenty on the ebay even as we speak...


I gave one of these away recently.....I didn't think there would be a market for it:crying:
 
This one is really stupid, about a year ago I was looking at a Nikon F60 with the kit lens in a fairly good condition on ebay. It was going £25.99 a day before it ended and I was thinking of asking my dad to bid on it.
Next day me and my dad go to bid on it, its gone up to £35 which is still alright for me and then in the last 10 minutes....

£40.00....
£55.00....
£70.00!!!
£85.00!!!!
£99.00!!!!!!!

And then it ended at £115!!!

Thats crazy as thats about half of what they cost when new from what I've read, plus you can buy them for about £50 from a shop like Greys of Westminster body only and get one of those kit lenses for a tenner or so.

Some people just don't seem to have a brain at all, why pay that for a comparatively simple and consumer orientated AF SLR when you can get much better for £115.
 
many years ago i was selling a sony ericcsson phone and i sold it for repairs/parts as it could not receive a signal.... i sold it for £70.

and you could buy a brand new one for £69 in argos lol
 
Sometimes a silly price can be explained:- I had a common optical mouse brand new sent from Microsoft as a replacement, in the meantime I repaired the old one, anyway put the mouse on ebay but a friend said "I want it why didn't you mention this before etc"....so I said "well put a high bid in close to one new in the shops", and you guessed it someone went higher, so my friend had to bid well over the price of a new one (in the shops) to win.
 
My Father-in-law sold his chromed harley sub frame on eBay. Had it for about £150 BIN plus postage. On the first day of a 7 day listing someone put in a bid for the starting price (£140). On the last day the bids started rolling in and it sold for nearer £300. The guy who bought it contacted him and said as it had been listed for £150 BIN he wasn't going to pay the selling price! Then the idiot said "Why do you need my address for postage? I never give anyone my address it is too dangerous with identity theft. Just send it to 'my name', Co. Limerick, Cork and I'll get it" :bang: Cork is nowhere near Limerick!!!
 
By the same token it amazes me the prices people put things up for sale with a BIN price. I bought a universal viewfinder for my Braun camera (35mm rangefinder) for £8, whilst there is one up for BIN at £160 odd. That thing had been up for weeks and weeks, and I think it's still there. Don't sellers do their research, too??
 
Another thing. Why do people open a bid £10 less then the BIN and run the risk of losing the item for the sake of a tenner? Why don; they just hit BIN?

Oh and another... how annoying is it searching for any lenses on eBay when all you get are about 40 pages of filters and screw on 'wide angle' lenses, and about 6 of the actual lenses you are looking for? Go on, search for an M39 lens and feel the pain, even if you specify 'Lenses' in the options. GRR
 
I think a lot of people get carried away with the 'excitement' of the auction. They must sit there watching the last few minutes of it and then go mad trying to make sure they dont get outbid by anyone. They get blinded by this and probably forget the true value of the item they are bidding on.

I always do my homework before bidding on anything, know what the price is in the shops etc, take into account postage etc and then decide what I am willing to pay, and then go from there.
 
Oh and another... how annoying is it searching for any lenses on eBay when all you get are about 40 pages of filters and screw on 'wide angle' lenses, and about 6 of the actual lenses you are looking for? Go on, search for an M39 lens and feel the pain, even if you specify 'Lenses' in the options. GRR


Not annoying at all - you need to research the search system. Try using:

(M39, LTM) (Lens) -adapt*


first bit, must include either M39 or LTM, or both
next bit, must include Lens
last bit, not include adapter/adaptor/or any other spelling to get around the word exclusion!
 
Not annoying at all - you need to research the search system. Try using:

(M39, LTM) (Lens) -adapt*


first bit, must include either M39 or LTM, or both
next bit, must include Lens
last bit, not include adapter/adaptor/or any other spelling to get around the word exclusion!

Holy Molly. No wonder you spot all the good deals Arthur. I never knew this :D
 
High starting prices put bidders off even if they're reasonable. Decent cameras with a spare lens and a starting price of £35 will go through an auction with zero bids, whereas the same camera without a price will build up a head of steam from 99p and finish with 15 bidders and a winning price of 70 quid.

It's human nature that if five people want something everyone else thinks it must be desirable and want a go.
 
It really annoys me when people stick stupid reserves on items.
Yesterday I was bidding on a Minolta 5400HS flash which had a reserve, the guy had started it at 99p and over the week the price had steadily risen but still not even passed the reserve at £15. In the end even though it had like 10 bids on it it didn't sell as even £20 didn't seem enough so no one got it.

And now guess what?? He's relisted it with a reserve AGAIN. Has he not got the message yet??
 
The sensible thing to do with an item like that is have it finish at a reasonable time of day and let the market decide. Leicas never seem to slip through the net, if 5400HS does it means nobody wants one - much. There's always a camera store or the classified ads if the seller thinks they can do better.
The best place is probably a For Sale ad on an analogue camera board with a strong hint for the Minolta users group.
 
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