I LOST!!

[Big Norm]

I was bidding on the Ebay for an artillery holster, stock and straps and lost! I wanted Item #1166638940 and I thought that I had it. And I did until 2 seconds to go! TWO SECONDS!

Man, I had that baby on a luger. I refreshed the site thinking that I would try to copy the page and then I saw that some turkey beat me out with just 2 seconds to go. Well, I guess that sometimes God just says "NO".


Let this be a lesson of some sort to people who are asking about Ebay and want to know what to expect.

[Rick K]

There's a technique to winning an Ebay auction. Somebody's always waiting for the last second to jump in. To fight back, you have to bid in about the last 10 seconds depending on how fast your isp is. Also, you have to make that bid significantly higher than needed. That way, when someone else jumps in at the last second, their bid probably won't be higher than your proxy bid. Depends on how bad you want the item. A couple of things I have bought on Ebay that I really, really wanted, I just bid at the last instant and made sure nobody was going to outbid me.

Norm.......they are called snipers.............follow Ricks advise and you wont lose......

[bill m]

Laughing -- Be prepared to pay for that last bid! I know a guy who bid on an item on E-bay and at the last second put a really high bid on it, like $500 more than he had the bid for, just to make sure he got it, and guess what, someone did the same thing at the same time......Laughing ... and he got it, but for $500 more than you could buy one for from anyone else. Guess it just depends on how badly you want or need something and what you think the value of it is.

[Rick K]

Yeah, I wasn't talking about going that high! (unless of course, it's a yacht or a Porsche or something.

[Big Norm]

Thanks everyone. I have received a lot of advice with hindsight. Maybe I should not have been such a crybaby. But I have seen a lot of people on the forum asking about Ebay lately and I figured this was as good a way as any to teach them also. But it still riles me to lose it in two seconds. It looked like a good holster and stock.


But you know, there is danger in being a sniper. This guy who won had to wait until the very last second to submit his bid. His timing was very good. If you do it too soon you could be the sniperee and not the sniperor. If your too late or something happens to the website, you could lose out on something you really wanted.

Big Norm

[Rick K]

I looked at that holster, and it looked real good to me! The thing is, you have to act like a sniper even when you're the high bidder comin' down the stretch. You'll get the next one big guy!


I've won a couple of things at what I thought was a real good price and was happy. Then I start thinkin' about how I'm going to convince the wife that it was a real good price and then I go from being happy to being apprehensive!

[G.T.]

One time I put a reserve bid on a holster I thought I couldn't live with out.......probably about twice what it was worth! That was the second happiest day of my life, cuz the happiest day of my life was when someone out bid me in the last second!!! Also I have acquired a few items the same way!! I think some of the better ways of acquiring items, are probably are not connected to ebay...... the hunt and search is still probably a better way to find neat stuff! till...later...G.T.

I watched this item---H of a price--as I remember your post the number was 731 a or b and you had 731 with wrong---a or b---don't feel too bad your set would not have been a real match anyway----you saved money.

[David Jackson]

I agree with everyone and want to add that the trouble with auctions is that it is easy to get caught up in the frenzy and pay too much.

The best thing to do (I think; and once in a while I even do it) is to put your bid in for the top top dollar you would pay for an item. If you lose, well then you lose; and if you put in the absolute top you will pay and ignore the auction until it ends, you come out a winner either way.

Now a poll; how many die hard collectors can do that?

[Rick K]

Good point! Well stated! Discipline is usually rewarded!

[Don]

This is particularly timely for me: I'm pondering an Ebay auction item, and what strategy I should take (comes up in 4 hrs.) I do think it's clever how we think about auctions, and use the term "win" when we have the high bid. As the other writers point out, sometimes it can be a booby prize. Sometimes when you "win" you lose.

[Hugh]

I have been the sniper and the snipee, and I have done what David suggested,and yielded to temptation at the last moment. Every time I tell my wife that I "won" something in an auction, she gives me "that look" and says " you didn't "WIN" anything, you "BOUGHT" it, and probably paid too much!" I have decided the best strategy is to bid your top dollar and then forget it until the auction is over; but I seldom have the self discipline to do that if I want it badly enough.

[Don]

Well, I did something on Ebay yesterday -- time will tell whether it was winning or losing, but I bought a artillery top that will hopefully supply a mint barrel & fine tune front sights for my artillery shooter. I was a "successful sniper," with a single high bid placed about 90 seconds before close. There were several last minute "duelists" (my term) who were upping the ante by $10 or so increments (that was the minimum increment allowed). One of them placed a bid after mine -- about 30 seconds before close. It was another $10 bid, so mine was still higher, but I only had to pay $10 more. I hate to admit it, but I enjoyed the thrill of the hunt.


In this situation, I decided on the "high bid, sniper" approach after watching the action unfold a few minutes before expiration. I noticed that the duelists seemed to be conservative in their bids, each only upping the ante the minimal amount required. I felt my much higher increment, more than $150, wouldn't be much of a risk -- and I wouldn't have taken the risk unless the part wasn't so hard to find and just what I was looking for.

[Rick K]

[Big Norm]

Art,


I know the stock that you are talking about, it is not the same article. True, the numbers were not exactly the same like you said. But I was thrilled to be that close. I won that item, but when I got the article I found out that the seller did not list all the "alterations" to the artillery stock in his description. In subsequent emails, he still did not mention the fact that someone had put three nails through the leather flap and into the stock butt. When I compained later he told me that he did not feel that it was important to mention. Imagine, Three nail holes through a leather flap thus destroying it and three nail holes into the stock butt and he did not feel that it was important enough to mention! He said that he would take it back but he knew that the serial numbers were unique to me and one of my guns. He knew that I would not send it back. To his credit, it was his nickle for the phone bill.


This item is a different item. This item was an artillery holster,stock and straps (see Item#1166638940).It looked pretty good in the pictures. I was apprehesive because the pictures were not that good and the sellers description was not that clear. The holster looked like it may be black and all the other leather looked brown. I was uneasy because of that but I thought "Oh, what the hell! Go for it."


Jerry Peters, who is mercilessly laughing at me now, kept telling me to up my bid. But did I listen to him? No! I don't have to do that. I was top bid at $728 and had a maximum bid set almost $75 higher at $800 with less that 5 minutes to go. I had a lot of cushion. I was watching it and if anybody upped my bid, I could just up mine. Well, the guy snipered me with two seconds to go and I could not up my bid. Woe is me.


The only consolation that I have is that I do not know that turkeys maximum bid. For all I know, it could have been $3000. I lost, but I have to admit that the guy was good. Let this be a big lesson to guys who are as new to ebay as I am. Sometimes God says no.


Personally, I agree with someone earlier in this thread. I would sooner go to a gun show instead of buying on ebay. I want to feel the soul of the article that I want to buy. I want to watch the eyes of the dealer. And if its an expensive article, I want think about it over a cup of coffee before I buy it. Maybe have a friend look at it to remove emotion from the purchase before I put my money down.

Big Norm

[Big Norm]

Hey! This has been a great discussion! There were as many opinions as there were on stainless steel and restored lugers. But the tone was very constructive, informative and friendly. I personnaly want to thank everybody. I may have not gotten the holster but you people made me feel real good.

Big Norm