1938 Roadmaster? ebay

[danhar1960]

Buick : Roadmaster:eBay Motors (item 330391347354 end time Jan-07-10 15:20:42 PST)

Well the auction is over. $640.

Unfortunately, I am a big emailer and when someone does not respond to my emails in a timely manner (several hours) I am disappointed. He had to have been watching his auction.

He is probably sitting there in shock that he did not get a higher price. If you bid $1700 and he "needs" $2000, and you really want it (or would really like to have it) in 10 years time, the extra $300 will mean nothing.

Go for it mate !!

Danny

[Dynaflash8]

keiser31 it doesn't work that way. You've got to understand the system. danhard1960, all of those things you say are unfair just as you said, and so is sniper. All those things stink. But you're right, it is what it is.

[bobj49f2]

"Unfair ???" Everyone has the same opportunity to snipe. There are enough programs out there to even do it for you and I too have found them to be useful. What's unfair is when you bid $100 and someone just runs the price up purely out of curiosity. What's unfair is when the seller's cousin or brother runs the price up just to kick the price along. What's unfair is when sellers have 2 or 3 accounts and run their own prices up. There is nothing "Honourable" about eBay. It's you verses them. It is what it is.

Danny

In most states it's a felony to shill bid at a live auction and from what I have read on eBay it's illegal there and a shill bidder, if proved, could be charged. Proving it would be the hard part and I don't think it would be worth most peoples time.

..... I have also run across sellers that do not respond to emails......what's up with that?

I found a guy on Craigslist with parts, I emailed him, waited, then finally called. He wanted me to make an offer over the phone, I told him I couldn't make an offer without seeing the parts and it was a 150 mile drive that I wasn't willing to take to only find a pile of junk ( I didn't say "Junk", just thought it). I asked him to take pictures of the parts and email them to me, along with prices. I hate making offers, I believe the seller should know what he wants for an item, not me. It's been over a week and haven't heard back. I've emailed him once since, I don't want to be a pest. If he doesn't want to sell the parts then he shouldn't have listed them.

Don't mean to go off subject, again.

[Guest BJM]

Seems to me the auction close should have read "$1,700.00...reserve not met". Instead it says "$640.00 reserve not met". Why didn't your $1,700.00 bid show up? I have also run across sellers that do not respond to emails......what's up with that?

It has to do with how an auction is set up. ebay is fairly new technology. Look at it from the standpoint of a "live" auction and it will make more sense.

In an auction with this car there, you would get in you mind what you are willing to pay for it, say $1700. But you wouldn't necessarily come out and say "$1700!" - you inch it up - competing against the next guy, maybe $50 at a time.

The problem is the RESERVE, which nobody knows. (usually) Because I knew the price the seller wanted ($2000) a bid of $2000 would have triggered a potentially winning bid.

But anything below that I am not obligated to buy it as the seller chose a reserve auction. Had I bid $2000 then I would be obligated to meet the sellers pick up requirements. I am in Iowa and he is in Oregon. I want the car but need some patience on picking it up. An off ebay arrangement works best.

[Guest BJM]

He is probably sitting there in shock that he did not get a higher price. If you bid $1700 and he "needs" $2000, and you really want it (or would really like to have it) in 10 years time, the extra $300 will mean nothing.

Go for it mate !!

Danny

Danny

I agree in the long run I would not quible over $300 for a 30's era Roadmaster. But I have been at this game a long time and I want to see if - based on the auction ending price - he will see that the market has spoken.

To transport this to Iowa would likely take $700 more so every little savings help.

[50jetback]

Okay, I give up!!!

All I can say is you Buick enthusiats in the US just don't know how lucky you are.

Have a look at this

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110477883094&category=6143&_trksid=p4340.m263&_trkparms=algo%3DSI%26its%3DI%252BC%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D10%26ps%3D63

and tell me that it's not worth the asking?

It really looks like the hard work is done and it's only the fun stuff left.

Am I wrong?

Bryan, forget the 38, and the 28, and the others I see you looking at and buy this, you'll be on the road before the end of winter!!

[MCHinson]

No, if nobody else bids against you, your automatic bid will only go as high as necessary to keep you the high bidder.

Here is the explanation from ebay...

How automatic bidding works

When you place a bid, you enter the maximum amount you're willing to pay for the item. The seller and other bidders don’t know your maximum bid.

We’ll place bids on your behalf using the automatic bid increment amount, which is based on the current high bid. We'll bid only as much as necessary to make sure that you remain the high bidder, or to meet the reserve price, up to your maximum amount.

If another bidder places the same maximum bid or higher, we’ll notify you so you can place another bid. Your maximum bid is kept confidential until it is exceeded by another bidder.

[bobj49f2]

I hate reserve auctions. Whenever I list something I start with the least I'll take for the item and let it go from there. I got turned off of reserve auctions many years ago when I went to an action with a bunch of older cars. There were about twenty cars, one being a truck I wanted for parts. It was in the spring and the property was very muddy. After 1 1/2 hours of wallowing through the mud the auctioneer got his truck stuck at least a half a dozen times when he finally informed the crowd that some one had placed a minimum bid of $100 on every car. He had been starting the bidding at $50, wasting our time taking bids at $5-10 increments.

[keiser31]

It has to do with how an auction is set up. ebay is fairly new technology. Look at it from the standpoint of a "live" auction and it will make more sense.

In an auction with this car there, you would get in you mind what you are willing to pay for it, say $1700. But you wouldn't necessarily come out and say "$1700!" - you inch it up - competing against the next guy, maybe $50 at a time.

The problem is the RESERVE, which nobody knows. (usually) Because I knew the price the seller wanted ($2000) a bid of $2000 would have triggered a potentially winning bid.

But anything below that I am not obligated to buy it as the seller chose a reserve auction. Had I bid $2000 then I would be obligated to meet the sellers pick up requirements. I am in Iowa and he is in Oregon. I want the car but need some patience on picking it up. An off ebay arrangement works best.

BJM...Thanks for explaining this to me instead of chastising me for not knowing the system. Thank you, too, MCHinson.

Edited January 8, 2010 by keiser31 (see edit history)

[Dynaflash8]

I told the dealer who is selling this car for me to put it on eBay for $14,900 with no reserve. I'm still waiting for him to do it. Oh my. You can look it up at O'Hara Auto Restorations if you care to. I just don't want to finish it. I've got a new toy. Be careful though, 'cause he has two of them for sale and mine is by far the best of the two.

Sorry, I guess I'm off message like that guy with the '40 Roadmaster coupe, but this car is further along; only it's a Special.

[michaelod]

You cannot bid against yourself on eBay, therefore only the lowest bid that you placed that exceeds the amount placed by a different bidder will be displayed. If another bidder had bid over $1600 then the bid of $1700 would be displayed. What that means is if you want to bid up to the reserve price you would need 2 different userid's (which many people have) and can then bid incrementally with first one and then the other until you discover the reserve price. Nothing unethical about using multiple userid's as a buyer, as you will not be able to purchase the item until the minimum price the seller is willing to accept is met.

I am in complete agreement with the other posters who snipe when bidding. Sniping is completely within the rules of eBay and there is absolutely nothing unfair about this practice as everyone has an equal opportunity to bid this way. Go to any auction and you will hear "set a maximum price in your mind that you are willing to pay, avoid emotion, and don't bid beyond your maximum". That in a nutshell is all sniping is. You make one single bid in the last 6-8 seconds of the auction and let the chips fall where they may. All the back and forth bidding before the end accomplishes nothing other than driving up the price, which can benefit the seller, but does nothing for the buyer. Is your objective as a buyer to get the highest price you can for the seller? Probably not. If a seller complains they did not get what they needed for an item and sold it to cheaply they have no one to blame other than themselves, as the seller has the responsibility to set the reserve or opening bid at a level they can live with.

I both buy and sell on eBay, so I will wear a different hat and assume a different strategy depending on which hat I am wearing on any given day. I don't do anything outside of the eBay rules, but I certainly want to take full advantage of the rules as written.

OK there is my eBay rant; just my take on the situation.

Thanks,

[keiser31]

Thanks, Michael...that clarifies things well.

[39BuickEight]

noting unfair at all about sniping--if you don't want to do it, just set your max bid and if you lose, you shouldn't be bothered because the item sold for more than you were willing to pay for it anyway

our local police salvage auction works like Ebay, except for one difference, if there is a bid in the last minute of the auction , it automatically continues past the expiration until nobody bids for a minute, then it ends

Edited January 8, 2010 by 39BuickEight (see edit history)

[Guest OLBUICKS]

I guess I got all this sniping talk started... I have two 38 Buicks I'm restoring a little at a time.. I'm also restoring a 69 Dodge Charger with my son... But the Buicks parts are more plentiful on EBAY than the Charger parts that I needed, Some Charger parts are few and hard to find on EBAY when I first started restoring this car.. If I did not snipe I still would not have many of the parts that I needed. Bidding early only gives the seller more money...

[keiser31]

I guess I got all this sniping talk started... I have two 38 Buicks I'm restoring a little at a time.. I'm also restoring a 69 Dodge Charger with my son... But the Buicks parts are more plentiful on EBAY than the Charger parts that I needed, Some Charger parts are few and hard to find on EBAY when I first started restoring this car.. If I did not snipe I still would not have many of the parts that I needed. Bidding early only gives the seller more money...

Sorry to hijack this thread, but since you brought up '69 Chargers, I thought that I could possibly help you out. If you need MoPar muscle car parts, talk to my friend Tom Sehloff (pronounced "sail off"). He should have whatever you need for the Charger. He is in southern Oregon and has tons of rust free stuff for these cars. (541)621-9013 or sehloff_mopars@yahoo.com. You can also get stuff from another buddy of mine...Ken Burbach in Apple River, Illinois at (815)594-2205.

[Guest BJM]

I want to thank everyone for their 38 period input. This was an interesting post.

[Dynaflash8]

I still think sniping is unfair, because you don't know who or what you're bidding against. You can run it up to the sky, think you're going to get it until the last minute and then in the last seconds, when you can't respond, a magic vote comes out of the clouds. On most items I don't even bother, unless I really want it badly and then I post my highest price I'll pay. If I want it a little bit, I'd prefer to bid along and think it over before making the next bid. When you snipe, you don't give the other guy a chance. I have the program, but I've refused ever to load it up because I just don't think it's fair. Obviously, if you do, that's your right.

[keiser31]

I still think sniping is unfair, because you don't know who or what you're bidding against. You can run it up to the sky, think you're going to get it until the last minute and then in the last seconds, when you can't respond, a magic vote comes out of the clouds. On most items I don't even bother, unless I really want it badly and then I post my highest price I'll pay. If I want it a little bit, I'd prefer to bid along and think it over before making the next bid. When you snipe, you don't give the other guy a chance. I have the program, but I've refused ever to load it up because I just don't think it's fair. Obviously, if you do, that's your right.

I don't really know if we can call it "unfair" since everyone can use the program, but I get very upset and disappointed when I watch/bid all week long on something and expect to come out ahead and lose out. Makes me feel like I wasted a week for nothing and makes me want to steer away from ebay. Because of sniping, I have about given up on selling through ebay because if everyone waits until the last few seconds to bid, I do not get my price. The price remains low and I feel as if I have given my stuff away. IT SUCKS!

[bobj49f2]

I hate sniping too, I've lost out on a few items in the last seconds. I don't really feel bad when I lose to a sniper because I put in my highest bid I feel comfortable with. I know if I had a chance I might have gotten "auction fever" and bid way too much.

I've been to a few live auctions where the auctioneer will drag out the bidding to get the best price. One local auctioneer is well known to drag out the bids, waiting an extraordinarily long time to bring down the gavel. I bought my 8N tractor at one of his auctions and I was high bidder three times but he dragged it out so long he was able to drag another bidder in to counter my bid. He accomplished what he wanted to do, I ended up paying twice the value for the tractor but I don't regret it because is was an extremely nice tractor and I wanted it.

[Guest OLBUICKS]

Thanks for the MOPAR infor Keiser 31.. I'll keep these #s on my posts... I'm sorry about maybe making some people a little sad about sniping, but I always thought EBAY was a place was a place to get good deals... but not all the time.. I worked with a guy that his mother n law lives with him and his wife because she got hookes on bidding on EBAY and lost every thing she had from getting things she didn't need, but hooked on bidding..

[michaelod]

When I sell an item on eBay I never use a reserve auction as I personally have not seen any real benefit over just setting my opening required bid to the minimum amount I am comfortable selling the object for. It has the same effect as a reserve in that I am not giving my item away and at the same time if I receive any bids at all on the item I know it is going to sell at my price. If I receive no bids I simply relist the item and if I have set my opening bid at a realistic level it will eventually sell. In 11 years of buying and selling on eBay I have not once felt as if I had sold an item to cheaply. Occasionally I have received considerably more than my price and have been pleasantly surprised, but I never give my goods away just for the sake of being able to say I sold a given item. Some folks set their opening required bid to low in the thought that it may encourage bidding. That strategy can easily lead one into the trap of selling an item for less than you realistically feel it is worth. The bottom line is ask yourself going in if you are comfortable selling the item for your opening bid. If not then set it higher as that may be the only bid you receive. ALL bidding from buyers below your minimum selling point is completely irrelevant to you as a seller, because when all is said and done nothing will change hands and you will still be the owner at the end of the day. Are you interested in simply creating a playground for bidders who are hoping to get something for nothing or is your objective to sell your goods at a price you can live with?

Another note with respect to selling is I don't bother with listing $5 or $10 items on eBay at all. It simply is not worth my time and effort to sell the smaller priced items as I have better ways to spend my life. Those items are either given away, donated to charity for the tax deduction, or pitched in the can if nobody wants them.

Thanks,

[bobj49f2]

I really like the sellers who list an obviously high valued item with a reserve and a starting price of $1. The tactic works, at least it gets me to notice the ad and click on it. I've visited the eBay motors discussion group and have seen posts from these guys who complain that bidders enter bids of a dollar or two when they know the value of the item is $20-30K. If I do click on an item like this I always low ball the bid just to irritate the seller. If the item is worth the huge amount then they should start the bidding in that general area. IMO, it's silly to start the bidding at $1.

[Guest BJM]

ALL bidding from buyers below your minimum selling point is completely irrelevant to you as a seller, because when all is said and done nothing will change hands and you will still be the owner at the end of the day. Are you interested in simply creating a playground for bidders who are hoping to get something for nothing or is your objective to sell your goods at a price you can live with?

Disagree. Not all bidding below the reserve is irrelevent. Cars and parts change owners after the auctionis over.

If you set your price going in, you get less interest. You may and usually do re run your "auctions" and it may take much longer to sell, if you ever do. YOU does not necessarily mean the poster of this comment because a lot of sellers feel they can make a fortune off some old parts they found.

ebay is supposed to be an auction site not a for sale site. They have added more for sale options over the years.

True no reserve auctions are what an auction is all about. I have been to some old car auctions where the sellers were pulling their hair out, wanting the auctioneer to literally quit in the middle becuase the sugar plums dancing in their heads ("I'm gonna be a millionaire") was not coming true.

Buyers are supposed to get a bargain or a fair price - you make it seem like your price is fair, then don't use ebay with a low opening bid and no reserve.

Buyers are not trying to get "something for nothing" - the open forum allows the bids to reflect true market value - especially the longer you run it.

[michaelod]

There are many different strategy's with respect to buying and selling on eBay. There are pros and cons to each, and one must discover what techniques work for you as an individual and what does not. There is no 'one size fits all' as can be seen in this discussion. If I could suggest anything to this group it would be try to be conscious of the reality of how things actually work in this marketplace rather than one's particular ideal of the way you would like it to work, and you will have a greater degree of success, however you define that.

Hope that is vague enough...

[Seldenguy]

Very well said Michaelod!! Sums it up for everyone!! ---Bob

[Guest OLBUICKS]

As sniping will for ever be a part of bidding on EBAY, When I did bid on parts for the 69 Charger that me and my son is restoring. If it was a very hard to find part, (and might not see another one for a long period of time) Say the high bid was $50 with 8 seconds to go when I make my bid, I might have bid $150 to make sure I won this bid.. It never went way above the last bid that was made before ,, But I was willing to pay a high price for what I needed.. If people didn't make money on EBAY they wouldn't be selling things they don't need on there.. Remember there will always be a sniper hiding behind a key board ready to shoot out a bid..

[danhar1960]

As sniping will for ever be a part of bidding on EBAY, .. Remember there will always be a sniper hiding behind a key board ready to shoot out a bid..

I agree. Sniping is easy and convenient for me when using software to do so. Most times I'm either not at home, near a PC or it's 2:30am when the auction ends and don't really get the chance to consider increasing my bid if someone has outbid me. It helps eliminate price creepers, auction fever, shill bids and those that just want to see where my high bid is and run the price up out of curiosity. 1 shot, if I lose, tough for me.

Danny