What A Moron

[fredintoon]

As for the "snipers", I admit I am one of those. That is how ebay functions. Don't bid at all, until the last 10 seconds, and make sure you enter the highest $ amount you are willing to pay. You see, if you had entered the highest amount you were willing to pay, you would not be upset because the "sniper" is simply willing to pay more than you. You would not have paid that $1 more anyway, right??

Hi 'Bug,
I might have been but at less than 10 seconds left my typing finger don't fly that fast. And then there are the real bastards with the sniper programs that kick in at the final second. I'm with Rev. Rick and feel no sin thereby, "May your ill-gotten bargain be destroyed in transit, hopefully before your very eyes."

[red bandit]

Just because some people are better at playing the game than you are doesn't make them jerks (snipers).

[DGXSER]

Interestingly, a REAL auction does not end because it is 2:00:00 PM. it ends when bidding is complete. The true way to make Ebay function that way would be to extend the deadline of the auction until there is a minimum gap in the bidding of say 30 seconds.

Thats my thought anyway. It just kills me that Ebay takes 9% + a fee for posting the ad. Makes real estate brokers seem human again.

[b.walker5]

Interestingly, a REAL auction does not end because it is 2:00:00 PM. it ends when bidding is complete. The true way to make Ebay function that way would be to extend the deadline of the auction until there is a minimum gap in the bidding of say 30 seconds.

Thats the way our local auction site, Trademe, works. It's a selectable option when you first set up the auction, and then any bids in the last 30 seconds will auto-extend the auction by a user selectable amount, usually five minutes.

Can be a real pain in the arse when you're trying to secure a bargain and the time keeps extending out. You can set a limit to the auto-extend time but most dont.

Trademe has become just like Ebay with "e-tailers" setting up online shops and flooding the site with crap, and who are only interested in buy now pricing.

The garage sale type sellers have set up new sites, similiar to your Craig's List but eventually they'll get overrun by mass sellers and the wheel will continue to turn. Trademe was set up in 1999 by Sam Morgan, a 23 year old university graduate who was having trouble buying a second hand heater for his little flat in Wellington. 7 years later he sold it to Fairfax Media for $750 million dollars. Now that's a good return.

[Guy_b_g]

who was having trouble buying a second hand heater for his little flat in Wellington. 7 years later he sold it to Fairfax Media for $750 million dollars.

Wow...that's a helluva return on that heater..

[b.walker5]

I'm sure you know this already , but in case my post wasnt clear, it was Trademe he sold, not the heater. He actually still has that, but no matter how you look at it 750 million is pretty damn good for an online business started with nothing, and the only overheads were the cost of a computor and some web space.

[Guy_b_g]

I got ya...just couldn't post using the normal tools....

I hope he put that heater in a glass case in a museum somewhere.