The Magic Librarities

He just put $20,000. Whatever the moment you choose to bid, you typically win with this strategy ;D

Dangerous strategy. I remember seeing an auction a couple years back for an item worth about $100. Two people tried to snipe it, and each put in monstrous amounts, figuring that they would just beat whoever was the top bidder. The "winner" ended up having to pay several thousand dollars -- way more than the item was worth.

I'm not sure if the transaction was ever completed, but I'm sure it was a rough week for the guy.

He just put $20,000. Whatever the moment you choose to bid, you typically win with this strategy ;D

I find myself typing in a bid for $5.000 all the time.
But just before i hit enter, i smash the delete button about ten times. There might be a day a hit that enter button. ::) ("summer magic card goes for $5.000, news at eleven.") ;D

can't really understand why jtoolman did that  ???
If there's something I really want I may put twice the normal price (like I bid $20 for a foil signed lin sivvi  ;D) but that's about it. More than that is just stupid

Here's an example of what can happen with the jtoolman strategy when things go horribly wrong:

http://offer.ebay.com/ws3/eBayISAPI.dll ... 3461554706

Here we have some crappy RAM sticks -- $60 on a good day. Einstein #1 really wants them and puts in a superhigh bid. Einstein #2 also really wants them, and tries to snipe them with a monstrously high bid. Net result: Einstein #2 wins, but he's on the hook for $4350.

Lesson learned: Do snipe, but only what you will maximally pay for the item.

Here's an example of what can happen with the jtoolman strategy when things go horribly wrong:

http://offer.ebay.com/ws3/eBayISAPI.dll ... 3461554706

Here we have some crappy RAM sticks -- $60 on a good day. Einstein #1 really wants them and puts in a superhigh bid. Einstein #2 also really wants them, and tries to snipe them with a monstrously high bid. Net result: Einstein #2 wins, but he's on the hook for $4350.

Lesson learned: Do snipe, but only what you will maximally pay for the item.

Lol! ;D

Bob:  Thanks for sharing the Einstein link with us.  This one got some laughs around with the other IT guys.

Net result: Einstein #2 wins, but he's on the hook for $4350.

Don't forget the innocent seller who is now responsible for about $78 in final value fees because I doubt he'll see that $4350 anytime soon.

What  about the flip side?  As a bidder (I'm almost always the bidder ;D) I've been burned when my bid was missing a decimal point.  I've been forced to pay way more than I wanted because of this.

But it seems like dealers get a free ride.  I recently won a buy-it-now bid that was a sellers mistake, but the seller refused to sell, and immediately relisted, and later sold, the item at a higher price.  He's currently claiming that I shouldn't give him a negative feedback because everyone makes mistakes, but his auction language made it clear that if you, as a bidder, screw up, its your problem and not his.

A few days ago I came within 7 seconds of winning another "buy-it-now" auction, and e-mailed the seller about his low price.  He said the sale actually went for much more than the eBay buy-it-now price.  Apparantly he wanted the eBay feedback but didn't want to pay eBay their full cut.  Had I been 8 seconds faster and won, I'm sure I wouldn't have gotten the card.

I have had many auctions where the seller cancelled my winning bid in the last second and relisted the item because he didn't like my winning bid, or told me he woudn't sell except at some much higher price.  And I've had more than a few who never respond after the auction (either to tell me where to send money, or after trying to steal my money).

So it seems like the deck is stacked against bidders.  eBay is useless when it comes to resolving these issues fairly, unless your bid is more than ~$50 (where they actually have to pay you something substantial).  

I don't think that has anything to do with being a buyer/seller.  That has to do with being an honest person.