EBAY 101, please sticky this Troy.... reason attached in body

[RD]

Okay kiddies... Here in Ebay 101, we will learn these:

Tasks:

• how to properly bid for an item
• when to properly bid for an item
• and to understand your biddling limitations

Conditions:

• Your computer environment/office
• Your brain and any common sense that you (hopefully) will bring to the table

Standards:

• These rules should be implemented by all novice, intermediate and experienced Ebay bidders when it comes to Mopar related auction items.
• The individual will have developed a basic understanding of the proper bidding procedures on Ebay
• Any future bids by the individual will be done accomplished with intelligence instead of blatant stupidity

1. How to properly bid for an item

To properly bid on an item, there are some criteria you must first realize.
     
  a.  does the item have a reserve?
  b.  is there a buy it now option?
  c.  will the seller ship the item or is it "local pickup only"?
  d.  what is the seller's feedback rating

These four concepts will be able to guide you through any bidding quandries.  But let us first address the first concept:

a. "does the item have a reserve?".
           
This concept is the most dastardly of all.  You see, some Ebay bidders think that Ebay is an actual auction place and each day we must outbid our fellow opponents/competitors to show who has the bigger ego or more pride.  But nay!!! this is not the case at all!  There is nowhere in the Ebay rules and regulations that states you must keep increasing the price of the item because you feel your "manlihood" is in question.  Nor, does it say that you have to pay the highest price for the item or a price that is commensurable with the current economical pricing of that item.  Matter of fact, this is a scary concept, but you are actually allowed to pay for an item on Ebay that can be below the market price!!!! Yes, I know its strange, but it can happen.
   
The key to this concept is to realize that if an auction has 7 days left on it.  You are not required by law or Ebay regulation to keep raising the damn price of the auction.  Why even bid?  Just wait until the last second like the really smart Ebay bidders and snipe the damn thing for the cheapest possible price?  DING DING DING! IMPORTANT STATEMENT CLASS, YOU WILL BE TESTED ON THAT LATER.

b.  "Is there a buy it now option?":  If there is a buy it now option and there is no reserve on the item, you have one or two options.  You can do the minimum bid and hope that the auction sells for as cheap as possible, or you can click on the buy it now and pay for the item.  If you click on the buy it now, you better at least have asked others (if you dont know) if the price that is being offered is commensurate with the current market price of the auction item.  If you do not and you pay too much for it. I do not want to see a thread crying "oh woes me" because you read these instructions hence I will just say "I told you so."  As I hope others with follow suit.

Now if you choose to just bid on the item at the lowest possible bid, you take your chances of some jerkwads bidding up the price because they didnt read rule #1.  Good luck and God's Speed on that one.

c. "Will the seller ship the item or is it local pick-up only?":  This is a no-brainer in some regards, but it is easily remedied with the understanding of the English language, its context, and the ability to read from left to right.  There is an area on the auction ad that states whether or not the seller will ship the item.  I know that this can be somewhat confusing and all, so please pay attention.  If the seller says "local pick-up only" that does not mean he has a pick-up at his house and the part is in the bed of said pick-up.  Nor does it mean that if you bribe the seller with an extra $20 that you planned initially to spend at the local titty bar, that he would be willing to ship that 650 lb 440 block from Maine to California.  This statement means that if you want the item, bring your happy nappy butt to the seller's location and pick it up yourself. 

If the seller states that he will ship the item, then do yourself and him/herself a big favor and email ahead to ask for the shipping costs to your location.  Not only does this make you a more informed consumer, but you can possibly budget your purchase accordingly and not have to back out because you will not be able to afford that 6 pack of PBR.  If the auction ad has a calculate shipping cost button on it already, then do yourself another favor and click on the damn thing.  Believe it or not, it will actually tell you how much the seller is charging to ship the item to your exact location.  ALL BY PUSHING A BUTTON!!! AMAZING!

d.  "What is the seller's feedback rating?":  If you are able to click on the number next to the seller's Ebay ID you will be able to witness a glorious amount of information that allows for you to again, become an informed consumer.  If the seller has 200 feedback applied to his/her account and his feedback percentage rating is 85% and you bid and win and one their auctions and the item never comes to your door.  You may want to post a thread that you were SCAMMED in the forum.  Do us all a favor would you?  Go outside and find the nearest piece of 6" thick concrete.  Lay down flat with your face towards the concrete and commence to raising your head and dropping it without any resistance to gravity.  That, hopefully, will save me the time in reading your post about something you could have prevented.  Thanks!

2.  When should you bid on an item

You should only bid on an Ebay auction item when:

a.   You have the money to pay for the item and its not in two weeks from the auction ending date (unless you have prior consent from the seller)
b.   You actually have researched the item, this includes identifying all part numbers shown as to be applicable to your desired project
c.   You know how to read

I don't think I need to say anything more about that.

3.  Understanding your bidding limitations

There are many Ebay'ers out there that do not understand the legalities of Ebay.  Suffice it to say; they assume that the Ebay website is just another freeware style of gaming site and that their bidding practices are nothing more than trying to raise their points like in Galaga. 

Well, this is not the case at all!  Ebay and the auctions it has actually have certain federal and state legalities that can be used to either enforce a purchase or bring forth civil/criminal charges.

If you are one of these type of bidders, just do not bid because you can be legally held accountable for your actions:

a.   A shill bidder
b.   A seller bidding on their own auctions
c.   A dumba55 who keeps bidding up the price because they are trying to make up for lack in genital size. (okay that is not against     the law, but it needed to be stated).

4. In closing:  I hope that you find these rules as being enlightening and intuitive.  If you follow these simple rules, you too can become an educated Ebay bidder.  Your experiences on Ebay will be less frustrating as well as the experiences of the other Ebay bidders that would have to put up with your pathetic and ignorant Ebay bids had you not read this.

Life is short and so are all those darn NOS pieces out there that only cost 25 cents when first built.  Let us all view these tiny plastic pieces for what they are and realize that bidding each day to show up your Ebay competitors that you will never see in your entire life is not the solution, it is just part of the problem.

Mopar prices are high enough already.  We Ebay bidders should become more intelligent and realize that we control the price of the items, not the sellers.

Good luck and God Speed!!!!

[my73charger]

You see, some Ebay bidders think that Ebay is an actual auction place and each day we must outbid our fellow opponents/competitors to show who has the bigger ego or more pride.  But nay!!! this is not the case at all!  There is nowhere in the Ebay rules and regulations that states you must keep increasing the price of the item because you feel your "manlihood" is in question.  Nor, does it say that you have to pay the highest price for the item or a price that is commensurable with the current economical pricing of that item.  Matter of fact, this is a scary concept, but you are actually allowed to pay for an item on Ebay that can be below the market price!!!! Yes, I know its strange, but it can happen.

Man this is a GREAT post!  Good job RD!!  I don't know how many times I have tagged an item to watch only to forget about it after a couple of morons started a bidding war with days left on the item.  I actually emailed two guys and told them both about the great concept of waiting till the last minute to try and get a, are you ready for this?  Lower price!!  Oh My Gosh!  What a GREAT IDEA!!

[Big Lebowski]

Ya but there are Charger items that I must have (things that are back-ordered forever), so I'll outbid anybody right away, all the way up to $399 for a $400 item.

[Telvis]

Well said......If you happen to see one of my auctions it is fully aceptable to raise the price as often as you like.  I actually prefer that my items sell for more than the actual market value. Please feel free to make up for genital size by sending me more money. You won't hurt my feelings one bit.

[RD]

Ya but there are Charger items that I must have (things that are back-ordered forever), so I'll outbid anybody right away, all the way up to $399 for a $400 item.

you can bid up to 400 dollars all you want, just do it 15 seconds before the damn auction ends.  I bet you will get the part for cheaper.

I dont care what price you want to pay for the item, just dont be one of those jackoff's that has to have the highest bid at all times, thus raising the bid price up and up and up for no fricken reason at all.  Do you realize you are making yourself pay more for the item in the long run?  

[twilt]

You can`t teach common sense. Some people have it, others do not.

[Big Lebowski]

Ya but there are Charger items that I must have (things that are back-ordered forever), so I'll outbid anybody right away, all the way up to $399 for a $400 item.

you can bid up to 400 dollars all you want, just do it 15 seconds before the damn auction ends.  I bet you will get the part for cheaper.

I dont care what price you want to pay for the item, just dont be one of those jackoff's that has to have the highest bid at all times, thus raising the bid price up and up and up for no fricken reason at all.  Do you realize you are making yourself pay more for the item in the long run?  

No, I mean in the last 30 seconds....I'll bid up to $399 on a $400 item

[RD]

oh, thats cool BL, just dont keep bidding up every day lol!

[Johnny SixPack]

Great write up, RD!

If only people would learn that it's just that simple.

Like the people that get into a bidding war on the first day the item is offered. 

[Big Lebowski]

oh, thats cool BL, just dont keep bidding up every day lol!

 Most of Ebay's Charger parts are 3 times what I would pay anyway. E-bay's good for some stuff, but the high $$$ stuff is out of sight.

[RD]

Great write up, RD!

If only people would learn that it's just that simple.

Like the people that get into a bidding war on the first day the item is offered. 

thanks... i wonder if I posted this in moparts how long it would take for it to get deleted?  shall we run a pool?

[Johnny SixPack]

Great write up, RD!

If only people would learn that it's just that simple.

Like the people that get into a bidding war on the first day the item is offered. 

thanks... i wonder if I posted this in moparts how long it would take for it to get deleted?  shall we run a pool?

I'll take a piece of that action.

Put me down for 25 mins. 

[RD]

okay, here it goes:  time 7:23pm CST  lets see how long it takes before its killed

[70 Battle Horse]

Next time you see an auction going that way....check out the jack offs bidding on it =  more that likely no more than 30 or so feedbacks and that usually means schill bidding . Then  check the sellers feedback and well.... huh!!! the current high bidder, or one of the other multiple bidders have done transactions with the seller before.  The seller either has several ebay accounts goin on, or a network of buddies that help each other out. Then never pay for an item if they get stuck as high bid = but still leave each other A++++ feedback ===got to be carefull there is lotsa greedy A holes out in ebay land

[RAWPWR]

great write-up..I would be willing to compromise on it though..how's this, I bid low on stuff I want and everybody bids high on stuff I sell 
But seriously RD great job and humorous at the same time

[RD]

great write-up..I would be willing to compromise on it though..how's this, I bid low on stuff I want and everybody bids high on stuff I sell 
But seriously RD great job and humorous at the same time

thanks and i like your ebay philosophy... I think I will adopt that one

[Rick Keesler]

Had a little spare time today, huh??

Seriously though, with all the common sense and logic in that post, you just have to remember we live on planet Earth......not Vulcan.

Live Long and Prosper!         <---insert Mr. Spock smiley here

[RAWPWR]

Unfortunately that has been my philosophy in the stock market buy high sell low

[TheGhost]

okay, here it goes:  time 7:23pm CST  lets see how long it takes before its killed

Surprisingly, it's still there, 3 hours later, and actually on the first page.

[Headrope]

Probably because they are all snipers now, glued to their monitors and waiting to strike.
Your write up will likely affect the bidding wars, but ultimately make it more difficult to win an auction on eBay.

[RD]

Probably because they are all snipers now, glued to their monitors and waiting to strike.
Your write up will likely affect the bidding wars, but ultimately make it more difficult to win an auction on eBay.

i seriously doubt that.  If an individual wants an item bad enough (just like Big Lebowski stated) he will pay whatever he wants to get it.  There are still things like proxy bidding that can be done when sniping.  That is how I win the auction.  I dont bid 2 dollars more to win the auction, I usually bid 20 more (up to a reasonable limit) that way I do not get sniped by a 2 dollar sniper. 

All of this is irrelevant if someone who wants an item bad enough that they put in a bid that is ridiculously high.

[Headrope]

Personally I've gotten tired of the whole eBay thing. There is little that annoys me more than wanting something, finding it, and having to wait a week to decide if I want to spend more money on it than what it's worth.

[ChargerHound69]

Sounds to me like you are tired of getting Out Bid.

[Highbanked Hauler]

You can`t teach common sense. Some people have it, others do not.

When it comes to true statements of life that has to be in the top 10.

[doctorpimp]

I always snipe eBay stuff.  It is the only way to avoid a BS bidding war.
I use auctionsniper.com to do it for me automatically, so I don't have to be sitting in front of a computer seconds before the auction ends.
http://www.auctionsniper.com/RegisterNew.aspx?reftrackid=590317
Please use my my eBay name "doctorpimp" as a referral if you sign up.