A Golden Opportunity!

[Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su]

I regularly get on Ebay and search for 'transistors' and I exclude those
such as 2n3904, 2n3906, 2n4401, 2n4403, 2n2222A, 2n2907 and a few
others. I usually come up with a few hundred listings. I then check
them out to see what's hot, what's not, what's rare, and what's a
bargain. You've probably seen some of the old CK722 collectible
auctions that I've posted to the newsgroups which may go for a hundred
dollars or more.

For quite awhile I've been noticing that a few sellers have trashed up
the transistors listings for months; they sell supposedly 'vintage'
transistors for outrageous prices, and continually relist the same items
over and over, ad nauseum, with never a single bid. This, to me
indicates they're way overpriced and probably not really what the seller
says they are. One seller in particular really bothers me and probably
everyone else. They go by the name Goldenopportunities1, and sell just
a few transistors for a minimum bid of $10, charge $6 shipping for just
a few transistors, do not accept Paypal, and continually re-list the
same items over and over, making it tedious to browse thru all the
listings.

Well, I found that the new Ebay search has a feature that allows you to
exclude sellers. WOW! I put this seller's name in there, and the
listings went from 145 down to 83! This clueless, inconsiderate seller
was taking up a full 43% of the listings! But not any more! He's outta
there! What a Golden Opportunity!

I also notice that this happens on occasion to my test equipment
searches on Ebay, but maybe not to as great an extent. So I hope this
info is helpful to those, too. I've got several ebay searches
bookmarked in their own folder, just so I don't have to redo the
searches every time. On the old ebay, I never could get their favorites
to work right, maybe because I've got the Moz security and privacy
settings clamped down to prevent popups, cookies and such. But with
these searches bookmarked, who cares!

Someday I hope Ebay improves their website even more. My wishlist
includes putting the number of relists in each auction, so a buyer will
instantly know if the auction is a white elephant. And if this doesn't
help cut down on the relistings, I hope they put a limit on free
relistings, so after some number, say 5 relists, it will start to cost
the seller something.

Also I hope they put, in addition to the feedbacks, the ratio of the
number of relists to the number of successful total auctions. Or some
composite of this and other ratings that reveal how much of a bottom
feeding scumbag each seller is.

Hope you're successful bidding.

--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/databank.htm
My email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it
goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@

 

[(0]

THANK YOU for that tip. Seriously. I do the same search and that guy
bugs me too. There are other searches I do where I would like to
exclude certain sellers like the guys that sell those component kits.


One thing you don't always notice is that a lot of auctions get their
bids in the very last seconds, so even though it doesn't look like
some of the sellers like him are selling anything at all, they
actually are. Looks like more and more people are using the automated
bidding services now.

Ebay is a real hoot sometimes. Dunno if you saw this one or not...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3815314978

check out what he says at the very bottom of the auction

Also there were the ghost in a jar people and the haunted rubber
ducky. If you haven't seen those search on "ebay ghost in a jar" on
google to see archives of all of the damn auctions people put up.

Finally here is one last thing that people sell that is really
funny..search on ORGONE and sort by highest price. Nearly as I can
tell, they are selling a box with a bunch of knobs/lights and a couple
tin ashtrays glued to it for $300-400.00...over and over again. It
can't possibly DO anything.

funny stuff.


On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 19:31:27 -0700, "Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the
Dark Remover\"" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com> wrote:

I regularly get on Ebay and search for 'transistors' and I exclude those
such as 2n3904, 2n3906, 2n4401, 2n4403, 2n2222A, 2n2907 and a few
others. I usually come up with a few hundred listings. I then check
them out to see what's hot, what's not, what's rare, and what's a
bargain. You've probably seen some of the old CK722 collectible
auctions that I've posted to the newsgroups which may go for a hundred
dollars or more.

For quite awhile I've been noticing that a few sellers have trashed up
the transistors listings for months; they sell supposedly 'vintage'
transistors for outrageous prices, and continually relist the same items
over and over, ad nauseum, with never a single bid. This, to me
indicates they're way overpriced and probably not really what the seller
says they are. One seller in particular really bothers me and probably
everyone else. They go by the name Goldenopportunities1, and sell just
a few transistors for a minimum bid of $10, charge $6 shipping for just
a few transistors, do not accept Paypal, and continually re-list the
same items over and over, making it tedious to browse thru all the
listings.

Well, I found that the new Ebay search has a feature that allows you to
exclude sellers. WOW! I put this seller's name in there, and the
listings went from 145 down to 83! This clueless, inconsiderate seller
was taking up a full 43% of the listings! But not any more! He's outta
there! What a Golden Opportunity!

I also notice that this happens on occasion to my test equipment
searches on Ebay, but maybe not to as great an extent. So I hope this
info is helpful to those, too. I've got several ebay searches
bookmarked in their own folder, just so I don't have to redo the
searches every time. On the old ebay, I never could get their favorites
to work right, maybe because I've got the Moz security and privacy
settings clamped down to prevent popups, cookies and such. But with
these searches bookmarked, who cares!

Someday I hope Ebay improves their website even more. My wishlist
includes putting the number of relists in each auction, so a buyer will
instantly know if the auction is a white elephant. And if this doesn't
help cut down on the relistings, I hope they put a limit on free
relistings, so after some number, say 5 relists, it will start to cost
the seller something.

Also I hope they put, in addition to the feedbacks, the ratio of the
number of relists to the number of successful total auctions. Or some
composite of this and other ratings that reveal how much of a bottom
feeding scumbag each seller is.

Hope you're successful bidding.

--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/databank.htm
My email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it
goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@

 

[Rune Christensen]

Yes that is correct. Many times I'm outbid when there is only seconds left.
The item has not recieved any bid for days but then at the last few seconds
there can be several bids.


"(0) -^- (0)" <transistorPLEASE@REMOVEkc.rrTHISTOREPLY.com> skrev i en
meddelelse news:4121d00a.3162665@news-server.kc.rr.com...

THANK YOU for that tip. Seriously. I do the same search and that guy
bugs me too. There are other searches I do where I would like to
exclude certain sellers like the guys that sell those component kits.


One thing you don't always notice is that a lot of auctions get their
bids in the very last seconds, so even though it doesn't look like
some of the sellers like him are selling anything at all, they
actually are. Looks like more and more people are using the automated
bidding services now.

Ebay is a real hoot sometimes. Dunno if you saw this one or not...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3815314978

check out what he says at the very bottom of the auction

Also there were the ghost in a jar people and the haunted rubber
ducky. If you haven't seen those search on "ebay ghost in a jar" on
google to see archives of all of the damn auctions people put up.

Finally here is one last thing that people sell that is really
funny..search on ORGONE and sort by highest price. Nearly as I can
tell, they are selling a box with a bunch of knobs/lights and a couple
tin ashtrays glued to it for $300-400.00...over and over again. It
can't possibly DO anything.

funny stuff.


On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 19:31:27 -0700, "Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the
Dark Remover\"" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com> wrote:

I regularly get on Ebay and search for 'transistors' and I exclude those
such as 2n3904, 2n3906, 2n4401, 2n4403, 2n2222A, 2n2907 and a few
others. I usually come up with a few hundred listings. I then check
them out to see what's hot, what's not, what's rare, and what's a
bargain. You've probably seen some of the old CK722 collectible
auctions that I've posted to the newsgroups which may go for a hundred
dollars or more.

For quite awhile I've been noticing that a few sellers have trashed up
the transistors listings for months; they sell supposedly 'vintage'
transistors for outrageous prices, and continually relist the same items
over and over, ad nauseum, with never a single bid. This, to me
indicates they're way overpriced and probably not really what the seller
says they are. One seller in particular really bothers me and probably
everyone else. They go by the name Goldenopportunities1, and sell just
a few transistors for a minimum bid of $10, charge $6 shipping for just
a few transistors, do not accept Paypal, and continually re-list the
same items over and over, making it tedious to browse thru all the
listings.

Well, I found that the new Ebay search has a feature that allows you to
exclude sellers. WOW! I put this seller's name in there, and the
listings went from 145 down to 83! This clueless, inconsiderate seller
was taking up a full 43% of the listings! But not any more! He's outta
there! What a Golden Opportunity!

I also notice that this happens on occasion to my test equipment
searches on Ebay, but maybe not to as great an extent. So I hope this
info is helpful to those, too. I've got several ebay searches
bookmarked in their own folder, just so I don't have to redo the
searches every time. On the old ebay, I never could get their favorites
to work right, maybe because I've got the Moz security and privacy
settings clamped down to prevent popups, cookies and such. But with
these searches bookmarked, who cares!

Someday I hope Ebay improves their website even more. My wishlist
includes putting the number of relists in each auction, so a buyer will
instantly know if the auction is a white elephant. And if this doesn't
help cut down on the relistings, I hope they put a limit on free
relistings, so after some number, say 5 relists, it will start to cost
the seller something.

Also I hope they put, in addition to the feedbacks, the ratio of the
number of relists to the number of successful total auctions. Or some
composite of this and other ratings that reveal how much of a bottom
feeding scumbag each seller is.

Hope you're successful bidding.

--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/databank.htm
My email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it
goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@

---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.737 / Virus Database: 491 - Release Date: 11-08-2004

 

[Michael A. Covington]

One thing you don't always notice is that a lot of auctions get their
bids in the very last seconds, so even though it doesn't look like
some of the sellers like him are selling anything at all, they
actually are. Looks like more and more people are using the automated
bidding services now.

And in that respect, eBay differs from conventional auctions, which don't
allow sniping. I was recently involved in organizing the auction service on
www.astromart.com, and we decided to do like a real auctioneer --
automatically prolong the auction if the bids rise more than a few percent
at the last minute.

Auto-sniping essentially turns an eBay auction into a sealed-bid auction,
the kind where you don't know people's bids until after the auction ends.
Of course, you can run an auction that way if you want to, but it would be
much easier to omit the "sniping contest" and simply ACCEPT sealed bids!
Astromart chose not to do this, but eBay perfectly well could, if they'd
like.

As it is, the sniping contest keeps the sale from going to the person who is
willing to pay the most. It's fairly common to miss "winning" an item
because you didn't snipe fast enough.

 

[Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su]

"Rune Christensen" <rune.christensen@adslhome.dk> wrote in message
news:4121d7b7$0$285$edfadb0f@dread12.news.tele.dk...

Yes that is correct. Many times I'm outbid when there is only seconds
left.
The item has not recieved any bid for days but then at the last few
seconds
there can be several bids.

It's called sniping, and there are software pkgs like snipe-it that will
allow you to do this. But if the bidder bids the maximum sensible,
informed bid on his first bid, then the sniper is just paying too much,
or else he needs it worse than you do. But just remember that there
will always be another of the same item available later, so just bide
your time and don't get into a foolish bidding war. Especially with
those old collectible transistors!

"(0) -^- (0)" <transistorPLEASE@REMOVEkc.rrTHISTOREPLY.com> skrev i en
meddelelse news:4121d00a.3162665@news-server.kc.rr.com...
THANK YOU for that tip. Seriously. I do the same search and that
guy
bugs me too. There are other searches I do where I would like to
exclude certain sellers like the guys that sell those component
kits.


One thing you don't always notice is that a lot of auctions get
their
bids in the very last seconds, so even though it doesn't look like
some of the sellers like him are selling anything at all, they
actually are. Looks like more and more people are using the
automated
bidding services now.

Ebay is a real hoot sometimes. Dunno if you saw this one or not...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3815314978

check out what he says at the very bottom of the auction

Also there were the ghost in a jar people and the haunted rubber
ducky. If you haven't seen those search on "ebay ghost in a jar" on
google to see archives of all of the damn auctions people put up.

Finally here is one last thing that people sell that is really
funny..search on ORGONE and sort by highest price. Nearly as I can
tell, they are selling a box with a bunch of knobs/lights and a
couple
tin ashtrays glued to it for $300-400.00...over and over again. It
can't possibly DO anything.

funny stuff.


On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 19:31:27 -0700, "Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the
Dark Remover\"" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com> wrote:

I regularly get on Ebay and search for 'transistors' and I exclude
those
such as 2n3904, 2n3906, 2n4401, 2n4403, 2n2222A, 2n2907 and a few
others. I usually come up with a few hundred listings. I then
check
them out to see what's hot, what's not, what's rare, and what's a
bargain. You've probably seen some of the old CK722 collectible
auctions that I've posted to the newsgroups which may go for a
hundred
dollars or more.

For quite awhile I've been noticing that a few sellers have trashed
up
the transistors listings for months; they sell supposedly 'vintage'
transistors for outrageous prices, and continually relist the same
items
over and over, ad nauseum, with never a single bid. This, to me
indicates they're way overpriced and probably not really what the
seller
says they are. One seller in particular really bothers me and
probably
everyone else. They go by the name Goldenopportunities1, and sell
just
a few transistors for a minimum bid of $10, charge $6 shipping for
just
a few transistors, do not accept Paypal, and continually re-list
the
same items over and over, making it tedious to browse thru all the
listings.

Well, I found that the new Ebay search has a feature that allows
you to
exclude sellers. WOW! I put this seller's name in there, and the
listings went from 145 down to 83! This clueless, inconsiderate
seller
was taking up a full 43% of the listings! But not any more! He's
outta
there! What a Golden Opportunity!

I also notice that this happens on occasion to my test equipment
searches on Ebay, but maybe not to as great an extent. So I hope
this
info is helpful to those, too. I've got several ebay searches
bookmarked in their own folder, just so I don't have to redo the
searches every time. On the old ebay, I never could get their
favorites
to work right, maybe because I've got the Moz security and privacy
settings clamped down to prevent popups, cookies and such. But
with
these searches bookmarked, who cares!

Someday I hope Ebay improves their website even more. My wishlist
includes putting the number of relists in each auction, so a buyer
will
instantly know if the auction is a white elephant. And if this
doesn't
help cut down on the relistings, I hope they put a limit on free
relistings, so after some number, say 5 relists, it will start to
cost
the seller something.

Also I hope they put, in addition to the feedbacks, the ratio of
the
number of relists to the number of successful total auctions. Or
some
composite of this and other ratings that reveal how much of a
bottom
feeding scumbag each seller is.

Hope you're successful bidding.

--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/databank.htm
My email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it
goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@





---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.737 / Virus Database: 491 - Release Date: 11-08-2004

 

[Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su]

"Michael A. Covington" <look@ai.uga.edu.for.address> wrote in message
news:4121fadc$1@mustang.speedfactory.net...

One thing you don't always notice is that a lot of auctions get
their
bids in the very last seconds, so even though it doesn't look like
some of the sellers like him are selling anything at all, they
actually are. Looks like more and more people are using the
automated
bidding services now.

And in that respect, eBay differs from conventional auctions, which
don't
allow sniping. I was recently involved in organizing the auction
service on
www.astromart.com, and we decided to do like a real auctioneer --
automatically prolong the auction if the bids rise more than a few
percent
at the last minute.

Auto-sniping essentially turns an eBay auction into a sealed-bid
auction,
the kind where you don't know people's bids until after the auction
ends.
Of course, you can run an auction that way if you want to, but it
would be
much easier to omit the "sniping contest" and simply ACCEPT sealed
bids!
Astromart chose not to do this, but eBay perfectly well could, if
they'd
like.

As it is, the sniping contest keeps the sale from going to the person
who is
willing to pay the most. It's fairly common to miss "winning" an
item
because you didn't snipe fast enough.

It all boils down to the bid that gets the last clock cycle...

 

[normanstrong]

I have a substantial collection of transistors from the germanium era.
How does one go about determining if they have value beyond the
intrinsic?

Thanks,

Norm Strong

"Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, the Dark Remover"" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com>
wrote in message news:10i2r86elv4oe6b@corp.supernews.com...

I regularly get on Ebay and search for 'transistors' and I exclude
those
such as 2n3904, 2n3906, 2n4401, 2n4403, 2n2222A, 2n2907 and a few
others. I usually come up with a few hundred listings. I then
check
them out to see what's hot, what's not, what's rare, and what's a
bargain. You've probably seen some of the old CK722 collectible
auctions that I've posted to the newsgroups which may go for a
hundred
dollars or more.

 

[John Miles]

In article <4121fadc$1@mustang.speedfactory.net>,
look@ai.uga.edu.for.address says...

As it is, the sniping contest keeps the sale from going to the person who is
willing to pay the most. It's fairly common to miss "winning" an item
because you didn't snipe fast enough.

That statement shows a pretty fundamental misunderstanding of how eBay
works.

The person who is willing to pay the most *always* wins.

-- jm

------------------------------------------------------
http://www.qsl.net/ke5fx
Note: My E-mail address has been altered to avoid spam
------------------------------------------------------

 

[Peter A Forbes]

On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 06:27:06 -0700, "Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the Dark
Remover\"" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com> wrote:

"Rune Christensen" <rune.christensen@adslhome.dk> wrote in message
news:4121d7b7$0$285$edfadb0f@dread12.news.tele.dk...
Yes that is correct. Many times I'm outbid when there is only seconds
left.
The item has not recieved any bid for days but then at the last few
seconds
there can be several bids.

<snipped>

But just remember that there
will always be another of the same item available later, so just bide
your time and don't get into a foolish bidding war. Especially with
those old collectible transistors!

Amen to that!

Don't forget also that there are other sources apart from the USA, especially
for equipment. Ebay has servers in most large countries, although the Latin
American ones seems a bit weak yet.

Peter



--
Peter & Rita Forbes
diesel@easynet.co.uk
Engine pages for preservation info:
http://www.oldengine.org/members/diesel

 

[John Miller]

John Miles wrote:

The person who is willing to pay the most *always* wins.

Minor quibble, which may be at the heart of any misunderstanding here: The
person who is willing to pay the most AND who places a bid for that amount
before the end of the auction always wins.

Being willing is not sufficient. (But you knew that.

--
John Miller
Email address: domain, n4vu.com; username, jsm

Yes, I've now got this nice little apartment in New York, one of those
L-shaped ones. Unfortunately, it's a lower case l.
-Rita Rudner

 

[Michael A. Covington]

"Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, the Dark Remover"" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com> wrote
in message news:10i41t1rkump2b6@corp.supernews.com...

It's called sniping, and there are software pkgs like snipe-it that will
allow you to do this. But if the bidder bids the maximum sensible,
informed bid on his first bid, then the sniper is just paying too much,
or else he needs it worse than you do.

My point. Sniping turns all auctions into sealed-bid auctions (except for
the people who actually enjoy the sniping process as a game of chance). The
published bids are *no* prediction of what people are actually willing to
bid. So it's a sealed-bid auction disguised as an open-bid auction. eBay
should make up their mind.

 

[Michael A. Covington]

"John Miles" <jmiles@pop.removethistomailme.net> wrote in message
news:MPG.1b8c1c7ef82fc4fb98970c@news-central.giganews.com...

In article <4121fadc$1@mustang.speedfactory.net>,
look@ai.uga.edu.for.address says...
As it is, the sniping contest keeps the sale from going to the person who
is
willing to pay the most. It's fairly common to miss "winning" an item
because you didn't snipe fast enough.

That statement shows a pretty fundamental misunderstanding of how eBay
works.

The person who is willing to pay the most *always* wins.

No... That was my point.

Sniping turns all auctions into sealed-bid auctions. That is, you have to
decide what you are willing to pay before you place any bids at all. In an
open-bid auction, you can use other people's bids as a guide to what you
should bid.

eBay is, in effect, sealed-bid auctions disguised as open-bid auctions. I
wouldn't be surprised if the people in California who license auctioneers
would eventually take some interest in this, as a regulatory matter.

Entirely too many people have never experienced an auction anywhere but eBay
and don't realize just how weird eBay really is.

 

[John Miller]

Michael A. Covington wrote:

So it's a sealed-bid auction disguised as an open-bid auction. eBay
should make up their mind.

But how could sniping be eliminated?

--
John Miller
Email address: domain, n4vu.com; username, jsm

Now I lay me back to sleep.
The speaker's dull; the subject's deep.
If he should stop before I wake,
Give me a nudge for goodness' sake.
-Anonymous

 

[Dave Platt]

In article <41228d17$1@mustang.speedfactory.net>,
Michael A. Covington <look@ai.uga.edu.for.address> wrote:

It's called sniping, and there are software pkgs like snipe-it that will
allow you to do this. But if the bidder bids the maximum sensible,
informed bid on his first bid, then the sniper is just paying too much,
or else he needs it worse than you do.

My point. Sniping turns all auctions into sealed-bid auctions (except for
the people who actually enjoy the sniping process as a game of chance). The
published bids are *no* prediction of what people are actually willing to
bid. So it's a sealed-bid auction disguised as an open-bid auction. eBay
should make up their mind.

Well, even sans sniping, the eBay auctions are only semi-open. If
you're the leading bidder, others don't get to see what your maximum
bid is... only that it's at least $MININUM_INCREMENT above the maximum
bid of the next-highest bidder. An eBay auction would be fully open
if and only if each bidder's true maximum bid was visible in real time.

I'm not at all sure that there's any way, even in theory, to prevent
sniping. You'd always have to create some rule which would
distinguish a "snipe" from a "non-sniping last-minute bid", and I
really doubt that you could create such a rule which would not be
largely arbitrary, and also rather easily circumvented.

--
Dave Platt <dplatt@radagast.org> AE6EO
Hosting the Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!

 

[Michael A. Covington]

Well, even sans sniping, the eBay auctions are only semi-open. If
you're the leading bidder, others don't get to see what your maximum
bid is... only that it's at least $MININUM_INCREMENT above the maximum
bid of the next-highest bidder. An eBay auction would be fully open
if and only if each bidder's true maximum bid was visible in real time.

True... maybe they should switch to a completely sealed-bid format.

I'm not at all sure that there's any way, even in theory, to prevent
sniping. You'd always have to create some rule which would
distinguish a "snipe" from a "non-sniping last-minute bid", and I
really doubt that you could create such a rule which would not be
largely arbitrary, and also rather easily circumvented.

Add 5 minutes every time the (apparently) winning bid increases by at least
5%.

 

[Dave Platt]

In article <4122a7f0@mustang.speedfactory.net>,
Michael A. Covington <look@ai.uga.edu.for.address> wrote:

I'm not at all sure that there's any way, even in theory, to prevent
sniping. You'd always have to create some rule which would
distinguish a "snipe" from a "non-sniping last-minute bid", and I
really doubt that you could create such a rule which would not be
largely arbitrary, and also rather easily circumvented.

Add 5 minutes every time the (apparently) winning bid increases by at least
5%.

Would this not be vulnerable to automated snipe-ware which submits
multiple, gradually-increasing bids during the last few minutes of an
auction, seeking to "push" the winning bid upwards at a rate just a
bit below the one which would trigger the "extend an auction" rule?

My guess is that any rule that you can think up, someone else can
figure out how to "game" with automated software assistance.

You're correct, I think, in that the current structure of the eBay
auctions means that it's difficult to predict what the winning bid
will be, based on the bids entered more than an hour or so before the
auction closes. I've come to anticipate a 2:1 kicker... that is, for
many items the winning bid will be about twice the leading bid a few
hours before the auction ends.

The current eBay system (with or without sniping) seems to reward
people who know in advance what they consider an item to be worth to
them, and put in a bid in that amount (either directly or via
sniping). They either win it (at a price at or below their limit), or
they lose it because someone else honestly outbid them.

The people who are disadvantaged by sniping are, I think, those who
try to place bids based on "what other people seem to be thinking that
this item is worth" - i.e. those who bid on the item in isolation, and
don't research it or look at the results of previous auctions. These
people may "lose out" because they don't actually bid what they're
truly willing to pay, and are outbid at the last moment.

These same folks are also disadvantaged in another way... they're the
ones who are more likely to get caught up in the thrill of the
process, and bid an item up to much more than it's worth from other
sources. Their lack of prior research, and willingness to set an
honest personal value on the product, leaves them vulnerable in both
ways.

As one example: the Vertex AV-150 ham radio is available, new-in-box,
full warranty, quantity 1, from the biggest two ham-radio dealers on
the Internet (AES and HRO) for under $120. eBay auctions which have
closed in the past week or two have sold this identical radio,
new-in-box, for prices as high as $150.

I don't think you're going to be able to find an "ultimately fair" way
to run auctions... you'll just have to create a set of rules, and then
live with whatever ways in which people figure out how to game 'em to
their own personal advantage.

--
Dave Platt <dplatt@radagast.org> AE6EO
Hosting the Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!

 

[Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su]

"normanstrong" <normanstrong@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:0BqUc.25879$mD.19635@attbi_s02...

I have a substantial collection of transistors from the germanium era.
How does one go about determining if they have value beyond the
intrinsic?

Thanks,
Norm Strong

If you check the auctions on ebay for a few months, you will get a feel
for which germaniums are worth a lot as collectibles.

I think it's safe to say that any germanium transistor that's made after
1960 and comes in a fairly standard common package is _not_ going to be
a collectible. Many of the germanium transistors that are sold on ebay
are used for guitar FX, and might be uncommon, but are not collected by
collectors. They typically go for a few tens of cents to a few dollars.

The Raytheon CK722 transistors are considered collectible, and usually
go for several dollars to several tens of dollars depending on the age
and package material.

"Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, the Dark Remover"" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com
wrote in message news:10i2r86elv4oe6b@corp.supernews.com...
I regularly get on Ebay and search for 'transistors' and I exclude
those
such as 2n3904, 2n3906, 2n4401, 2n4403, 2n2222A, 2n2907 and a few
others. I usually come up with a few hundred listings. I then
check
them out to see what's hot, what's not, what's rare, and what's a
bargain. You've probably seen some of the old CK722 collectible
auctions that I've posted to the newsgroups which may go for a
hundred
dollars or more.

 

[Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su]

"John Miles" <jmiles@pop.removethistomailme.net> wrote in message
news:MPG.1b8c1c7ef82fc4fb98970c@news-central.giganews.com...

In article <4121fadc$1@mustang.speedfactory.net>,
look@ai.uga.edu.for.address says...
As it is, the sniping contest keeps the sale from going to the
person who is
willing to pay the most. It's fairly common to miss "winning" an
item
because you didn't snipe fast enough.

That statement shows a pretty fundamental misunderstanding of how eBay
works.

The person who is willing to pay the most *always* wins.

Wins?? "A fool and his money are soon parted."


> -- jm

 

[Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su]

"Michael A. Covington" <look@ai.uga.edu.for.address> wrote in message
news:41228d17$1@mustang.speedfactory.net...

"Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, the Dark Remover"" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com
wrote
in message news:10i41t1rkump2b6@corp.supernews.com...

It's called sniping, and there are software pkgs like snipe-it that
will
allow you to do this. But if the bidder bids the maximum sensible,
informed bid on his first bid, then the sniper is just paying too
much,
or else he needs it worse than you do.

My point. Sniping turns all auctions into sealed-bid auctions (except
for
the people who actually enjoy the sniping process as a game of
chance). The
published bids are *no* prediction of what people are actually willing
to
bid. So it's a sealed-bid auction disguised as an open-bid auction.
eBay
should make up their mind.

I've never read anything that claimed that Ebay auctions were sealed or
open. AFAIK, they just say that when the time us up, whoever has bid
the highest wins the auction. And the winning amount is equal to the
maximum of the second highest bidder (assuming there was another
bidder).

If it were a sealed bid auction, the winning amount would be equal to
the highest bidder, not the second highest.

 

[Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su]

"Michael A. Covington" <look@ai.uga.edu.for.address> wrote in message
news:41228de0@mustang.speedfactory.net...

"John Miles" <jmiles@pop.removethistomailme.net> wrote in message
news:MPG.1b8c1c7ef82fc4fb98970c@news-central.giganews.com...
In article <4121fadc$1@mustang.speedfactory.net>,
look@ai.uga.edu.for.address says...
As it is, the sniping contest keeps the sale from going to the
person who
is
willing to pay the most. It's fairly common to miss "winning" an
item
because you didn't snipe fast enough.

That statement shows a pretty fundamental misunderstanding of how
eBay
works.

The person who is willing to pay the most *always* wins.

No... That was my point.

Sniping turns all auctions into sealed-bid auctions. That is, you
have to
decide what you are willing to pay before you place any bids at all.
In an
open-bid auction, you can use other people's bids as a guide to what
you
should bid.

Well, see my other followup to yours - it's not really a true sealed-bid
auction. And another point: you _can_ use the bidding history of past
auctions for the same item as a guide to what your maximum bid should
be. And there may be more of the same auctions going on at the time of
your bidding, so you can also use them as a guide.

eBay is, in effect, sealed-bid auctions disguised as open-bid
auctions. I
wouldn't be surprised if the people in California who license
auctioneers
would eventually take some interest in this, as a regulatory matter.

Entirely too many people have never experienced an auction anywhere
but eBay
and don't realize just how weird eBay really is.

So you're saying that it's neither sealed- nor open-bid. No??