Ebay Newbie Made Life Tougher for Ebayer

[Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su]

Ebay Item number: 7542264595

Looks like a newbie (only 5 feedbacks) and another Ebayer got into a
bidding war, ended up over $22 when you include the shipping. I bid on
and bought the same manual a year ago to replace the tattered one I
already had, and I think I paid less than half that, postage included.

I bought a few unusual and unique old germanium transistors on Ebay and
figured they were worth a couple bucks apiece max, so I bid a bit high,
because at the time I didn't know if there would be another opportunity
to get them (later it turned out that the seller did have several more
auctions of the same). Some idiot luser with zero feedbacks bid up the
price almost to my max, so I ended up paying a lot more than the later
auctions. This luser later had a negative 3 feedbacks, the SOB won a
few bids, then NPB'd the sellers. I'm beginning to think that he might
have been a shill for some seller.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Like Jimmy Buffet said, "..but I know, it's my own
damn fault." Parrot head!

--
@@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@@

 

[Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su]

I'm wondering if this propagated to other servers.
"Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, the Dark Remover"" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com>
wrote in message news:11i31halkni65aa@corp.supernews.com...

Ebay Item number: 7542264595

Looks like a newbie (only 5 feedbacks) and another Ebayer got into a
bidding war, ended up over $22 when you include the shipping. I bid
on
and bought the same manual a year ago to replace the tattered one I
already had, and I think I paid less than half that, postage included.

I bought a few unusual and unique old germanium transistors on Ebay
and
figured they were worth a couple bucks apiece max, so I bid a bit
high,
because at the time I didn't know if there would be another
opportunity
to get them (later it turned out that the seller did have several more
auctions of the same). Some idiot luser with zero feedbacks bid up
the
price almost to my max, so I ended up paying a lot more than the later
auctions. This luser later had a negative 3 feedbacks, the SOB won a
few bids, then NPB'd the sellers. I'm beginning to think that he
might
have been a shill for some seller.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Like Jimmy Buffet said, "..but I know, it's my
own
damn fault." Parrot head!

--
@@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@@

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

"Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\"" wrote:

I'm wondering if this propagated to other servers.
"Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, the Dark Remover"" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com
wrote in message news:11i31halkni65aa@corp.supernews.com...
Ebay Item number: 7542264595

Looks like a newbie (only 5 feedbacks) and another Ebayer got into a
bidding war, ended up over $22 when you include the shipping. I bid
on
and bought the same manual a year ago to replace the tattered one I
already had, and I think I paid less than half that, postage included.

I bought a few unusual and unique old germanium transistors on Ebay
and
figured they were worth a couple bucks apiece max, so I bid a bit
high,
because at the time I didn't know if there would be another
opportunity
to get them (later it turned out that the seller did have several more
auctions of the same). Some idiot luser with zero feedbacks bid up
the
price almost to my max, so I ended up paying a lot more than the later
auctions. This luser later had a negative 3 feedbacks, the SOB won a
few bids, then NPB'd the sellers. I'm beginning to think that he
might
have been a shill for some seller.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Like Jimmy Buffet said, "..but I know, it's my
own
damn fault." Parrot head!

Both made it to Earthlink's news servers.

--
?

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su]

"Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:4324673F.8AAD5577@earthlink.net...

"Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\"" wrote:

I'm wondering if this propagated to other servers.
"Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, the Dark Remover""
NOSPAM@dslextreme.com
wrote in message news:11i31halkni65aa@corp.supernews.com...
Ebay Item number: 7542264595

Looks like a newbie (only 5 feedbacks) and another Ebayer got into
a
bidding war, ended up over $22 when you include the shipping. I
bid
on
and bought the same manual a year ago to replace the tattered one
I
already had, and I think I paid less than half that, postage
included.

I bought a few unusual and unique old germanium transistors on
Ebay
and
figured they were worth a couple bucks apiece max, so I bid a bit
high,
because at the time I didn't know if there would be another
opportunity
to get them (later it turned out that the seller did have several
more
auctions of the same). Some idiot luser with zero feedbacks bid
up
the
price almost to my max, so I ended up paying a lot more than the
later
auctions. This luser later had a negative 3 feedbacks, the SOB
won a
few bids, then NPB'd the sellers. I'm beginning to think that he
might
have been a shill for some seller.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Like Jimmy Buffett said, "..but I know, it's
my
own
damn fault." Parrot head!



Both made it to Earthlink's news servers.

Well, then, I guess no one cares if they become a victim of a shill on
Ebay. Wait until it happens to them.

Speaking of parrot heads.. I was behind an SUV that had stickers that
said,

{ WWJBD } --------- What would Jimmy Buffett Do?

{ SEARCHiNG FOR MY LONG LOST SHAKER OF SALT }

{ CHANGES IN LATITUDES }
{ CHANGES IN ATTITUDES }


Must be a real parrothead!

--
?

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

"Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\"" wrote:

Well, then, I guess no one cares if they become a victim of a shill on
Ebay. Wait until it happens to them.

I only go to E-bay when I need a good laugh. I get so sidetracked by
the fraudulent ads and stupid sellers that I never do find anything that
I need.

--
?

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[Glenn Gundlach]

Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, the Dark Remover" wrote:

"Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:4324673F.8AAD5577@earthlink.net...
"Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\"" wrote:

I'm wondering if this propagated to other servers.
"Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, the Dark Remover""
NOSPAM@dslextreme.com
wrote in message news:11i31halkni65aa@corp.supernews.com...
Ebay Item number: 7542264595

Looks like a newbie (only 5 feedbacks) and another Ebayer got into
a
bidding war, ended up over $22 when you include the shipping. I
bid
on
and bought the same manual a year ago to replace the tattered one
I
already had, and I think I paid less than half that, postage
included.

I bought a few unusual and unique old germanium transistors on
Ebay
and
figured they were worth a couple bucks apiece max, so I bid a bit
high,
because at the time I didn't know if there would be another
opportunity
to get them (later it turned out that the seller did have several
more
auctions of the same). Some idiot luser with zero feedbacks bid
up
the
price almost to my max, so I ended up paying a lot more than the
later
auctions. This luser later had a negative 3 feedbacks, the SOB
won a
few bids, then NPB'd the sellers. I'm beginning to think that he
might
have been a shill for some seller.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Like Jimmy Buffett said, "..but I know, it's
my
own
damn fault." Parrot head!



Both made it to Earthlink's news servers.

If you really want an item, don't bid on it. Use eSnipe. They charge 1%
or $0.25, whichever is greater only on items actually won. Their
computer will enter a bid usually 6 seconds before the end (you can
change the time).

As for eBay, 3 motherboards, 4 video cards, some RAM, 5 trackballs, CF
cards, digital cameras. Its really good for out of print books, CDs,
old electronics.
GG

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Glenn Gundlach wrote:

If you really want an item, don't bid on it. Use eSnipe. They charge 1%
or $0.25, whichever is greater only on items actually won. Their
computer will enter a bid usually 6 seconds before the end (you can
change the time).

As for eBay, 3 motherboards, 4 video cards, some RAM, 5 trackballs, CF
cards, digital cameras. Its really good for out of print books, CDs,
old electronics.
GG

Glen, I really don't see much of anything on E-bay that I can use. My
shop is so full right now that it will take me a couple years to put it
back into a useable condition after last year's hurricanes. The benches
are still covered with plastic, boxes of stuff are piled on skids and
covered with plastic as well. I have to replace the old roof before I
can do anything else, and I don't have the $5,000 I need to hire someone
to do it. Five years ago I would have done it myself, but I still
haven't figure out how to replace a roof while walking with a cane.

These days I fill my time with collecting and repairing old computers
for the disabled veterans in my area. It gives me something to do for
the couple hours a day that I can work and helps others who can't afford
to buy a computer.

If I don't manage to get the roof fixed, I will just start selling
things, or have a dumpster delivered and dump everything. After all,
there is only 1848 square feet of workshop full of tools, parts, manuals
and test equipment, not counting the thousands of manuals and data books
in my library in the house. It should take more than two or three
construction dumpsters to get rid of everything.

--
?

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[m1ke dot m477hewz at gmai]

Michael A. Tarrell said:

If I don't manage to get the roof fixed, I will just start selling
things, or have a dumpster delivered and dump everything. After all,
there is only 1848 square feet of workshop full of tools, parts, manuals
and test equipment, not counting the thousands of manuals and data books
in my library in the house. It should take more than two or three
construction dumpsters to get rid of everything.

Don't you dare! Freecycle it first: http://www.freecycle.org many happy
geeks will show up to tote away all the useful stuff, than you gan get
rid of the rest (and save on disposal costs).

-Mike Matthews

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

m1ke dot m477hewz at gmail dot com wrote:

Michael A. Terrell said:
If I don't manage to get the roof fixed, I will just start selling
things, or have a dumpster delivered and dump everything. After all,
there is only 1848 square feet of workshop full of tools, parts, manuals
and test equipment, not counting the thousands of manuals and data books
in my library in the house. It should take more than two or three
construction dumpsters to get rid of everything.

Don't you dare! Freecycle it first: http://www.freecycle.org many happy
geeks will show up to tote away all the useful stuff, than you gan get
rid of the rest (and save on disposal costs).

-Mike Matthews

I was a member of the local freecycle group, till the moderators
turned into nazis and threw over half the members off, claiming that
they had all violated one unwritten rule or another and refused to tell
anyone why they were kicked off. Also, the group was run under full
moderation which is in violation of Freecycle's corporate rules. As far
as I'm concerned, Freecycle is just a VERY bad joke.

--
?

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su]

"Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:43275262.4EAADC01@earthlink.net...

"Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\"" wrote:

Well, then, I guess no one cares if they become a victim of a shill
on
Ebay. Wait until it happens to them.


I only go to E-bay when I need a good laugh. I get so sidetracked
by
the fraudulent ads and stupid sellers that I never do find anything
that
I need.

True, but that's just a microcosm of the real world. I went to
Microcenter the other day to buy some USB accesories. I wasl ooking at
some cables and another customer said he could get that 6 foot USB cable
on Ebay for four dollars, and they were charging $22.99. I said yeah,
and Radio Shaft or Best Buy or Circuit City or Office Depot want $25 to
$30 (gold plated), and you can drive over to Fry's and buy the samer
cable for $6.99.

Funny part is that I was looking thru the 3 footers for en even shorter
USB cable (for my laptop), and came across a one footer for only $2.99.
Perfect! But I had to double check at the checkout to make sure that
wasn't a typo (it wasn't). So if this very same store can sell a 1
footer for $3 and still make a profit, and it costs only a fraction of a
dollar more for the extra cable to make a 6 footer, then what's the
profit margin on a 6 footer for $23? Must be more than 90 percent!

I think I have it figured out. Everything is going to USB, all the
keyboards, mouses, printers, and other peripherals. So the retail
marketers have all jumped on the 'gouge the customer' bandwagon, to take
advantage of the huge demand. I'm wondering what they are gonna do when
their cash cow dries up when the demand slacks off.

So Ebay, at $6 for a 6 footer ($4 and a couple bucks shipping), looks
like a bargain to the consumer. No doubt about it!

--
?
Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su]

"Glenn Gundlach" <stratus46@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1126671174.407361.3560@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, the Dark Remover" wrote:
"Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:4324673F.8AAD5577@earthlink.net...
"Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\"" wrote:

I'm wondering if this propagated to other servers.
"Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, the Dark Remover""
NOSPAM@dslextreme.com
wrote in message news:11i31halkni65aa@corp.supernews.com...
Ebay Item number: 7542264595

Looks like a newbie (only 5 feedbacks) and another Ebayer got
into
a
bidding war, ended up over $22 when you include the shipping.
I
bid
on
and bought the same manual a year ago to replace the tattered
one
I
already had, and I think I paid less than half that, postage
included.

I bought a few unusual and unique old germanium transistors on
Ebay
and
figured they were worth a couple bucks apiece max, so I bid a
bit
high,
because at the time I didn't know if there would be another
opportunity
to get them (later it turned out that the seller did have
several
more
auctions of the same). Some idiot luser with zero feedbacks
bid
up
the
price almost to my max, so I ended up paying a lot more than
the
later
auctions. This luser later had a negative 3 feedbacks, the
SOB
won a
few bids, then NPB'd the sellers. I'm beginning to think that
he
might
have been a shill for some seller.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Like Jimmy Buffett said, "..but I know,
it's
my
own
damn fault." Parrot head!



Both made it to Earthlink's news servers.


If you really want an item, don't bid on it. Use eSnipe. They charge
1%
or $0.25, whichever is greater only on items actually won. Their
computer will enter a bid usually 6 seconds before the end (you can
change the time).

As for eBay, 3 motherboards, 4 video cards, some RAM, 5 trackballs, CF
cards, digital cameras. Its really good for out of print books, CDs,
old electronics.
GG

We had a lengthy discussion about sniping in the newsgroups in the last
year or so. Everyone has their opinion on whether it's worth it or not.
My opinion is that if you already know what the item is worth, how great
your need is, and bid appropriately, then sniping is not going to get
you any advantage. And it takes the fun away. You don't get to know
until the last second whether or not you're going to win. For items
that are buy it now or have a reserve it's kind of pointless. So I
don't see any real advantage, and I'm satisfied without it. But hey, to
each his own..

 

Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, the Dark Remover" wrote:

You don't get to know
until the last second whether or not you're going to win.

How does that not apply to a bid placed 3 days before the auction ends?

 

[Bill Janssen]

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

m1ke dot m477hewz at gmail dot com wrote:


Michael A. Terrell said:


If I don't manage to get the roof fixed, I will just start selling
things, or have a dumpster delivered and dump everything. After all,
there is only 1848 square feet of workshop full of tools, parts, manuals
and test equipment, not counting the thousands of manuals and data books
in my library in the house. It should take more than two or three
construction dumpsters to get rid of everything.


Don't you dare! Freecycle it first: http://www.freecycle.org many happy
geeks will show up to tote away all the useful stuff, than you gan get
rid of the rest (and save on disposal costs).

-Mike Matthews




I was a member of the local freecycle group, till the moderators
turned into nazis and threw over half the members off, claiming that
they had all violated one unwritten rule or another and refused to tell
anyone why they were kicked off. Also, the group was run under full
moderation which is in violation of Freecycle's corporate rules. As far
as I'm concerned, Freecycle is just a VERY bad joke.



Does Freecycle sell their data base to others? How do they make expenses?

Bill K7NOM

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Bill Janssen wrote:

Does Freecycle sell their data base to others? How do they make expenses?

Bill K7NOM

Corporate sponsors pay them to run ads, like Waste Management. In
other words, they have already sold out. The local groups are run as
free Yahoo groups, so it doesn't cost them anything. If you have a
problem with a local Freecycle group don't bother to report it to
corporate. They are too busy finding more money for themselves.
--
?

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

"Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\"" wrote:

True, but that's just a microcosm of the real world. I went to
Microcenter the other day to buy some USB accesories. I wasl ooking at
some cables and another customer said he could get that 6 foot USB cable
on Ebay for four dollars, and they were charging $22.99. I said yeah,
and Radio Shaft or Best Buy or Circuit City or Office Depot want $25 to
$30 (gold plated), and you can drive over to Fry's and buy the samer
cable for $6.99.

Funny part is that I was looking thru the 3 footers for en even shorter
USB cable (for my laptop), and came across a one footer for only $2.99.
Perfect! But I had to double check at the checkout to make sure that
wasn't a typo (it wasn't). So if this very same store can sell a 1
footer for $3 and still make a profit, and it costs only a fraction of a
dollar more for the extra cable to make a 6 footer, then what's the
profit margin on a 6 footer for $23? Must be more than 90 percent!

I think I have it figured out. Everything is going to USB, all the
keyboards, mouses, printers, and other peripherals. So the retail
marketers have all jumped on the 'gouge the customer' bandwagon, to take
advantage of the huge demand. I'm wondering what they are gonna do when
their cash cow dries up when the demand slacks off.

So Ebay, at $6 for a 6 footer ($4 and a couple bucks shipping), looks
like a bargain to the consumer. No doubt about it!

Cables is one of the last things I need to worry about. It seems like
people dig out every cable they don't need when they donate a computer
to the project. The thing that does bug me is almost every printer that
is donated has had the cartridges pulled, and they can't find the
external power supply. I have over 20 printers that I need the power
supply for, and most are missing the cartridges, as well. The other
thing is when they rip the hard drive out of a computer and take the
mounting bracket, as well. The talking heads on the local TV news have
people so paranoid that its not funny. SO, I have to take the drive
from a dead computer to fix another and I end up with a huge pile of
scrap steel to haul off. A lot of the dead computers need about $10
worth of new electrolytic capacitors to work again OH, well, I will
keep fixing what I can and recycle the rest. Now, what to do with 30
spare working monitors?

--
?

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su]

<spaam_this@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1126882672.310124.137540@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, the Dark Remover" wrote:
You don't get to know
until the last second whether or not you're going to win.

How does that not apply to a bid placed 3 days before the auction
ends?

Yeah, I could've been more explicit when I said that. It's sort of like
the saying, "If it wasn't for time, everything would happen at once."

If everyone snipes, then no one knows until the last second that they've
lost. If two people outbid you, and the bidding goes above your maximum
long before the auction is over, then you know long before the auction
is over that you've lost.

 

[Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su]

"Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:432B202C.65BE0851@earthlink.net...
[snip]

Cables is one of the last things I need to worry about. It seems
like
people dig out every cable they don't need when they donate a computer
to the project. The thing that does bug me is almost every printer
that
is donated has had the cartridges pulled, and they can't find the
external power supply. I have over 20 printers that I need the power
supply for, and most are missing the cartridges, as well.

If you a list of brand and model numbers, or better yet, the info for
the power adapter such as the model and serial number, I will try to
find some replacements. I believe you have my email addr, if not, it's
my hotmail acct alondra101. I believe you're exempt from my requirement
to have NOSPAM in the subject: line, but it doesn't hurt.

[snip]

Now, what to do with 30 spare working monitors?

I understand that California is getting stricter about trashing monitors
because of the lead content. They want you to take them to a recycling
center instead.

--
?

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[Prepair Ltd]

On Fri, 16 Sep 2005 03:52:01 -0700, "Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the
Dark Remover\"" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com> wrote:

We had a lengthy discussion about sniping in the newsgroups in the last
year or so. Everyone has their opinion on whether it's worth it or not.
My opinion is that if you already know what the item is worth, how great
your need is, and bid appropriately, then sniping is not going to get
you any advantage. And it takes the fun away. You don't get to know
until the last second whether or not you're going to win. For items
that are buy it now or have a reserve it's kind of pointless. So I
don't see any real advantage, and I'm satisfied without it. But hey, to
each his own..

The main benefit seems to be that you keep the end cost down by not
getting into a bidding fight with someone else. We only bid at the
last minute, and only bid what we think it's worth. If we win, great,
but if not there will always be another along soon....

We have dsl at work and at home, so no problem with keeping an eye on
things, but if it looks like a couple of guys are going head to head
on an item, we just walk away from it.

People get silly on what they are bidding and end up paying way over
the top, and that's when it is best to drop it and wait for another
one to come up.

Best regards,
Peter
--
Peter A Forbes
Prepair Ltd, Luton, UK
prepair@easynet.co.uk
http://www.prepair.co.uk

 

[Ralph Mowery]

Corporate sponsors pay them to run ads, like Waste Management. In
other words, they have already sold out. The local groups are run as
free Yahoo groups, so it doesn't cost them anything. If you have a
problem with a local Freecycle group don't bother to report it to
corporate. They are too busy finding more money for themselves.

I did not keep up with what hapened but the local group just changed their
name to Rowan-rEcycling due to some kind of problems with Freecycle. It
seems to be working fine with the local people.

 

[Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su]

"Prepair Ltd" <prepair@easynet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:n3hni11oojboqgv0qmi3g7lbog695cetuo@4ax.com...

On Fri, 16 Sep 2005 03:52:01 -0700, "Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the
Dark Remover\"" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com> wrote:

We had a lengthy discussion about sniping in the newsgroups in the
last
year or so. Everyone has their opinion on whether it's worth it or
not.
My opinion is that if you already know what the item is worth, how
great
your need is, and bid appropriately, then sniping is not going to get
you any advantage. And it takes the fun away. You don't get to know
until the last second whether or not you're going to win. For items
that are buy it now or have a reserve it's kind of pointless. So I
don't see any real advantage, and I'm satisfied without it. But hey,
to
each his own..


The main benefit seems to be that you keep the end cost down by not
getting into a bidding fight with someone else.

That's a good point of view, if you're in it for the money, not the item
itself.

We only bid at the
last minute, and only bid what we think it's worth. If we win, great,
but if not there will always be another along soon....

That's my philosophy, which I try to adhere to as best as I can. I try
to make an intelligent decision as to the value and condition of the
item and what I'm willing to pay, and bid accordingly. But there are
other factors beyond one's contrl that one has to make assumptions
about, and sometimes those assumptions are way off.

We have dsl at work and at home, so no problem with keeping an eye on
things, but if it looks like a couple of guys are going head to head
on an item, we just walk away from it.

People get silly on what they are bidding and end up paying way over
the top, and that's when it is best to drop it and wait for another
one to come up.

That's a good point of view if you're trying to buy the item for resale
later at a profit, or as your name implies, you want to buy the
non-working item for repair and resell it at a profit later. However if
you're into the bidding for the item's collectible value, or for other
purposes less vulgar and earthly[1], then it's not a valid viewpoint
necessarily. And there are other points in between; it's not a
black-and-white decision. When you get into this kind of bidding,
sniping is kind of pointless. The price as long gone past the point
which the sniper is willing to pay.

[1] I love to watch the bidding going on with the CK722 and other old
transistors. Obviously they have no real functional value, and it's
likely that after 50 years they barely function, if at all. The
cheapest 2N3904 transistor outperforms them by a mile. But one knows
that the bidders are not in it for that reason, they're in it for the
collectible value, which seems to be in the $5 to $80 range (or more)
depending on date code, condition, and packaging.

Best regards,
Peter
--
Peter A Forbes
Prepair Ltd, Luton, UK
prepair@easynet.co.uk
http://www.prepair.co.uk