h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

http://www.h2g2.com/A497937

You should start by saying what eBay is: it is an auction site. Every item is auctioned to the highest bidder. But it is not just unusual once-off items that get auctioned. Many suppliers sell all their produce by auctioning it on eBay.

The next thing you should say is that eBay is for adults only. You have to be an adult because placing a bid is a legally binding contract between you and the person selling the item.

Thirdly, you should mention the fact that eBay is very much an American site. While many sellers will ship items to anywhere in the world, a huge amount of the stuff will be shipped only to US addresses.

There is a .co.uk version, which is essentially a filtered version of the US site. There are plenty of people who WILL ship internationally, and considering some of the bargains you can pick up reasonable overseas postage is not too much of a burden. It should be worth noting that eBay is about communication... you shouldn't bid blind or accept that everything is automatically as it first appears.

The only copy error I can see is, you called it a sight, and it is a site.

I agree with the foregoing and, as a somewhat addicted eBayer, wonder if you have had the experience of being stealth-bidded at the very last minute? I don't know if that is the official term.

What I have discovered is, there is more to winning than just placing your maximum bid and leaving it to the proxy. There are collectors who actually wait till the very last physical minute before placing their bid, with the intention of trumping your proxy and leaving you no time to raise your maximum. If you really, really want the item in question, you're well-advised to be there, refreshing the page as often as you can, ready to raise at the last moment if needs be. All may be fair in love and war and auctions, but there is a distinct feeling of outrage in seeing something you thought you had whisked away from under your nose!

There's no harm in mentioning the phenomenon of last-minute bidding, but don't go overboard on it. After all, your maximum is supposed to be the maximum you are willing to pay. If someone outbids you, it is because they were willing to pay more, no matter when they do it. You should not allow your max to be pushed up by someone constantly outbidding you, as this is the way to pay far above the odds.

You're quite right. It was the emotional response that surprised me. It's one thing to be outbid and decide not to compete any longer -- that's what happens in conventional auctions. But in stealth bidding, the competitor waits till the last possible second to raise the bid, deliberately using the deadline to prevent you from competing any further.

That is more like having meat snatched out of your jaws.

Maybe I am still learning how to approach the concept of a maximum bid. But there have been several occasions where my desire to have the object drove me to raise several times against a competitor. And I had no regret about the amount I paid. Maybe what I have experienced reflects what closed auctions or sealed bids are like. To tell the truth, eBay is my first experience of auctions at all.

If you placed a "maximum" bid, but kept going once it was breached I guess it wasn't your maximum. There's an ideal price and then there's the maximum amount you'd comfortably part with, and finally the sum you'd be willing to pay without feeling you'd been a complete and weak-willed plonker.

I have been the winner and the loser at 1 second before the auction closed...

It can all be a matter of how effective your internet service provider and your modem are too. Nothing worse than getting a go slow when you're trying to refresh the screen in the last thirty seconds.

I agree that it is very frustrating when this happens. It has happened to me too. There is a special section in the eBay instructions to try and explain the concept of last-minute bidding and how to deal with it emotionally.

I want to thank you all for your suggestions for my guide entry. I think there are some very good ones that I definately want to edit into the article. I want to take my time and do a good job. Unfortunately, I'm going on vacation tomorrow and won't be able to get to it for a week or so. I hope more suggestions come in while I'm away. Thanks for your help, EarthMother.

Is it worth mentioning that there are other auction sites? Such as ZShops, linked to Amazon, which is pretty good for second hand books. It covers both auctioned items and items simply listed for sale at specified prices. Living in rural England its wonderful to find a second hand book shop right here at home!

I will try to find eBay's advice on coping with being outbid! Sounds interesting and it made me wonder if it would add an extra dimension to your entry to cover this side of bidding.
Hope you are having/have had a good holiday,
Wz

Here I am back from "chilly" Florida. It warmed up again right before we left . I will think about mentioning the other auction sites. As an addicted ebayer, I tend to think of any other site as inferior (This is an emotional response and not a rational one). I have enjoyed the comments, so far, on being outbid at the last minute. I have actually logged on to auctions that I have had no part of in the last half hour, just to watch the bidding progress. The end of bidding on a hot item can be very exciting.

If you're going to have an entry on eBay, it should definitely include some info on being on the other end -- the person putting something up for auction (which I actually find more exciting, not to mention financially fulfilling, than bidding).


Mikey

What would people think about the idea of moving this thread to the Writing Workshop? There's still quite a few bits more to do on this one, and it seems to be stagnating here in Peer Review.


Mikey

I agree. Off with it.

Editorial Note: This Conversation has been moved to the new 'Flea Market' Forum.

This is where we move any Peer Review, Writing Workshop or Alternative Writing Workshop Conversations where the original author has *not* posted to h2g2 for three months. This prevents the active Review Forums from clogging up with dormant entries, but in the Flea Market they can be picked up by others and polished off.

Hello!

I'd like to have a go at rescuing this entry, if that's okay!

I've created a new entry here: A1054928

Whoever has the power should take this out of the flea market now, surely, as my rescued entry is being edited...

Now I have the power, I'm proposing a move for this out of flea market back to entry.

My eBay entry has been edited now - can we get this moving? I can't do an e-mail right now tho...