Is there any point to use Ebay Auctions anymore?

>>3879483
You know, resellers use ebay as the primary metric to price games, right?

>>3879483
Wow, are you new to the internet? Half of your problems have been around since ebay was launched.

Yes, everything you mention has been a problem since day one. Its worse on imports, I feel where sellers bid on their own stuff to raise the price a few cents at a time.
Deals can be had, but it takes time and when you find a deal you have to act fast.
Practice your ebaying.

You get outbid since you probably put a max bid of a $1 more than the current bid you bonobo. A dollar or five isn't going to stop someone who's decided they're buying something.

>>3879483
>ALWAYS AT THE LAST MILLISECOND, YOU GET OUTBID.

You've never heard of ebay sniping tools? Shit man, I get great deals on ebay all the time.

>>3879483
>using auctions
Just forget that this option exists, it's better if you do. Buy-it-now lowest price first, it's the only way to avoid frustration. I haven't bid on anything in years, I refuse to make myself that angry again and you should too. Ignore the auctions and treat it like a regular store, you're there to buy not bid.

>>3879483
>are Ebay auctions rigged?

This is common knowledge. eBay has always been aware of these issues, but simply doesn't give a shit. Many people resort to "Buy it Now" to save themselves any hassle, although you'll still pay the same price as you would for auctions.

If there's no real convenience or necessity to buying online, then I'd stick to trolling yard sales and flea markets in search of bargains.

When it comes to anything popular you're much better off watching carefully for a cheap BIN. If you MUST bid on a popular item there's no reason not to wait until the last minute but be aware there are going to be other people doing it too and more likely than not their last minute bid is going to be near the typical buy it now price, often above current BIN prices which I never fully understood since quantity BIN sellers have gotten really good at polishing their auctions. Auction fever, I guess.

I used to pad shipping, shill bid (mainly to get "hot" status which was like a free featured listing) and email losers of previous auctions to ask them to check my auction out but now none of those things fly anymore. I rarely use it period these days for anything retro gaming related.

I put an extra copy of Majora's Mask up for auction the other day for $0.99 and it jumped up to $30 within two hours. I think it's just people being chumps

>>3880242
>I put an extra copy of Majora's Mask up for auction the other day for $0.99 and it jumped up to $30 within two hours. I think it's just people being chumps

Other sellers will bid on competing items with no intention of paying, only to inflate the item's market value.

>>3879483
What an adorable loli.

>>3880161
I do this too. I bid on stuff now and then when it looks under-valued for shits and giggles but for the most part I just use it like Amazon.

>>3880350
That's rude. Don't people get penalized for that?

RARE! LOOK @@ MARIO EARTHBOUND NINTENDO FREE SHIP

>>3880431
You can get penalized for shill bidding, but there's no way to tell if someone placing bids slightly below (or at) the current prices is sincerely trying to buy at those prices or if he's attempting to gradually manipulate the market.

>>3879483
Just decide how much you're willing to pay for an item then set up Gixen to bid for you at the very last second. If you get beat, someone obviously wanted it more than you and was willing to bid more. That's how auctions work.

>>3880453
I meant if they have the highest bid by the end and don't end up paying.

>>3880471

They use sock puppet accounts for that.

eBay really doesn't do anything to deter shill bidding, because the company makes money either way.

>>3879483
Been dealing with this frustrating for awhile now.
>all BIN prices are $20+ overvalued and never sell
>all auctions inevitably end just shy of BIN prices

>>3880471
Of course there's penalties for non-paying buyers, but they don't bid high enough to win just high enough to assure that the auction starts off at a more or less "typical" price even if a seller is trying to have a low starting bid no reserve auction.

>>3879483
Frankly, people are just doing the best to keep the price right for them and you're not smart enough to compete.

Deals i got in the past three months through digging, sniping and changing my search habits:

150$~ "new" headphones for 8.55$ (seller made a short bid with a weird "used" category setup)

16 scruffy wonderswans for 1$ each (no one else bid, but i've been slowly selling them for 10-20$)

A shockingly functional model2 Sega Cd + Genesis 2 + cables for 63$ (seller couldn't fix a broken fuse)

A handmade, gold plated RGB SCART splitter cable for 5 consoles for 15$ (seller called it "unknown cable")

The best way to get deals is to check ebay daily for categories you like and search with unusual search terms. You'll eventually spot deals you won't even believe.

>>3880543
>t. reseller scum

>>3880492
What game you lookin for?

>>3880464
But that doesn't negate that there are issues with the auction system, make no mistake.

I have a rare camera lens that I set up an auction for 3 times. Each time fake bidders set a price that was just too high and then their account would get banned after the listing ended. Ebay would destroy the auction page making it impossible to contact the next highest bidder. I don't know the intent of the fake bidders, probably trying to inflate it's price or maybe even devalue it by destroying its online presence. Idk, but it's fucking lame. Now it is sitting slightly overpriced as a BIN and there has been no interest since the auctions.

I sell a lot on ebay (no video games) and 99% of my transactions are smooth. I think the scumfuckery comes from specific categories of items. It has nothing to do with ebay itself, just douchebag hobbiests.

>>3880543
I bought a job lot of 118 pre 2010 Mac Mini's for £1300~ last year. I've been looting parts from work and taking home all the 17inch lcd screens we are replacing as well as bulk buying mice and keyboards. I have about 70 worth selling.

I've been selling them locally for £130-£200 as a complete setup, computer, monitor, mouse and keyboard. I have had to go around a few people's house to setup the wifi but most people just pay cash and leave. I should make around £9k profit if I sell them all which will probably take another year at this rate... But for time/income ration I should make about £50 an hour for my efforts.

There's loads of great finds on ebay if you are willing to spend a lot of time searching.

>>3880653
>I don't know the intent of the fake bidders, probably trying to inflate it's price or maybe even devalue it by destroying its online presence.
It's almost certainly scumbag sellers trying to sabotage their competition. eBay has no verification process so it's piss easy to open a dummy account and start fucking shit up. The only solution is to list everything as Buy It Now with immediate payment required.

>>3879483
>Please guys, no trolling or shitposting
You started it. lele
It's not rigged. That's the way it works. It's always been like that for anything with any sort of demand. You're never going to win an auction because there are thousands of people looking for exactly what you want who know how to use ebay better than you.

>>3880694
Wow, you really are "that guy" huh sunshine?

Just cause you say there's nothing to see does not make it that way

>>3879483
If you're not using an auction sniping tool, you're doing it wrong.

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>>3880360

>>3880492
This was me^^^

Happening now. Game I'm looking at has one auction that's up in a couple hours. The bid just went up to BIN price. Who the fuck does this??

>ebay "sniping" is still a thing
the psychological aspects of bidding sure are retarded.

>>3880439
>not L@@K

noob

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>>3879483
Sniping is pretty much how it's been done.

I've even bid on stuff no one really wants, and someone makes a ridiculously high bid, only to retract it saying they input a wrong amount, only to bid 0.01 more than my bid ... and they won. Ebay allows this sort of activity. It is part of the experience.

They can always set it up such that auctions are extended 1 hour (or whatever amount of time one deems fair) if bidding continues on a item which should make sellers happier with even larger amounts bid on those snipers, but also fair to the buyer as it would more honestly be the most one would pay for an item. Again, part of the experience they want.

With BIN prices, set high is to benefit the seller and cover the higher fees for sold listing and paypal fees. It preys upon the psychological aspect of "you may lose out" and eventually the bidding goes to that amount anyway. Which may just be auction fever.

I have bought plenty of cheap super famicom games on auctions, always saving me 2-5 dollars each one.

I wish i knew how to sell the games i dont need.

A lot of the JP big tyme sellers do it, but not all the time. All it takes is to look at the bidding history of the bidder with the buyer and % bidding history. Just look up hit-japan or yamatoku shill bidding on google and you will see your proof.

I've personally seen someone win an auction for an item that was pretty rare, and he is still bidding on another one hours, sometimes days later. The best example was when the bidding history was 100% for a < 10 feedback person with 1200 bids on different items from the same seller.

When you start looking closely at the bidding, it is very hard to put together as ebay hides names and transparency isn't there, but something fishy is definitely going on.

In any case, yes op there is shill bidding. It isn't new and or hard and it fucks up things in the long run.

>>3880697
And just because you're a deluded snowflake who thinks there's a monster under your bed doesn't make it that way.

>>3881081
Wow, save a whopping 5 bucks of difference!


>Still paying shipping and fees.

>>3879483
Start sniping auctions. Either manually or with a tool. And for fuck's sake, do it for more than a dollar or two. This is almost certainly why you're not winning your auctions. Snipe with the maximum amount of money you're willing to pay. If you still lose, that's how it goes. At least you're not out any money.

Also, stop using eBay. This is the most important tip for winning at eBay. Just stop using it. Stop paying ridiculous fucking prices for this stuff. It's bad enough that everyone treats eBay like it's a fucking price guide. ("Hmm, there's a Panic Restaurant auction right now with a $1500 BIN. Guess I should be charging around $1800 for my loose copy with a shitty label!") It sucks when you find something you really want while you're out hunting and some dipshit expects you to pay eBay prices for it, but you're willingly cutting out that middle man and going straight to the source to get fucked with a sick dick and a sandpaper condom. Why would you do that?

eBay is the place for people who have literally no fucking clue what they're talking about or selling, and they're all looking for equally clueless people with more money than sense. Ironically, the handful of people who *do* actually have a clue are the ones trying to sell you counterfeit goods at the aforementioned joke prices.

>>3881623
What if i dont live in the US?

What if i live in a Country when American shipping costs are ridiculous due to racism

What if the seller only ships nationally?

What other system sites exists?

BiN can be nice, but overpriced BiNs (with or without Best Offer) are killing ebay for people like me who get sick of seeing listings cluttered with overpriced shit. Yes, yes, you can filter, but that doesn't make it any less irritating to see people asking literally 5x+ ebay market value for shit, nor does it negate new sellers who don't look at actually sold listings or non-ebay sellers from seeing these when pricing their goods.

ebay needs to reinstitute listing fees for ALL listings to weed out garbage sellers.

I do suspect some sellers use shill bid accounts (Yamatoku, one of, if not THE biggest JP games sellers on ebay, has been accused of this - look at a random listing bid history and I won't be surprised if you find one with a low-feedback bidder who has bid on literally hundreds of items in the past 30 days, all from the same seller; are they really shill bidding? no idea)

The last millisecond thing is just snipers. The belief is that bidding too early will encourage other people to bid higher due to the "other people want this, therefore I want this even more!!" phenomenon, inciting an unwanted competitive spirit, as well as giving people more time to convince themselves to bid more than their initially decided maximum amount.

I've been on ebay since early 2001 and I must say that it really isn't that enjoyable to use these days, more of a semi-necessary evil.

>>3881627
>What if i dont live in the US?
The better question is whether or not you live in a country where a version of either the Nintendo Entertainment System or the Nintendo Famicom were released.

>American shipping costs are ridiculous due to racism
lolwat?

>What if the seller only ships nationally?
Then either pony up for a trusted reshipper or, more realistically, pass on the item.

>What other system sites exists?
There aren't any "system sites" per se. There are a couple of places out there that specialize in retro games, but I don't think you'd be too keen on buying from them if you already don't like eBay prices. Also, they're almost all American sites, which you also seem to not like.

Rather, you need to start looking in more "down to earth" places. As loathe as I am to recommend it, the NintendoAge forums might be a good place to start. They have buying and selling forums. Avail yourself of them and see if you can work something out that's better than godawful eBay prices.

>>3880990
Ebay doesn't care as long as they get paid.
If someone copied GunBroker's system (auctions don't end until 15 minutes after the last bid) and started getting big, then they might finally change something.

>>3881686

Such a feature is common on Yahoo Japan Auctions (though if you bid on enough stuff you will encounter the occasional listing that lacks it). On the one hand, it is nice to have that time cushion when juggling multiple listings ending at around the same time, but on the other it can be agonizing to have time keep getting added on and on, eventually turning it into an endurance match if you and an opponent are just little bidding up and up until one person quits.

Sometimes it is a more relaxing idea just to decide your true max, bid it, and leave.

>>3881686
My complaint has nothing to do with the system.
The fact that people will place a bid for the highest they will pay for something, then bid more once they get outbid. Why didn't they just bid more in the first place if they were willing to spend more?

I've won a handful of figures, but really most of them were by luck

usually it's $15-23 for the occasional lot of games or shitty waifu figure, maybe a little over that

I just bid a lot and occasionally check unusual things like mispellings and whatnot

>>3881702

The belief is that the mere fact that someone else is bidding on an item can either gradually or instantly increase another bidder's decided maximum bid amount.
The Inchworm: "Oh, my, I wanted to bid $55, but I've been outbid at $56. I don't want to lose this over $1, let me just bid $57... Oh, I'm still not winning? Eh, whatever... Actually, no, I don't want to lose this over $1, let me bid $58... Oh, [rinse and repeat]"

The Bandwagoner: "Hmm... I thought this was only worth $10, or maybe not worth even bidding on at all, but it looks like all of these other people are actually bidding on it... And now it is up to $226? What do they see that I don't? Maybe this IS something good! No, this really IS good! I better not miss out on my chance to win this item that these other people seem to think is super-snazzy!"

The Keyboard Warrior: "Hey, fuck you, this is MY item! I don't care if I overpay, this particular listing will be mine."

I was rigging eBay auctions with multiple accounts since the early 2000's why the fuck are you surprised?

>>3881702
>my complaint is i'm a retarded baby who doesn't know how things work
I concur. Hopefully several years from now more than one of those things won't be true.

This seems like a good thread for it, i'm trying to sell PAL copies of Shining Force 3 & Burning Rangers but i have no idea where to check prices and eBay is so full of BIN shill-prices and auctions that are way undervalue but will get sniped, so i have no idea how to gauge it
Where does /vr/ go to get it's UK prices?

>>3881909
Your reading comprehension is shit

It is really easy to get free stuff by buying things without tracking and saying it never arrived.

>>3882604
That's Fraudulent Criminal shit.

I once bought Mike Tyson's Punch Out on ebay and the seller refused to mail it to me. Gave me my money back, but it sold for just a little bit under the average at the time. I just wanted the damn game, not my money, obviously since I paid already. Stupid shit.

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>>3882618
But for me it was Tuesday