Lunatics on the eBays

airship · October 17, 2008, 07:10 AM

Is there any way we can get all the lunatics banned for life from the eBays? I'm specifically talking about the ones who list Commodore stuff for Buy-it-Now prices they don't stand a chance in hell of ever realizing.

I mean listers like: recycledgoods.com, jinglethis, d_l_p, JTOmaha, & zeroquestresell

Has any of them ever sold ANYTHING at those incredibly inflated prices? $299 for a C128D Technical Manual!?!?

It would be bad enough if it was just occasional, but each of them tends to list dozens of items at hyper-inflated prices all at once. They make it hard to find something actually worth buying. Grrrr.

They're clogging up the the Intertubes with all that crap.

xlar54 · October 17, 2008, 04:10 PM

Like this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Commadore-64-computer-with-monitor-and-power-supply_W0QQitemZ330103292764QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

This is one of my favorite Ebay games.. find the most ludicrous C= auction. lol

But... Ebay is not the only place in town for this game...try this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Commodore-Computer-Video-Game-System/dp/B000FHHSDU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1224225457&sr=8-3

Golan Klinger · October 17, 2008, 04:41 PM

This game can be played all day long because greed, much like stupidity, knows no bounds. My favourite purveyor of such is Vintage Computer Museum. He recently reduced a lot of his prices from insane to merely ridiculously overpriced. For example, the $80 VIC-20 motherboard.

airship · October 18, 2008, 03:53 AM

You would think one of them would suddenly get a clue someday:

"Oh, wait! None of my overpriced crap has ever sold! Not one single item! May I should... I dunno... REDUCE THE PRICE A BIT???" ??

Golan Klinger · October 18, 2008, 04:19 AM

What I can't figure out is why some people set match their BIN price to their starting bid like the seller did in this auction. Why would anyone use the bidding process when they can use the BIN? If the seller would prefer people use the BIN, why bother with the bidding part? Are there restrictions on having BIN only auctions?

Andrew Wiskow · October 18, 2008, 07:22 AM

About a month or so ago, I heard that eBay was going to eventually do away with auctions altogether and everything would be listed on the "Buy It Now" system. But since then, I haven't heard any more about it, and I never received any official notices about this directly from eBay. Was there any truth to this, or was it just baseless rumor?

Sorry, I know this is a bit off-topic, but since we're talking about eBay...

Golan Klinger · October 18, 2008, 07:53 AM

Quote from: Andrew Wiskow on October 18, 2008, 07:22 AM

Sorry, I know this is a bit off-topic, but since we're talking about eBay...

I think it's on-topic since eBay itself is the biggest lunatic of all.

airship · October 18, 2008, 08:04 AM

I wonder why eBay is so dumb that they don't crack down on people who list items for a way low price, then jack the shipping up to 10x what it really is, just to get around paying eBay's commissions. HELLO, EBAY! That's a violation of your terms of service and takes money out of your pockets. Worse, it really torques me off.

Lunatics, indeed.

Andrew Wiskow · October 18, 2008, 08:18 AM

Yeah, I know what you mean, Airship... Personally, I charge the exact amount that shipping will cost, plus an additional $1 to cover packaging and fuel expenses. I think that's fair. But I've seen plenty of people charging crazy shipping charges...

Golan Klinger · October 18, 2008, 08:25 AM

I just got charged $14 on a $7 sale for a bunch of IEC cables. Rip-off. ARGH!

As for the all BIN thing, doesn't that kill the whole auction concept?

Andrew Wiskow · October 18, 2008, 08:32 AM

Quote from: Golan Klinger on October 18, 2008, 08:25 AM
I just got charged $14 on a $7 sale for a bunch of IEC cables. Rip-off. ARGH!

Yeah, it's always important to read the "fine print" on any eBay auction to know what you're getting yourself into before placing a bid.

Quote from: Golan Klinger on October 18, 2008, 08:25 AMAs for the all BIN thing, doesn't that kill the whole auction concept?

That's exactly what I thought. Well, I just did a search, and I think the article I read was referring to this eBay announcement. It says that they'll be discontinuing "Live Auctions" by the end of the year, not their regular auction-style listings. So now I don't know whether I didn't read the article correctly, or the article itself was incorrect. Oh well... I've never participated in a Live Auction, so it's not a big deal to me.

Golan Klinger · October 18, 2008, 10:06 AM

I've never even heard of Live Auctions so I'm guessing I won't miss them.

xlar54 · October 20, 2008, 02:27 AM

Golan!

You're supposed to be SELLING, not BUYING!

Guys - we really need to have an intervention....

heheh.. I guess I cant talk.. I bought a 1750 clone today.. paid the buy it now price so I wouldnt have to fight people on the bid war. Thats fine tho, it's an investment. I have a naked 1750 (without case) that I will put up for sale afterward. I dont like to hoard stuff. Well, not usually...

Golan Klinger · October 20, 2008, 07:05 AM

Picked up a PET 4016 in perfect condition along with a 1541-II and 1581 today. The stuff was free for the taking although I did have to drive 30 minutes each way to get it. Now I need to figure out where to stash the stuff. I am severely short on space.

xlar54 · October 21, 2008, 08:17 AM

Where do you find this stuff? lol..

Golan Klinger · October 21, 2008, 09:15 AM

Quote from: xlar54 on October 21, 2008, 08:17 AM
Where do you find this stuff?

In this case, Craigslist. Sometimes people email me out of the blue and ask me to come pick stuff up. It's all very odd.

airship · November 06, 2008, 04:21 AM

If d_l_p's copy of Murder on the Zinderneuf sells for "$109.75 BIN" I swear my copy is going up on the eBays IMMEDIATELY! ;/

Andrew Wiskow · November 06, 2008, 04:40 AM

Stranger things have happened...

Golan Klinger · November 06, 2008, 08:26 AM

Sadly yours might only fetch a fraction of that price. There's always someone browsing who sees what they want and wants it *now*. The problem is find another such person. I remember seeing an auction for an unboxed item close at a price that I would have been glad to sell my identical item (with box and manual). I sent the 2nd place bidder a message telling them what I had and offering to sell it for what they had bid on the other item. No deal. I guess they realized they had been swept up in the emotion of bidding. ARGH!

eBay sucks. :mad:

saehn · November 07, 2008, 01:38 AM

Quote from: Golan Klinger on November 06, 2008, 08:26 AM
Sadly yours might only fetch a fraction of that price. There's always someone browsing who sees what they want and wants it *now*. The problem is find another such person. I remember seeing an auction for an unboxed item close at a price that I would have been glad to sell my identical item (with box and manual). I sent the 2nd place bidder a message telling them what I had and offering to sell it for what they had bid on the other item. No deal. I guess they realized they had been swept up in the emotion of bidding. ARGH!

Maybe they were scared to not go through eBay, to not have that protection.

Golan Klinger · November 07, 2008, 02:17 PM

Quote from: saehn on November 07, 2008, 01:38 AM
Maybe they were scared to not go through eBay, to not have that protection.

But I was offering to put it up on eBay with BIN for them (lest I run afoul of eBay's rules). Anyway, it wasn't a scientific experiment. I was just using it as an example of the vagaries of eBay.

airship · January 09, 2009, 01:38 AM

I wonder if d_l_p read this thread?

He recently relisted his 'COMMODORE 128 DIAGNOSTIC INSTRUCTION TROUBLESHOOTING MANUAL' and 'COMMODORE C-128/C-128D SERVICE MANUAL PN-314001-08' for minimum bids of $9.99 each. I got the pair for $29.76, shipping included. I'm quite happy to have them for that price, as my particular thing is C128-specific books.

It took him awhile, but this is quite a change from his original BIN price (see first post in this thread).

RobertB · January 09, 2009, 02:56 AM

Quote from: airship on January 09, 2009, 01:38 AM
...this is quite a change from his original BIN price (see first post in this thread).

Bargain!

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
Catch the Fatman and Circuit Girl on http://vimeo.com

SmallCleverDinosaur · January 09, 2009, 07:28 AM

Quote from: airship on January 09, 2009, 01:38 AM
I wonder if d_l_p read this thread?

Let's hope he does. Unfortunately, he's not alone

There is this guy "tinchens-online-shop" on ebay in Germany who's having all sorts of crazy auctions on Commodore stuff. For instance, right now he has a BIN on Simon's Basic for €14.99 plus shipping €9.95 (almost 34 USD in total!). And that's only for the cartridge, no original box or manual! Simon's Basic is not THAT rare...

I really agree that the lunatics responsible for those auctions should be banned for life!

Andrew Sutton · January 13, 2009, 01:31 PM

I've been seeing Commodore equipment on Craigslist, and for reasonable prices. If there's a listing in your state/country, it's worth checking out. Sometimes you can find freebies!