Ebay Hats: Victories, Defeats, Gripes & Items of Interest

[alanfgag]

I hate ebay. Some A hole stole my hat last minute. It makes me want to quit trying to get vintage hats anymore

I am probably guilty of being that a-hole at least once or twice. You have to bid enough so that the person who outbids you becomes a fool rather than an a-hole.

Keep at it and remember to hold your bid until the final moments.

 

[Sprinkles]

Don't worry new2hats!! I am pretty new to hats too, and I have found quite a few great deals on eBay. You just have to be patient (and sometimes a little luck doesn't hurt) When I started looking into fine hats I must say I was actually very surprised at the quantity, variety, and (usually) inexpensiveness seen on eBay.

 

[mikespens]

I hate ebay. Some A hole stole my hat last minute. It makes me want to quit trying to get vintage hats anymore

It's the way the game is played, you have to be proactive not reactive. As Alan says, hold your bid until the final seconds and bid the max your willing to spend. There are too many eyes on the prize to expect no competition.

 

[randooch]

I am probably guilty of being that a-hole at least once or twice. You have to bid enough so that the person who outbids you becomes a fool rather than an a-hole.

Keep at it and remember to hold your bid until the final moments.

+1.

The other guy might have been saying, "Some inexperienced bidder just granted me a hat!"

 

[Sprinkles]

I guess I have been lucky with low-priced "BuyItNow"s just recently placed on eBay as I saw them!!

 

[DJH]

I hate ebay. Some A hole stole my hat last minute. It makes me want to quit trying to get vintage hats anymore

Like Alan, I'm that nasty person sometimes. If I'm bidding on something, I always use a snipe program so no-one even knows of my existence until 5 seconds from the end. I lose way more often than I win, because I'm not interested in overpaying for anything, there's always another that will come around.

Ya win some, ya lose some - that's what auctions are all about and a big part of the fun.

 

[Mystic]

I hate ebay. Some A hole stole my hat last minute. It makes me want to quit trying to get vintage hats anymore

I dislike the snipe tactic also.....This is not the place for me to get into how much I do dislike that kind of practice.

But, it's their game and if you want to have an opportunity to use it to your advantage for having access to items you would not ordinarily find....it's just something you have to live with.

When you think about it....being an on-line auction with a time limit on bidding....
well.....people do have a right to bid up to the final second of the auction.

Just don't get your heart set on a certain hat based on what you SEE being bid...bid the maximum price you are comfortable paying for the item rather than a price you think would be a great buy for you.....

then if you lose the only person you can kick is yourself.......

but, a few choice words directed at the monitor will make you feel better....lol

 

[ScottF]

I sort of hate to do this, but I REALLY hate ebay hassles, and this bidder is a huge hassle: bcdo4ever

If he wins one of your hats, just get ready. He's the reason that I recently changed my return policy to 'no returns'. Ebayers have been treating me like I'm Wal*Mart, but this guy was the final straw. He waited about a week to say anything, then said he'd like to return the hat because he didn't like the color. I told him "fine, send it back." Then another week went by and he said he was getting ready to ship it. Two days after I issued a refund, he wanted to know if I had sent the refund ?!? Then he waited another five days to allow me to cancel the transaction.

I sincerely hope he is not a lounger

 

[scooter]

To be honest, if you want to shop on Ebay, particularly for something such as vintage hats where the competition can be fierce, you are only hurting yourself if you're NOT using a snipe program. There is no realistic way to stay consistently competitive otherwise, like it or not.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I've seen, on more than one occasion, an auction that I was going to bid on get pulled in the last day so the seller could save on listing fees.

I don't snipe (that is to say, I don't use a program that bids for me automatically), but I always place my bids 5 seconds from the end. When you're the only bidder, it pays to make a holding bid so the seller can't pull the auction so easily, and place a higher bid towards the end. Or just use a sniping program.

 

[alanfgag]

I don't snipe (that is to say, I don't use a program that bids for me automatically), but I always place my bids 5 seconds from the end. When you're the only bidder, it pays to make a holding bid so the seller can't pull the auction so easily, and place a higher bid towards the end. Or just use a sniping program.

Good practices and good advice. I've never explored snipes... I have a hard enough time restraining myself from auctions that I watch through the final seconds - no need to hire someone to bid for me and make it even easier. The Ebay app for iPhone is quite good. It has almost all the features of the website with the added bonus of not logging you out when you least expect it. It sends a reminder on watched items at 15 minutes before the auction close. But if you've placed an earlier holding bid on item and been outbid afterwards, the closing reminder comes closer to the auction end. I discovered this recently when I waited my usual ten minutes only to find that the auction had already ended. Still, an excellent app... free, but costly.

 

[gtdean48]

I'm not too surprised about a 70's OR getting that much. Because it is an OR there are plenty of people on ebay that will pay for it. Seen it happen many times.

I can see that for a 70's OR in decent shape but not a moth eaten, badly re-creased beater like this....No real difference in 70's OR & what is currently offered.

 

[gtdean48]

To be honest, if you want to shop on Ebay, particularly for something such as vintage hats where the competition can be fierce, you are only hurting yourself if you're NOT using a snipe program. There is no realistic way to stay consistently competitive otherwise, like it or not.

I've bought a bunch via ebay & never used a snipe. I also don't wait until the last minute to place a bid because I don't want to stop other things I have to do to do that. I find a hat I'd like to buy, figure what is the max I'll pay for it, make the bid & forget about it. Either I win it or somebody willing to pay more than me gets to pay more for it. I don't "lose" an auction. I simply don't win them all. Sniping is understood. Not all bidders will be revealed until the end & more power to them. But, they are going to pay more than what I value a hat to be....

 

[danofarlington]

To be honest, if you want to shop on Ebay, particularly for something such as vintage hats where the competition can be fierce, you are only hurting yourself if you're NOT using a snipe program. There is no realistic way to stay consistently competitive otherwise, like it or not.

I don't use a snipe program because very honestly, getting beat at the end in an auction saves me from myself.

 

[dnjan]

I've bought a bunch via ebay & never used a snipe. I also don't wait until the last minute to place a bid because I don't want to stop other things I have to do to do that. I find a hat I'd like to buy, figure what is the max I'll pay for it, make the bid & forget about it. Either I win it or somebody willing to pay more than me gets to pay more for it. I don't "lose" an auction. I simply don't win them all. Sniping is understood. Not all bidders will be revealed until the end & more power to them. But, they are going to pay more than what I value a hat to be....

I am slowly developing that willpower. At first, however, I found it best to bid at the last minute so that if an autobid outbid me, I wouldn't have time to raise my bid to more than I really wanted to pay, just to "win".

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Yes, eBay is really insidious that way. I remember chatting to herringbonekid and TwoTypes about this, and we all seem to have had the same experience of getting obsessed with winning an item, or compulsive searching, or whatever. It really is quite addictive. Which, of course, is why it's so successful a format.

 

[Neophyte]

I don't know. It might be romanticism, but I relish the challenge of trying to manually outsmipe the sniper programs. I lose hats more often than not, but it's kind of a rush .

 

[CaramelSmoothie]

I hate ebay. Some A hole stole my hat last minute. It makes me want to quit trying to get vintage hats anymore

They didn't "steal" your hat, the hat belongs to whoever bids the highest. If people get mad at snipers, they have no one but themselves to blame for not bidding the MAXIMUM that they want to pay. I snipe to avoid emotional bidders who may want to drag me into a bidding war and drive up the price to unreasonable amounts. The sniping service I use is worth every penny because of the savings.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I love watching bidding wars. In the UK there seem to be a lot of them (at least the ones I watch) where literally hundreds of bids are put on, with tiny increments each time, as two people play chicken on who's willing to pay 50p more. And then, of course, someone from Japan comes and snipes the shit out of them after their hours and hours of tedious "old lady" (overly cautious) bidding.

 

[CaramelSmoothie]

I love watching bidding wars. In the UK there seem to be a lot of them (at least the ones I watch) where literally hundreds of bids are put on, with tiny increments each time, as two people play chicken on who's willing to pay 50p more. And then, of course, someone from Japan comes and snipes the shit out of them after their hours and hours of tedious "old lady" (overly cautious) bidding.

That could be the work of shill bidders, which is bidding by the seller and his friends to attract interest to the product and drive the price up. That's another thing that you may be able to avoid if you use a sniping service.