Extremely disappointed!

[Greg Ladd]

Hello all,

There was a General 14" planer on fleabay that I desperately wanted. I had entered a bid with sniping software and was anxiously watching to see if I was going to need to increase my bid.

This morning I woke up and checked the listing and it was gone. The listing was cancelled with 2 days left to go!

I have been keeping my eyes open for one to these planers for a few years and this one looked clean. It was also located within driving distance.

I have sent some emails to the seller but it is probably gone. Why would someone in good conscience list something with a reserve and then pull the listing, before the end of the auction,provided there wasn't an previously unknown defect?

I will be very upset if it was sold outside of ebay. I had emailed the seller via ebay to find out if there he had a buy it now price.

Can you tell I really wanted this planer?

Sorry, just venting,
Greg

[Tim Morton]

I am guessing someone contacted him and offered him enough to cancel the auction...."or" possibly ebay cancelled it. Did he use any photos that may have belonged to someone else? I listed a factory scion hed unit for sale and used someone elses photo...and they cancelled the acution on me and not onl charged me for the auction fees's but recharged me again when I relisted. Ask me how I feel about ebay lately:D

Sorry for the loss...maybe next it was for the best.

[Greg Ladd]

Tim,

I have been very happy with ebay for the few items I have bought and sold.

But they do seem a little arbitrary at times.

The seller has emailed me. His listing was yanked by ebay because he had the words 'not Delta or Powermatic' in the listing. I know I have seen similar language before.

He still has it for sale. We are negotiated but he isn't in a position where he has to sell it. We'll see what happens.

Greg

[John Bailey]

I've had very good luck with e-bay. The only times I've been burned (2), it was my own fault for not checking into things properly. I think the protections on e-bay are very good.

John

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

My brother bought a 14,000.00 item on E-bay. The transaction went normally he out-bid a couple other people and got the item. OK for him, not so for another bidder. A lurker contacted at least one other bidder and told her he was the seller the listing seller was his agent and that the person with the high bid renegged. The lurger wanted her to send him the same sum the item sold for ($14 Grand) and he'd simply complete the transaction with her.

Of course she had to pay by bank check or money wire and of course he was in Europe. The woman contacted my brother who dissuaded her from sending the guy any money.

E-bay. The only place in the world where buyers don 't negotiate prices down but up and one can sell Harbor Freight machinery for substantially more than Harbor Freight does.

I have seen ads placed by Grizzley ( the company) on E-bay.

Any way I have a very nice pile of molding garbage that is available to the WINNING bidder.
DON'T LET YOUR ITEM GET AWAY!!!

[Doug Shepard]

...
E-bay. The only place in the world where buyers don 't negotiate prices down but up and one can sell Harbor Freight machinery for substantially more than Harbor Freight does.
...


I've seen the exact same thing with LN planes. People bid them up til they're more than LN's list or at least more than they cay buy for new through FTJ. Makes you really wonder about the buyers.

[Jeff Horton]

It's called shopping for entertainment (and loss of common sense).

[Bruce Benjamin]

Hello all,

There was a General 14" planer on fleabay that I desperately wanted. I had entered a bid with sniping software and was anxiously watching to see if I was going to need to increase my bid.

This morning I woke up and checked the listing and it was gone. The listing was cancelled with 2 days left to go!

I have been keeping my eyes open for one to these planers for a few years and this one looked clean. It was also located within driving distance.

I have sent some emails to the seller but it is probably gone. Why would someone in good conscience list something with a reserve and then pull the listing, before the end of the auction,provided there wasn't an previously unknown defect?

I will be very upset if it was sold outside of ebay. I had emailed the seller via ebay to find out if there he had a buy it now price.

Can you tell I really wanted this planer?

Sorry, just venting,
Greg

Interesting that someone using sniping software would complain about
the ethics of an Ebay seller. Personally, I think that all sniping software
should be banned from Ebay since it really goes against the spirit and
intent of an online auction, in my opinion. The use of that software
kinda bit you in the @$$ because if you had just put in a big enough
bid to begin with you could've had your planer. I'm sure there are
many here that don't see any problem with sniping software but
personally, I'm glad to see the snipers get shut down. JMHO of course.

Bruce

[Tim Morton]

My brother bought a 14,000.00 item on E-bay. The transaction went normally he out-bid a couple other people and got the item. OK for him, not so for another bidder. A lurker contacted at least one other bidder and told her he was the seller the listing seller was his agent and that the person with the high bid renegged. The lurger wanted her to send him the same sum the item sold for ($14 Grand) and he'd simply complete the transaction with her.

Of course she had to pay by bank check or money wire and of course he was in Europe. The woman contacted my brother who dissuaded her from sending the guy any money.

E-bay. The only place in the world where buyers don 't negotiate prices down but up and one can sell Harbor Freight machinery for substantially more than Harbor Freight does.

That same thing happend to me.

I have seen ads placed by Grizzley ( the company) on E-bay.

Any way I have a very nice pile of molding garbage that is available to the WINNING bidder.
DON'T LET YOUR ITEM GET AWAY!!!

That same thing happend to me...I was runner up buying a saab...the next mornign I got an email offering me the car and they would throw in FREE shiping to my house if I wired them the money...I "played" along to the point of getting the address (someplace in england) and then told them instead of wiring them th money I would rather pick the car up "since I was going to be in the same town on business that week"....
never heard from them again...:cool:

[Doug Ketellapper]

I'd have to disagree with you. I don't use sniping software, but I also don't have a problem with others using it. I don't understand where you are coming from with "spirit and intent". It seems to me ebay was almost custom made with sniping in mind, and they seem to encourage it:

"Placing a high bid in the closing seconds of an auction-style listing is called “sniping” within the eBay Community. Sniping is part of the eBay experience, and all bids placed before a listing ends are valid - even if they're placed one second before the listing ends." (http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/outbid-ov.html)

The above quote from the ebay site goes against your "spirit and intent" statement. If you have some other evidence, I'd be happy to see it. I'm sorry that you've gotten sniped in the past. It's happened to me too, but I just think that someone wanted the item more than I, and was willing to pay more than what I thought it was worth. Nothing to get too worked up about.

I'm not much of a fan of "banning" things, and banning sniping software isn't going to solve what you consider a problem (banning rarely addresses the behaviour). People still can wait until the last 10 seconds to bid, the software just makes it easier and more reliable. If you really want to get rid of sniping, the easiest thing to do would be to add time to the auction for a bid close to the end, say an hour for a bid within the last 15 minutes, and keep doing that until it times out. That would make it more like how a live auction works.

[Chris Rosenberger]

Interesting that someone using sniping software would complain about
the ethics of an Ebay seller. Personally, I think that all sniping software
should be banned from Ebay since it really goes against the spirit and
intent of an online auction, in my opinion. The use of that software
kinda bit you in the @$$ because if you had just put in a big enough
bid to begin with you could've had your planer. I'm sure there are
many here that don't see any problem with sniping software but
personally, I'm glad to see the snipers get shut down. JMHO of course.

Bruce

I do not understand your thinking on this. I do not use sniping software. With that said I have bid on several items in the last seconds of the auction. I have won some & lost some. A buyer can bid up until the auction ends. I do not see what is unethical about someone bidding the last second of the auction. My thinking is that it is the time limit that is the problem. I have seen other online auctions that will extend the time of the auction several minutes after bids at the end of the auction. The auction continous until there are no more bids.

[Greg Ladd]

Bruce you said;


Interesting that someone using sniping software would complain about
the ethics of an Ebay seller. Personally, I think that all sniping software
should be banned from Ebay since it really goes against the spirit and
intent of an online auction, in my opinion. The use of that software
kinda bit you in the @$$ because if you had just put in a big enough
bid to begin with you could've had your planer. I'm sure there are
many here that don't see any problem with sniping software but
personally, I'm glad to see the snipers get shut down. JMHO of course.


I don't feel that you have any basis to make comments regarding my ethics. As far as I recall, I have never replied to a single comment you have made on SMC. We also have never spoken directly.

If you would read the entire thread you would see that the seller and I have been corresponding since my original post and ebay pulled his item, he did not remove it voluntarily. I was incorrect in my assumption and the tone of my original post is wrong. For that I apologize.

I am trying the sniping program on a free 14 day trial. This was the first time I had tried it.

I have been burned on ebay in the past with people running up the price on items I have been bidding on. The last time it happened, the person bidding the price up had been a member for at least 6 years and had never bought or sold a single item. I think sniping software is a great tool keep people from having others run up prices.

Your comment about me not putting in a large enough bid is absolutely not true. Again, the listing got pulled by ebay. Please re-read the third post in this thread. The bid I placed in the sniping software was more that double the current high bid at the time. As I told the seller today I was prepared to pay more if need be.

Greg

<!-- / message -->

[Hoa Dinh]

Frankly, I think life's too short to get upset about something you can't control like eBay.

If I like something listed there, I bid the amount it's worth to me, then sometimes I lose the bid, sometimes I win. No big deal. It's just like someone trying to outspeed me on the freeway - life's just too short to pay attention.

If I really need something, I don't count on eBay.

-- Hoa

[skip coyne]

He might also have had it listed locally , we looked at a car on ebay that was offred by a seller in a nearby town .

I arranged to look at the car and he offred to sell to me on the spot if I wanted it , he also said it was being advertised in the auto trader .


we wound up not buying the car . he left it on ebay and wound up getting 600 more than he offred to me for .

[Bruce Benjamin]

Bruce you said;



I don't feel that you have any basis to make comments regarding my ethics. As far as I recall, I have never replied to a single comment you have made on SMC. We also have never spoken directly.

If you would read the entire thread you would see that the seller and I have been corresponding since my original post and ebay pulled his item, he did not remove it voluntarily. I was incorrect in my assumption and the tone of my original post is wrong. For that I apologize.

I am trying the sniping program on a free 14 day trial. This was the first time I had tried it.

I have been burned on ebay in the past with people running up the price on items I have been bidding on. The last time it happened, the person bidding the price up had been a member for at least 6 years and had never bought or sold a single item. I think sniping software is a great tool keep people from having others run up prices.

Your comment about me not putting in a large enough bid is absolutely not true. Again, the listing got pulled by ebay. Please re-read the third post in this thread. The bid I placed in the sniping software was more that double the current high bid at the time. As I told the seller today I was prepared to pay more if need be.

Greg

<!-- / message -->

Greg,

There was no personal attack on you in my post. I didn't "Attack"
anyone. You posted your comments and opinions and it was in a
public forum, right? Well, does everyone who replies to you have
to agree with you or do you allow varying opinions? You were
complaining, (unfounded, it seems) about the sellers ethics and I
merely voiced my opinion that I don't think using sniping software
is very ethical. Aren't I allowed to think that and post it in a reply?
Is sniping software illegal? No. Lots of things that I find unethical
aren't illegal. Under the conditions you described in your post if
you had put in a bid before the item was canceled the seller couldn't
have pulled the item. I didn't see anywhere in your post or anywhere
in the thread at the time I replied about Ebay pulling the item.
My point was that if the seller has the right to pull an item before
any bids are placed how is that anymore unethical than if you use
sniping software? Obviously not all people think that sniping software
is wrong but I do and that was why I clearly stated that this was
my opinion.

I've bid at the last minute on some items and won some but I do it
based on my own eyes and fingers, not a program that no human
can possibly beat. If you don't want people to post their own opinions
maybe you shouldn't post yours and just stick to facts. Sorry if you
were so terribly offended by this but I was just calling it as I saw it.
What can ya do? Get upset and offended I guess. I actually got
a chuckle out of what happened to you and that was the spirit of
my post. Not to get you all worked up. Sorry it wasn't more clear.

Bruce

[Greg Ladd]

I understand that you disagree with sniping software.

Like I said earlier, I have never used it before and don't know if I will again. It is simply a trial period.

The original post was made in frustration. In hindsight, I reacted too quickly and assumed that the seller pulled the listing. In reality, the seller did not commit the sin here, in my opinion, but ebay was trying to protect potential buyers.

Just for the record, there were actually 9 bids on this item before ebay elected to pull it.

Anyone certainly has the option to state a personal opinion. That is what makes this country so great. I shouldn't be so thin skinned.

I sincerely apologize if my earlier response offended you or anyone else. Once again, I was too hasty.

Greg

[Frank Chaffee]

Messrs. Ladd and Benjamin,
I thank each of you for doing your part in keeping the Creek flowing.
Frank

[Bruce Benjamin]

Greg,

It's all cool. I'm sure I could've worded my response more
clearly had I taken the time. I think some of us just fire
off a post without always thinking about how it might read
to someone who can't see your face or hear your voice.

Bruce

[Jim Davenport]

I have a "love-hate" relationship with "E-PAY" I've only bought a few things from them. I got burn't once.
I think the only use for "Sniping software is for highly desired items.
The stuff I've been interested in I placed a bid for the Max I wanted to pay. Usually I've watched the price zoom up past my max bid, sometimes more than the price for new items.
E-pay is a marvel to watch when people get in a frenzy, and bidding goes into "ludicrus speed". I've been caught up in the frenzy a couple of times, but luckly there were people that were dumber than me, and I was saved.
I have manage to get a couple of good items at a decent price, but I think good deals on E-pay are a rarity.

[Greg Ladd]

Part of my problem with ebay is my work schedule.

I work a rotating shift schedule on which I work 12 hour days for up to 4 days at a time and then 4 12 hour night shifts. On top of all that, getting called in on overtime for any time of the day at all can make life somewhat less than normal.

As you can imagine, this makes it very difficult for me to watch an auction at the end, which unfortunately is exactly when I want to watch. I have missed some woodworking tools that sold for less than I was willing to pay but hadn't set a proxy bid up high enough but the bidding price of which got frantic at the end.

Greg

[Jim Davenport]

Part of my problem with ebay is my work schedule.

I work a rotating shift schedule on which I work 12 hour days for up to 4 days at a time and then 4 12 hour night shifts. On top of all that, getting called in on overtime for any time of the day at all can make life somewhat less than normal.

As you can imagine, this makes it very difficult for me to watch an auction at the end, which unfortunately is exactly when I want to watch. I have missed some woodworking tools that sold for less than I was willing to pay but hadn't set a proxy bid up high enough but the bidding price of which got frantic at the end.

Greg
How come you didn't set the proxy price at the max you wanted to pay?
Thats what I do. I also work weird hours.
Of course usually someone else places a greater value on the thing, then I'm willing to pay!
I usually research something before I bid. and won't go over the pirce I think it's worth, even with E-pay's E-mail cautioning me not to miss the thing:rolleyes:

[Frank Fusco]

Aren't we supposed to be talking about woodworking and ww tools? eBay, for whatever you think of it should be in the OT forum.
Why are you so enamored with the General planer?

[Greg Ladd]

Jim,

I scould have set a higher proxy bid but as I said earlier I was using sniping software and it doesn't place a bid until the last few seconds. As it turned out the posting was pulled by ebay so it didn't matter.

Frank,

I think the General planer is unlike any on the market. The table casting is done using the Meehanite process so it will stay flat for years, The gearbox is extremely robust and very well engineered. Lastly, it is still made here in North America and uses a Baldor motor. If it is made as well as my General 350 table saw it is very robust.

This is only my opinion. There are many good 15" planers on the market. I happen to own a Jet that has given me good service. I just think the General line (the canadian made stuff) is a cut above.

Greg