EBay

Hi!

My id on EBay is Jacquie_fr

What's yours??

I don't have anything on sale right now, but I'm willing to buy...!!

Come on, let us have it!

Love to you all,
Jacquie

hi Jacquie,

I don't sell games on ebay, just use gameTZ!

Hugs

Tig

I am terrified of E-bay. Never ventured on. People actually compete with one another there. You wait, wait, wait. Then you lose as someone who knows the rules better outbids you at the last minute.

Besides, if I did start, I would probably get addicted to it.

Never mind.

Mine is daslestack. Haven't purchased anything in awhile though. Nor sold anything. I actually have quite a few titles to sell, but I'm just too lazy to list them. Getting the pic, writing up the description, yada yada yada. My list of available on gametz is out of date too, I guess I should update it.

Ditto.... I have LOTS of things to sell, but it takes so much time to list them...

Becky, don't fear eBay. It's a great resource for out-of-print games. As to knowing the rules, well, it's pretty simple.

Just type in the highest price you are willing to pay. The only 'trick' I have found that works well for me is to bid at the last possible second. Here's my technique. You have to register with eBay before doing any of this, of course. Open two browser windows, one in the upper part of the screen and one below, both displaying the page for the item you're after. In the top window, adjust picture so the Time Remaining shows. By clicking Refresh a few times during the last few minutes of the auction you can determine the exact second (on a clock or watch at your house) that the auction ends. Type the highest price you are willing to pay in the Amount box in the lower browser window you have opened. Click Bid (or Submit, I forget) which takes you to the page where you need to type in your Password. (Do all this ahead of time.) As you watch the sweep hand on your clock/watch approach the last seconds of the auction, click the Place Bid (or whatever the button says under the Password box) as close to the closing moment as your nerves will allow. This does two things. It doesn't let other bidders know you are there until it is too late for them to bid against you. It prevents you from bidding any more than you decided you would.

I'd like to say that it works every time, but if someone else has already placed a bid of a higher amount, they win of course. If you have the money to cover it, and really want the item, bid outrageously high. Say the current bid is $25 with 2 minutes left. Place a $50.00 bid and click it in at the last second. The beauty is that you only have to pay $1.00 (or whatever the bid increment is for the item, usually .50 or $1.00) more than the next highest bidder. So if the next highest bidder bid $33.00 at the last second, you get the item for $34.00, not the full $50.00 that you bid.

This is why I have Obsidian, Morpheus, The Neverhood and other drool-worthy treasures. Like any new experience, it may be a little intimidating at first, but as you suggested, it can become addictive very quickly.

Randwill -- thanks for the advice. One of these days I might be brave enough to try this. It sounds a little like a keyboard-controlled timed puzzle.

I love eBay! Most of my game collection has come from there...and I paid for most of my games by selling games I no longer play, or ones that I have extra copies of.

I use the same method as Randwill and it usually works just fine. My advice would be to never get caught up in a bidding frenzy...bidding or paying more than the limit you originally set for yourself...just so you have the satisfaction of winning the auction.

For the most part, it has been a very positive experience for me.
Cynch

yeah... I got caught in the bidding frenzy trap - originally intended to only bid up to 35 Pounds for Reah DVD... eventually ended up bidding 44 Pounds for it (but still lost), hehehe...

I'll take your advice to the heart next time I try something like that

<<If you have the money to cover it, and really want the item, bid outrageously high. Say the current bid is $25 with 2 minutes left. Place a $50.00 bid and click it in at the last second.>>

I buy & sell regularly on ebay, mostly railroad memorabilia. Last November I had an interesting sale as an item that was worth about $30 went for $101.00! Two people at the very last minute both thought they would outbid everyone by bidding high. One bid $100 and the other $105, the $105 guy won with a $101 top bid, but ended up paying 3 times what it was really worth. My advise is think wisely before using bidding tricks like that!

I've been very leery of eBay, ever since I got burned twice in deals. But just recently I was looking for an out-of-print game and found one being auctioned off. It had a "buy immediately" button that you could press--the price was not outrageously high by any means, and it eliminated the chance of being outbid at the last moment.

And the deal went very smoothly--I wouldn't hesitate to buy from that person again...

Ebay is a Very addictive experience.. between me and my hubby, we have bought over 400 items, usually hard to find stuff and a reasonable prices. We have had only 3 bad experiences, 2 for computer stuff and one for an adventure.

My advice to anyone is check out the feedback of a person before bidding, it is there to give peace of mind to both buyer and seller. I have left negative feedback before with no comeback from the seller. Just wait until the 89th day after the auction so they haven't a chance to reply!!!!

The only problem with the idea of putting a high bid in is that some folks have software which allows them to see the bids and the price can then be pushed up by a pal of the seller (usually someone with a 0 feedback rating). We knew a guy who kept getting ripped off as the sellers knew what he was willing to pay for stuff, so they bumped the price up. Nasty!!

Hugs

Tig

I've used ebay quite a few times and I think it is a wonderful resource. I've found that it is best for items that I want (or that my husband or son want) that don't have to be in perfect condition. If an item is in collectible condition, then it usually goes for a much higher price. For example, I was able to get the Jonny Quest: Roswell PC game on ebay after trying to trade for it here, etc., and having no luck at finding it elsewhere. I looked in at ebay every week and finally it came up for sale, but the person had a used game without a box. I only wanted the game so that my son could play it, so I didn't care about the box, and ended up getting the game for $3.00, which included postage! I always make sure, though, when I am getting a good deal like that one, that the game is an original and not a copy. I've also had great luck at getting comic books for my son, who wants to read them but not collect them. It is so hard to find a stack of comic books that aren't collectible, but I was able to find comic book "lots" that were good copies and he now has about 300 comic books to read, at a cost of about $40.00 to me, including postage. I always read the actual feedback that the seller has gotten in the past, as sometimes people are afraid to give a negative review, but under a review marked "positive" they will write something that isn't positive. Also, if the seller has had negative feedback, I look at their response to the feedback to see if the matter was settled and if they are polite to the buyer, regardless of how impolite the buyer was. I try not to buy from a new seller unless I'm using Paypal and the amount of money is very small. I love the "Buy it Now" option, because I can usually get the item for a fair price without worrying about losing it or having someone bid the price up. I have had good luck with ebay and I've used it for several years. I think it's a great resource, as long as you are careful, you know how much you are willing to spend and you don't go over that amount, and you communicate with the seller if you have questions.
Happy gaming,
Beth