Strategies for Buying Test Equipment off Ebay

My one and only experience buying from eBay...

I found some way to bid that set a maximum I was willing to offer but all that showed was my automatic tracking bid.

I got the item WAY under my maximum.

(USPS is CHEAP.)

...Jim Thompson

(1) I've given up on eBay auctions. If it doesn't have a "buy it now" option, I ignore it.

(2) eBay would be much more fair, and robot-tolerant, if they extended any auction with new bids within the last five minutes. Keep adding five minutes until everyone's done bidding.

And to keep it on-topic, I do have a Tektronix 561A that's been sitting idle for waaay too long...

I'm still a newbie on Ebay and I think I've witnessed this.. I was observing bids on an item for sale. (Not me selling) I saw one buyer do 5 consecutive bids for some reason.. I think I know why now.. Perhaps it was to incrementally beat the tracking bid. Maybe it was like this for that bidder... Bid..then response..lost bid... Rebid...then response...lost bid... And cycling until the that bidder is able to counter the other bidders max bid value.. I think that's what's going on.. If so..then doing a max bid near closing should get interesting.. Gets kinda like a lottery..

D from BC

I take it as bad sign that when even the used equipment dealers won't bid on that 561A.. Geez..10Mhz... I think those cheap Ebay PC scopes blow that away. Can you throw in some Elvis 8 tracks too? :P

I'm the opposite of "buy it now"... Sometimes sellers are clueless as to the going price and the bid starts off stupid low.

Yeah... In real auctions there's the "going once...going twice...sold!" But not on Ebay.. Bidders get cut off by time.

D from BC

it now"

extended

Keep

is that a joke ? extend it 5 minutes until everyone is done , thats not fair for a buyer it just lines the pocket of sellers by exploiting the gotta have its and the emotional bidders who do not really have a max value in there head

and OP this topic shouild be in misc or equipment not design ? i would have re-directed it but then you would never have seen it.

so is the 561A considered obsolete ?

You can argue it either say... having a fixed closing time is more fair in the sense that, if everyone puts in their true maximum bids initially, the person who's willing to pay the most wins, end of story -- that's perfectly fair. With extended auctions, there's potentially more appeal to buyer emotion, getting "caught up" in the auction and bidding more than they objectively would otherwise. On the other hand, with extensions most everyone starts bidding at far less than their true maximums, so if there isn't a large amount of interest -- people aren't actively monitoring the auction -- you stand a better chance of lucking out and getting a really good bargain.

My opinion is that they're both perfectly "fair" -- they're just different. I prefer fixed-length auctions since, as a buyer, I don't want to get caught up in a multi-hour bidding war with someone, adding $5 to the price of some widget every 5 minutes for several hours on end.

I would probably take part in extended auctions done in "real time," with "going once, going twice..." giving no more than about 15 seconds for someone else to up the ante, just as in traditional auctions. Over the Internet, though, that kind of responsiveness is not a given (and puts dial-up users as a great disadvantage) so the "5 minute" option just strikes me as too slow.

As far as I can see, there is only one strategy that makes any sense. Work out how much an item is worth to you. I.e., what is the maximum that you would ever buy it for.

Then, put in a bid for that amount a couple of seconds before the end. (You will need an accurate clock!).

If buyers are willing to pay more, they should have a chance to do so. The current system allows a robo-bidder to outbid you within a split second of the end of auction, giving you no opportunity to rebid. Removing the "last split second" from auctions also discourages robo-bidders, giving the humans a better chance of winning.

Gah, I hope so. It's all tubes and silver solder, and has about a

I gave it some thought.. "Buy it now" is a way to beat the hunting used equipment reseller. If you can get there first. Getting into a bidding war with a used equipment reseller could get ugly. A good used equipment reseller knows precisely how to bid for prospective profit. Even a DOA item can be of more value to a used equipment dealer than a user.

D from BC

I might check Ebay to see if I can synchronize to 'Ebay time':) That or, I'll find out whatever Ebay synchronizes to.

Thanks for the tip.. I haven't thought about the time accuracy yet.. D from BC

Never said I put it on eBay.

More like 1MHz in reality.

clueless as

i frequented real auctions until it became fashionable to do so and you would see stuff going for 1,2 and 3 times what you could buy a newer equivalent for due to the emotionally attached bidders and inexperience

you would see the seasoned big buyer / resellers up in the front row or back...when all the emotional buyers spent ther money they would snap up the rest of the stuff for reasonable auction rates (cheap)

if you are really into buyers fairness then going ... gone is not going to help

No you don't. All you need are two windows open and judge your bid timeing by the refresh time on one window and place your bid using the other window. Make sure you are logged in.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

I've bought shedloads of stuff off Ebay, both on auction or "Buy it now". Be it England, Europe, US, Hong Kong, China, wherever, no problem. Best thing out since sliced bread. An hour ago, "won" 33 years worth of issues of the old "Electronic Engineering" magazine. Seems I was the only bidder :). There's no way on earth I could have come across such nerdy items as these, by searching local newspaper ads etc.

My own personal thoughts are ... Equipment resellers are there to run a business. They make a profit or die. Hence their prices will/must always be comparatively exorbitant. Stay clear of them. Play the waiting game. Buy, only if you've a customer willing to pay for that item as part of your work. It's obvious who the resellers are, as apart from the high initial bid price, or silly "buy it now" price, the liability issues mean their item descriptions will be minimal yet correct, with a lot of body text dealing with conditions of sale. One UK company has now put the same piece of stupidly priced electronic junk through Ebay at least 50 times. A sane individual would have binned it 12 months ago. From a business POV it can be worth it, if they catch the unique someone looking for that exact item. Then that someone is happy and satisfied. Don't worry too much about bidding against equipment resellers. They just cannot profitably afford to pay the prices you as an individual are liable to bid up to. You know you paid a worthwhile price, the reseller shakes his/her head knowing they cannot compete, as they could not add anywhere near a useable profit margin, which must be >>100% to allow for the risk and other factors

If you've the skills, then buy the stuff plainly offered as 'broken' 'won't power up' or 'needs repair'. Only do this after you've located the availability of a circuit diagram (schematic!). 99.9% of potential bidders avoid these items like the plague and you'll only be up against a couple of other hardened enthusiasts. You'll get it for a song, and a couple of hours work (usually :) has it running again. Do NOT under any circumstances bid for newish items that say "fails self test".

Unsure of a good price to bid?, then always look over the 'completed items' listings. Items such a particular 'scope model will turn up regularly, (moreso in the states with it's vastly increased market size). There can be say a 5:1 ratio on final prices but it's a good marker.

There's no 'ideal seller', as good stuff at a good price can come from anywhere. If anything and afeared of the unknown, then the guy selling his personal kit is a good starter. He'll describe it with great accuracy, explain why it's for sale and how well he's looked after it. If he can cause you to shed a tear for him then all's the better. And of course, a lot of other bidders will now jump in and the final price will be top whack. (that's how to auction stuff!)

Be leery over the 'don't understand what it is', or 'lights come on when plugged in' type descriptions. Most are genuine, some are BS descriptions of junk. Look at their other stuff for sale, see if it's consistent.

Ignore the "classic/vintage/collectable" tags, They're worthless. The person is clueless and selling passed on junk. Bid accordingly.

Work out the maximum price you want to pay. Don't bid, just regard the goods as being on display. It's essential you keep a daily eye on the item's 'view counter'. The rate of change of this shows the level of interest and what you will finally be up against. Any bid placed early on unfortunately shows that someone values the item. Sheep instinct then takes over with more and more bidders turning up. The problem with early bids is that people have time to think and mull over how much they -really really- want the kit.

Assuming no or low bids, then two thirds of the way through the sale put a bid in of half your final maximum. The idea is to scare off the casual bidders looking for a bargain. They'll find they are constantly "outbid" by Ebay as they ratchet up their own bids in minor increments and then lose interest. More persistent, hardy individuals will ratchet up to a 'highest bid' position and then feel smug. Ignore these, they must be dealt with at the end-of-days.

Ensure the radio controlled clock has a good battery. Log into Ebay and the item. During the last couple of minutes refresh the page regularly. Watch for the late bids coming in. These are from those who have lost their nerve and are now exposed. Now watch the bidding list to see if anyone's put in a big bid at some point such that it is knocking the others down.

During the last 60 seconds you now are up against machine software bids 'sniping' and the seasoned players. At T-20 seconds put your maximum bid in. It may not be enough. If you want, you have just enough time left to try the extra 10% you knew the item was -really really- worth.

If you lose, then no problem. Someone was determined to buy the item at a price you aren't prepared to pay.

Late breaking news ... Goody!. A HP 8640B has just turned up. I've been looking for summat like this for a month. Very low phase noise synth. Even better, it needs "repair" and even better I've already a circuit. The pic' is damned poor but the style and quantity of stick-on labels are suggesting ex UK military, which is a good sign that it's had a decent service history and may be complete internally. Tally Ho!.

Ebay always works that way. It automatically bids for you, some small amount over the next highest bidder, up to your maximum.

That's pretty common. But it's still best to "snipe", put in your maximum 30 seconds before it closes.

John

Well, it was 40 years ago.

John

Good idea.

...Jim Thompson

The desirability of automatic auction extensions on eBay lies somewhere between herpes and AIDS.

An ideal auction is a Vickrey second price auction. eBay becomes this if you proxy bid your max once very late in the auction.

GL gives a good example of how horrible auction extensions are.

More at

...

It's all but hopeless. Not entirely, but so close to entirely as to be hardly worth bothering. I've been trying for a few pieces lately, as it happens, and most get sniped up in the last few minutes (or hours) at outrageous prices, at least from my POV. If you have mucho moolah, you don't need to troll there, but you can invoke the "bid absurdly high" method, and you might get lucky like Jim, if nobody else bothers to go after the item you want.

For research purposes of what something might likely go for, "search closed auctions" for what these things sold or did not sell for recently and decide if you like that price. You might also see the item you are bidding on now, that "sold" last week - so it's either been returned, or the sale was a fiction...you can also see the endlessly re-listed overpriced ones NOT selling, and infer what you like about those sellers.

Low starting price makes little difference - unless the seller mis-describes it to the point that the usual suspects don't notice it, but you somehow do, the price will be yanked up to non-bargain levels by the end, generally.

"Picture is not of actual item" is a red flag, and lack of "Picture IS of actual item" is at least an orange flag. Or so I infer from poring over listings.

Shipping (& handling) is suspiciously high from so many vendors. Many of those that do offer returns clearly make money every time they sell the same object and get it returned.

Yet, finding stuff locally is virtually impossible (in 5 years, I bought one whopping 25MHz scope and let a single other scope go by - I've never seen anything 100MHZ or higher. I tried for 6 months or more to find a used sweep/function generator locally and failed. I don't want a new Chinese version, and I can't find/afford a new non-Chinese version).

I finally did get a S/F-G, but nothing else "auction" has worked out. I've not gotten several counters, for instance. Since I am operating on a small budget, I keep hoping to find one that's reasonable and goes under the radar, but it has not happened yet, and I won't get bid up "to compete" - sheesh, saw another item which was on "buy it now" for $X go for $X+6, when the listing itself clearly indicated that the seller had lots of them and as many as the buyer might want could be gotten for $X.