Would it be prudent for us to have a thread here (or multiple threads) where we mention stuff we're bidding on at the great flea market, to discourage others from bidding against us, or do you think that would be counter-productive?
We used to be able to see to some extent who's bidding, but now I normally find I cannot see the other bidders names due to ebay changes, just 'bidder 1' etc so I have no idea if I'm bidding against any of you guys...
ETA: I misspoke, I didn't actually mean "to discourage others from bidding against us", I meant to avoid increasing the total amount we spend on gear between us!
Last edited by lauriek on Mon Dec 29, 2008 7:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
Fine by me. My bottle collector friends keep each other informed the same way.
Besides, I already have two of those (one exactly as pictured, one in its "BP Plan" version for the brightfield/darkfield epi-illumination head on my Optiphot 88 scope).
The tradeoffs are discussed periodically on the Yahoo Microscope group, which is equally public and also has a membership several times larger than ours. The advantage of posting an interest is that it can ward off some inadvertent competition between friends. The disadvantage is that it may make more people aware of interesting items. As far as I know, nobody has ever figured out which way it goes more often.
Definitely NOT a good idea as stated. If implemented as lauriek suggets then I, for example, could not (would be discouraged to) bid on this lens. On the other hand, if I made the 1st bid then lauriek may be discouraged to bid. Why should I or any other member not be allowed to submit a bid? I saw this lens yesterday and would have bid if it was a 20x. (I can't think of anything that I could use a 40x for). It's not a question of who was 1st to see, or bid on, an item.
A better way would be for lauriek to make his/her intentions known and then any member interested could send a PM indicating the max he/she is prepared to bid.
For example, if I was prepared to pay up to $400.00 for this lens and lauriek was not prepared to go above $350.00 then it would be decent if he/she stopped bidding at the current $150.00. Conversely, if lauiek was prepared to bid $450.00 I would stop (or not start) and not drive the bidding beyond $150.00.
Such a system would depend entirely on trust and may not be practical.
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
NU You've actually elaborated on my own thoughts quite nicely there!
I didn't mean to suggest that we couldn't or shouldn't bid against each other, or that anyone should have 'dibs' on any item - merely that it could be bad in terms of what we end up paying for stuff!
Recently I bid on something and found out afterwards via a third party that I'd bid against (I think it was) dmillard, and I felt terribly guilty for making him pay more for something than was necessary...
Your suggestion of a bit of PMing sounds sensible, we obviously wouldn't want to post our maximums in a public forum!
So if anyone else does want this lens, please PM me your thoughts about how much you'd pay and we'll try to work something out?
Surely he just paid what he thought it was worth ? Also, perhaps whoever is selling the items desperately needs the money and is selling off his/her prized possessions and you want to stop him getting market value ? Just a provocative thought
I bid on the Multiphot stand I think you won - I wasn't bidding against you, I was bidding on something I was interested in buying and bid what I thought was a reasonable price - I had to add a return trip from Brussels to collect it so my limit was a bit lower than yours
Nothing personal, but if I saw something I wanted on eBay, the last people I would tell are you lot !!! If I saw something of generic interest that I didn't want / couldn't afford then I might post about it but there are more than enough people patrolling eBay already.
I try to avoid live bidding on eBay. If I'm interested in something I'll put in an early/low bid to lock it on the market and then use a sniping tool to put in the maximum I want to pay at the last moment.
Fair points, although I doubt we have enough people here for a monopoly on stacking gear to the point we could affect the 'market value' of an ebay item!
"Surely he just paid what he thought it was worth ? "
Quite true, but he could have got it for a few quid less... Same with the Multiphot, I bid what I was prepared to pay, obviously my collection costs allowed me to bid a bit more than you. That doesn't mean I wouldn't have liked to have saved a quid or two!
"I try to avoid live bidding on eBay. If I'm interested in something I'll put in an early/low bid to lock it on the market and then use a sniping tool to put in the maximum I want to pay at the last moment."
NikonUser and the others above, have elaborated the questions very well and there isn't much in the way of good answers.
I am also on a gemology forum and have made a lot of friends there by posting ebay auctions that I think others might be interested in. But obviously if I am interested I don't post it. I get lots of PMs from members who find this or that on ebay and want my opinion of it. They always say don't post this and of course I never do nor do I bid against people who come to me that way. I use search software and figure if they can find it before I do then let them have it.
But it is correct that no one has dibs on a public auction. The fact that we all have similar interests in similar equipment makes it almost inevitable that we will bid against one another occasionally. On the aforementioned list this outcome has been determined in "post mortem" discussions. We discover we both bid on the same item. I can't see how this could be prevented from happening from time to time. I have pondered this question in respect to that list and come up with no real answers.
g4lab wrote:I have pondered this question in respect to that list and come up with no real answers.
Simple - people pay what they think an item is worth paying for. If someone else thinks it is worth more (or their money is worth less to them ! ) they win. That's why it is called an auction not a retail shop
) I'm bidding on this little peach - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0296408648
(one exactly as pictured, one in its "BP Plan" version for the brightfield/darkfield epi-illumination head on my Optiphot 88 scope). 
