Why I don’t buy stuff on eBay anymore
I’m giving up on eBay. Turning off all my searches for stuff I want; won’t be logging in anymore. Why?
Because I’m tired of every auction I try to bid on being sniped at the last second by someone else. Usually for a bit more than I’d put in as my maximum, of course, since that how it works, but always about 5 or 6 seconds before the end of the action.
I know about the monetary theory at work here — I’ve set my ‘maximum’ price that I’m willing to spend, and the folks buying it are bidding above that price so I shouldn’t feel bad that I’m not getting things, but I think it’s bunk. Not because the theory is wrong, but because, since I never actually manage to buy anything, why should I bother to bid up the price to what I would pay if I’m never actually going to pay it? Let the prices there stay low, or things go unbid on until the last second, then whomever has teh best sniping software and wide pipes can buy stuff for whatever they are willing to spend.
Feh!