Karaoke Forums

Being from a rural background auctions have been an integral  part of life. I have seen fortunes made lives ruined watched as farmers entire inventory of equiptment was sold and then watched the family weep as the farm was sold...Prople tend to get wrapped up in the excitement of the auctioneer yodeling and hot bidding at a fast pace..

And it amazed me first time I went on ebay how similar it it is..  Yet my lifelong experience with buying and selling at auctions gives me a sixth sense when it comes to sellers tricks for I've seen them all. Ebay is different in some ways but close to the end  I  can go into bidders history and see whats going on just like at a real auction and read bidders Are they bidding in small increments? Are they laying back or bidding right away even with a day left in the sale?  The ironic part is there is a number by their name that tells you how much experience they have... The same tricks at a real auction apply here... Before bidding on something I'll check pricewatch and see what the going price is and on the big high demand items it usually sells close to it.. Sometimes I'll just put in a high bid and then with all the discipline I got stay off of ebay

My pet peeve about ebay are the ones that jump in the last minute and put in a high first bid and win especially if I got a deal going and winning at a good price..I have done it a couple of times and had a guilty conscious for awhile.....But all in all it is just another auction and for something like this to succeed for so long is good policing and staying above board esp on the net.....

Yeah but Karyoker,  Let's face it... If you really want something, depending on the auction, sometimes "sniping" is worth it.  We aren't talking about Shill bidding, we're talking about a game just about everybody plays now.... and even has Esnipe software for.... Especially in a market both you and I are interested in.... Some of this vintage audio stuff will get past a person who isn't willing to snipe.

I've tried numerous ways,  entering slightly incorrect spelling in a search in hopes a person didn't know how to spell Mirantz  LOL  and I'd be one of two bidder's on a McIntosch 60's receiver, or a Swannn 500C rig.

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

So, is pricewatch something that is on ebay or is it a separate website altogether??

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Will sing or fish for food!!I'm not quite right!!

I have to refamiliarize myself with Ebay Isis.   I have Paypal (of course), yet never even used SafeTrade, or any other features that supposedly aren't directly associated with Ebay's "venue only" status  LOL . SafeTrade has it's advantages (assuming it still exists)


There's a Pricewatch which is kind've like XpBargains,  it's a tech site and let's you know an approximation of market costs on like items.

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Pricewatch This is for computer stuff there is another for musicians but I cant remember it right now...

What a valuable tool, Thanks..I have already saved it as a favorite...

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Will sing or fish for food!!I'm not quite right!!

I buy ALL my computer stuff off pricewatch. It's where I've found my external cases, my 4gb thumbnail drive for $88 on sale, monitors, mice, memory, everything!

Me too Matt  I find the ones on the west coast and shippng to co is only 2 or 3 days...

Yes! Our devious plan worked! Months of plotting finally paid off! Since you were the brains, I'll still keep it at the agreed upon 90/10 split.

Yeah, I've never been burned by any S.C. sellers either on that site (knock on wood), but I'm mostly just worried about their enforcement ability if it does happen. There is good pricing on a lot of the less popular discs, especially if your looking fill some gaps in your books. You can definately find some real "gems" if you pay close attention...and get there first on a "Buy It Now".

P.S.- Kappy, that was a 90% cut MY way!

I got my sc foundation and bricks on ebay at a decent price my only mistake well maybe was buying SGB 1- 51 I still got alot of them...Sava 1-19 or whatever it was turned out ok If I need a new soundchoice now I prob get it from Doowop ( who I met on ebay) But over the years building a karaoke library has been an expensive yet satisisfying experience... And it is still the most important part of a sucessful dj or kj business...

Well Chris,  There are always a few red flag's as to what seller's might be a potential problem... Here's one example, but of course there are others..

If a seller has had an account for 3 weeks, has had 6 transactions, In which all 6 people bidding on laptop computers paid cash Western Union. Two people have already given the seller Negative Feedback because he hasn't responded to Email's since they made their payment, and their item's haven't arrived as promised. The other 4 people who bid on similar computers the next day, are complaining about the seller who's not responded to their Emails either in the Ebay community rooms, and they are wondering how long they should wait for their computer's to arrive before notifying the police dept in the city they wired cash to.. After some research a few people found out that coincidently, two of the other  bidders on his auctions just happened to join Ebay on the same day, and within 15 minutes of the time the seller joined, and their only bidding history is on this sellers auctions. Mysteriously, they lost interest in Ebay after this seller's last sale...On a positive note, there was no S&H fee, or packaging fee, because the sales were over $2000, and that entitles the buyer to 3 day shipping at no additional cost.

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Thank you Kappy... Well said!!

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Will sing or fish for food!!I'm not quite right!!

I agree.. that is a good example. Have heard about unscrupulous sellers bumping up their own prices with fake bids, but haven't gone through it personally.... I think. Usually try to avoid payment method that's not "Paypal". Sure not going to use Western Union after reading that post.

My biggest "annoyance" lately, is paying 4.95 for shipping & handling on a disc, and then when it arrives, seeing that postage was a little less than a dollar! That's one of the ways they can get an extra couple of bucks out of the deal. Not a huge issue, but kinda irritating when certain occasional sellers do that. Most of the time it's reasonable, though. Saw one guy awhile back with a good priced disc... that cost 9.95 to ship ! That was more than the cost of the actual cd-g itself! At that price it better be delivered with trumpets blaring, presented on a silk pillow at my door!

yes, because they don't pay the FEES on the shipping and handling. They only pay the fees on the cost of the selling price.

once you understand that, it's just the cost of doing business... so your bid should be lower on your purchases!