OK… is it me, or are people buying on eBay retarded?
In my recent experience of looking for an upgrade to a Macintosh Mini on eBay, it’s become very clear that hardly anyone is doing research on current prices for items before they bid. I mean, time after time, I saw people paying anywhere from $50-300 MORE for a USED, 1-2+ year old box than they would for a brand new core2Duo mini. Some of them were even paying more for a G4 for pete’s sake!
I don’t get it… I mean… what gives? Thats like paying MORE for a car on some sloppy used car lot, than buying a brand new one for the same price or less, with a warranty and that “new car smell.” (Not that you have that new car smell with a computer, but…) Are people that caught up in the whole “It’s on eBay so it has to be a deal” that they don’t bother researching prices?? Sure, some of the rigs came with some extras, such as software+license, but I’m not talking about those… these were run of the mill 1.6ghz coreDuo (not core2Duo) machines, with only a single 512mb stick of memory, selling for $600, $700, even $800… no keyboard.. no mouse… no nothing… hell.. some even didn’t have the original packaging and recovery CDs…
Maybe I am thinking too logically again…
September 15th, 2007 at 7:41 pm
It’s not just eBay. Stupid people are everywhere. But as far as eBay, with nearly 350 positive feedback, I like to think I am a pro at eBay. I have noticed the same thing, although not that often. I wish those people would bid on stuff that I sell. I put two nearly new 160gb Seagate external hard drives on eBay as one listing. I started the bidding at like $40 with about $7 shipping. $47 for two 160gb external hard drives. I spent I think around $120 each from the store. And guess what… no one bought them. WTF. Other people were buying one 80gb external for that much. I don’t get it either.
September 18th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
Yeah Bryce… I feel your pain man… it’s gotten pretty stupid, and typically not even worth selling on eBay. I sold some stuff here recently, mainly old computer stuff from upgrades, and didn’t make enough to be worth my time to take it to the post office.
I have a bunch of old Mac software and some PC components that I need to sell, and I am going to just put it on Amazon instead, at a flat price. Starting bids @ $.99 on ebay only ends up selling the item for like $5, when it’s worth $200. And I got a MUCH better deal on an Adobe Creative Suite CS package on Amazon than I could find on eBay, even after watching/bidding for the last 3 weeks.
The whole thing is just @ss backwards…
September 20th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
I scratch my head about it all the time. but I am an eBay Silver Powerseller so I’m not doing too much complaining..
September 20th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
hahahhaaa… yeah… I guess from that perspective, I wouldn’t care how stupid people are, as they would continue to pay too much for used stuff.
September 20th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
You can buy new stuff in CompUSA, Staples or Best Buy and resell them on eBay for a profit. No kidding.
September 20th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
yeah.. I’ve considered that… buying retail or closeout still in the package and reselling, but it’s such a crapshoot. I sold some stuff recently, and someone only bid $0.99 right at the end, which I am legally bound to sell. That isn’t even worth the time…
September 20th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
lol…..there is an art to it. plus as a powerseller, people have a little more faith in me so I get more looks and more bids