Lonestar Newb - Posted - 06/26/2009:  14:37:19

I've been following several banjos in auction hoping for a bargain for a starter banjo. What I've seen is the same jerk bidding up the prices on each of the items. He is even upping his own bid 3 or 4 times in a row without anybody counterbidding against him, just to get the prices up. If this doesn't work out for me this weekend I'm giving up on e-bay altogether.

Okay, rant over....

Russ

ddale79 - Posted - 06/26/2009:  14:59:30

Hello, I agree ebay can be frustrating and you do have to be careful when buying. However, I do not think you can up your own bid. When you enter a bid, the system take your max and auto bid just higher than the next person....and keeps upping it until it reaches the max that you submitted. I may be wrong....but I don't think so.

Have you looked at the classified adds on this site. I'd trust it a lot more than ebay.

Just my 2 cents.
Doug

Johnny Lackluster - Posted - 06/26/2009:  15:09:39

Anyone worth buying a used banjo from, knows that this site is the best place to sell it. I buy my stickers on ebay, thats about all I'll use it for.

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"Don''t you know there ain''t no devil, that''s just god when he''s drunk"

Bill Rogers - Posted - 06/26/2009:  15:26:37

Everything eBay has done in the last two or three years is designed to squeeze out small sellers. I no longer use it.

Bill

carteru93 - Posted - 06/26/2009:  15:29:42

Bidders driving up the price is usually called "shill bidding". It's where the price is driven up by someone in business with the seller so they get a higher price for the item. It's against eBay rules, but not against the law, so people still do it.

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Carter
Blaylock Bear Tracks Banjo the "Growler"
You can''t fix stupid!

mrbook - Posted - 06/26/2009:  15:31:32

You can raise your maximum bid even if you are the high bidder, but that is different from having a friend bid up your item. I'm not sure eBay is the best place to find a bargain on a starter banjo, anyway - without knowledge you won't know what you are getting. There are many dealers - most who advertise here - who would do a better job getting you started at a good price.

Once you know what you are looking for you can sometimes find a bargain on eBay, even competing against all the other bidders. It's not easy - most bidding now seems to happen in the last couple minutes, and it's fast and furious. Nevertheless, it's the place where instruments are sold.

Bill

Prewar3 - Posted - 06/26/2009:  15:55:22

I agree with most things said here. You use to be able to get really great deals on ebay, five ten years ago maybe. Once the auction thing took hold then everyone started to use it and started having small "stores" out of ebay, pretty much so they didn't have to open up a retail space. Cuts overhead. I think now a days you can get better and great deals on the hangout plus you know the person you are buying from, pretty much. Good luck. Jim

Jim Prewar3

beegee - Posted - 06/26/2009:  15:56:16

It could be that the prospective buyer is afraid that he'll be shut out. I just use a sniper program. I decide how much I'm willing to spend and set a snip. If I win, I win. If not, too bad.



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