I've found the best deals on auctions ending on a weekend, Sunday especially. I think people zone out on the weekend auctions. Maybe they have more free time to bid while they are at work.

As a seller I am always amazed at the prices some of the junk I sell brings. People simply don't pay attention to what is on auction and average sale prices.

I was amused over the last couple weeks as I watched auctions and 'buy it nows' for the Cowon' iAudio X5 DAP. People were paying more for the unit than it was being sold for on the manufacturers web site with free shipping. Truely amazing how clueless some people are when at auction. I've seen the same behaviour at live auctions (police, estate, etc.).

Weekend auctions are definitely better. Especially ones ending at odd hours.

When I sell, I always make sure my auctions end at a time when people in the East and West coasts are sitting in front of their computers at work. Seems to work best for me.

Thats the BEST part about eBay from a sellers prospective, its all about working the system and making the bidder bid, then you plus ebay wins lol.

eBay has a 25% ownership in Craigslist.org!!!!

I'm convinced that in the bigger categories (electronics, collectibles & big ticket items) that the days of getting a good deal on ebay are over.

There are still some good deals to be had. I recently got a Zegna 15mil15 suit with the tags still on it for under $200. Add another $100 for my tailor and I've got a new, $2k suit for $300.

There are a few good deals from dealers who are using ebay for low overhead marketing. Mostly though, I view it as a place to get hard to find items. I know from my days on watch forums that some people pick up very high end Swiss watches there at well below list. You can get dealers to hit those prices sometimes, but it isnt easy. Although for me, the thought of dropping 5 or 10 grand on a watch on ebay creeps me out, big time, as the Veep would say.

I bought a nice 1940s Omega, triple-date, moonphase on eBay some years back but only because the buyer was a known quantity from Timezone. No way would I drop thousands for a watch on eBay, especially after seeing so many good copies in South China.

I also good a good deal on Shure e5 earphones... again, not a mainstream product.

One thing I love about ebay is that I can usually find what I need there even if the item has long since been discontinued. Could not find a single B&M store with a replacement stylus for my Handspring Deluxe. Ebay - no problem!

I don't lose any sleep over the snipers. I simply bid my max and that's the end of it. If someone else wants to overpay by outbidding me, more power to them. I can simply wait for the next auction, and there's almost always one around the corner unless you're bidding on a Babe Ruth home run ball.

Buying on ebay is like anything else - you need to do your homework first. There are some great deals, and there are some really bad deals where you see used items selling for more than you would pay for a new item. The sheer # of dumb buyers who overpay for electronics never ceases to amaze me.

As for fraud, I've been pretty fortunate to avoid the scammers. But again, you have to do your homework, i.e. check feedback, and use common sense (if a deal looks too good to be true it probably is). As for the flip side, I find it sad that I had to restrict payment options after someone bounced a $25 check. But I don't begrude the commission to 3% to paypal - it't not much worse than some of the VI/MC merchant fees.

Regretfully not by founder, Craig Newmark's choice.

Was it not a direct result of his actions that the shares that eBay bought came to be on the market?

EBay bought 25 percent of his company from a former Craigs-list employee who had independently sold the shares to the San Jose auction firm.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...15/NEWMARK.TMP

Didn't Craig give him the shares?

Sometimes the seller doesn't appreciate the value of what they are selling. When I upgraded to my current Treo 650, I had a Samsung i500 surplus. It was pretty beat up, but functional. I figured I might get $50 for it. It eventually sold for $250. With my rebate from Sprint, the Treo was effectively free.

What is the difference in esnipe and AuctionSniper?

I have never used either, so before I get attached to one...

Sam

I've only used eSnipe. The first two weeks of membership are free then they charge you something like 1% of the winning bid. You have to buy "eSnipe points" to pay your fee, and I think the minimum you can buy at a time is $5 worth. I've only won once (the eBay bids the rest of the time have gone above my target bid before the bidding time came) and it was during the free period.