ebay: April 2008 Archives
One of the things that drives me mad is when a "cheap" item has a high shipping price.
You know the scenario I'm sure. Item "costs" about 2 euro, but by the time you pay for shipping it's suddenly 30 euro.
If you're using eBay.com from Ireland there's an option to show the estimated shipping cost as part of the display columns. If I can't see a price or it's simply too high I won't bother bidding.
Now there is a difference between "too high" and simply "insane"
Check this out (click to enlarge):
It's obviously a glitch in their system, as the items' listings show a much saner shipping price.
Don't you just love computers?
You know the scenario I'm sure. Item "costs" about 2 euro, but by the time you pay for shipping it's suddenly 30 euro.
If you're using eBay.com from Ireland there's an option to show the estimated shipping cost as part of the display columns. If I can't see a price or it's simply too high I won't bother bidding.
Now there is a difference between "too high" and simply "insane"
Check this out (click to enlarge):
It's obviously a glitch in their system, as the items' listings show a much saner shipping price.
Don't you just love computers?
eBay Ireland have unveiled their helpline for their "most valued customers" ie. those of us who spend lots of money.
The guys in eBay had told me about this a few weeks ago, but I had been asked not to mention it in public until it was ready for primetime.
It will be interesting to see what kind of support levels they are going to offer via this new support service.
I'll have to try it out to see! (I currently have a couple of minor issues that I'd like to get resolved)
I've been using a very handy tool to help my eBay addiction over the last few days.
Bib Burglar is a "sniping" tool which basically bids for you in the last few seconds of an auction. Since it's a remote service you don't have to worry about leaving your desktop computer on 24/7.
The interface is very simple. All you need to do is provide the item / auction ID number, the maximum amount you want to bid (it will automatically use the currency of the eBay site) and how many of the items you want.
If your bid is too low you'll get an email to let you know that you are losing, so you can easily increase your max bid.
The only minor niggle is that the system works primarily based on the auction ID, which is probably faster than polling eBay's servers for the item name. So when you get a warning message about a potentially losing bid you've no way of knowing what it actually refers to until you login.
Apart from that one little issue it's a really nice service and you only pay the really low fees based on the items you win ie. if you don't win the auctions you don't have to pay for your bids.
If you signup you can get an unlimited trial account for a couple of weeks. I'm currently having fun abusing mine.
Bib Burglar is a "sniping" tool which basically bids for you in the last few seconds of an auction. Since it's a remote service you don't have to worry about leaving your desktop computer on 24/7.
The interface is very simple. All you need to do is provide the item / auction ID number, the maximum amount you want to bid (it will automatically use the currency of the eBay site) and how many of the items you want.
If your bid is too low you'll get an email to let you know that you are losing, so you can easily increase your max bid.
The only minor niggle is that the system works primarily based on the auction ID, which is probably faster than polling eBay's servers for the item name. So when you get a warning message about a potentially losing bid you've no way of knowing what it actually refers to until you login.
Apart from that one little issue it's a really nice service and you only pay the really low fees based on the items you win ie. if you don't win the auctions you don't have to pay for your bids.
If you signup you can get an unlimited trial account for a couple of weeks. I'm currently having fun abusing mine.
The frontpage of the main eBay site is probably worth visiting every few days, as they tend to highlight special auctions.
If you're a Scrubs fan then the one they're highlighting at the moment is probably a dream come through - a day on the set of Scrubs.
Current bidding stands at just over $1000 and is open to anyone who can work in the US (that's me out so!)
All proceeds to charity, naturally.
If you're a Scrubs fan then the one they're highlighting at the moment is probably a dream come through - a day on the set of Scrubs.
Current bidding stands at just over $1000 and is open to anyone who can work in the US (that's me out so!)
All proceeds to charity, naturally.
