The Fun of E-Bay

[Conky]

As this is not an usual experience, and apologies if you all know about this, but I like occasionally bidding on Ebay, and I thought I may share my failures.
A few days ago there was a Grahams 55 hovering around £50 with 5 minutes to go. I find I never win such items, as I'm only interested in bargains, but the last minute is always exciting.
Anyone can submit an amount 'up to a figure' but if everyone does this early the amount can fly out of control.
So everyone waits. In this case we got to 5 seconds, with me winning at £56. Like a flash, bids came in all over the world and an American won it at £96.
I would suggest that is still a good buy, but not the bargain I was hoping for or, as usual, was seconds away from.

Good entertainment though.

Alan

[benread]

I was watching that just to see what hasppened! There is a "Croft 1920" on offer at present as well!

[SushiNorth]

Ah, sniping. I win lots of stuff on ebay using a similar technique, but the trick is to put in the highest bid you're willing to spend and to do so in the last 15-30 seconds. If it should have gone for more, people wold have bid higher. And if it should be worth less than your max, you'll win it at that fair price. Personally, I think its a really decent way to get bidders and buyers what they deserve. The only reason things are undervalued on ebay is that folks are hoping for a deal, and the reason they are overpriced is that people get emotional. Sniping makes it all good.

[Conky]

I was watching that just to see what happened! There is a "Croft 1920" on offer at present as well!

Yes, but thats got problems. It says re-bottling on the bottle. But It doesn't seem to give any clues of how, when, why, etc.

That would be an adventurous punt.

[benread]

I was watching that just to see what happened! There is a "Croft 1920" on offer at present as well!

Yes, but thats got problems. It says re-bottling on the bottle. But It doesn't seem to give any clues of how, when, why, etc.

That would be an adventurous punt.

You could try the SushiNorth approach with a low bid! Others will be similarly put off so if you were willing to take a punt you may get lucky!

[Conky]

You're right of course, but whats a low bid for a bottle of dishwater?

I'll keep an eye on it, but I'd have loved the Grahams.

[JacobH]

I was watching that one too! The main thing that stops me from bidding more often is that I’d be loathed to spend a serious amount of money on a bottle without knowing how it’s been stored and, equally, for the cheaper bottles the cost of P&P often eliminates any advantage of buying on-line.

[benread]

I am not sure I would buy (having never bought anything on eBay but sold a lot) but it is interesting to watch. Lets at least not bid against each other then!

[Conky]

Do you think we should have a system where we 'flag' when someone here is bidding. I dont mind backing off if someone says they are after it. We'd be a Cartel, that from would stop a few unnecessary price hikes.
It would all be on trust, and un-policable, but I'd honour it, and hopefully benefit from it?

[benread]

The word cartel always makes me nervous! I am sure if there was something you were looking at, you could easily let those people likely to have a similar interest know of yours.

There is a Port for Sale thread I think. I suspect this is not the first time this issue has been discussed.

[JacobH]

I think you’d be pretty safe from cartel issues if you are buying as an individual for personal consumption (or setting global oil prices, but that’s another story!)…Also, considering the current offerings seem to be a Warre’s 1970 at £43.50 (inc P&P), and seven minatures (in three different lots) we should be quite safe from a bidding conflict!

[SushiNorth]

I've thought about that as well, and often worried that tipping off a room full of port obsessives to a good deal was a bad practice! As it was jdaw1 would have been happier to have more of those Eira Veha's (but there was plenty in the warehouse) when we did some group shopping.

I'd actually recommend two threads:
an "on the look out for..." and a "now bidding on" thread.

I use the same username on other sites when I bid, and generally put in one real low bid early on to let other bidders know I'm in the game. If they haven't realized yet that i'll be putting in a real bid at the last minute, they should be paying more attention!
The trouble with not competing is that some of us may be willing to go higher than others, but folks can handle that via private msgs. (i.e. "Hey, if that goes over your limit, let me know as I'd be willing to go up to $XX for it")

[jdaw1]

The law on cartels isn’t helpful to you. Proceed with caution.

[SushiNorth]

Also, considering the current offerings seem to be a Warre’s 1970 at £43.50 (inc P&P), and seven minatures (in three different lots) we should be quite safe from a bidding conflict!

Ah, i see the problem... y'all aren't bidding over at winecommune! I like the deals they tend to have there, though I don't buy at this time of year becase of ground shipping issues (too hot). They do offer free storage til fall for those who still want to poke around over there.

[JacobH]

Unfortunately, the choice is a bit more limited in the UK. Incidentally, I liked this from one I clicked on at random:

WEATHER POLICY - if you elect, we will store the wines you purchase on WineCommune free of charge in our temperature-controlled storeroom until suitable shipping weather in September or October. If you want your wines shipped during hot weather, we will not be responsible for heat-damaged or leaking wine.

[SushiNorth]

The law on cartels isn’t helpful to you. Proceed with caution.

Agreed, we aren't selling, we're buying. We also don't represent the majority of buyers. Of course, that said, auction sites would view the behavior as anti-competitive and might decide to kick us out of the auctions :/

[SushiNorth]

WEATHER POLICY - if you elect, we will store the wines you purchase on WineCommune free of charge in our temperature-controlled storeroom until suitable shipping weather in September or October.

Yeah that's the actual JJ Buckley store that operates via wine commune. I generally buy through them. Wines tend to be discounted due to the nature of auctions, but then I pay shipping. So basically, no discount just a nice selection

[JacobH]

The quote does beg the question: where are they and what is the weather like between November and August?

[Conky]

I'd actually recommend two threads:
an "on the look out for..." and a "now bidding on" thread.

I like that thought. I think I'll start doing that. To hell with the legalities.

Alan

[SushiNorth]

They're in california, so basically september-april is OK ground shipping weather, but much beyond that and you risk the wine cooking in the UPS truck. So they'll store it for you during the summer and ship it once the weather cools off. Doesn't matter much for port fiends as we aren't drinking it the day it arrives, anyway, but lots of people buy regular wine there, cheap and in bulk, so they care about shipping options/times/etc.

[KillerB]

Not always a good deal. A woman at work had a bottle of Sandeman 1958 that had been hiding in an uncle's shoe box for thirty years (she asked why this wasn't good provenance). I checked out for her and gave her a minimum price to stick on eBay of £35, which is a bit above auction price for good provenance. I suggested that it would get more than this simply because it is 50 years old and some sucker would be willing to pay over the odds for someone's birthday.

I was right - £80.

However, seeing the prices on Wine-searcher, I can see why they paid it.

[g-man]

However, seeing the prices on Wine-searcher, I can see why they paid it.

I have to say wine-searcher is a mixed blessing.

it does make it convinient to track down bottles, but you also have to know real values of the wines offered. It seems all the inet companies take a peak at each other and decide to set the prices close to one another.

take a few first growths in 2002, no way they should be selling anywhere near 400$.

[mosesbotbol]

You wanna win on EBay, http://www.phantombidder.com is the only way to go...