Outbid again!

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compo

Veteran
Location
Harlow
A few years ago I bought a very entry level Ridgeback Adventure hybrid bike at a bootsale for £30. I loved that bike. It was unbelievably comfortable and I rode many many happy miles on it. Then I came into a few quid and bought a new Trek FX3 with disc brakes, and sold my Ridgeback. What a mistake. I hate the Trek but cannot afford another new bike so I must live with it. I wish I had spent a couple of hundred quid on doing up the Ridgeback. I feel I have thrown my money away on the Trek.

I have been looking now and then for another Ridgeback, but it must be the same model/frame size. Today one came up on Ebay and it was stuck at £11 for ages. I stuck a bid on at max £30. With 1 second to go I was outbid by £1 and lost it. Never mind, that's auctions.

If someone on here bought a Ridgeback today from Littlehampton, well done, and I hope it's a good one.
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Why don't you sell the Trek for a lot more than £30 and use what you need from that sale to outbid everyone else next time?
 

Profpointy

Legendary Member
I just stick in what I'm prepared to pay and if I win I win. If someone wants to bid more at the last minute, I don't care - if they want to bid more than I'm prepared to pay, then they can have it. At the risk of stating the obvious, if there are only two bidders left in, then the winner will always only pay £1 more - he may have paid £100 more if you'd kept going.

I've also quite frequently seen some old second hand thing go for more than a brand new one with warranty from a proper shop

And remember, if you buy anything in an auction, it means you paid more than everyone else thought it was worth.
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
And remember, if you buy anything in an auction, it means you paid more than everyone else thought it was worth.
It means you paid more than everyone else who spotted it and could afford it thought it was worth!

A friend of mine made quite a bit of money buying and selling motorcycle spares on eBay after noticing that a minority of people misspelt certain brand names. He started bidding on those and managed to get bargains which he then resold with the names spelt correctly. Crafty! :thumbsup:
 

Profpointy

Legendary Member
It means you paid more than everyone else who spotted it and could afford it thought it was worth!

A friend of mine made quite a bit of money buying and selling motorcycle spares on eBay after noticing that a minority of people misspelt certain brand names. He started bidding on those and managed to get bargains which he then resold with the names spelt correctly. Crafty! :thumbsup:

don't tell everyone. The search-for-mis-spellings trick is a good'un
 

mrbikerboy73

Über Member
Location
Worthing, UK
If someone on here bought a Ridgeback today from Littlehampton, well done, and I hope it's a good one.
And not stolen :laugh:
 

ClassicLime

Active Member
Good luck finding a Ridgeback Adventure Compo.

Some people get carried away with auctions & I think eBay's calculated use of the word 'won' rather than 'bought' helps this. I've sold a load of my old DVDs on eBay, a couple sold for more than you could buy a new one for from amazon etc!
 

raleighnut

Legendary Member
I've had a Ridgeback Adventure for years and I know exactly what you mean, mind you I did spend about £300 on bits for it as it was just a frame/forks when I was given it.
Carry on searching and good luck.
BTW mine is a Tange CrMo frame so £30 is very cheap so next one that comes up it might be an idea to bid a bit more. :thumbsup:
 

Alex H

Legendary Member
Location
Alnwick
It means you paid more than everyone else who spotted it and could afford it thought it was worth!

A friend of mine made quite a bit of money buying and selling motorcycle spares on eBay after noticing that a minority of people misspelt certain brand names. He started bidding on those and managed to get bargains which he then resold with the names spelt correctly. Crafty! :thumbsup:

A bit like this guy - although, I suspect not quite so much profit :eek:

http://www.gizmag.com/allsopps-arctic-ale/7929/
http://www.gizmag.com/allsopps-arctic-ale/7929/
One bottle of Allsop's Arctic Ale (brewed 1852) - bought for $304

One bottle of Allsopp's Arctic Ale (brewed 1852) - sold for $503,300
 

Dirk

If 6 Was 9
Location
Watchet
I generally use a free bidding 'sniper' if there's something I'm after on eBay. 'Joy Bidder' is a free add on for Firefox and it works quite well. Just leave it running in the background while you do something else useful - like going out for a ride. Never put in maximum bids that are rounded off to the nearest pound. Always make maximum bids something like '£25.18' instead of '£25' - silly to lose an item for the sake of a few pence. Always look for misspelled items and items listed in the wrong categories.
I just 'sniped' a very nice vintage bike off eBay - beating other bidder by 64 pence in the last 2 seconds of the auction. I'd bid £100.64. I shouldn't think the other bidder was too happy :angry:- but that's what auctions are about.
 
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stephec

Legendary Member
Location
Bolton
I generally use a free bidding 'sniper' if there's something I'm after on eBay. 'Joy Bidder' is a free add on for Firefox and it works quite well. Just leave it running in the background while you do something else useful - like going out for a ride. Never put in maximum bids that are rounded off to the nearest pound. Always make maximum bids something like '£25.18' instead of '£25' - silly to lose an item for the sake of a few pence. Always look for misspelled items and items listed in the wrong categories.
I just 'sniped' a very nice vintage bike off eBay - beating other bidder by 64 pence in the last 2 seconds of the auction. I'd bid £100.64. I shouldn't think the other bidder was too happy :angry:- but that's what auctions are about.
So I'm not the only one that uses odd amounts? :smile:

£13.57
£22.84
Etc...

What would happen though if ten people were bidding and they all use one of those sniper tools?
 
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