LastPlace

I have been looking for a flat barred, fat tired(sp) bike for commuting, and just ran across this on E-Bay, and wondered about the low price.

https://cgi.ebay.com/Custom-55cm-JAMI...QQcmdZViewItem

There does not seem to be a minimum bid, but am I missing something?

Also, I appreciate all the suggestions about buying from E-Bay by folks last week.

maddmaxx 

I'm not sure what you mean about no minimum bid.

This sale started at 49.95, went to 120 for the top price of the second bidder who was beated at 122.50. The third bidder does not seem to be confident of the 122.50 holding up so he has placed another bid higher than 122.5. The current bid stays at 122.50 untill someone else bids.

Each bid must be at lease 2.50 above the current. There is no telling what the final price will be.

122.50 would be an exceptional price for this bike. There is a lot of activity coming before this auction is complete.

BluesDawg

Seems OK to me. I don't think it's going to go cheap, though.

LastPlace

maddmaxx,

Just shows my ignorance of E-Bay. I thought some things had a minimum bid, or is it called 'Reserve'? Thanks for looking.

maddmaxx 

A reserve is at the option of the seller.

In this case the seller appears to be confident that the item is desirable and will generate a lot of activity. To see the bid history, go back to the listing and mouse click on the # of bids. You will get a listing of all of the bids placed on the item.

I'm guessing at certain things such as the 49.95 first bidders price being the starting point. It could have been lower. The interesting bid is the current high bidder placing another bid. That tells you that he has moved his maximum up higher than his current winning bid.

The concept of reserve is a minimum price below which the seller will not accept a bid and complete the sale. It serves the same purpose as a starting price but lets the seller float an item around to see what interest there is without having to sell.

Do your research on this bike, calculate what it would be worth to you (include the shipping cost in the price). That would be your top bid. The other factor is to read between the lines and determine how much of what the seller says about the bike is real. Much like buying a used car.

I haven't got a lot of advice for this as most of the equipment I buy on Ebay is new so condition is not a big factor in my decisions.

Patience is a big thing when buying on Ebay. Are you looking for a super bargan or have you fallen in love with a particular item.

I purchased a brand new Haro V4 frame last winter for $47 plus $25 freight but I walked away from a lot of frames when my low ball bid was topped.

LastPlace

maddmaxx,

Thanks. Never having dealt with E-Bay I may try bidding on this just for the experience.

In a perfect world I would like to find a Jamis Coda, which was on E-Bay, but at a price I couldn't afford.

Like many people, I'm probably looking for an unrealistic price.

maddmaxx 

Jamis bicycles do not sell for cheap on Ebay. This particular brand along with many Trek's seem to command a high resale price. Sort of like a Honda or Toyota.

Good luck with your bid.

Digital Gee

Even though the seller has a 100% favorable rating, I would be cautious. This bike was photographed in front of a paneled wall, NOT a white garage door.

maddmaxx 

That is a clue. Sellers have been known to use the structure of the paneled wall to draw the eye away from the more obvious imperfections of the bike.

LastPlace

maddmaxx,

Well, I will probably hold out for something with a flat bar and big tires, or at least the ability to fit big tires, unless I get one of those 'once is a lifetime deals'.

Another 'wish' is a steel frame, since I much prefer my steel Soma over my aluminum Trek, but time will tell. Thanks again.


DG,

I too missed the dreaded 'paneled' wall. Good catch.

anomaly

What is the general consensus on what that bike is worth, if it's in good condition?

bac

True.

MarkS

I bet the linoleum floor is significant too.

This particular bike still has 8 days to go -- plenty of time for the bidding wars to start.

Ebay lets you do a "completed listing" search. My search for JAMIS NOVA suggests that this is the only time this brand/model have been sold on Ebay. A search for just JAMIS shows lots of other models ... with the outcome varying widely depending on model.

If you're interested in a particular auction, don't forget that you can mark it as a watched item and then receive regular updates.

Also don't forget to check craigslist.

RoMad

I bid on a lot of bikes on e-bay before I finally got one. One of the things I learned from a friend was to use a bid sniper program. You can google "bid sniper" and learn how it works and find a free one. After I missed a few bikes because I did not know how to snipe I made a list of all of the brands I knew and then searched by brand, size and component, ie: Trek 58 ultegra. I also figured out that some brands like Trek, and Cannondale are very popular and get bid on by a lot of people. I ended up with a New Lemond with the components I wanted and in the correct size for hundreds less than what I would have paid for the same bike in a more popular brand. Good Luck

LastPlace

anomaly,

I haven't the foggiest what the bike is really worth, but a 2007 Nova is $1300 on the Jamis site. The color does not match the 2007 or 2006 color on the Jamis site so it may be a bit older. Also, I haven't checked the site today, but I think the seller said he 'built' the bike, so it may not be all original parts. I have dial-up, so checking is a bit slow, so don't hold me to that.


RoMad,

Someone on another board mentioned 'Sniping' and I may try that. Thanks for the reminder.

MarkS,

Around here there are very few bikes on CraigsList, but I do keep an eye on that. Thanks for the heads up.

BluesDawg

that's cheating!

LastPlace

BluesDawg,

What is cheating? Are you talking about sniping?

RoMad

He is kidding, (or a sore loser) Sniping is not cheating. It uses the computer to wait until the last few seconds to raise the bid by a small amount, like a dollar or two. By the time the other bidders try to raise their bid, the auction is over. It happened to me on more than one occasion before I started using it. Anyone can snipe. E-bay owns one of the snipe sites and there are no rules against it.

George

E-bay will call you and say you have 2 minutes or whatever to give the last bid. It says so right on there site.

RoMad

Yes, e-bay does tell you that, but the snipe program that someone else is using waits until 2 to 7 seconds before the auction is over and outbids you by $1.00. It happened to me on a nice Raleigh that I thought was the one. E-bay then says "you have been outbid, would you like to bid again" and when you raise your bid you get a "sorry this auction has ended" and someone else is riding your Raleigh.

MarkS

Its a crazy system. You can wait two weeks, but everything important happens in the last 15 seconds. Its amazing that so many people will start to bid so early. The only reason I can see to bid sooner than the last 2 minutes is to reduce the number of individuals who will find it in a price-based search. So if an item has a value of $100 but sometimes goes for as little as $50, you might want to bid the safe $50 at the start of the auction so it will be at the bottom of the list for people doing a sort by price. The fewer people that notice it, the fewer watch lists it gets on and the less likely there is to be a bidding frenzy at the end. Or at least that's one theory.

maddmaxx 

This is a change in my original opinion about the absolute value of this bike. It is not what it appears to be at first look.

Looked at the bike closely, looked at the equipment fit. Unless your a collector of Jamis frames this bike is worth no more than 250 tops. Almost nothing of the original bike onboard. Looked through this sellers reviews to see what he buys and sells. Lots of used equipment and several frames in the last couple of months. Buy, build, sell.......buy. build, sell........

You might buy something like this from someone you know if you could touch it and inspect it but this sale has great promise for dissapointment.

Patience grasshopper.......

BluesDawg

Not kidding. I think it's cheating in the sense that it takes the fun out of bidding by pitting man against a computer. But you are correct that it is not against the rules of eBay. But if I made the rules it would be. Let the bidders fight it out.

anomaly

Well, here is my deal. He is local, and I went and rode it. It is in tip top shape. All of the components, while a mishmash, would easily cost more than $250 alone if you spent days ebaying for the cheapest price possible. He used to work at a shop around here that I went to a few times until I got a job at another shop. I'vebeen out of biking for 6 years now as I've been out of a job since 01, but am moving into DC and selling my car so I need a good city bike...

He wants $600 to stop the auction and sell it to me now. I can see it going above that, but I don't think it's a great deal at that point, but it's what I want for a city bike and I'm not sure that I'm going to do better in the next few weeks as people are buying **** up left and right around here for spring...

LastPlace

MarkS,

I checked E-Bay and could not find 'Completed Listing'. Can you tell me how you find it?

As for this bike, it may be a good deal for someone, but it is probably going over my limit. Thanks for all the help and advice.