What's "sniping"?
I'm new to Ebay....started in March, and only started buying a few C&V bikes and parts since Nov. 2011. This post isn't as intellectual as all the others but I thought I'd share a couple of my newbie (read: really stupid and embarrassing) experiences buying on Ebay so maybe someone reads this and doesn't make the same mistakes I made. I was going to reveal my ridiculous behavior when I was able to post photos of the 2 bikes I ended up with but now's as good a time as any.
Mind you, I have insomnia and sometimes prowl the internet throughout the night, especially during winter. I became really interested in vintage bikes and love the C&V forum. So one night I ended up on Ebay and managed to register all on my own, which was surprisingly easy since I have trouble with 'copying and pasting'.
So my first purchase: A gold anodized Mafac Competition brakeset with levers. My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw them...I love gold anodized anything for bikes! I thought "Wow, wouldn't it be great to have those!"
I had no intention of buying them because I 'knew' I wouldn't be able to afford them since they seem to be pretty popular on the CV forum, and I 'knew' there would be a lot of bidding on them. I figured the bidding would go wild near the very end of the auction. There was some bidding going on and I threw out a couple of bids, more to try out the bidding process than anything else, because I 'knew' the bidding would soon get hot.
I made my last bid with about 15 minutes to go. Then I sat back and watched with anticipation to see the 'real' bidding war begin. But strangely, at least to me, nothing else happened as the time wound down and the auction ended. I didn't know whether to laugh or start 'cussing. I ended up laughing in a giddy sort of way because I was so surprised I just purchased these gorgeous brakes....from Belgium.
Ye Gads! I'd only used PayPal once before and was so worried about messing it all up with an International shipment, etc.
But much to my surprise, it worked out OK in the end with no glitches. I wasn't too upset because they're in good condition and I didn't think they were all that expensive. So now I have these lovely brakes and levers which I may have to end up selling because I need longer brake reach. But they sure are pretty!
After that I made a couple of sensible derailleur purchases. Then came the reeaally dumb and embarrassing purchase.
I've been reading Bicycle Quarterly for several years now and have kind of 'drank the Jan Heine 650B French Constructeur cool-aid'. So one dark night what pops up on Ebay but 2 650B wheel French bikes. A mixte from about the '40s and a porteur from about the '50s. Again my eyes nearly popped out of my head. It was the first time I'd seen any 650B Frenchies, aside from Jan's beautiful coffee table book.
The EBay bikes were in need of much TLC, but very cool looking none the less. They were up for auction, not BIN. Again, I had no intention of buying either because I 'knew' I wouldn't be able to afford them. I was just going to watch and see how much they went for but was extremely excited at the prospect of watching the bidding action I 'knew' was going to take place.
The auction was for 6 days and every day I checked to see what was being bid. But oddly (at least to me), 5 days went by and not a single bid. What the heck?, I'm thinking. Wait. OK, 'I get it'. All the bidders are waiting for the last day. Final auction day arrives and still not a single bid. Now I'm really feeling bummed. I've been anxiously waiting all week to see how the bidding goes for these bikes. I'm feeling deprived of much anticipated entertainment.
So, aha....OK, now 'I really get it'. The bidders are waiting for the last hour which I 'know' will be fast and furious. So I say to myself, "If I can't own one of these bikes then I'm going to make the first bid for each one. Then at least I can have the satisfaction of saying I made the very first bid on 2 French Constructeur bikes." (Yes, I can hear you all snickering out there and see the bemused smile/roll of your eyes. It's OK. I still don't know why I felt the need of said satisfaction and placed those bids).
So, I make the first bid for each bike and keep running to my computer every hour all day to check the bidding progress. As the hours pass by and still no bids, I'm starting to get a very weird feeling about the whole situation. Tick, tick, tick, goes the clock. As the final hour arrives and I'm still the only bidder, I start feeling light headed and a bit nauseous. I sit and watch every single minute of the last hour rapidly pass by. Ding! Ding! We have a winner! I'm in complete shock at what has just taken place. I just bought 2 650B 'Constructeur' bikes.
I guess the moral of this story is don't bid with your emotions, or what you 'know' is going to happen. Do some research or get some advice on the Ebay process. And think before bidding. I felt like a complete addict for about a month, buying cool vintage bike parts I may not necessarily need. What I really liked was the rush of bidding and 'winning' an auction.
I got over the impulsive bidding. But after a stressful couple of weeks I bought a Peugeot UNS40 folding bike this weekend. I now made a pact with myself to start going out on a bike ride when I start typing the Ebay website.
When I've bid (sensibly), I would wait towards the end of the auction and then bid until I reached the limit I'm willing to pay. Or if it was something I really wanted I would put the first bid in (above items excluded), and see what happens. To me, the whole thing seems like it's kind of a crap shoot because an auction can turn out so many different ways.
By the way, the mixte has a "Realty" headbadge and "A. Condor" painted on the downtube. The porteur has "Rene Andre" handpainted on the downtube. They need lots of TLC but they will be fun project bikes to work on. So all is not bad. If anyone knows anything of these names, I'd be happy to hear from you. I couldn't find info anywhere.
Sorry for going off topic.