monogodo

So I've been bidding on some vintage parts lately, and it occurred to me that I might possibly be bidding against other BF C&V members.

On a forum I used to visit, they had a sticky with a list of members' eBay IDs, so that you wouldn't get into a bidding war with a "friend" from the site. It could also be used so that, let's say I was looking at Campy Record headsets, and I found a listing that I was interested in, but that there was already a bidder. If, by checking the list, I discovered that the bidder was one of us, I could PM them through BF, and see if they were in need of the item, or just thought they could use it. We could then work out if I should bother bidding or not.

Any thoughts?

(btw: my eBay ID is monogodo)

East Hill

I think many of us use the same name as here. I'm an oddball, because my eBay account was originally set up by my husband. I would have gone for "MsMixte", but he went with "bubbaandsam".

East Hill

zoeglassjd

I'll play. My usernames are the same, although I am only buying C and V stuff about once a month or so...

Growing tired of ebay. It seems we should have our own little ebay here. Perhaps the classifieds could be set up in a way with subforums of their own so that there is a CandV WTB and FS. I know if there were more action on the classifieds site I would post there more (oh, and that paid member thing).

Little Darwin

My ebay username has a hyphen instead of a space between little and darwin...

I also ask here if I am considering bidding on anything significant so that I don't stomp on other people, and so they know I am bidding.

One of the last times I did it, I was asked if I was worried about pointing it out to other people that might be interested... In fact, I am not. I know the regulars will lay back.

I sometimes let people know what my max bid is... that way if the bidding goes above what I am willing to pay, it gives everyone else the green light.

Scooper

My eBay userid is scooper5. I tried for scooper, but eBay came back with the scooper5 so I'm guessing there are at least four other Coopers with a first name starting with S.

retyred

Not a good idea IMO. Smacks of collusion. Put yourself in the seller's shoes. Plus eBay already has enough problems.

BengeBoy 

I'm guessing that if you read the eBay terms and conditions carefully this would violate them. I'm too lazy to do it myself, so I'm happy to stand corrected if wrong.

East Hill

On the other hand, eBay does little or nothing in regard to shill bidders, which is also a violation of terms and conditions.

Fortunately for me, I don't think most of you would be bidding against me on anything !

East Hill

cb400bill

These kinds of lists are very common amongst group members. eBay can't police obvious fraud on THEIR website, I doubt they could or would do anything outside of their website.

wahoonc

Thats my take on it too...

FWIW I buy on my wife's account "airangel60" My wahoonc account was shut down at my request due to it being used for fraud by someone that had gotten a hold of my ID and had set up a dummy account, using that name. I was not amused with Ebay's response when it was brought to their attention. I too am like East Hill, I seldom bid on anything that people on this list seem inclined to be purchasing...I can't even spell Campy

Aaron

retyred

Whoa!! Back up a bit. The gopher that sticks its head out of the hole the most gets picked off. It would be just like eBay to pursue legal action against members of a group that advocate the OP's suggestion.

iab

Won't work for me, I only snipe (my name won't appear until there is 4 seconds left) and I don't look to see the other bidders. I really don't care who is willing to spend more or less money than me.

cb400bill

They would have hundreds, if not thousands, of groups to investigate. I wouldn't be too concerned.

barndoor

Ebay? What's that?

;^)

John E

Once I did end up inadvertently competing with a friend -- we were the two highest bidders for a Capo frameset that he eventually won. Given the very limited supply of some parts and bicycles, it is inevitable that some of us will end up in bidding contests because two or more of us really want something. For the record, I go by "tullio-49th" on eBay.

graywolf

Being fairly new to these forums, I find it interesting that folks think that others would not bid against them if they knew they were bidding on something. Seems optimistic to me.

On a mailing list I frequented we has a consensus rule that ebay auctions should not be mentioned, because other members might be watching the item. Why give the thing away to someone too lazy to do a search for it? On the otherhand unlike most other lists we did not mind a member mentioning their own auctions, as long as that was not the only thing they did on the list. In other words the whole idea was not to screw up another members deal when we ourselves were not interested in the item.

I especially liked that way because I have very limited resources, and if I can not find a bargain I usually can not afford the it (Sigh!). As for this forum, I do not have too much worry about you guys driving up the price of early (pre 1960) 3-speed bikes, they are already out of reason because so many of us older folks are nostalgic about them.

Rabid Koala

I am with you!

I almost NEVER bid before the last few seconds, and then only if the price is still reasonable. I never check to see who is bidding until after the fact. Besides, on whole bikes they usually conceal the bidders identity.

kpug505

My username is the same. However I wouldn't expect anyone to back off of something just 'cause it's me. It's an auction........Item goes to the highest bidder. My only gripe with Ebay is the amount of really cool stuff thats going to Japan...........But on the same token it's my fault I don't have enough cash to bid to the sky. I would if I could.........
I watched one auction recently were the member left a note to our Japanese friends stating he would not ship there because of this very reason. He also noted his membership in the CR list and would ship to Canada if the winning bidder was as well........I thought that was interesting.
Perhaps Bike forums can set something Ebayesque up to members only. They could get a % per item sold through the site. I think that could be a win-win. They could make a buck and get rid of the car loan ads that have been popping up everyday. Of course I could just upgrade my membership.........I'll do that right now. I am sick of ads and would love to post in the real for sale area.

My 2 cents
Kelly D

cuda2k

cuda2k here and there. I don't buy much off ebay these days though.

cuda2k

(btw, I am working on a classifieds section for velobase.com. Won't be ready for a few more weeks, but it is in the works)

retyred

Interesting. A C&V auction site open to members only! Expect membership to soar as prospective buyers stream in to pillage and plunder because most of youze guys is too cheap to offer a decent price!

GCRyder

The other fly in the ointment would be ebay's new practice of replacing user names with gibberish in the bidding history of more and more items. Only the seller can see the account names of all bidders. As a bidder, you can see your own, but no one else's. At first, it seemed like they were only doing this on items that went over $100, but I've noticed it lately on a lost of less costly items.

Picchio Special

I met my best vintage bike buddy after being sniped by him for a beautiful Masi GC and writing him to congratulate him Something to think about.

cmdr

I accidentally outbid anoher C&V'er on my Bob Jackson. I didn't know it until I checked in the eBay an CL finds where he mentioned his frustration that he had just been outbid by someone by the name of...
I felt a little guilty, but not much. Under the new rules I wouldn't have known it even if I had known his ID.

Old Fat Guy

There are only a handful of C&Vers that I wouldn't bid against. Apparently I just outbid merckxman by $10 for a Faema Merckx, and I'd do it again if need be. Since high dollar stuff is now anon on eBay, you don't know who you are bidding against anyway.

I usually don't discuss what's in my 'watch list' on this, or any site, I learned that lesson the hard way. One exception I made was the recent Merckx purchase. No one met reserve, and I was wondering if there was something about the bike that I missed, that would explain the fall off in bidding. After I posted, I got a second chance offer, and decided to pull the trigger.

I really think we need a venue to sell our stuff other than eBay, perhaps Velobase will end up being that venue, time will tell. I wish there was a dedicated space here to sell. The current 'For Sale' option doesn't appeal to me. I'm not interested in anything other than 'Classic & Vintage'.

I also don't like buying/selling from/to friends, but there are times, especially with bits and pieces, that it is necessary. I've made some fantastic friends through this site, roadbikereview, and even through CL, but it has been very rare that I've ever bought or sold to any of them. There have been gifts back and forth, and the occasional Jackson passing hands, but no large transactions. Thankfully all the folks I've met don't ride the same size as me, that could get nasty.

I would like to be able to offer members here the latest garage sale find of some mint road bike that just doesn't fit me or the Mrs, and I really don't see anything wrong with that.