DVDs and the Ebay trust factor.... (1 Viewer)

[Michael Pedrosa]

I've used ebay for a while, both buying and selling, although it seems I am no "expert." Could someone define the following terms mentioned in the posts above:
snipe program (and hammer-snipe)
shrill/phantom bids
bid wars
Also, someone mentioned the "tricks to getting a good deal."
Thanks

 

[Greg*go]

Michael,
I can help you out with a couple of your questions..

shrill/phantom bids

I'm not familiar with these terms, but I have witnessed while I've bid on items, someone outbids me, then retracts the bid. So basically they did a fake bid, just to see how high I was willing to go. I think that's what a phantom bid is. These just piss me off, what's the point in auctioning if others know how much you are willing to spend.

As for tricks to getting a good deal, I'm clueless. The only trick I know is to use your head, and don't worry if someone outbids you... There's always a tomorrow.

 

[Mark-W]

I have been selling my DVDs on eBay for 2 years, and
I hope that people are just using thier noggins
when bidding on items. I sell DVDs that I haven't watched
in year and are still in print (or better versions are
on the way).
That is why I ONLY have 600+ films on DVD: I
keep refining my collection.
I do only have 241 positive feedbacks (100% positive),
but I only sell DVDs that are in perfect condition,
and send them out in packages with bubble wrap.
If people are misrepresenting their items, then they
need negative feedback. Then you know who you are
dealing with in there.
Mark

 

[ErichH]

Once I bought what I thought was The Big Chill DVD. It had the cover art and the DVD was Printed with the right label. When I settled down to watch it, The opening credits and music just started and there was something strange that just jerked me out of my chair - it was The Mask Of Zorro !

The seller sent me a proper copy without any questions, but man, that was funny.

My basic experience with ebay is good, but it's a big place and you should always expect a few sharks in such a large pond.

Eric

 

[Chris Xolotl]

If people are misrepresenting their items, then they need negative feedback

After e-mailing the guy who packed the DVD in a envelope with no padding and sent a promo DVD instead of the real. He did misrepresent the item. So, I will be leaving negative feedback. Usually, I let it go, but this was downright deceptive.

Also, I use a sniping program for things that are over three days away from closing.

 

[Nick_Scott]

snipe program (and hammer-snipe)
shrill/phantom bids
bid wars
Also, someone mentioned the "tricks to getting a good deal."

To add what was mentioned above-
The hammer snipe is a snipe program that links snipe-bids. That way, you can tell it to snipe 40 different auctions for the "Others DVD". If you win one at your desired amount (lets say $3) then it automatically cancels the rest.
I do hammer-snipes every week, and it saves me a fortune. You can get hammersnipe from download.com

First, shrill bidding is when a seller bids against himself (using another account) to raise the bidding, or even start a bid war. Phantom bidding is when the seller bids against himself a huge amount, just to see where your top limit is, and then cancel and shrill bid slightly less then that. This is definetly bad. EBAY has an 'advanced' robot that is supposed to compare the buyer and seller accounts to determine if they are shrill bidding. I guess it has mixed success.

Ebay tricks: I posted a nice article a few months ago about this, but I can't seem to find it in a search, so here are the basics-

1: First, the hammer-snipe method is always a great no-effort method of getting good deals.

2: Learn how the search engine works!! For example, some sellers forget to add "dvd" to the auction title, or instead use "dvds" or "disc". This will always get fewer bids, sell for less. ie for the Others DVD, do this search [others -(dvd)] in the dvd section.

3: Also, some sellers misspell the title. Its more common then you think. For example, the Others DVD might be spelled [Other's DVD], so a regular search WON'T pick it up, so you could do a search like: [ (other,others) dvd] in the DVD section.

4: Also, sometimes people put DVDs in the TAPE section (because the tape section is confusingly called "movie section". Sometimes I'll go into the tape section and do a title/description search for dvds with a heavy filter.

5: Likewise, title/description searchs (with filters) are also usefull in the dvd section because some sellers have vague titles. For example, I just won that "Fox DEMO DVD" from ebay for $1. The auction title was "dvd coupons". I then turned around, and resold it on ebay, with a better title, for $45. This is also a good method for finding dvds hidden in lots, ie [lot (dvd,dvds,discs)]... etc

You get the idea. There are more advanced methods, but these take the least amount of work. For example, you could do a search for all dvds under $1 with a very heavy filter (ie -(vcd,rom,demo,promo,etc,etc,etc). Not a very good method, unless you have alot of free time.

 

[Charlie Essmeier]

Minor point: The correct term for offering a phony bid on someone else's behalf is SHILL bidding, rather than "shrill." Shrill is the screaming heard after a shill bid is placed...

Regarding listing errors, I just picked up a rare record this week on Ebay, listed as being by the "Alan Persons Project." Got it for the minimum, as Alan Persons isn't quite as well known as Alan Parsons...

Charlie

 

[Kenneth Cummings]

By the way, what if it says the DVD has no insert in it? I don't mean a used DVD from Blockbuster, but almost all of them tend to have that listed.

 

[Chris Xolotl]

A lot of DVDs do not have inserts in them. Too costly for the manufacturer. Major blockbuster movies should have them. I could care less.