It's a tool like everything else... it's all in how you use it...
Like a chainsaw, it can either be a reliable helper that allows you to do the work a dozen men would take days to do by yourself in a few hours, or it can take your leg off...
Ebay, like everything else in life, is populated by the good, the bad, and the ugly... (and the foolish, the thief, and the benefactors). That's the same whether you're a buyer or a seller... as with life in general. There's plenty of folks looking for "the one born every minute" and more than willing to chisel someone outrageously, and there's other folks selling stuff for prices that seem rediculously low. Such is life...
I've seen the EXACT same kinds of stupidity that seem to afflict so many on Ebay at auctions in real life... I used to go to the farm equipment auctions not too far from here, and the same thing applies... I'd see good stuff go for less than junk-iron price (like a running Oliver combine with a 4 row corn head for $400, or a 6 row fairly modern IH 800 planter in good shape, with electronic monitor, for $600) and I've seen worn out busted JUNK sell for ungodly prices that had to border on insanity... I learned early on that you have to carefully check everything over beforehand, and set your price realistically (what you're willing to pay based on its condition) and then STICK TO IT... (but have enough flexibility to be able to "bid up" to a HARD STOP you've established beforehand in case others are bidding against you, especially on something hard to find or where your "willing to pay" is less than what most other folks are likely willing to pay. BUT you STILL have to have a HARD LIMIT that if the price goes past it, you just walk away, because its entered "silly territory" and just flat out isn't worth it no matter what.) Most people at auctions get into trouble because they get into "peeing matches" with other bidders, so intent on winning they ignore the reality of what they're paying for an item versus its intrinsic worth and condition...
Funny story... I was at an auction one time and picked up a few odds and ends at pretty good prices... did okay. After the auction, I was backed up to the row loading my stuff and a guy backs in and parks next to me and starts loading some stuff he's bought... including a three-point PTO drive seed/fertilizer spreader... his wife was NOT happy and wasn't making any bones about letting the rest of the world know she wasn't happy, either... and she was making DARN SURE HE knew she wasn't happy... I remembered the bidding on that spreader-- it was a basic dinky TSC model, nothing special-- in fact, about as "El Cheapo" as you can get-- TSC doesn't back up ANY of their machinery with parts... so when it breaks, it's pretty much junk... I remember having a discussion with an equipment dealer one time who commented on folks who fussed and whined about the fact that he'd have a "similar" spreader (from a recognized manufacturer) but it'd be priced at least 20% higher or more than the competitive "no name" stuff from TSC and such... Some customers even gloated that they'd got it "so much cheaper" at TSC (or wherever) until one day it broke, and they went to TSC for parts to fix it, only to find out that either 1) they're not available AT ALL, or 2) they'll have to come from China, MAYBE you'll see them in a couple months IF WE CAN GET THEM AT ALL, or 3) if they can get them, they end up costing half or more what the whole machine cost new... This dealer commented he'd had more than one customer come back in after such an experience, humbled, and buy the name brand equipment from him to replace the cheap one they had to junk out for lack of support parts...)
ANYWAY, the woman was unhappy with her husband because he got in a peeing match with some guy over this beat up, half-worn out old el cheapo spreader and ended up paying MORE THAN IT COST NEW AT THE TSC UP THE STREET...
I helped him load the thing-- he knew he'd goofed, it was written all over his face... and he knew that the wife wasn't going to let him live it down any time soon, either, that much was clear... :rant::rant::rant::fly::bangbang::bangpan::bang::duck:
later! OL JR
