Why do people overpay on ebay?

[vintage66]

I've been eyeing some cases and people end up paying more with shipping than they could buy the same case for with free shipping from MF, etc. It makes it impossible to get a bargain. Why's is peeple so ignunt?

 

[Tim Plains]

Does MF ship world wide?

 

[natevi]

People think that if they bid early then they'll have a better chance of getting it but really there just uping the price and giving the person more money. Lately I've send better deals on the GP and GC than on ebay!

 

[vintage66]

I can see the overseas thing maybe, but they can't all be going there. Even if they don't go higher, a lot of times they save $10 or less-I'd rather have the 45 day return policy for the extra change. I've just been searching on there for a month and haven't even put a bid in because the auctions go too high.

 

[Pietro]

It's simple, the thrill of "winning" at all costs.

I've known people who had an addiction to it and needed intervention.

 

[RRfireblade]

That's how Ebay "Works" as a business model. They count on emotion taking over rational thought.

I get a big kick whenever I hear someone say " LOOK WHAT I WON ON EBAY !"

You didn't win a dang thing , you payed for it like everyone else. What the heck are you so excited about ?

Speaking for myself , and I mean its not like you can't often save a few bucks , but the better the deal I get the more nervous I am till it gets here. The better the deal the more risk your taking . . . many more people lose than actually 'win'.

 

[tim gueguen]

Frankly some people likely just don't know any better, just like the people who assume everything is cheaper at say Wal Mart than some other store in their neighbourhood.

 

[101Volts]

It's simple, the thrill of "winning" at all costs.

I've known people who had an addiction to it and needed intervention.

Don't forget about people who think they want something and put really high bids in but later change their mind and can't retract their bid...

I'm in that situation right now. That's what I get for being greedy with cheap LP copies... I have the chance to win if I put a high enough bid in. Oh well. We'll see how it pans out tomorrow.

Edit: I lost that auction. Lucky break for me, I found that I didn't want the guitar after all. I'd much rather save up for something bigger.

 

[Member 1963]

What really makes me roll my eyes is that stratosphere guy on ebay. His prices are insane. He sells necks and bodies for about what i can get the whole guitar for looking at graigslist or such. he'll sell a mexi resissue neck for $350-400 and i have seen the entire mexi reissue in GL many times for that or just a bit more. But people are willing to buy from him thereby enabling him to inflate his prices. If people stopped buying from him for even a few days his prices would have to drop like a rock or he'd be out. The guy IMO is a prifce gouger because he has a sort of monopoly on FENDER strat parts and he knows it.

 

[kennethkofler]

I don't know why people do that, but my thought is, "Time to do my ebay listings!"(lol)

 

[Tone_Terrific]

For everyone who thinks they have overpaid there is likely a seller who feels underpaid.
The market is fickle at that level as a couple of interested buyers can accelerate bidding.
Miss the hot buyers and you take a hit. Ebay is the only consistent winner.
The place usually scares me off.

 

[Joe_Steeler]

There is a fool born every second.
Ebay is full of them, on both sides of the fence.

 

[Lublin]

Bidding wars are annoying. Noone likes losing anything. Auctions are a great example of this mentality.

 

[greenlander]

Man I wish some of these rampant overpayers would come across my auctions.

Seems like I can't give stuff away and settle for pennies on the dollar right now. And it's not like I'm selling garbage or anything.

 

[Tuberattler]

People get caught up in the moment.. just like at a Pawn Shop, they often overpay without doing any research or looking around, it's called instant gratification, spur of the moment buying.

There are lots of folks addicted to auctions, it becomes a competition for them on some level.

 

[vds5000]

What really makes me roll my eyes is that stratosphere guy on ebay. His prices are insane. He sells necks and bodies for about what i can get the whole guitar for looking at graigslist or such. he'll sell a mexi resissue neck for $350-400 and i have seen the entire mexi reissue in GL many times for that or just a bit more. But people are willing to buy from him thereby enabling him to inflate his prices. If people stopped buying from him for even a few days his prices would have to drop like a rock or he'd be out. The guy IMO is a prifce gouger because he has a sort of monopoly on FENDER strat parts and he knows it.

Yeah, but can you blame him? If people keep buying from him, why would he stop. I haven't really noticed any of his auctions, but I often see guitars with ridiculous 'Buy it Now' prices that just sit and sit and sit.

People get caught up in the moment.. just like at a Pawn Shop, they often overpay without doing any research or looking around, it's called instant gratification, spur of the moment buying.

There are lots of folks addicted to auctions, it becomes a competition for them on some level.

I think this post pretty much summed it all up real well.

 

[KeyserZoso]

Man I wish some of these rampant overpayers would come across my auctions.

Seems like I can't give stuff away and settle for pennies on the dollar right now. And it's not like I'm selling garbage or anything.

+1

Conversely, say you have 200.00 in ebay bucks then you wouldn't mind overpaying a little. I still don't know why people bid early on no-reserve auctions, unless they are shill-bidding for the auctioneer.

 

[Member 1963]

Yeah, but can you blame him? If people keep buying from him, why would he stop.

Well, yeah, isn't that what i said? I said if people wouldn't buy at such inflated prices he'd be forced to sell them for reasonable prices. But people enable him to price gouge.

 

[Travst]

Why would anyone want to sell anything except at the highest possible price? If consumers are too lazy or ignorant to shop, more power to the sellers. I fail to understand why some think it's the seller's responsibility to make the price as low as possible. That may be Wal-Mart's job, but it sure isn't mine.

 

[Amp360]

I worked at an auction for years when I was in high school and college.

There were always dealers and collectors. I would always outbid a dealer if I wanted something but would really watch it if I was bidding against a collector.

Emotion gets involved mostly and auctions force people to go 'a little higher'. You don't 'win' auctions - you get to buy the item - big difference.