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Anyone else ever win on ebay accidentally?

xela456

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May 22, 2014
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So am I the only one that does this?
Find something you kindof like for a good price and shoot a bid in the dark thinking you'd never win at that price?

Well it happens to me semi often. However recently it kindhd duped me. I was bidding on a veto pro tech mtc bag. I bid 65 dollars on it thinking it would never go for that price and low and behold I win. Then I realize why I won. The seller wanted 51 dollars to ship!
Anyone else ever do this to themselves?
 
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Two Door

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I browse guitar forums and read of a guy who acquired a guitar that way. That wasn't really his intent, he was actually at a family picnic trying to show his aunt in real time how ebay worked, including sniping. He searched, found a guitar auction just about to end, and put in a ridiculously low bid, assuming many other people were watching, waiting to snipe. The good thing was it was a guitar he liked, the bad thing was it was on his anniversary and he had to go tell his wife he just bought ANOTHER guitar! :bounce:
 
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driftpin

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I was collecting pedal cars, and won a bid on a British model of a locomotive, item here in the USA, no reserve, shipping would have been reasonable. However, the seller refused to ship it! EBay did nothing for me, I lodged a complaint, I would have been better-off doing anything-else. I don't know what can be done in such a case, where the seller refuses to ship.

Yeah, I always look at shipping costs, and have passed on bidding, because the shipping is more-than the value of the item.
 

Jazz1

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I got this for $600. It was my first EBay purchase and I was the only bidder. Was initially skeptical until I phoned seller to make arrangements for out of the country purchase. He told me I’d be quite happy with the purchase
 

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xela456

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Yeah Im usually pretty good about looking at the shipping. I guess this one slipped through lol
 
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xela456

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I was collecting pedal cars, and won a bid on a British model of a locomotive, item here in the USA, no reserve, shipping would have been reasonable. However, the seller refused to ship it! EBay did nothing for me, I lodged a complaint, I would have been better-off doing anything-else. I don't know what can be done in such a case, where the seller refuses to ship.

Yeah, I always look at shipping costs, and have passed on bidding, because the shipping is more-than the value of the item.
I've passed up in some things due to shipping as well, I dropped the ball on this one. Many years ago I won a bid on a socket set. It was a 425 dollar SK 3/4 drive set. A week went by and no shipping. Another week went by and I finally have a tracking number. I went back and forth over this with the seller until the 30 days ran out and then nothing. Well since I had used PayPal, I had the name associated with the account. A google search resulted in an obituary. Then it turned out the ebay account had great feedback until about the month I made my purchase then it all started to go in the toilet with people not receiving items. Thanks to paypal I got all my money back, even though we were past all the deadlines. Needless to say I love paypal and never make an online purchase that doesn't accept them.
As for the current situation I just thought I'd share my perils for a little laugh at my expense!
 

Montoya31

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I made once a bid and I won it, it was a small price for something like a toy, I don't remember, but I didn't pay for it.
 

Lucid Moments

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I have never done it, but I have a buddy that did and then had to borrow the money from me to pay for it. Was a motorcycle that he flipped and made a few bucks but I gave him hell for bidding on something that he didn't have the money to pay for.
 

JRC3

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I don't feel sorry for anyone who doesn't look at the shipping cost. And yes, I do mean that harshly. LOL

I don't care how much the bid, BIN or the s/h handling are seperately, all that should be considered. All that matters to me is what it cost to get it to my doorstep. The total out of pocket, that's all that matters.
 

driftpin

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I got this for $600. It was my first EBay purchase and I was the only bidder. Was initially skeptical until I phoned seller to make arrangements for out of the country purchase. He told me I’d be quite happy with the purchase

I had to hunt a bit to get this one: 1941 International Harvester. Here's a post-war IHC with a similar body but heavier running gear.
 

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richfinn

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Yep, You/Me and Weird Al Yankovic!!!

I like to look for the misspellings/incorrect category listings in the ad titles

That's where the real bargains are hiding (or at least thats what I tell myself) :)
 

RTM

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I have once, but in a silly low bid on something to watch it, and it never moved. Even with shipping costs, I got a steal.
 

Kev442

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Does bidding on a car that doesn't meet reserve count?
I bid $2500, reserve not met, never gave it another thought.
Got an ebay message 2 weeks later saying "we've decided to accept your offer".
Didn't have a clue what it was about, had to look at the auction number.
 

darkzero

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I look at the shipping price before I bid :dunno:

Same here. I always look at the final price with shipping for everything I buy online.

But for ebay especially cause I'm still used to the days when so many sellers would list with low item price & outrageous shipping cost to avoid ebay fees. Then ebay changed their policy & started taxing fees on shipping costs to fix that. Most sellers stopped doing that but you still get some hoping they will trick buyers.
 

64merc

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I remember putting in a low bid on a huge vintage 3/4" drive socket set in a metal case. I don't remember how much it was exactly but it was something like $30-$40 shipped! I did want it, but didn't think it would actually sell that low.

I find it hard to get good deals now on Ebay. Or maybe I just don't spend much time looking.
 

Leaflessshadetree

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Don't ask.
Years ago I won quite a few auctions placing low bids on things I wanted but didn't need.
Some never increased from the $1 opening bid. When I won I got a great deal but it wasn't an accident.
Had a few sellers back out.
 
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B_Bimmer

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I "accidentally" buy things all the time... I don't think my wife believes me anymore, but at least we're on the same page.
 

bwringer

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Yep, You/Me and Weird Al Yankovic!!!

I like to look for the misspellings/incorrect category listings in the ad titles

That's where the real bargains are hiding (or at least thats what I tell myself) :)

One of my motorcycles is a Suzuki V-Strom. Yes, that's "strom" as in "stromboli".

I've found some great bargains by looking for "V-Storm" parts.

Same for anything else I'm into; think of the dumbest misspellings and you'll often find auctions with no action and a seller with no clue why.


As far as semi-accidentally... one of the very first fleaBay auctions I won was for a crappy set of Coca-Cola branded spoons.

My mother-in-law was heavily into Coca-Cola collectibles, and my wife and I were discussing her birthday present. We poked around on this new "eBay" thing and found some Coca-Cola spoons she had been looking for, new in the box.

I plunked down a really low bid to see what would happen, and, well, those stupid spoons, in the package, sat proudly on a shelf in the mother-in-law's Coca-Cola room until she died. Mission accomplished, I guess.
 
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FTG-05

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Bid on some ginormous Lincoln welder out of CO. Didn't read the fine print: thing weighed something like 600 lbs. Shipping was going to cost 4-5 times what the welder cost. I begged forgiveness and the seller let me off with no negative repercussions. Thank God.
 

Downwindtracker 2

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I stay away from EBay. But at a gun auction to help the auctioneer I started the bidding at $20. I ended up with a 16guage bolt action Marlin shot gun. Opps. Next auction I put it in, made some change on it, luckily .
 

strength_and_power

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I haven’t been on EBay in forever but have made plenty of drunken purchases on Amazon. Free prime shipping and easy returns for the win


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Sevenhills1952

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Years ago I ordered a VHS tape (remember those[emoji1]) of a Si-Fi ("Time Machine" I believe), maybe $8 and I get this big package , 16mm tape of 1955 "Tarantula".
The seller emailed, explained the goof, he was nice about it, sending me the movie and I ended up buying the 16mm at a discount.

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M635_Guy

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I kinda go by a mantra based on a borrowed phrase: "Don't click the 'Bid' button on anything you don't actually intend to by."

Works well... ;)
 

bigcreek

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Idaho
A few years ago I put a bid in on a plate clamp. It is a large plate clamp, not a small one, and is a pretty new one with hardly any scratches on the paint. Renfro brand I think it is. Anyway I was the only bidder. Put a bid on it for literally a couple/few dollars and ended up winning it. All in with shipping included it was in the $30 range. I felt a little guilty. Online that clamp is around $700.
 

californiaHank

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Never bought anything 'by accident', but sometimes get an item 'by surprise'. I've got no hesitation pressing the 'best offer' button with a quite low number for something I would like to own, but wouldn't buy if I had to pay 'market price'. Sometimes, no-one else shows an interest in the item and I get lucky.
 

bwringer

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There have been a few times when I've let an individual seller off the hook when I've won an auction and we both realize after the fact that the shipping costs would be outrageous. A lot of people who don't sell and ship stuff much don't understand how much it can cost if you're not a business.
 

m6z

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Does bidding on a car that doesn't meet reserve count?
I bid $2500, reserve not met, never gave it another thought.
Got an ebay message 2 weeks later saying "we've decided to accept your offer".
Didn't have a clue what it was about, had to look at the auction number.

I've had that happen as well.
 

Aaron_W

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There is a watch list for items you are curious about, but don't necessarily want to buy.


I don't think I've ever accidently bought anything, except a family. I took a girl to a movie and 22 years later she is still hanging around. :p
 

Busted_Knuckles

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I win on ebay regularly, but I do it selling stuff.

Sold an old ITT float switch for $250+ride, last Friday,.. pretty sure I didnt have a dollar in it. A small power/utility company bought it. Could not even find any trace of it on the interwebs, so pricing it was a wild *** guess. Looking back, I may have given it away,.. but it really does not matter.
 

velillen01

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Not "accidentally" but I do win and get surprised as I'll forget about it. I'll browse around and toss some bids on items with a max bid I'd pay, usually on items with 5-7 days left. Most usually go above my max bid but every now and then I'll win and be surprised.
 

rayik

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Never bought anything 'by accident', but sometimes get an item 'by surprise'. I've got no hesitation pressing the 'best offer' button with a quite low number for something I would like to own, but wouldn't buy if I had to pay 'market price'. Sometimes, no-one else shows an interest in the item and I get lucky.

That's what I do. It may take a while and you will loss a bunch, but eventually you can get the item at your price.
 

Robinson1

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Ive bought quite a few tools by placing a low bid and promptly forgetting about the auction. When I get the you won notification sometimes I have to go back and see what i bought.

Its not so much accidentally buying something its more like place a bid that shouldn't win and end up winning.

Ive got a nice vintage Fleet socket set on my work truck i bought this way. Under $20 with shipping.

Ive done it as a seller too. Listed something start bif 1 penny thinking it would start a bidding war. 7 days later sold it for less than $1
 

oldwino

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Didn’t need it but kinda wanted a backup Fluke meter. 2 different sellers with low starting bid and several days remaining in the auction. Ended upwith 2 nearly new Fluke 87’s ( one for $25.00, the other for $30).
 

ridervfr

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I had that happen! I bid on MityVac manual fluid evacuator and the shipping was as much as the piece. I ended up talking to the doode on the phone (Ebay does not make it easy) and we canceled the auction. I ended up buying another one for a decent price. I have a nice air brake bleeder from them too off Ebay. Peace and happy hunting/bidding.
 
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