Posting eBay auction links: what's your opinion?

[Tobus]

I'd like to broach a somewhat touchy subject with the membership here. I have noticed that a lot of people post links to active eBay auctions, usually with the intent of helping fellow members find what they may be searching for. But it is also frequently done to call out forgeries, scams, and mis-identified items.

Like many of you, I am also a member of other forums on the net (which are not kilt-related). On most of the forums I'm involved with, it is considered bad form to post links to live auctions. Mainly because there are fellow members who may be bidding on them. This is usually not a hard rule (though in some cases it is), but is often more of an etiquette thing.

There are generally two predominant opinions on this:

1. eBay auctions are listed publicly on the web, so there should be no expectation that any particular bidder has exclusive privileges to it. Trying to limit the competition by keeping it "hush-hush" is pointless. And by posting it on forums where people are interested in it, it helps the community by exposing frauds and cases of mistaken identity. Plus it gives everyone a fair playing field in their search for things they want. Let the people compete on the price instead of trying to "sneak one past the goalie" by winning an auction that no one else knows about.

Conversely,

2. Out of respect for fellow members who are bidding on these auctions, it's best to let other people find those items themselves. In other words, if they truly want an item, they should search eBay themselves to find it. It's always heart-breaking to be bidding on an item, thinking you're going to win, only to see someone post the auction on the forum and have a bunch of new bidders who drive the price up to ridiculous levels. The "crowd mentality" sets in, where competition goes beyond what the item is actually worth. Plus, there are a lot of "shills" out there who will abuse the privilege, and post links to things they're selling, or do it to hype up what a friend is selling.

And of course, I'm sure there are also other factors to consider, both for and against the idea of posting live auctions. But what I wanted to gauge was whether you, the members of XMTS, think it's helpful or not for members to post links to live auctions. Or, if there's a difference in how they post that may make it helpful or hurtful. A thread saying "attention members, this auction item is a fake" might be helpful, where a thread saying "hey guys who have been looking for X, here's one!" might upset those who were already bidding on it.

I'm making this a poll so your response can be anonymous if you like. Or, of course, comments and discussion are welcome.

Note: this discussion is not meant to revolve around the idea of whether there should be a "rule" about it. It's mainly just to see discussion about what the community thinks overall, and offer food for thought.

[gary meakin]

I hadn't given this any thought until now. I search ebay myself when I have something in mind that I'm looking for. I haven't yet seen something posted here and been influenced to want to buy it. BUT...if I was bidding on something and all of a sudden it gained a tremendous amount of interest because someone posted it here, I would be upset. I think warning members of potential rip-offs is a good thing. I think posting something you found on ebay is a good thing. I think if you know that someone here is looking for a specific item that you found on ebay, a PM might be in order. ebay doesn't need our help to get things sold and I guess I fall on the side of letting people find it themselves.

[English Bloke]

I don't agree with posting links to live ebay. (That said, I did when I first joined here but I was a bit new to online fora and was on a learning curve, I don't anymore).

I spend quite alot of time trawling ebay. It's not just a time waster, sometimes I actually find things I like and want to buy. I've also spent time to set up my ebay with several (secret... yeah OK...) search strings and it notifies me automatically of things that I may be interested in. When I do find something I fancy, I quite like the idea that I may be the only one who's seen it so I tend not to shout about it from the roof-tops. Were I to find something I liked but couldn't possibly afford or it didn't fit or some-such, I tend to think it's only courtesy to extend the same silent approach so as not to ruin someone else's day. I think if a buyer wants something badly enough at the prices that are possible on ebay, they should do their own homework.

I don't mind advertising the source and price after the fact. I've done that often enough and I've collared some crackin' bargains on ebay (as I've also missed out on a few others). It's often said on here by some that "I never seem to find any bargains on auction sites". In answer, they don't come out of the blue, you have to search for them in a dedicated way as well as take the odd chance... I'd be really miffed if 20 bidders rocked up in the last hour to steal my peach.

I say bad thing... Unless it's to warn of fakes, dodgy goods and scams of course. But that's not the same thing.

[Steve Ashton]

From the strictly forum rules side of the issue.....

The only issue we would have is if you are listing something on Ebay and you post a link to your item here on the forum. That would be considered advertising.
What we ask is; if you have a personal item you wish to sell, and you wish to post it here, that you do not list it on EBay at the same time. If it does not sell here and you then wish to list it on EBay, take down your post here.

X Marks takes great pride in the fact that those who advertise here are some of the most respected companies in the world.
Anyone can advertise on EBay. You can imagine the problem our members would have if we allowed posting of EBay items here on the forum.

While we can give a certain guarantee that dealing with an X Marks advertiser will result in you getting exactly the item advertised, for the stated price, this would not be true for an item purchased over EBay.

As far as being outbid on EBay by a fellow X Marks member.....
Well, it is true that X Marks is a large forum. But against the billions of people who surf EBay every day the chance of being outbid by another forum member is pretty small. I can remember twice when two members were looking at the same item. They discussed it here and came to an agreement between themselves. In the end though they were both outbid by someone else.

[Tobus]

But against the billions of people who surf EBay every day the chance of being outbid by another forum member is pretty small. I can remember twice when two members were looking at the same item.

I can actually think of several instances where I was bidding on items that ended up being won by fellow board members. And I didn't even know I was bidding against them until I saw them post about their new acquisitions later. So it may be more common than any of us would think.

There have also been cases where I was bidding on an item, only to see it posted on the forum by someone else, and suddenly the price skyrocketed. I can't begrudge the winner of his victory, because after all, what it simply came down to was that he was willing to pay more for it than me. But still, it kinda burns when that happens solely due to a public 'outing' of the auction on the forum.

[English Bloke]

I'm inclined to agree with you Tobus. It's happened to me too. Again, no begrudging but ...

[Jackson]

Like you, I, too, look at other Forums and have been chastized for saying we shouldn't be bidding against each other. Some how that was a threat to the free-enterprize system. I didn't understand at first, but, have to agree that it's better to not discuss live auctions. Pointing out scams, or shoddy sellers, that is another matter--in my opinion. So, I voted "bad" and have since refrained from discussing eBay for the most part. I do attend a lot of live auctions and have seen who I was bidding against and refrained from running up the price, if it was obvious the other party was more interested then I was. On eBay, though, it's every man for himself........

Jackson

[ShaunMaxwell]

I tend to think that posting links to live auctions is a bad thing, for the reasons Tobus stated in Opinion 2 above. Some of us spend a great deal of time trawling ebay for treasures and as a result, have gotten great deals. But I've seen instances where something is posted under "hey if you're looking for a ... check out this link", and the feeding frenzy that ensues drives up the price to levels that are often absurd, so it turns out to be a lose-lose scenario, even for the winner.

As I come across things that I think may be of particular interest to fellow forum members, I may send them a PM to let them know, but I generally consider it to be bad form to post live links except in instances of potential fraud, etc. out of consideration for those who may be bidding.

SM

[Chas]

I think it is a good thing.

I was an eBay vendor for four years and like to think that I know a bit of how it works.

It is an auction and if you didn't win it is because at that time, at that place, for that sale someone wanted the goods more than you did. If it is only worth £50 to you and someone else bids 60, you really can't get upset - they wanted it more. People call themselves, serious bidders, but truth be told, all they were after was a bargain and they themselves were part of the process of running up the price when they gave up.

At this moment an eBay search for 'kilt' brings up 30,274 separate sales. That is without searching for 'highland', Celtic, Scotland or Scottish. Who is going to sit down and post all those sales for us - nobody. But the odd sale, that rare tartan kilt, that unique jacket, a particularly fine kilt pin - there is nothing wrong with bringing those to the attention of the membership.

Because there is no cabal, no dark underclass, no necromancers waiting to pounce on the good sales and steal them away from us. Just people who want them more than we do.

Regards

Chas

[AKScott]

I went with "depends/ circumstances"

Fakes and so on, I would like to see. Say someone sees a - a - a sgian, and the seller claims it belonged to King Aurthur, but one of our very knowledgeable members can tell it was made about the time of George the 8th (I am making this up), well, great, educational, I wasn't going to bid on it anyway, but I'd learn a bit about antique sgians.

Really, if I wanted to shop on ebay I would be browsing ebay. If I know someone is looking for a thing and see it, I might send a PM.

Another side would be say I found an antique sgian, realyl liked the look of it, but no idea what it might be worth. I could see bidding say $100, maybe $200 - but I would want a second opinion from someone very knowledgable before I bid $500. Everyone's finances would dictate different numbers on that. If it is "really" worth $1000, I already bid $200, maybe I might bid $500, maybe not.

As a bit of a forum hanger outer, if you don't like them, don't follow the links or don't open the threads. There is plenty of dreck on the internet, get over it.