Q: Why do you pay for the insurance when shipping?
A: Because I'm the one who promises that you'll get your item after you pay for it, and it's my responsibility until the item is actually in your hands.

Q: Why don't you offer PayPal's Buyer Protection?
A: Why add another layer of bureaucratic complication? After reading all the fine print, it's clear to me that my policies for dealing with problems are much friendlier to the buyer than theirs.  PayPal provides a great service for the online community, but their buyer protection policy was written by lawyers and is liberally larded with weasel words primarily intended to benefit them in any dispute.   No one is perfect.   I've conducted more than 700 eBay transactions so of course there have been a couple of problems, ranging from an item that arrived smashed, to an item that had a condition issue that I missed in my inspection, yet if you check my feedback, you'll see no complaints.  There are no problems that people of good will cannot resolve.

Q: Where do you get the things you sell?
A: My wife and I are serious collectors. About half of our house is dedicated to displaying our collective eclectic eccentricities. Sometimes the things we sell are simply overflow from our collections, and sometimes they're interesting items we buy to resell.   Sometimes our collecting interests change and we sell off an old collection to fund the new.  Right now I'm manfully resisting purchasing penguins and pineapples. But unfortunately I have somehow acquired this large box of travel clocks, about which my wife says, there is "nothing dumber than."

Q: Why are you selling it?
A: I don't want it anymore, I'd rather have the money. Whenever someone asks me this I'm tempted to offer rude (but amusing) remarks. Usually the question arises from a presumption that the only reason someone would sell a desirable item is that it's somehow seriously flawed. Well, there are a couple of serious flaws in the logic behind that question. The first lies in the asking of the question itself.  What rational person would expect a truthful answer from someone who already has lied to them?  The other notion that someone can accumulate a significant body of positive eBay feedback while cheating people.  Obviously, they can't!  If you're a buyer, the ebay feedback system will protect you in almost every transaction.

Q: Will you close the auction and sell me the item right now?
A: No. Aside from the fact that doing so is unethical and a violation of our eBay agreement, it means that the transaction is outside of the public view and there's no means of redress for either of us if someone turns out to be a two-legged snake. Once I've listed an item the auction runs until it closes. If an auction closes without a winning bidder I may re-list it a time or two. I never send second-chance offers to bidders. If the high bidder reneges, I put it up for auction again.

Q: I've read some frightening stories about people getting screwed in these online auctions -- how can I keep that from happening?
A: The perfect solution is to stay away from online auctions.  Of course this cuts you out of some serious fun.  Online auctions offer a chance to purchase items that you'd likely never find in a lifetime of browsing regular shops.  The next best solution is to exercise prudence and take full advantage of the eBay feedback system. Carefully read the item description — does it tell you everything you need to know?    Is there a ridiculous shipping fee?   If not, question the seller until you get all the information you need before bidding.  A careful reading of the item description can also provide big clues to the personality you'll be dealing with. Do you see a lot of negativity in the ad?  If so, chances are good you'll encounter negativity during the transaction. Does the person provide little or no description? Don't make buying decisions based on too little information. Check the feedback and bid with your head instead of your heart.

Q: What's the best bidding strategy for winning auctions?
A: Decide in advance the absolute maximum you're willing to pay for an item, then add about 5 or 10 percent to that and place your bid. Now stick to that bid and don't raise it.  The reason for the extra percentage?  So you don't have an excuse to kick yourself later and say, "If I'd only bid a buck or two more!" eBay's proxy bidding system works perfectly and it will automatically raise the bid as needed to keep you as the top bidder until you either win the auction or someone bids more than your top amount.

Q: Is it better to be the first bidder?
A: Being the first bidder offers some advantages: If you win the auction, you are getting the item at the lowest possible high bid, while everyone else is forced to bid higher. And if they do outbid you, they're being forced to pay more than you think the item is worth. The primary disadvantage is that you could be vulnerable to "shill" bidding (see below). You can eliminate this problem by placing a last-minute "sniping" bid, but sniping has its own disadvantages. 

Q: What's "sniping?" And why do so many sellers hate it?
A: So-called "sniping" is the practice of placing a bid in the last minute or two, and it can be one of the best techniques to assure that you win the bid.  The idea is that someone else won't have time to place a new bid and outbid you for the item.  Most sellers hate it because they think it keeps the item from selling for a higher price.  In some cases they may be right, especially when an auction draws the attention of dealers. Yes, dealers buy on eBay, too, because eBay prices often are only a fraction of what an item would sell for in a "real" collectibles shop. Some bidding dealers snipe because it prevents other dealers from seeing their interest in the item until it's too late to outbid them.

Q: How do you feel about sniping?
A:  Personally, as a seller, I have no problems with sniping or snipers. It used to be my most-used bidding technique until I realized that frantic last-minute bidding and bid raises based on emotion rather than reason was causing me to spend more than an item was really worth. And then a couple of times I failed to place a bid in time to win a hard-to-find item that I really wanted.  So you're welcome to snipe away in my auctions — in fact, I wish you would.  Even if you don't lose control and bid like a maniac, you'll still be raising the price over what the item would have sold for anyway. On the plus side, sniping can help neutralize "shill" bidders.

Q: What's a "shill" bidder?
A:  A person, sometimes a friend of the seller, or perhaps, the seller himself using a different identity, bids on the item to raise the selling price. I've experienced at least one instance of having someone "nibble" the bid up to the maximum price I would pay. How did the shill bidder know when to quit bidding? I foolishly bid an odd amount a few cents more than the regular bid increment. The shill placed a series of bids at the exact bid increment. When the winning bid (mine) showed the odd amount, the shill knew he had reached my maximum amount and quit bidding. This seller cheated me out of about $7 dollars with his shill bids, but by now he's lost hundreds of dollars in future sales to me! When placing your bid, the dialog box always shows you the bid increments for that item. Make sure your bid falls on an even increment. This won't completely stop shills, but it makes it more difficult for them.

Q: What's the best bidding strategy for sniping?
A:  If you want to be a successful sniper, figure out your maximum bid using my formula (max amount you're willing to pay, plus 5 or 10 percent), then place that bid in the final minute of the auction. Be advised that, if the item is hot and attracting multiple snipers, you may be outbid.  By the way, eBay is scrupulously honest about ending the auction at the stated time.  I like this system because it's fair to both buyer and seller. Auctions that extend the closing time when someone bids throw an unfair advantage to the seller.

©1989-2012 by Dennis Ecklund.

Your comments are cordially solicited. E-mail: info2@ecklunds.com