Duo RX sniping rant

[vestcoat]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8260495702&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

Ok, i haven't had any problems with "asemasterautotechnician" as a seller and his prices don't seem terrible.
I also can't get too pissed at people who snipe auctions because ebay sucks and people have sniped many items from me so now i do it and it saves me money....

however, i had been watching this auction out of curiosity because it's rare to see a reasonably priced RX deck being sold in the US and this one was at about 50 bucks until the last minute when a bidding war began.  the winner placed his bid sometime in the last 3 seconds.  i wouldn't care except he's a goddamn STORE.  the system isn't going to anyone who's going to play it.  it's just going to be resold at an inflated price.  and i doubt this winner is going to be as honest about the scuffing and condition of the system as the original gentleman was who just sold it.

damn...

[D-Lite]

I honestly barely use eBay ever anymore.  There are few good deals on there and there are more and more shitty sellers and buyers.  I hate wasting my time on those people but the weeding out process is in effective.

Tough break on the RX, but you had to expect that.  The rule of thumb is to bid what you'd be willing to pay while sniping.  Then as long as you are being reasonable you'll probably win it and be satisfied.  Shooting for the lowest $$ is a sure way to end up pissed.  Think of it this way.  You already invested a decent portion of your own time (watching the auction, watching the closing seconds, bidding, etc) and to come away with nothing over a $5-10 difference would kill ya.  That's what irritates me the most.

[vestcoat]

no, i didn't bid on it.  I have a US Duo coming in the mail and didn't really need to waste more money.  
i was ready to snipe it for $60-70 but it got out of that range pretty quick at the end.
i was mostly pissed about the fact that another seller picked it up rather than a gamer.

(yes, after my system woes that i reported a few weeks ago i purchased another US deck.  
unreliable?  Perhaps.  
but this one is NEW and, more importantly, flat-black.
No curvy, white consoles in my house)  
i am on the market for a Super Grafx, however

[PC Gaijin]

I feel the same as D-Lite. My usage of eBay has been dwindling, and I haven't bought anything from there in over six months. Tired of the resellers (and asemasterautotechnician is one that annoys me, although not as much as bullseye), tired of all the bootlegs being sold (eBay does almost nothing even when you report it), and tired of eBay continually jacking up fees and finding more ways to squeeze money out of you. I'm ready to try alternatives like trading sites and also buying/selling/trading on boards like these just to get away from eBay. The only worthwhile advantage eBay ever had anyway was the reputation system, and their system is so busted (with everyone afraid to leave true feedback because of retaliation) it's almost useless anyway. So back to trading like in the usenet days, oddly enough I never got burned doing those trades, but that was like ten years ago.

Oh, and eBay could fix sniping if they'd end their auctions like Yahoo does. If you bid at the last minute on Yahoo, the auction gets extended. This really cuts down on the people who snipe in the last second (and yes, you can snipe in the very last second on eBay, there's software and websites that will do it for you). Too bad Yahoo auctions aren't popular in the US.

[GUTS]

Some shop just bought a stack of 30 NES manuals off me for $60, I fully expect to see them all up at ridiculous buy it now prices within the week.

[pixeljunkie]

Come to think of it, I don't use it much at all either anymore. Just keep my eyes peeled on it for a few rare things I am looking for. But as a whole, I've avoided it for a while now.

It is a sleazy dealer's haven

[nodtveidt]

There are a couple of videogame auction sites on the net but none of them are particularly good. Anyone here wanna start up a new one? I've got the resources if anyone's got the interest...

[Michael Helgeson]

I sell on ebay often,but Im quick to ban resellers.I monitor my auctions closely for non-paying bidders and resellers and the such.
Last year when I was selling off alot of pc engine and turbo cd stuff,I had to ban Bullseye and Asemaster.Asemaster actually used his other account to win a Gate of Thunder auction of mine,funner still was that it was the copy I got from him.
Anyway I recognized his email and informed him the auctions were not for resellers,as it was posted in the auction details,and on here in a thread.
I ended up banning both his ebay accounts.He took it well,as he missed the details I guess.
He is a nice guy,and Id buy from him again,but never sell to him. I am fine with resellers hitting Japan,getting shipments in like West Exit and all,and selling like that,but I just cant stand resellers hitting US auctions constantly out bidding their own customers,like these people wont catch on sooner or later as to what they are doing,driving the price up in Buy it Now auctions getting double what they paid because they lucked out on a cheap deck or game.
Reminds me of just this last week when I beat Jeff Kurtz over a 1-slot I was figuring he was going to consolize and resell for 300+ bucks.I outbid him just because of the principle of it. I had the money there and just did it to stop him cold.
 I know that was bastard like of me,but thats how I feel on it.If I thought he was going to resell it consolized for like 200-250 then I would have prob not done so,but I was pretty sure in 2-3 weeks time I would have seen him relist it for $300+ or sell it to some noob on the Neo forums.

And to be honest,cash wise whenever possible,I will continue to do so on things like 1-slots when I see someone trying to make 300 plus more off of something they are trying to win for 30 bucks.If I dont win,I will at least drive the bidding up to make sure the reseller is gonna pay his fair share if at all possible.
It would be great to see some kind of new auction gaming site.Yahoo US auctions suck.If soemthing was put together,and it got recognized enough,Id sell on it for sure.

[D-Lite]

If I dont win,I will at least drive the bidding up to make sure the reseller is gonna pay his fair share if at all possible.

The problem with that strategy is that if the dealer has to pay more for the system/1-slot/whatever, they will pass that price hike on to the next buyer, guaranteed.  So all that does is drive up the end price for the end user.

And I highly doubt you'll find Jeff Kurtz selling consolized boards with any frequency.  The last one he sold on the Neo-Geo.com forums was 3 months ago and before that last May.  Not saying what his plans for that one were, just pointing out that it's not like Jeff is running the same business that Kenny/Kpj/Neotropolis is in terms of consolization and pricing.

[rolins]

It would be great to see some kind of new auction gaming site.Yahoo US auctions suck.If soemthing was put together,and it got recognized enough,Id sell on it for sure.

An alternative is VGA, and they don't have setup or closing fees like ebay does.

I haven't purchased anything from there yet. Most auctions are for Sega Saturn games, and I don't have a SS console. Another reason is most sellers are international and I hate paying the expensive S&H costs.

[Michael Helgeson]

The problem with that strategy is that if the dealer has to pay more for the system/1-slot/whatever, they will pass that price hike on to the next buyer, guaranteed. So all that does is drive up the end price for the end user.

And I highly doubt you'll find Jeff Kurtz selling consolized boards with any frequency. The last one he sold on the Neo-Geo.com forums was 3 months ago and before that last May. Not saying what his plans for that one were, just pointing out that it's not like Jeff is running the same business that Kenny/Kpj/Neotropolis is in terms of consolization and pricing.

So do you think that Kurtz had to bid 300 bucks or more before winning this because someone drove the bids up:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=62054&item=8242547270



You are probably right,that could be why he sold it for $600.
Nah,I take that back,considering since you can score a cheap AES from Hit-Japan anytime.
Or here,
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEO-GEO-AES-SYSTEM-BOXED-MINT-COMPLETE-NEOGEO-JP-MVS_W0QQitemZ8263770967QQcategoryZ62054QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
WOW,under 300 bucks after shipping,and complete in box in near mint with memory card.
Or here,under 300 bucks,
http://cgi.ebay.com/Neo-Geo-AES-System-Boxed-Console-3-Games-Import-JP_W0QQitemZ8263246545QQcategoryZ4315QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
boxed with games.
or here under 220 bucks after shipping,
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEO-GEO-AES-Console-Import-JAPAN_W0QQitemZ8261550725QQcategoryZ62054QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

(update,look how much he won this one for:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=62054&item=8272428992
wonder how much he will sell it for after modding it. He won for $157,if the past dictates it will be sold by him for $500-600.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=62054&item=8263897990
Won this one for $50 bucks
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=62053&item=8260400456
Another one for $157.50 that he won. As we are all smart enough to know Dean that he is not getting all these just to collect, and he is infact making huge profit off the fools and noobs at the Neo Forums, you and him both should be ashamed for taking advantage of so many people who don't know better.)


In his own auction he post quotes about Neo systems he has sold after modding them and what not. While I dont think he does them too often,the fact remains he mods and resells for a extremely high cash amount.
I dont think this is due to someone like me driving his cost up.
 
If it wasnt for ebays item details ending after 60-90 days Im sure we could look further back into his feedback and see more systems sold by him for around the same price or close to it. I do see AES and MVS tossed around in his feedback left by buyers.

Maybe he is just selling off his own personal collection?
Yea right!!!

[Michael Helgeson]

Hey Dean,
when Kurtz says
                      "I have the strongest reputation for Neo Geo mods so you know you are getting the absolute best quality work."
                                                     
       do you think he means his work is better then yours and KPJ?

How many of you are out there modding NEO systems anyway???

[D-Lite]

do you think he means his work is better then yours and KPJ?

Honestly?  Yes.  Why?  Because it's true.

How many people modding AES systems?  Jeff and Kenny.  I've done all of two in the past year.

MVS consolization?  Really just Kenny on a regular basis.

[Michael Helgeson]

Strive to be better then,boy!

[D-Lite]

Strive to be better then,boy!

What I'm saying is that Jeff does have the strongest reputation, bar none.  He has contributed more than anyone else and he does great quality work.  I don't get into pissing matches about whose quality is better because that's pointless.  Have I said anything about your quality of work?  

If you are so bitter about all the pricing of stuff, then maybe you should do it full time at cheaper rates.  Seriously.  Yeah, you do the occasional "super"gun, but why stop there?  Put your money where your mouth is and stop derailing everyone's threads everywhere you go.  If you want to flame and start problems, don't do it here.  It's pretty clear that no one wants to see that.  I know you've been lurking at NG.com so you might as well just use the War Room there for your venting.  People there expect a flame war.