My Total eBay Experience
Posted last year, mid-September.Filed in: annoyances, eBay, games, review
Currently I have the Nintendo 64, Sega Saturn, and Playstation 2. I hoped that Nintendo would create another all-in-one game cartridge with the series of Super Mario Bros (1,2, and 3). They did that with the Super Nintendo (which I used to own, but I don’t know where it went). But, much to my dismay… no sign of my Mario Brothers for the 64.
I decided to go into the market for the original Nintendo (NES) so that I could finally play my beloved game. And duck hunt - boy, I loved that game too (I don’t shoot the dog when I play duck hunt, in case you were wondering).
Here’s where eBay came in. I ended up winning a package with the console, 20 games, the gun, and two controllers for $69 (including shipping). A pretty good deal I thought. Then… I realized my mom’s birthday is coming up. I bet she would love the original Atari!
Houston… we have a problem. The more I looked at the old Atari games, the more I realized that I wanted the Atari for myself! I decided to call my mom to see if she really wanted an Atari. She did. Bummer, because now it won’t be a surprise. But, we decided it would be best to ship the system to my house so that I can test the games to make sure everything is working correctly. Great plan. 
But back to my eBay experience. Here are my complaints and kudos for the exciting act of online auctioneering.
- Shipping Costs. They charge too much! Shipping usually runs just under $30! Whoa! I barely want to spend that much on the item itself! So… I only bid on items with low shipping costs.
- Buy it Now. LOVE IT! Before bidding begins, sellers often offer a “buy it now” link with the price they’re willing to take for the item. So, rather than wait four days for the auction to end, you can make your purchase right away. Of course if you bid on the item instead, you might get it cheaper… or you might pay more if the competition is stiff.
- Paypal. Although Paypal isn’t exclusively used for eBay - I think it’s an awesome feature. Easy, safe, secure.
- My Maximum Bid. This is fantastic. I choose an amount I’m willing to pay… let’s say $30. eBay will then bid on my behalf up to my max amount. So if the current bid is $10, eBay will bid $11 for me. If someone comes in with $15, eBay will bid $16 and so on until $30. Very cool. I usually get my item for half of what I’m willing to pay. Or I get outbid altogether (which is fine because I didn’t want to pay more than $30!)
While I find eBay exciting, I get stressed out waiting for the bid results. I generally don’t bid on an item unless it ends within a day or so. Auctions ending within a few hours are best because I check my status every five minutes.
I’m actually writing this post while waiting for the auction to end for my mom’s Atari system. Frogger included of course. I have three minutes left and I’m the high bidder ($5 under the amount I’m willing to pay). Cutting it close, but I think I’ll be okay.
Click the refresh button… here we go… did I win? Oh crap… seven seconds left. Jeeze. Refresh. Come on, come on! Yes! I won! Hurray! Now on to paying with Paypal. I like to get feedback with the phrase “rapid payment.”
