midmofan wrote:Well, since this is the overbid/understock/pricing/complaint thread de jure, I shall post my 2 cents.
The real problem is not the crazy over-bids. Those people are either drunk or clueless and that will take care of itself. The big issue is all the many, many, bids that are right at or even just a hair below regular online pricing. That means a lack of bargains and that means its not worth the time, trouble, and uncertainty of bidding when you can just get what you want right away.
The real death of a bidding site is not one person paying $50 for a single Gurkha, its too many people paying right at retail for sticks available elsewhere.
Well, I think ther are several other factors contributing to the price hikes.
One of them simply being higher starting points, here, and other places.
On another note, anyone else notice the pricing program the other place has in place for many popular items.
I've been watching it for a few months now.
"Fiver A" opens at $18, and there's 5 lots.
If all lots get bids, the next time Fiver A comes up, the starting point is higher, $19 or $20.
If all lots get bids, it goes up again.
At some point, people refuse to bid. After a week or two of no bids, the price drops back down, and the process starts over.
Pretty slick.