EF Ebay!!!!!

[shawn622]

I am sick of trying to get a good name brand effing pipe. I find one and bid it and in the last flipping 3 seconds I get outbid. I'm so fricking sick of it. It happened 5x to me tonight and I'm so pissed I'm shaking!!! I can't afford anything another flipping way. It like a bunch of pipe hungry effing vultures on there. UUUUUGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! So much for having any pride or dignity but if I didn't get it out here I'd get the cops called on my for screaming. UGH :evil:

 

[kabong30]

Settle down, friend. I find that the trick is to catch auctions that end at weird times. That and I try to find something that looks like crap to most people that I think I can clean up.

 

[hawk60ce]

+1 kabong

 

[crpntr1]

+1 kabong..I picked up a Pete 69, 1066, and a sav 606 all pretty cheap like that

 

[cigrmaster]

Think about getting a sniper program.

 

[shawn622]

Well Kabong, I have you to thank for the only name brand pipe in my collection. Effit I am done buying, even looking at pipes. Its maddening. My blood pressure is 196/110 right now and my health is not worth it. I'm so frustrated with my entire situation right now. I used to buy what the ef ever I wanted, whenever I wanted to, even while I was at the peak of my drug/alcohol addiction. I made ridiculous money and was respected for what I did. One nasty car wreck and I am effing worthless. Its little sh!t like an Ebay auction that reminds me that I'm an effing shell of what I was. It's so twisted and wrong. I'm done whining. Forgive me. Like I said, if I don't get it out here I'll wind up with consequences.

 

[hawk60ce]

I enjoy eBay. its the hunt and the score. i do agree. ive set alarms for weird times at auctions end to win things. and have done so successfully

 

[shawn622]

Well congratulations.

 

[crpntr1]

LOL...a bit pissy Shawn???? :rofl: forget it, if you had won those pipes they probably would've burnt you anyway

 

[hawk60ce]

my bad...sleep well my friend..

 

[baronsamedi]

Settle down, Beavis.

 

[numbersix]

Hey Shawn, I think a lot of us have been there too and it can be frustrating as hell. But there are people who use ebay for a living (both buying and selling) and they don't miss a trick.
Keep at it, try to enjoy the hunt and be patient (like Dave says, this is a want, not a need). Eventually you'll make the score of the decade and you will appreciate the pipe more than anyone.

 

[sparroa]

There's only three outcomes with eBay:

a)uncontested auction - then it's either dumb luck or a low demand item

b)early bids escalate to an all out bidding war, which does nothing but result in crazy final prices

c)sniping, which you are the victim of; this is actually preferable in my books... If you keep your cards close and don't make a move until the last second, then you will never pay higher than your true max bid. Your odds of winning are greatly increased, and if you lose, then it wasn't meant to be because financially you didn't want it bad enough...
I'm sorry you lost. I won three auctions last night but I was hoping to walk away with 3 pipes in good condition for $36 shipped. It ended up costing me $58 shipped and I wasn't happy about it because the perceived "value" of the deal was mostly lost... Still, that's all you can do unless you are made of money. It was naive of me to think I could walk away with a steal - but I got my pipes despite the efforts of the snipers. Two Grabows and a Frank Medico... At least now I have my first briars! One could look at it another way and say "You could've got two new Grabows or a cheap Savinelli for that" but I was invested in the auction and bid accordingly.
I'm into wet shaving and I really want an original Old Spice shaving soap, but people go nuts on those auctions and they end up going for upwards of $30-35 a puck! I want it but I don't want it that bad! The same goes with pipes and a lot of other hobbies; things get hot and they might never cool down again. Even if it was just the members of our board scouring eBay for pipes then you'd still have to fight for them - when you consider there are probably thousands of people regularly eyeing the same listings as you then you understand how heated the bidding can get...
Best of luck with future auctions, brother. Don't take it personal and try not to be hard on yourself...

 

[gmwolford]

Lots of good advice here. Shoot, I don't care what the name is, if it's got one even, as long as it does well for me, that's what's important. This hobby is one that should promote relaxation. eBay in and of itself is a challenge, something completely different than the piping-experience. Put things in perspective and go onward and upward.

 

[photoman13]

Dr Jeckle or Mister Hyde? It's just a pipe man. :crazy:

 

[rigmedic1]

All you can do, my friend, is decide the maximum you want to pay for something, then take your chances. It is the only thing that works, and it doesn't work all the time, that's why I don't have a cheap Dunhill, lol. But I scoured the bay and got a Castello under $25 once. Patience and persistence, my friend.

 

[PeriqueMyInterest]

Instead of buying estates seen on ebay, you could save the money you would have spent on multiple auctions to buy a single new pipe. Then you could grow with the pipe, and it would tell your own story. It is nice to have multiple pipes, but in reality you only need one to smoke.

 

[shawn622]

I am so embarrassed of my reaction. I haven't read all the comments. I am going to drink a cup of coffee and smoke a bowl. I just woke up again(I fell back to sleep after I took my sons to their bus.) The first thing on my mind was to get on here and make a formal apology. so here it goes. I AM SORRY FOR BEING AN ASS LAST NIGHT. You all have been like cyber brothers to me and as such, I guess you got to see the crappy side of me. I can not compete on Ebay. I just don't have the money. If there is a desirable pipe on there thats worth anything, I am not the only one who desires it. Most pipe collectors are very established people with the means to get what they want. My establishment was destroyed upon breaking my back and pelvis in a car crash. The driver that ran me of the road was never caught even with 10 eye witness testimonies. It is time for me to reestablish myself, but until then... NO MORE EBAY I will read and respond to the posts that you all left to me. I am actually afraid to read them. lol Please accept my apology for my actions last night. I don't want to do anything to jeopardize the many friendships I have made here. My nickname from the friends I grew up with is Knucklehead. One of the reasons I received it was my temper and the troubles it got me into. lol I have a lot better temper in my 40's. Last night was a rarity. I'm done rambling. Thanks for your time.

 

[numbersix]

no worries Shawn!

 

[sixmp]

I know i am new here to the forums but from what i have seen of you Shawn you are a nice guy and going off your tree now again is a human thing. We all do it and being big enough to say sorry afterwards shows good character.
So you enjoy that bowl