Bollox. I've just been outbid again.

[jlawrence]

I understand the system but my problem is with working out how much old machinery in particular is worth, so where to place the snipe.

It might sound silly saying this, but any piece of machinery (old or new) is only worth what you are willing to pay for it.
What it's worth (ie to anyone else) is irrelevant when it comes to deciding your own highest bid.

When it comes to ebay, most of the sounds of me flying off the handle is because I tried to do something clever, rather than just sniping with my max bid.

 

[Boatfixer]

For a free sniper service I regularly use gixen.com - it has always worked for me, provided I have the highest bid of course, and being a skinflint it costing nothing is a great advantage over other services!

 

[big soft moose]

I understand the system but my problem is with working out how much old machinery in particular is worth, so where to place the snipe.

It might sound silly saying this, but any piece of machinery (old or new) is only worth what you are willing to pay for it.
What it's worth (ie to anyone else) is irrelevant when it comes to deciding your own highest bid.
.

i know what you mean but what i'm willing to pay would be dictated by how much something is worth.

for example there is an old wadkin single phase tablesaw on there at the moment which has just gone through 400 notes - now if it is actually worth say 600 notes, then i'd be happy to put a snipe at 550 and hope for the best, but if its actually only worth about 400 then i'm not going to pay over the odds - but if i dont know what its worth how do i decide ?

 

[9fingers]

Pete, As with every purchase surely you have to decide what it is worth to you
If purchasers of any goods or services link their concept of an acceptable price to the market asking price then we get inflation fuelled by market greed.


Bob

 

[Boatfixer]

You really have to decide what its worth to you - if you think 550 then snipe 550 - if no one else bids you will get it for just over 400. If lots of people bid you may end up being outbid but you won't have gone beyond what it is worth to you.

Graham

 

[wizer]

yes how much something is worth to yourself has to include considerations like the logistics of getting that item to you, how much you will use it, how much it might cost you to restore or commission, what extras you need to buy additional to that purchase and what your personal budget allows for.

All those things may differ from person to person.

 

[cambournepete]

You really have to decide what its worth to you

Yeah but what it's worth to me is in part governed by the usual selling price for something.
I don't want to end up paying over the odds even if it's worth the money to me.

I often search prices of completed items on Ebay to see what thngs have typically sold for in the hope and expectation they'll sell for that again...

 

[Harbo]

If you are after a particular type of item, you generally get some idea of what they go for, from previous bids.
Then you have to decide if that price is OK for you. Bid at that and if you are prepared to pay more add a bit in reserve.

You can be lucky - last year or so I was looking for a Record 405 - there were two up for grabs and as I was going away put in some very low bids on both of them. When I got back I had bought them both!

I have often watched items with no bids and you think you stand a chance of picking up a real bargain - then in the last few minutes, several bids. If you haven't already put in a higher figure, then bang it's too late, you haven't enough time to up your bid and it's gone! The number of people watching is generally a give away?

Rod

 

[big soft moose]

"heres hoping she doesnt notice that i'm also bidding on a startrite 352 BS "

ah well i didnt get it - I did the sensible thing and asked bob for advice (always a good move i feel) - he said it was probably worth 450 or so but to snipe at 500.

being a tight ass i sniped at 450 - but it made no difference in the end as it went for a whopping £800.99 in the last minuite - I'm sure the seller's delighted (particularly as hes selling up due to a buisness closure) but thats way more than a second hand 3ph 352 is worth (as assessed by both bobs advice and looking ast second hand dealers) so i can only put it down to the ebay effect of people with more money than sense.

next time G&M or whoever have a 352 or a 351 for circa 350 notes i'm buying the damn thing - as although they are reputed not to be the cheapest in this instance they are a heck of a site cheaper than ebay.

 

[OPJ]

but when it comes to old machinery which is no longer for sale new or worse antique / old furniture that doesnt have a rrp - it is much harder to decide what to bid.

That's very difficult. Although, some sellers seem to think it's right to price old (green) Startrite machines based on their modern (white) equivalents. :x I've also noticed this with Metabo/Elektra Beckum and a few other brands. The trouble with some of the bigger Wadkin and Robinson machines is that the seller (who's relied on it for years) may value you it much higher than yourself.

Thanks for explaining the whole sniping thing.

 

[matt]

The simplest way to establish the prevailing price of something is to search the completed listings on Ebay. Give some consideration to the day and time the listing ended too as that can influence the bidding. Some of the best bargains are to be had when a listing is due to end when a significant sporting event is being televised or on Friday night (before closing time...)

 

[yo_chuci]

i too use Goofbay for the sniping...
but also to check feedback of seller. what they have and haven't sold in the last 90 odd days and what they have bid on in the last however many days..

been a few times where that has shown up that they have just bought the item the week before and are selling it on. so then they get asked about it or i bid less than they paid after checking to find out what sorta faults can be with the item.
the past selling part will show you if the item you are looking at was up before that listing, and how much it got to etc. that might give you an idea of what its worth or what the seller wants for it.

also i use local bargain finder
punch in postcode and area your will to travel and it brings up all the stuff that is collection only etc and under £100 (i think). had a good few 99p bargains off there... postage was 30odd quid but it was 2miles away... the look on their faces when you tell em to keep the change from your pound...

 

[RogerS]

That's a useful link, y_c. Thanks for that.

 

[big soft moose]

well hurrah i finally won one - i'm now the pround owner of a axminster spindle sander for the princely sum of 46 nicker (well i will be when i go pick it up)

Its blue not white so i would guess its fairly old but so long as it works as advertised i'll be happy with that - the equivalent new one goes for over 300 after all

 

[OPJ]

Sounds like a real bargain, Pete! :shock: Hope you manage to give it plenty of use. When I bought mine (the Jet - it is essentially the same) I didn't think I'd give it much use but I seem to be using it more and more for shaping templates, more than anything else.

Apparently, if you put a fence on one side of the bobbin, you can "thickness" thin stuff that's too small or 'fragile' to go through your thicknesser... It's not something I've tried yet as I think the standard bobbin sleeves may be a bit too fine.

 

[big soft moose]

Sounds like a real bargain, Pete! :shock: Hope you manage to give it plenty of use. When I bought mine (the Jet - it is essentially the same) I didn't think I'd give it much use but I seem to be using it more and more for shaping templates, more than anything else.

Apparently, if you put a fence on one side of the bobbin, you can "thickness" thin stuff that's too small or 'fragile' to go through your thicknesser... It's not something I've tried yet as I think the standard bobbin sleeves may be a bit too fine.

first on the agenda is making some maskery type push sticks - ive got some crude ones already but it would be good to be able to round the handles over for comfort.

 

[Mike.C]

well hurrah i finally won one - i'm now the pround owner of a axminster spindle sander for the princely sum of 46 nicker (well i will be when i go pick it up)

Its blue not white so i would guess its fairly old but so long as it works as advertised i'll be happy with that - the equivalent new one goes for over 300 after all

Do you mean the oscillating/bobbin sander? If so you have a terrific buy. I have the white Jet/Axminster version and it was worth every penny.

Cheers

Mike

 

[big soft moose]

well hurrah i finally won one - i'm now the pround owner of a axminster spindle sander for the princely sum of 46 nicker (well i will be when i go pick it up)

Its blue not white so i would guess its fairly old but so long as it works as advertised i'll be happy with that - the equivalent new one goes for over 300 after all

Do you mean the oscillating/bobbin sander? If so you have a terrific buy. I have the white Jet/Axminster version and it was worth every penny.

Cheers

Mike

thats the baby - tho i'm not 100% sure if it oscilates or if its just a staight bobbin, but at that price i'm not complaining - i'm picking it up on friday so we shall see

 

[Jake]

thats the baby - tho i'm not 100% sure if it oscilates or if its just a staight bobbin, but at that price i'm not complaining - i'm picking it up on friday so we shall see

So was that the first snipe? Or a bid that survived?

Next trick to learn is to ask the seller for clarification where you think there might be holes in the description. Hopefully he will tell you and not publish the answer (information advantage!). Otherwise, oh well, you're no worse off considering that plenty of punters will assume it is.

 

[big soft moose]

that was a surviving bid - i knew i wasnt going to arround to snipe it because the auction finished while i was at work so i put a max bid of 75 in (it was standing at 30 at the time) and wound up getting it at 46

it was described simply as a bobbin sander and i'm not to bothered whether it ocsilates or not - if it does bonus , but if it doesnt i'm still happy with the price.