Oh, there's still plenty of stuff there to be bought, but every time I bid on something lately and offer a fair and reasonable price, I wind up getting outbid at the last second, usually by some newbie who tries to "snipe" me as is the norm on ebay. ("Sniping", for those who don't know, is the rather sleazy practice of waiting until the very last few seconds to throw a bid down with the idea being to keep anyone else from being able to come back and top your bid.)
Time and time again, I keep getting outbid, and I see the item that I was willing to give fair value for go for crazy prices. And lately I've been checking and almost every one of these "winning" bidders is someone who just got on Gunbroker and started bidding for the first time in the last couple of months. In short, it's rookie panic-buyers running around the internet trying to scarf up everything in sight. And these are the ones that make it profitable for the speculators who already snapped up everything a few months ago with no desire for the stuff other than as resale commodities that they could hold hostage until scarcity-created demand brought prices up enough for them to profit obscenely just by flipping the stuff. In other words, the newbie panic-buyers are enabling the pirates and rewarding them for being scumbags as both parties manage to keep you or I from getting practically anything at a reasonable price.
If I had my way, new bidders would be barred from participation in these auctions during the last 24 hours that an item is listed and restricted to participating in one auction at a time. Maybe that's harsh, but then again, it's hard to feel sympathetic for folks who apparently didn't give a damn about their right or ability to own guns right up until the gun bans started looking like a reality. NOW they want to get in on the game?
Sorry, but screw them and double-screw the pirate re-sellers that they're enriching.
Gunbroker, I luv ya and we've had great times, but I'll be back when the idiots and crooks are gone.
The worst part about sniping is the automatic programs that do it.
ReplyDeleteI've been outbid in the last two seconds, and it stings when somebody's program beats you out by a few dollars, or in your case, by an obscene amount.
Doesn't Gunbroker extend the auction by 15 minutes each time a bid is entered within the last 15 minutes? Still requires logging in close to the end of the auction JIC but IMO not as annoying as snipers on Ebay can be.
ReplyDeleteYour other point about GB being over-run with speculators of late is spot on.
@ Uclemikes: Yes, Gunbroker does extend the auction out 15 min. after each new bid. That's how you can spot the newbies. Old hands know to put their bid in at the 14 min. mark but the ebay transplants all think that they can get over by waiting until there's five seconds left. This is extra annoying, because it's always been the norm on Gunbroker to expect to win the item if you are high bid no one else has bid by the last few minutes or so.
ReplyDeleteI too am frustrated with the current (high) prices but I'm thrilled with the new level of 'participation' among the newbies. Imagine what it would have been like if serious new gun restriction were proposed and no one cared to buy bullets and gun sales were stable or even lower. The fact that the citizens of the US are paying attention and voting with their wallets is a GREAT thing. I hope demand keeps going up and up until the government at all levels are shivering with fright.
ReplyDeleteBuy what you can, when you can... to supply your neighbors someday.
@ D: When the time comes, my neighbors who don't suck will be properly supplied.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'd been wondering where all the money that came out of the real estate bubble was going to go, when people were afraid to get back into the stock market. It's the Gun Bubble.
ReplyDeleteI have stopped using Gun Broker until the madness dies down.
ReplyDelete