On Friday, May 25, 2007, at 12:06PM, "Nick Zentena" <zentena@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: >On Friday 25 May 2007 11:05, Edward C. Zimmermann wrote: > >> Strategy on ebay depends on the item. I just won a nikon F5 for $325. I have been watching F5 prices over the pas three months, and there are generally about 50-60 cameras up at any one time. I looked at completed auction prices and determined what was a realistic bargain price to expect. I then bid systematically on the items, reading the listings with care and being relaxed when I was outbid. The camera a bought I bid on twice, once I didn't get it because it had too high a reserve, but the second time I got it and it is as described and works fine. This works fine for items like this where there will be "another one along in a minute". In other cases you may wish to be more circumspect, and may even wish to consider the timing of you questions to the seller. For instance for an item described as a "compur camera" with no bids you may want to wait until very late in the day before asking if the writing around the lens says Helliar. On occasion I've snipped. This is probably most useful when its an uncommon item which you are not prepared to pay top dollar for. This works because If the item is uncommon this raises the chances that the people you are bidding against are not very experienced bidders. This means that they are more likely to chase up to unrealistic prices in a bidding war, and means that they are less likely to use snipping tools. My 2c. Larry Cuffe ============================================================================================================= To unsubscribe from this list, go to www.freelists.org and logon to your account (the same e-mail address and password you set-up when you subscribed,) and unsubscribe from there.