# How fucking pathetic are people going to get on this planet?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fucking-pathetic-are-people-going-to-get-on-this-planet/479735
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [January 3, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fucking-pathetic-are-people-going-to-get-on-this-planet/479735 "2009-01-03T20:53:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fucking-pathetic-are-people-going-to-get-on-this-planet/479735/1 "2009-01-03T20:53:48Z")
This is not the first time this has happened to me. I got a nasty e-mail from some waste of his fathers sperm bitching at me about an item I had won on an auction site.
_“I was trying to get this for my mother. Now what am I suppose to do? Placing a bid at the very last moment is a sneaky rat thing to do and I hope you have a lousy new year”_
[SIZE=“7”] **B-O-O H-O-O!** [/SIZE]
What are you supposed to do? A suicide pact with your mother would make interesting reading in tomorrows paper.
What’s really fucking weird is, I won that item over 2 weeks before I got this fucked up e-mail.
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### Author:  [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2009, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fucking-pathetic-are-people-going-to-get-on-this-planet/479735/2 "2009-01-03T20:55:31Z")
Fuck him.
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### Author:  [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2009, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fucking-pathetic-are-people-going-to-get-on-this-planet/479735/3 "2009-01-03T20:56:31Z")
I suppose that offering to sell it to him at a 25% markup wouldn’t make him feel any better, either. There’s just no satisfying some people.
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2009, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fucking-pathetic-are-people-going-to-get-on-this-planet/479735/4 "2009-01-03T20:59:32Z")
Dear moron,
Tough shit.
Love,
pkbites
P.S. I’ll give it to her in the morning.
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### Author:  [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fucking-pathetic-are-people-going-to-get-on-this-planet/479735/5 "2009-01-03T21:01:53Z")
My wife loves being a “sniper” on Ebay. It’s all part of the fun. What **ParentalAdvisory** said–if everyone is playing by the same rules, tough shit when you don’t win. You don’t want a last minute bid to beat you? Then bid higher and reduce the chances. Highest bid wins, seems fair to me.
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### Author:  [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fucking-pathetic-are-people-going-to-get-on-this-planet/479735/6 "2009-01-03T21:12:19Z")
Other than being mentally deranged I see no reason for this email two weeks later. Better watch out with that person. They haven’t tracked you down yet, so be sure to not reply.
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### Author:  [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fucking-pathetic-are-people-going-to-get-on-this-planet/479735/7 "2009-01-03T21:14:19Z")
Give it to me my mommy wants it now
ETA: Weird, I just realized that SDMB converts all caps to all lower case…kind of negates the impact of the post…
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### Author:  [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fucking-pathetic-are-people-going-to-get-on-this-planet/479735/8 "2009-01-03T21:14:51Z")
The thing that most impresses me about E-bay is how they have got people to talk about **winning** a fucking auction as though it’s an achievement.
“Hey man I just won the Pulitzer prize.”
“What a coincidence I won a red hat on Ebay.”
Excuse me didn’t you simply bid more than anyone else? The few things I have bought haven’t made me feel like a **winner** on any level. Anyhow I am off now to win some breakfast at the buy it now price at the local cafe.
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### Author:  [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fucking-pathetic-are-people-going-to-get-on-this-planet/479735/9 "2009-01-03T21:18:18Z")
How’d they even get your email in the first place? Even if I’ve had a transaction with someone in the past, they won’t let me get at a way to contact them unless it’s something current. Folks who’ve got no reason to bother you (like this schmuck) shouldn’t be able to even get to your information through the eBay system.
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2009, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fucking-pathetic-are-people-going-to-get-on-this-planet/479735/10 "2009-01-03T21:19:04Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#):
>
> The thing that most impresses me about E-bay is how they have got people to talk about **winning** a fucking auction as though it’s an achievement.
😕 What word would you suggest they use?
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fucking-pathetic-are-people-going-to-get-on-this-planet/479735/11 "2009-01-03T21:21:46Z")
> [@faithfool](#):
>
> Folks who’ve got no reason to bother you (like this schmuck) shouldn’t be able to even get to your information through the eBay system.
We don’t know that it’s eBay. The OP didn’t say, and there are other auction sites, believe it or not.
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### Author:  [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2009, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fucking-pathetic-are-people-going-to-get-on-this-planet/479735/12 "2009-01-03T21:31:47Z")
> [@Q.E.D](#):
>
> We don’t know that it’s eBay. The OP didn’t say, and there are other auction sites, believe it or not.
_Really??_ :eek:
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fucking-pathetic-are-people-going-to-get-on-this-planet/479735/13 "2009-01-03T21:33:54Z")
I know, I was shocked, too.
Most of the ones I know of are specialized for a particular interest group.
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### Author:  [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fucking-pathetic-are-people-going-to-get-on-this-planet/479735/14 "2009-01-03T21:35:23Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#):
>
> My wife loves being a “sniper” on Ebay.
Yep- first thing my husband taught me.
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### Author:  [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2009, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fucking-pathetic-are-people-going-to-get-on-this-planet/479735/15 "2009-01-03T21:48:23Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#):
>
> Yep- first thing my husband taught me.
Sometimes it’s not about the price I’m willing to pay, but how bad I want the item. If I want it, I’ll snipe it.
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### Author:  [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fucking-pathetic-are-people-going-to-get-on-this-planet/479735/16 "2009-01-03T21:59:04Z")
Solutions for someone who really wants and needs the item that badly:
Place a maximum bid that’s really really high. Through the magic of eBay, your nominal bid will only stairstep up to a little beyond what someone else is willing to pay (putting aside shills, which unlike sniping **are** a legitimate problem).
Buy It Now.
Or, don’t join the game if you don’t like the way it’s played. Maybe even consider paying retail.
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### Author:  [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2009, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fucking-pathetic-are-people-going-to-get-on-this-planet/479735/17 "2009-01-03T22:03:24Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#):
>
> The thing that most impresses me about E-bay is how they have got people to talk about **winning** a fucking auction as though it’s an achievement.
>
> “Hey man I just won the Pulitzer prize.”
> “What a coincidence I won a red hat on Ebay.”
Yeah, I hate that too. Why do people use the same word for very different things.
“Yahoo, I just graduated from a Ph.D. program.”
“Oh yeah, well, I just graduated from kindergarten.”
5 year-olds really shouldn’t feel that much entitlement unless they have a Ph.D. too! 😛
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### Author:  [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fucking-pathetic-are-people-going-to-get-on-this-planet/479735/18 "2009-01-03T22:16:55Z")
I’ll admit I hate sniping, but I was on eBay before it was popular and before sniping got started. And I realize that sniping is the standard way of winning right now, so I don’t bitch about it. I still wish people had to bid normally before sniped, just so you knew how much competition you have.
(I hadn’t realized before I did a paper on eBay that there’s sniping _software_. Sheesh.)
In other words: if you don’t like how eBay works (which is mostly sniping) don’t use it. Sniping isn’t unfair, it’s a good way to get what you want and not spend more than you mean to.
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### Author:  [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fucking-pathetic-are-people-going-to-get-on-this-planet/479735/19 "2009-01-03T22:35:12Z")
That’s ridiculous.
Write back to let the person know that you got the item for an ORPHAN who is BLIND and has CANCER. That should trump a mother.
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2009, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fucking-pathetic-are-people-going-to-get-on-this-planet/479735/20 "2009-01-03T22:40:48Z")
> [@delphica](#):
>
> Write back to let the person know that you got the item for an ORPHAN who is BLIND and has CANCER. That should trump a mother.
Speaking of ridiculous: He should, what, be equally childish to one-up the idiot and WIN TEH INTARWEBZ? Whatever.
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