EBay shows the list of bidder names and you can send a message to another eBay bidder via eBay even if you did not do an auction with them. EBay forwards the message so the sender does not know your actual email address. it’s designed to let members communicate safely.
I started to say, they haven’t done that in a while. As far as I know, if you even need to get in touch with someone due to a past sale; once everything is wrapped up as far as the system is concerned, unless you kept their contact information from that, you’re pretty SOL.
And the one time someone did to me what the OP had done to them, I emailed back and explained that when I was new to eBay someone had ‘sniped’ me and I lost something I really wanted. I told them I figured this was the price of doing business on there (much like Silver said) and that it taught me to be extremely cautious (IE: snipe myself 
) in the future and they might benefit from doing likewise. I wonder why I never heard anything back… 
No, he should write back and tell him tough shit, he won the fucking auction, so fuck you. He should also mention that he’s sleeping with the man’s mother, because saying you’ve slept with somebody’s mother is not at all tired or old.
I really should learn to include closed captions for the humor impaired. :rolleyes:
Never in a million years did I think anyone would take that as a serious suggestion. I was going more for deadpan exaggeration of the original complainer’s “Waaah, it for my mother” email. I guess I need those closed captions myself!
D’oh! :smack:
That’s a pretty goddamn good question. I’d never even thought about that! I’m wondering if they got it from the seller, which may be why it took over 2 weeks for me to get this weird email.
It was Ebay, by the way.
I haven’t returned the message. I didn’t intend to have any contact with them, but now I’d like to find out how the fuck they got my email address in the first place!
I agree that he has no right to bitch (particularly in the manner that he did), but I can certainly understand his frustrations.
I’ve come up with a way to solve this “problem” however, that’s both beneficial to buyers and sellers: anytime a bid comes in just before closing, extend the bidding by a few more minutes (say 5, for example). This gives everyone a chance to continue bidding, while increasing the amount the seller makes, giving them something closer to the object’s true value. It’s a win/win situation and I’m very surprised it hasn’t been implemented yet.
Xeno’s paradox, though.
And more work for all the buyers. When I get sniped, it’s not because I raise my bid five seconds before the end and someone else sneaks in at three. It’s because I can’t be bothered to monitor the exact second an auction ends and then race to see who has the fastest fingers (or software).
I’ve wondered the same thing. Someone once explained why there was a downside for eBay, but for the life of me, I can’t recall what it was.
About 10 years ago, when Yahoo auctions was still alive, they used to have that very feature.
Gunbroker does this. But so what if Ebay doesn’t? Lifes a bitch and then you die. Being frustrated that you lost is one thing. But to actually email the winner and whine that you didn’t win something for your mommy is beyond fucking pathetic!!
pkbites, do you mind if I ask what the item was?
I’m guessing the person probably wouldn’t have paid for the item anyways, had he or she won.
He’d have a point if eBay required manual bidding, but isn’t the whole point of proxy bidding so that people can’t undercut you at the last second? Either your maximum bid is less than you think the item is worth, in which case it’s almost inevitable that someone else will come along who is willing to accept a slightly lower discount, or it isn’t, which just means they were willing to pay more than you think it’s worth.
Yeah, I’m wondering if there’s some relation too. So although I doubt you’d get a response back from the person who emailed you explain where they got their information, I’d definitely (well, if it bothered me a bunch) let eBay know it happened. Because they supposedly frown on this sort of thing a great deal.
Good luck.
Huh? Based on what?
Is this really new? I though being the last bidder was the point. Fuck him, seconded.
I snipe for my own protection. I have been known to get “auction fever” and wind up paying more than an item is worth to me. With my sniping software I decide well ahead of time how much I’m willing to pay and that’s that. If I win, great. If not, there’s probably going to be another one along later.
I have been known to post exceptional bids for something that I don’t expect to see again any time soon, if ever.
But as too the complaintant in the OP, f*ck him. Feed him fish heads.
“What a coincidence. I bought it for your mother too. Want to know what she gave me?”