# Is this rude? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 30, 2000, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-rude/31356 "2000-08-30T16:51:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-rude/31356/1 "2000-08-30T16:51:32Z")
I bid on an item on E-Bay. Then today I got an E-mail from some guy telling me he wants the item too, so could I please stop bidding on it so he could have it. At the time I was not the highest bidder, so he must have sent this to everyone who bid on it. This just bugs me! I think the guy has some nerve. Has this ever happened to anyone else? Is the guy a jerk for doing such a thing or am I just crabby today? ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-rude/31356/2 "2000-08-30T16:54:52Z")
Jerk. And a strange jerk at that. Obviously _everyone_ he emailed wants the item too, or they wouldn’t have bid on it. I guess he just thinks his desires are more important that everyone else’s. For this, he is a jerk. ---
**Author:** ![lolagranola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea5d25/32.png) [@lolagranola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lolagranola)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-rude/31356/3 "2000-08-30T16:57:57Z")
I can’t say for sure if you’re crabby today, but he’s a jerk. Probably a desperate jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-rude/31356/4 "2000-08-30T16:58:04Z")
Bid away. I had to do three seperate auctions to get a mint condition copy of the original, unedited Blade Runner. Paid $35 for it. I say go for the kill. ---
**Author:** ![Sea\_Sloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Sea\_Sloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sea_Sloth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-rude/31356/5 "2000-08-30T17:02:12Z")
Yeah, what a freak. What was the item? (Just morbid curiosity.) ---
**Author:** ![Sea\_Sloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Sea\_Sloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sea_Sloth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-rude/31356/6 "2000-08-30T17:03:56Z")
Oops. I meant the e-mail guy was a freak, not you Saint. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-rude/31356/7 "2000-08-30T17:06:46Z")
Ebay queen here, checking in. Yea, that’s pretty flaky (although I’ve emailed other bidders to let them know I’ve lost interest in something or when I’ve seen a duplicate of the item or whatever.) A couple of times I was bidding on a lot of stuff (you know where you’re bidding on an item that includes 15 of something), and folks have e-mailed me saying they were interested in one or another of the items. E-bay and the sellers aren’t interested in you doing something like that, of course. Bottom line, though, is that damned near everything I’ve ever wanted there comes up again. I’ve bid on 18 copies of the same movie, never paid more than 10$ (other bids went up to 30), 10 times for a single book that I got for $4 (bids on other copies went up to $70), saw an awesome Toys R Us sales associate shirt, but bidding went up to $30 (a bit pricey for a used shirt IMHO), stepped out and got one a month later for $4. So, bid as much as you want or think it’s worth, don’t assume it’s your last chance to get something. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-rude/31356/8 "2000-08-30T19:43:45Z")
not a descrambler, just a converter box. My mother has an older tv in her basement that she wants to hook up to cable, but it’s not a cable ready set, so the needs a converter box. What get’s me about this guy is there are dozens of them on E-Bay, and there was nothing special about this one. In fact, I picked it because it was the most generic, which is all my ma needs for that a set shes only going to watch on rare occassion. When I got that e-mail from him I got so pissed that I went and put my highest bid in at $300! Luckily I just found out an hour ago that I won and got the box for $26. ---
**Author:** ![Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wonko_The_Sane)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-rude/31356/9 "2000-08-30T19:55:05Z")
I guess the guy really did not want it too bad. Odd fellow though. ---
**Author:** ![sorrel554](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@sorrel554](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sorrel554)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-rude/31356/10 "2000-08-30T20:00:23Z")
I would say that is a bit rude. Some people are shameless, however. My boyfriend sold something on eBay to this guy, and the guy was in a rush to get the item and asked my BF if he would consider shipping before we got the check. My BF reluctantly agreed, and then it took forever for the money to come. We had to e-mail the guy twice to get him to send a check. THEN…the guy e-mails my boyfriend and says, “I notice that you did not leave me any positive feedback after our transaction. Please do so right away.” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-rude/31356/11 "2000-08-30T20:10:53Z")
My personal opinion - the person who sent the e-mail asking you not to bid is an associate or a pseudonym of the owner. The seller is trying to irritate people in the hopes of getting them to bid higher, with the thought “I’m not going to let that jerk get it!” ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-rude/31356/12 "2000-08-31T04:14:08Z")
Da’hell? Isn’t the whole POINT Of an auction to encourage competition? “Yeah, bid on THIS!” ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-rude/31356/13 "2000-08-31T05:33:19Z")
Yes, the guy was rude. Really bizarre and rude. I have to ask, what happened to the auction where you pushed your bid to $300? Did you withdraw your bid when you won that other auction for $26? If you haven’t withdrawn your bid, (and you no longer _want_ the item for a possible $300) you really ought to withdraw your $300 bid right away, in fairness to the seller. I say this because TWICE now, I have tried to sell an old 386 laptop on eBay. The first auction, and newbie bid on it, never followed through. I was able to do a search on him (this is easy and legit to do) and saw that he was going mad bidding on many 386 laptops. I guess he thought he was “shopping around”, and would put bids everywhere, and just pick the one he REALLY wanted to buy later. Which isn’t how it works - if you win an auction, you are _obligated_ to follow through. Didn’t he read the eBay rules? Bastard - I gave him bad feedback. I put the laptop up for sale _again_…and what do you bet? The SAME EXACT thing happened again! A different newbie, who was bidding an multiple 386s, won my auction, and I have since heard nothing from him. _THAT_ is rude. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-rude/31356/14 "2000-08-31T13:04:42Z")
I e-mailed a seller the other day for an item that I really wanted, but did not want to wait the 5 days until the auction was up. I asked if she would end the auction early, and I’d Pay-Pal her the money for both of them [http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=419639219](http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=419639219) plus shipping. She e-mailed back that she had two additional in stock besides the auction posted items, so I bought them outright. Good deal! Asking someone to “stop bidding” on an item is unbelievable. I would probobly forward that to E-bay and let them deal with it. At the very least it’s unsolicited e-mail from someone using their service, which is NOT allowed. Zette ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-rude/31356/15 "2000-08-31T13:49:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Black12 \* > \*\*Oops. I meant the e-mail guy was a freak, not you Saint. 🙂 \*\* That’s allright. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-rude/31356/16 "2000-08-31T16:50:54Z")
I bid on several of the same thing at one time, but make sure I’m only _winning_ on one of 'em. That way if it gets too high, I can just raise the bid on another. ---
**Author:** ![Gravity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gravity/32/14322_2.png) [@Gravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gravity)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-rude/31356/17 "2000-08-31T19:24:07Z")
I’ve been on e-Bay for a while now, but that’s never happened to me. What a loser. OTOH, 3 times now I’ve been the 2nd highest bidder on something and had the seller contact me because they had an extra and were willing to give it to me for my max bid. End result is that I ended up getting it CHEAPER than the high bidder did 🙂 K. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-rude/31356/18 "2000-09-01T01:43:01Z")
You don’t understand. At the time I was not the high bidder on the device Mr. Rude Jerk wanted. So I bid $300 on that specific device. I had no other bids on such a device. The winning price was $26. By making my highest bid $300 it made it impossible for him to bid on it unless he bid higher than 300! I know it was a little dirty of me to do that:D but damn it, his goofy e-mail annoyed me. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-rude/31356/19 "2000-09-01T06:02:25Z")
pkbites: I am relieved to know that you won that auction, and didn’t bid on any other. No, bidding an extraordinarily high amount on that auction to ward off Mr. Rude Jerk was not “dirty” at all! It was just “cutting to the chase”. You wanted it more than him. You got it. Bottom line. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-rude/31356/20 "2000-09-01T13:13:35Z")
> [@](#): > > I bid on several of the same thing at one time, but make sure I’m only winning on one of 'em. That way if it gets too high, I can just raise the bid on another. That works great unless the following happens. You bid on auction A and B. You are the winning bidder on item A (so you pay for it), but the second place bidder on item B (so you assume you don’t get it). The high bidder on auction B backs out for some reason. You are NOW THE HIGH BIDDER ON ITEM B. You are responsible for fulfilling that auction contract. Once you enter a bid, you can be held to keeping that “promise to pay”. Read the E-bay rules, it’s spelled out in there. I had this bite me on the ass once, so I know. Zette [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-rude/31356.md?page=2)