Meh_Gerbil
April 30th 2004, 04:49 PM
I hate eBay.
I wanted to buy a copy of Dante’s Divine Comedy and I was under the mistaken impression that I could save money by shopping at Ebay. I was out for the leather bound Easton Press edition of the trilogy and found a nice set still in the plastic wrap going for $110.00. Regular price: $210.00
I bid that price up to $115.00 but then I was informed that I was instantaneously outbid at $119.00 So I placed a bid at $135.00 and the bid settled to $128.50 leaving $7.50 in reserve. There was 4 hours left in the bidding, this was early on Wednesday.
I spent most of the next 4 hours at work checking to see if the bidding was going anywhere. With 20 minutes left to go I was fantasizing about getting my books and hoping that the wife wouldn’t be upset that I blew $135.00 to save $75.00. I was also trying to figure out why the seller had the shipping price as $6 in one location and $12 in another.
No matter.
Well you know what happened next, with 2 minutes left to go, the bidding suddenly went totally crazy. With one refresh it was to $140.00 so I quickly typed in $155.00 while keeping an eye on the time. I clicked again with seconds left to go thinking to myself, “GOOD HEAVENS, I JUST BID WAY TOO MUCH”. I could feel the stomach acid building while the entire web site screeched to a halt. I was now hoping that someone outbid me because it makes me feel like I got ripped off when I win auctions. (I'm the only person on the planet willing to pay this amount?)
The last click produced a screen that said I had LOST the bidding which closed at $160.52. At first I was relieved, then I was upset.
Great.
Not only did I just waste 4 hours of mental energy worrying about this stupid bidding war but I was undoubtedly beat out by some Playstation twitch gamer punk who studies up on how to beat people out in bidding wars on Ebay. I’m quite sure the loser cannot even read and the people who will be forced to read it to him or her probably aren’t bright enough to appreciate the art of a well spun poem.
Shopping as a competitive sport? Have I lost my mind? Remember, guys, when we used to laugh about women fighting over panty hose at a big department store sale? I got sucked into that big time. I now have murderous thoughts about tittlewinks665, the scraggly zit faced punk that beat me out of my books. I'm sure he has no life, is ugly, wears ragged cloths and laughs like a horse.
I WANT MY BOOKS BACK TITTLEWINK665! THOSE ARE MY BOOKS, I HAVE TOO MUCH TIME AND ENERGY INVESTED IN THEM. YOU STOLE THEM FROM ME YOU PALE FACED LONG HAIRED NET CRAWLING GEEK.
Imagine going into a department store and seeing a price of $10.00 on an item but when you get up to the cashier someone behind you tells the cashier they'll give $15.00 for the item so store security takes it out of your basket and puts it in theirs. What kind of MORONS would put up with that sort of nonsense. NOT THIS MORON!
So I’ll call Easton Press up and order the books brand new.
I figure the books will cost more but I won’t go to bed tonight hating some other bidder while popping anti-acid pills to calm my upset stomach. I'll forget about winning bidding wars and go back to wishing that somebody would shoot my dog.
I wanted to buy a copy of Dante’s Divine Comedy and I was under the mistaken impression that I could save money by shopping at Ebay. I was out for the leather bound Easton Press edition of the trilogy and found a nice set still in the plastic wrap going for $110.00. Regular price: $210.00
I bid that price up to $115.00 but then I was informed that I was instantaneously outbid at $119.00 So I placed a bid at $135.00 and the bid settled to $128.50 leaving $7.50 in reserve. There was 4 hours left in the bidding, this was early on Wednesday.
I spent most of the next 4 hours at work checking to see if the bidding was going anywhere. With 20 minutes left to go I was fantasizing about getting my books and hoping that the wife wouldn’t be upset that I blew $135.00 to save $75.00. I was also trying to figure out why the seller had the shipping price as $6 in one location and $12 in another.
No matter.
Well you know what happened next, with 2 minutes left to go, the bidding suddenly went totally crazy. With one refresh it was to $140.00 so I quickly typed in $155.00 while keeping an eye on the time. I clicked again with seconds left to go thinking to myself, “GOOD HEAVENS, I JUST BID WAY TOO MUCH”. I could feel the stomach acid building while the entire web site screeched to a halt. I was now hoping that someone outbid me because it makes me feel like I got ripped off when I win auctions. (I'm the only person on the planet willing to pay this amount?)
The last click produced a screen that said I had LOST the bidding which closed at $160.52. At first I was relieved, then I was upset.
Great.
Not only did I just waste 4 hours of mental energy worrying about this stupid bidding war but I was undoubtedly beat out by some Playstation twitch gamer punk who studies up on how to beat people out in bidding wars on Ebay. I’m quite sure the loser cannot even read and the people who will be forced to read it to him or her probably aren’t bright enough to appreciate the art of a well spun poem.
Shopping as a competitive sport? Have I lost my mind? Remember, guys, when we used to laugh about women fighting over panty hose at a big department store sale? I got sucked into that big time. I now have murderous thoughts about tittlewinks665, the scraggly zit faced punk that beat me out of my books. I'm sure he has no life, is ugly, wears ragged cloths and laughs like a horse.
I WANT MY BOOKS BACK TITTLEWINK665! THOSE ARE MY BOOKS, I HAVE TOO MUCH TIME AND ENERGY INVESTED IN THEM. YOU STOLE THEM FROM ME YOU PALE FACED LONG HAIRED NET CRAWLING GEEK.
Imagine going into a department store and seeing a price of $10.00 on an item but when you get up to the cashier someone behind you tells the cashier they'll give $15.00 for the item so store security takes it out of your basket and puts it in theirs. What kind of MORONS would put up with that sort of nonsense. NOT THIS MORON!
So I’ll call Easton Press up and order the books brand new.
I figure the books will cost more but I won’t go to bed tonight hating some other bidder while popping anti-acid pills to calm my upset stomach. I'll forget about winning bidding wars and go back to wishing that somebody would shoot my dog.