Strategies for Buying Test Equipment off Ebay

[D from BC]

D from BC [email protected] posted to sci.electronics.design:


Ebay, Google, Yahoo, and most professionally run sites are coordinated
to UTC. It is really rather easy, my home computers are coordinated
as well. But there is still an issue with network latency, and there
is no realistic way to verify coordination.

Ahhhh..

On another topic..
I've read on some sellers sites about bidders with fake ID's..Fake
bidders?

I suppose some people are trying ways to back out of a bid.
Maybe the scam is like this..?
A buyer bids on multiple items with multiple ID's.
That person does high max bid sniping. The winning price will be
unknown.
After closings. Favorite items are selected.
If the price is too high, payment is not done and the fake ID is
sacrificed.
If the price is good...it's purchased.

I dunno if this happens..
If it does..that's evil!


D from BC

 

[Jim Thompson]

On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 18:12:00 +0000, John Devereux

[snip]

On
linux you can use ntp to automatically synchronize your clock to the
correct time - I am sure there is some utility to to this on windows
too. In fact I noticed my last bid appeared a couple of seconds off -
I had lost my ntp!

I have "Socketwatch", http://www.robomagic.com

...Jim Thompson

 

[D from BC]

I have a nice old art deco clock with a sweep-second hand. I refresh
the ebay page until it's 1 minute from closing, and note the clock.
Then leisurely enter a bid, watch the clock, and click "place bid" 30
or even 15 seconds before closing. You could do the same thing with a
stopwatch.

But Spehro's dual-window thing sounds even better. I'll try that next
time.

John

I found this time page from Ebay
http://viv.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?EbayTime


D from BC

 

[Jim Thompson]

I found this time page from Ebay
http://viv.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?EbayTime


D from BC

My Socketwatch is dead-on to that.

...Jim Thompson

 

[Don Lancaster]

Damn right!
I don't know why I went to school.
It's so good now...one can probably skip a 4 year university program,
learn off the net, set up a lab with cheap equipment off Ebay and set
up a online design company for global clients.
It's all there!
Need a book..Amazon.
Need a scope..Ebay.
Need software.... anything in minutes
Need a part..Digikey & many others
Need a datasheet..easy
Need help... ask the part manufactures, usenet, web
Need a project...online advertising
Need payment...paypal

It's so freakn wonderful I could cry ....


D from BC

Offsetting all this, of course, is that you now have zillions of
competitors.

--
Many thanks,

Don Lancaster voice phone: (928)428-4073
Synergetics 3860 West First Street Box 809 Thatcher, AZ 85552
rss: http://www.tinaja.com/whtnu.xml email: [email protected]

Please visit my GURU's LAIR web site at http://www.tinaja.com

 

[Don Lancaster]

D from BC [email protected] posted to sci.electronics.design:




Ebay, Google, Yahoo, and most professionally run sites are coordinated
to UTC. It is really rather easy, my home computers are coordinated
as well. But there is still an issue with network latency, and there
is no realistic way to verify coordination.

For most auctions most of the time, it does not matter whether you proxy
bid your max five minutes or five milliseconds from close.

Anything earlier, of course, is monumentally stupid.

http://www.tinaja.com/glib/ebaybuy.pdf


--
Many thanks,

Don Lancaster voice phone: (928)428-4073
Synergetics 3860 West First Street Box 809 Thatcher, AZ 85552
rss: http://www.tinaja.com/whtnu.xml email: [email protected]

Please visit my GURU's LAIR web site at http://www.tinaja.com

 

[John Devereux]

Damn right!
I don't know why I went to school.
It's so good now...one can probably skip a 4 year university program,
learn off the net, set up a lab with cheap equipment off Ebay and set
up a online design company for global clients.
It's all there!
Need a book..Amazon.
Need a scope..Ebay.
Need software.... anything in minutes
Need a part..Digikey & many others
Need a datasheet..easy
Need help... ask the part manufactures, usenet, web
Need a project...online advertising
Need payment...paypal

It's so freakn wonderful I could cry ....

I forgot to mention the wonderful LTSpice / SwitcherCadIII. (And how
much would an equivalent simulator and computer cost, even 10 years
ago)?

 

[John Larkin]

I found this time page from Ebay
http://viv.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?EbayTime


D from BC

Why bother? The auction page displays time-till-closing.

John

 

[John Larkin]

Damn right!
I don't know why I went to school.

School is, or should be, for the basics: physics, thermo, math,
circuit theory, signals+systems, control theory, communications
theory, materials science... stuff you probably wouldn't teach
yourself. People who don't have this stuff pounded into them are at a
disadvantage.

John

 

[Nico Coesel]

For most auctions most of the time, it does not matter whether you proxy
bid your max five minutes or five milliseconds from close.

I don't agree. I've learned the hard way that 10 seconds is enough for
someone else to put in a higher bid. Placing bids in the last 10
seconds is the best way.

 

[Nico Coesel]

School is, or should be, for the basics: physics, thermo, math,
circuit theory, signals+systems, control theory, communications
theory, materials science... stuff you probably wouldn't teach
yourself. People who don't have this stuff pounded into them are at a
disadvantage.

That is very true. I've been a electronics tinkerer since I was like
12 or 13 years old but I would never taught myself -for instance- the
staggering amount of math I learned in school. A more theoretical
approach (analysis) often leads to better circuits in less time.

 

[John Larkin]

I've read most of this thread and I must be some sort of ebaytard. I've
learned about sniping, I've learned about most of the bidding tricks, and
there must be a whole bunch of ebayheads that know a lot more than I do.

I've been trying to buy a HP 8444 for about a year now, on and off. No, I
don't have the time to make a full time job of it; that piffs off customers
who like their products delivered on time. However, I've probably made half
a dozen attempts with zero results.

You can set up a bot that emails you whenever an 8444 comes up for
bid, so you don't have to keep searching yourself.

But top posters have consistantly bad luck on ebay.

John

 

[Phil Hobbs]

That is very true. I've been a electronics tinkerer since I was like
12 or 13 years old but I would never taught myself -for instance- the
staggering amount of math I learned in school. A more theoretical
approach (analysis) often leads to better circuits in less time.

Exactly.

Cheers,

Phil Hobbs

 

[John Larkin]

That is very true. I've been a electronics tinkerer since I was like
12 or 13 years old but I would never taught myself -for instance- the
staggering amount of math I learned in school. A more theoretical
approach (analysis) often leads to better circuits in less time.

The tinkering is of course a great preamble to the theory. In my
classes, sometimes a concept would explode off the blackboard at me:
I'd *done* that, and now really understood how it worked. The other
guys just kept taking notes.

John

 

[JosephKK]

D from BC [email protected] posted to sci.electronics.design:

Ahhhh..

On another topic..
I've read on some sellers sites about bidders with fake ID's..Fake
bidders?

I suppose some people are trying ways to back out of a bid.
Maybe the scam is like this..?
A buyer bids on multiple items with multiple ID's.
That person does high max bid sniping. The winning price will be
unknown.
After closings. Favorite items are selected.
If the price is too high, payment is not done and the fake ID is
sacrificed.
If the price is good...it's purchased.

I dunno if this happens..
If it does..that's evil!


D from BC

Well shit, you done let a bogey man out of the bag. Count on it
becoming a problem now.

 

[JosephKK]

John Devereux [email protected] posted to
sci.electronics.design:

It is always accurately set to UTC, i.e. the actual correct time. On
linux you can use ntp to automatically synchronize your clock to the
correct time - I am sure there is some utility to to this on windows
too. In fact I noticed my last bid appeared a couple of seconds off
- I had lost my ntp!

You can do the same thing im MS winders too. It is just that the
setup procedure is rather obscure.

 

[JosephKK]

Nico Coesel [email protected] posted to sci.electronics.design:

That is very true. I've been a electronics tinkerer since I was like
12 or 13 years old but I would never taught myself -for instance-
the staggering amount of math I learned in school. A more
theoretical approach (analysis) often leads to better circuits in
less time.

I started as a tinkerer as well. But i had additional resources, an
EE dad who would help me, and in incredibly good line-up of schools
through high school. I taught myself algebra before i took it in
school, taught myself simple calculus before i took it in school. By
the time i was taking electrical engineering in college i was always
blowing the other students away. I designed and built my own first
stereo at age 14, and the damn thing met specifications. (RIAA
magnetic phonograph at 5 mV standard input, tape loop at 0 dBV, Tuner
and Aux inputs at 0 dBV, three band "tone" controls +/- 20 dB and 2
Watt (8 Ohm) headphone output. Made the PWB and the case as well.)

 

[Robert Baer]

Ahhhh..

On another topic..
I've read on some sellers sites about bidders with fake ID's..Fake
bidders?

I suppose some people are trying ways to back out of a bid.
Maybe the scam is like this..?
A buyer bids on multiple items with multiple ID's.
That person does high max bid sniping. The winning price will be
unknown.
After closings. Favorite items are selected.
If the price is too high, payment is not done and the fake ID is
sacrificed.
If the price is good...it's purchased.

I dunno if this happens..
If it does..that's evil!


D from BC

With what BS i have been subjected to, one does not have to
"sacrifice" anything...e-bay does not care.

 

[D from BC]

With what BS i have been subjected to, one does not have to
"sacrifice" anything...e-bay does not care.

Without checking, I think a seller can reject a bid from a buyer with
negative reviews.
Perhaps a seller might submit a comment like "You didn't pay..You
bastard!"
or
"Don't accept bids from this user. No payment."

I'm assuming the scam is a way to bid on say...10 different
oscilloscopes at the same time when you only want one
10 user ID's are required.
Upon closing, the scammer wins every item due to very high max
bidding.
1 of the 10 User IDs can be used to pay for the best item at the best
price.
The rest get negative feedback for non-payment. They'll useless now.
That's the sacrifice..
All because it's a gamble of what price each item will end up at.

I'm just guessing about all this....
If possible, it's useful to know what one's up against.

Let's say it is possible...who's most motivated to do this?
Would it be the poor hobbyist?

Or would it be the sharky used test equipment reseller?
____/|___/
<o_______<
\
dah dah.....dah dah.....dah dah dah dah dah dah

D from BC

 

[Marra]

I have bought 2 items off ebay a scope and a sig gen.

The scope came and onlyworked on one channel.

The sig gen was completely dead.

Either I am unlucky or a lot of junk is sold on ebay.

What upset me most was I had to pay to send the junk back !!!!!