No - but only because I never bid enough to win an item that a fellow Acaeum member wants!!
Seriously though - I think that everyone here is pretty okay with the way things are. Most (though obviously not all) items will come up again, and everyone has a price in mind that they want to pay, so it really doesn't matter wether or not you are consistently outbid by a particular individual; sooner or later you are going to pick up the item you want at the price you want.
Though , as I say, I don't win many auctions (and I don't even bother bidding on ones I'm not going to get close on), I am more irritated by 'fly by night' e-bayers that seem to come along, bid on and win loads,, and then disappear again (eg. coastiemike went for early dragons and empoweredguy was paying silly money for anything in shrink)
(Though there are those here that said similar things about Burntwire, and to a lesser extent Aneoth a while ago).
So I don't really think it's an issue - we have a community here of consistently decent guys who are all basically in it for the love of the stuff they buy; its kind of nice to feel a part of that.

(and as I mentioned on another thread, I actively follow a lot of the 'names' on these boards ebay activity, to save me the job of trawling all of the auctions - and I'm sure I'm not the only one)

red_bus wrote:No.  

But I did send a message to an Acaeum member (who shall remain nameless   ) not so long ago - when there were a few items up I knew that we both wanted - and which would both pay a fair amount for.  I suggested that we decide in advance which ones we wanted (i.e split them up) rather than bid wildy against each other and waste too much money.  That person declined...   and, well, put it this way - I am sure the seller was very happy.  

Similarly I do feel a bit guilty on occasions where I am second bidder to an Acaeum member win and behind me there is a wide margin before the third bidder. It has also happened to me a couple of times before - yes that is you I am pointing at Blackmoor  

quite a few times i have declined to bid as i knew someone really needed the item off here. if someone msgs me, i will see whats what. in the end, i will get what i want...even if it takes a while.

Al

deimos3428 wrote:If I feel guilty, I don't bid.  If I bid, I don't feel guilty.  I do my best to avoid unnecessarily bidding people up, but to be honest I don't think they notice as my bids are generally trumped quite handily.

On occasion, I send a friend a PM asking what their high bid is, and informing them of mine.  If they want to beat that figure, great.  They've got deeper pockets.  At least we won't push each other's bid up.  (I won't do this if I know both the bidder and the seller.)

I try to avoid bidding against someone if I'm also currently bidding on something they're selling, for the obvious reason that they can take all the money from my incoming bid and put it towards their outgoing bid, if they want.

I don't generally bid on anything...I prefer BIN....but when I do, I try everything possible not to bid against people who have bought from me in the past.  There is nothing crappier than bidding up an auction against a customer, then relisting the items a few days later at a mark up. Personally I'd refuse to deal with such a seller.  Unless it was for my personal collection and not for resale, I would make every attempt not to drive up bids like that. As Frank is fond of saying, there is ALWAYS another one....

Mike B.

red_bus wrote:No.  

But I did send a message to an Acaeum member (who shall remain nameless   ) not so long ago - when there were a few items up I knew that we both wanted - and which would both pay a fair amount for.  I suggested that we decide in advance which ones we wanted (i.e split them up) rather than bid wildy against each other and waste too much money.  That person declined...   and, well, put it this way - I am sure the seller was very happy.  

Similarly I do feel a bit guilty on occasions where I am second bidder to an Acaeum member win and behind me there is a wide margin before the third bidder. It has also happened to me a couple of times before - yes that is you I am pointing at Blackmoor  

   

Happened more than a few times with you guys

I think it is perfectly acceptable to bid against other members or whoever. I have won and lost items to members...so what, that's ebay. For simple common items, i will generally let it pass if a member is bidding. I don't feel it is legit to discuss bidding with anyone while an item is in play - members or otherwise. No sense adding impropriety to the party.



What I do not do is watch bid lists from other members or ask sellers to end auctions early for an off ebay deal - never have, never will. If there are no bidders, I have asked if the seller was interested in a BIN.



In more that seven years, I have never done an off ebay deal from a listing. Not once.



To me, this stuff is a hobby. Nothing more. It certainly isn't anything worth losing my honor over. Nor is it worth pissing off fellow members on this forum.

I just win all the crap nobody else wants. Don't mind me, I am just the little fish in the tank with lots of sharks.

i honestly don't look at the current bidders while watching items i plan to bid on.  however, reviewing the last few items i've bid on i've noticed i have bid against a few acaeum members.  i don't think they're too upset, unless they're harboring some kind of festering and silent grudge  

dsaunders wrote:i honestly don't look at the current bidders while watching items i plan to bid on.  however, reviewing the last few items i've bid on i've noticed i have bid against a few acaeum members.  i don't think they're too upset, unless they're harboring some kind of festering and silent grudge  

My collection of AD&D books is surpassed only by my collection of festering silent grudges. Senility has begun to settle in already however, the poor little guys wander around in my head snarling and growling without a clue as to whom they are going to get back at some future day.