What program is finoreddrale using?
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Post Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 7:20 pm 
 

The amazing Buyer finoreddrale has come up a fair amount is the 'Silliest Auction prices' and 'the one that got away' threads.

I am curious as to what program he is using to bid on his auctions.

Instead of of placing a bid directly for say $100. He seems to have a proxy bidding program that reacts whenever he is outbid. I assume he is putting his highest bid into this external software, which obviously saves him money.

I have found that no matter what time it is in a 24 hour period, when you bid on an auction he is leading, you are automatically outbid again within a few seconds.

So he either has some great bidding software, he could of course be Veruca Salt, with a team of 100 employees, watching each of his auctions (as he did to get the golden ticket) - but I suspect the former is more likely!

Has anyone had any contact with him? He is buying so much, he could be a great contributor to this site if he were interested.

  

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Post Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:21 pm 
 

I have looked at some of the current auctions that he is bidding on (and winning) and for the most part I dont see any evidence of him using a program to do his bidding for him.



Now I was watching this one:   http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0141283363  and did notice that within a minute or so of him being outbid he turns around and outbids the person that outbid him.  But that is not the case with all of the auctions.  He does seem to bid in specific increments the majority of the time....usually always ending in a number divisible by 5 or 10.  But that doesnt necessarily mean he is using a program.



Looks like to me that all he is doing is sitting in front of his computer the majority of the day with a dozen or so browser windows open screaming "UP YOURS YOU BASTARD....IT'S MINE!!!" every time he gets outbid.



Just my 2 cents anyway.  PDT_Armataz_01_06


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Post Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 10:44 pm 
 

Not sure why he would want to do this. It encourages others to keep bidding higher, so he spends more money in the end.

  


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Post Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 11:26 pm 
 

Kingofpain89 wrote:
Looks like to me that all he is doing is sitting in front of his computer the majority of the day with a dozen or so browser windows open screaming "UP YOURS YOU BASTARD....IT'S MINE!!!" every time he gets outbid.



That did cross my mind. I find that hard to believe though. He must be at his computer round the clock! I guess being from Southern California, he probably has some mechanism to let him know when he is outbid. But how does he re-bid so quickly???? Doesn't he take toilet or coffee breaks!!!

I just did a stealth search and he is currently bidding on 204 items!!!

  

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Post Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 11:42 pm 
 

sauromatian wrote: so he spends more money in the end.


This has been said about a few people over the last couple of years, and generally these people fade away in time, presumably their desire for old tat satiated :D
Some have become members here, and have much to offer the collecting hobby (remember the early Burntwire posts - not flattering to the brothers burntwire as I recall :roll:)

It sounds a bit trite but 'spending way too much money' is a bit of a throwaway comment  - It's only way too much if you are buying D&D and the kids aren't getting fed! Let's face it I see the amount of money being spent now and in the past by people such as (but not limited to) the following and I wonder what the f*** is going on in the world, until I realise that if I had the cash I would probably do the same!

(Roll of honour - no offense meant, I'm just jealous! - Burntwire, Aneoth, Lofenloc, Madmaksid (traveller fella), Blackmoor, tfm, red_bus (woody!), theshield2000, masteryaya - sorry if I missed you)

(edit - just read that back and it reads a bit mean spirited - particularly to the guys on the list and to Sauromation - it wasn't meant to be - I really should have just said that money is all relative - why spend £10000000 on a Van Gogh when a print looks exactly the same on the bathroom wall? Because you want to and you can - just because most people think it's an obscene waste of money doesn't mean you shouldn't do it)


You can never have too much of something you didn't need in the first place.


Last edited by gyg on Thu Jul 26, 2007 11:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
  


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Post Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 11:43 pm 
 

I've watched a few auctions that he's been involved in where not only will he do the robo-rebid thing discussed here, but he'll place a last minute snipe on top of it. I remember the first time I saw it, I thought to myself, "WTF?" I mean, if you're going to snipe something, it's pretty self-defeating to waste time getting in bidding wars a few days earlier.

Personally, I'm just wondering when his bottomless pit of money is going to run out...he'll often win a dozen or more auctions a day, and when you add in shipping fees, the dude must be blowing hundreds of dollars a day on Ebay, day after day after day.


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Post Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 12:21 am 
 

I stand corrected! He was bidding on just about all of VermillionFire's auctions and I put in a couple of late bids - and he did not snipe me - so I won two. I guess with 30 odd auctions ending at the same time, he had to focus on those he wanted most.

That is amazing though! He must be watching his Ebay bids constantly! When he outbid me within a few seconds on four occasions at wildly different times, I was convinced he had some sort of program doing it - given that I am on the other side of the world.

  

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Post Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 12:25 am 
 

He could be like me... work from home, have the PC (or more) on all the time with a refresh script (or automation) to check eBay when you really want something. Or, he could have automated notification enabled.


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Post Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 12:29 am 
 

gyg wrote:
...and I wonder what the f*** is going on in the world, until I realise that if I had the cash I would probably do the same!



Hah!  :lol:   That made me laugh!  That's the exact thought word for word that runs through my mind when I see some of this stuff go down.  Not the isolated big item purchases like woodys either ...those are actually small potatoes.  It's those guys with the sustained buying power day after day, month after month.  Next time you are looking at the feedback history of an especially prolific someone, if you really want to whistle try doing a quick tally for the month and then extrapolate that to a whole year!  Kind of makes me want to go knock on the local Hell's Angels clubhouse and ask them if they have a printing press, cause this would be better than printing money.  :wink:   Probably safer too!   :wink:   :wink:

Cheers!

  


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Post Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 9:14 am 
 

serleran wrote:He could be like me... work from home, have the PC (or more) on all the time with a refresh script (or automation) to check eBay when you really want something. Or, he could have automated notification enabled.


Maybe bidding from his Blackberry or iPhone?


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Post Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 9:39 am 
 

You have to wonder how some of these people that spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars a week on Ebay spend their time and where their money comes from.  Are they wealthy or are they simply using several credit cards to pay for their auction wins?  Do they actually have paying jobs or do they leech off of their parents?  Do they spend money on anything else or is it all put towards their almost fanatical need to win every auction in the genre that they are interested in?  It would probably be a very interesting psychological study to say the least.

Some people just don't like to get outbid...period.  Perhaps they equate it to losing.  Maybe a person like finoreddrale was a complete loser early on in life and when he started winning auctions on Ebay it made him feel like a winner which helped to push aside the past failures.  I know when I win an auction that was hard fought (especially if I get it for a really good price) there is a rush of elation like I just won a race or something similar.  It fades within a few minutes but for some people maybe this is the only thing in their lives that makes them happy.  This is just my background in psychology working its way into the conversation and by no means is it meant to indicate my belief that finoreddrale or anyone else that spends money like that is a loser.

It has taken some time for me to realize that I can get things relatively cheap on Ebay.  It does take some patience though.  Most people that point to bidders like finoreddrale and madmaksid and wonder in shock why they bid on everything but the kitchen sink have a good reason to.  They are constantly paying two, three, five, and even ten times the going rate of any particular item when they could get it much cheaper if only they would have some patience.  I myself have posted several times in the silliest price threads about madmaksid because it amazes me what the guy will pay for something.  And the amount of items that he bids on at one time is usually quite a bit more than what finoreddrale does.  I checked once before and within six months madmaksid had over 1000 auction wins.  He currently isnt bidding on anything but has accumulated a 2859 positive feedback rating within one year....and that is without selling one single item.  And how many auctions did he win where the person didnt leave feedback?  I remember once looking at the number of auctions he was bidding on at one time and it was over 700!!!  If that isnt just a bit crazy I dont know what is.  Pretty frustrating when I was bidding on one particular Traveller item and got outbid by him.  I knew that there was no point in bidding again because there was no way I was going to outbid him unless I went the same route and paid more than he was willing to pay.

I think that even if I did have a bottomless pit full of money I probably still wouldnt run amok on Ebay buying up everything in sight.  I definitely would be more aggressive on rarer items but a bargain is still nice to get.  I am more jealous of the guy that finds a Fazzle or Lost Tamochan on a dusty shelf in a used bookstore for $20 than the person that won the latest rare on Ebay with a last second $1201.55 bid.  I think if I had everything I wanted I wouldnt enjoy hunting for stuff anymore and would just hang up the Ebay ID and go find something else to do with the time.

Jeez...I dont think I have ever been quite this long-winded.  PDT_Armataz_01_23


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Post Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 11:54 am 
 

Kingofpain89 wrote:/snip/


I think that even if I did have a bottomless pit full of money I probably still wouldnt run amok on Ebay buying up everything in sight.  I definitely would be more aggressive on rarer items but a bargain is still nice to get.  I am more jealous of the guy that finds a Fazzle or Lost Tamochan on a dusty shelf in a used bookstore for $20 than the person that won the latest rare on Ebay with a last second $1201.55 bid.  I think if I had everything I wanted I wouldnt enjoy hunting for stuff anymore and would just hang up the Ebay ID and go find something else to do with the time.

Jeez...I dont think I have ever been quite this long-winded.  PDT_Armataz_01_23


I know what you mean, I paid $15 for my Lost Tamochan, and well, I just wanted to brag about that for a bit... Sorry.

Personally I find the process to be enjoyable, looking over the listings, bidding, one upping bidding, winning auctions, etc... I enjoy this part of the process almost as much as actually aquiring what I am bidding on.

I enjoy the treasure hunting aspect too, so I used to go to garage sales, flea markets, auctions, especially where they were selling off closed lots. I love buying blind and seeing what I get, like opening a christmas present and usually the price is right on blind auctions, dirt cheap.

I know taht as a seller bidders who bid often and pay quickly are a dream come true, though I am a little uncomfortable when people overpay by drastic amounts.

  

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Post Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 12:33 pm 
 

And although he may not be a member here it seems that the aforementioned finoreddrale does indeed read these forums.  He bid on two items that I posted to the Interesting TSR Items thread yesterday within minutes of each other:

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0147852166

and

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0150335105



Maybe this stuff isnt so interesting after all?  :twisted:


You don't like your job, you don't strike. You go in every day and do it really half-assed. That's the American way. - Homer Simpson

  

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Post Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 12:59 pm 
 

Maybe bidding from his Blackberry or iPhone?


Sure, its possible. So is having a network of PCs. eBay doesn't seem to care how many simultaneous log ons an account has, and I'm not even sure they track IP addresses either (they could, of course) but I've used my fiancées account on 20 different computers at once, and never had a problem. Since then I've gotten rid of a lot (down to just 3.) Maybe it was because they were all hidden behind the same router so the only publically available IP was the router's? Oh well. Just saying there are always ways to buck a system.


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Post Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 1:02 pm 
 

JasonZavoda wrote:I know what you mean, I paid $15 for my Lost Tamochan, and well, I just wanted to brag about that for a bit... Sorry.


PDT_Armataz_01_27  :wink:


You don't like your job, you don't strike. You go in every day and do it really half-assed. That's the American way. - Homer Simpson

  


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Post Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 1:58 pm 
 

Speaking of users who bid a lot: is flamesong a member here?

I swear he bids on everything that I put a bid in on... :roll:

  

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Post Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 3:57 pm 
 

g026r wrote:Speaking of users who bid a lot: is flamesong a member here?

I swear he bids on everything that I put a bid in on... :roll:


If flamesong is a member here, he/she used a different handle.  I notice flamesong bidding on a ton of stuff but most of the bids look like token bids only.  Do a search on Ebay for flamesong's bids and include past auctions.  It will blow your mind!  PDT_Armataz_01_05


You don't like your job, you don't strike. You go in every day and do it really half-assed. That's the American way. - Homer Simpson

  


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Post Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 4:02 pm 
 

Yeah, I looked at that earlier.  800+ bids in the past 30 days.

I swear there's no pattern to his bidding either.  It's like he finds a seller and just bids on almost everything that they have listed.

  
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