I stopped Ebaying

As the days passed, I started feeling uncomfortable in using EBay.

As I sieved through items after items, the fatigue started to let logic seep in.

My logic went something like this…

Ok, another mineral specimen description with “WOW!”, “Huge!”, “Mint Condition”, “Perfect and flawless”, “AAA==+++++”.  Whatever that AAA to the power of N meant…  with 2-D pictures of the item, I couldn’t really say that it’s perfect and flawless without closer scrutiny.

What the hell am I doing bidding in an auction with a bunch of funny-id people.  It was starting to be uncomfortable participating in something with faceless people, and not having a clue of what type of people they are, and clueless on what was their possible maximum bid.  Could the other participants be real?  Even though the item was listed as “No Reserve”, but are there seller-appointed bogus bidders pushing the bidding prices up?  I think so.  Some of the items didn’t look good, but there’s always someone pushing the bids up.

I know EBay tries very hard to build an auction site that’s as real as it can be, but I just can’t help having that nagging feeling that some of the auctions are rigged.

I know that there are lots of genuine sellers and buyers, and their experiences were pleasant.  I hope one day I can get to experience the same.

Maybe I’m feeling this way because there were some items that I really liked then, but were outbidded outrageously in the last 3 seconds.  As I continued to watch without participating, I noticed that pattern in most of the auctions.

Hopefully my opinions will change in a few weeks’ time, when I receive a cheap specimen that I won.  I hope it looks as good as in the pictures.

But for now, I’ve had enough of EBay.  There’s just a joy to be able to window shop and touch a real thing before deciding to buy.