help with alpine/ebay

[thai_creeper 10+ year member]

im lookin for either an alpine 9815 or 9835, anyone care to mention why i should get one over the other? is one more reliable(since im gettin it used and no warranty)? asking because i see another thread about the screen on a 9855 goin out..anyways i take it the only difference is the biolite display? okay and the question about ebay is if i see different people bid on it but they bid on top of themselves..what's the point of that? at first assumed it was the sellers friends trying to bring up the selling price..true/not true? thanks for any help. (btw, what do you guys think about 200 for a good condition 9815? good/okay/not so good deal?)

Click to read more...

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

im lookin for either an alpine 9815 or 9835, anyone care to mention why i should get one over the other? is one more reliable(since im gettin it used and no warranty)? asking because i see another thread about the screen on a 9855 goin out..anyways i take it the only difference is the biolite display? okay and the question about ebay is if i see different people bid on it but they bid on top of themselves..what's the point of that? at first assumed it was the sellers friends trying to bring up the selling price..true/not true? thanks for any help. (btw, what do you guys think about 200 for a good condition 9815? good/okay/not so good deal?)

I can't help much with the differences between one Alpine or the other as I am a die-hard Kenwood eXcelon fan.

The eBay I might be able to give a bit of insight into, though...

eBay's bidding system is called a proxy bidding system meaning that you can bid any amount you want/need to but eBay's automated system will only use as much of that bid as is necessary to get a step ahead of the highest underbidder. (ergo ~ you may place a bid of $300 on an item but if the highest bidder before you only bid $90 then eBay will only use $91 of your $300 to get ahead of the other guy)

Some people will place a bid ten upon further consideration of said bid decide that it wasn't high enough and they will go back in and rebid (sometimes several times before they quit) to raise the maximum amount of their proxy. If a single individual is the highest bidder and goes back in and rebids, rebids, and rebids again all they have done is tell eBay's proxy system to change the maximum amount that it is allowed to bid for them. It will not change the actual high bid as you cannot outbid yourself within the eBay format (I wouldn't suggest trying this in a live, "Going, Going, Gone!' type of setup, however....)

If two or more people have gotten into a bidding war (never a good idea as your emotional reactions to such a thing can easily overload your finances before you know what has happened) then you might see the high bid raise substantially in a very short period of time. I snipe bid myself, which is a somewhat controversial practice of waiting until the final 10 seconds of a listing before placing a bid thus eliminating the possibility of someone making a reactionary bid just to get back ahead of me.

Bid shilling, or placing a false bid on a listing to artificially raise the bids to a preferred level, does happen. If you do your research more often than not it's fairly easy to catch. Generally you'll see it on big-ticket items and the shill bidders will be the same usernames bidding on a certain seller's items continually but somehow managing to never win an item. Heaps of bids from brand-new usernames is a tipoff as well.

eBay can be a crapshoot if you do not do your reasearch first. I am very, very picky about with who and how I conduct business on eBay and that pickiness has served me well thus far as I have *knock on wood* never been scammed once to this point.

 

[FoxPro5 5,000+ posts]

(btw, what do you guys think about 200 for a good condition 9815? good/okay/not so good deal?)

That would constitute an average good deal in my book....that HU is like 3-4 years old now (probably a $500 deck in it's day)....so if it's in great shape then do it.

 

[FoxPro5 5,000+ posts]

I can't help much with the differences between one Alpine or the other as I am a die-hard Kenwood eXcelon fan.
The eBay I might be able to give a bit of insight into, though...

eBay's bidding system is called a proxy bidding system meaning that you can bid any amount you want/need to but eBay's automated system will only use as much of that bid as is necessary to get a step ahead of the highest underbidder. (ergo ~ you may place a bid of $300 on an item but if the highest bidder before you only bid $90 then eBay will only use $91 of your $300 to get ahead of the other guy)

Some people will place a bid ten upon further consideration of said bid decide that it wasn't high enough and they will go back in and rebid (sometimes several times before they quit) to raise the maximum amount of their proxy. If a single individual is the highest bidder and goes back in and rebids, rebids, and rebids again all they have done is tell eBay's proxy system to change the maximum amount that it is allowed to bid for them. It will not change the actual high bid as you cannot outbid yourself within the eBay format (I wouldn't suggest trying this in a live, "Going, Going, Gone!' type of setup, however....)

If two or more people have gotten into a bidding war (never a good idea as your emotional reactions to such a thing can easily overload your finances before you know what has happened) then you might see the high bid raise substantially in a very short period of time. I snipe bid myself, which is a somewhat controversial practice of waiting until the final 10 seconds of a listing before placing a bid thus eliminating the possibility of someone making a reactionary bid just to get back ahead of me.

Bid shilling, or placing a false bid on a listing to artificially raise the bids to a preferred level, does happen. If you do your research more often than not it's fairly easy to catch. Generally you'll see it on big-ticket items and the shill bidders will be the same usernames bidding on a certain seller's items continually but somehow managing to never win an item. Heaps of bids from brand-new usernames is a tipoff as well.

eBay can be a crapshoot if you do not do your reasearch first. I am very, very picky about with who and how I conduct business on eBay and that pickiness has served me well thus far as I have *knock on wood* never been scammed once to this point.

The Official Guide To eBay Sniping - by Teh Prowler //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif (check your rep)

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

The Official Guide To eBay Sniping - by Teh Prowler //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif (check your rep)

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/thumbsup.gif.3287b36ca96645a13a43aff531f37f02.gif Thanks, FoxPro. The actual Official Guide To Snipe Bidding would take a much longer, considerably more involved post but the very first time I even mentioned snipe bidding here (not long after I joined the forum) it was met with less than positive reactions overall (hence my disclaimer of it being a somewhat controversial practice) so if someone wants to know I would be more than happy to discuss it at length but not in view of the general forum so it can be left out of the purview of those who disagree with it. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[FoxPro5 5,000+ posts]

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/thumbsup.gif.3287b36ca96645a13a43aff531f37f02.gif Thanks, FoxPro. The actual Official Guide To Snipe Bidding would take a much longer, considerably more involved post but the very first time I even mentioned snipe bidding here (not long after I joined the forum) it was met with less than positive reactions overall (hence my disclaimer of it being a somewhat controversial practice) so if someone wants to know I would be more than happy to discuss it at length but not in view of the general forum so it can be left out of the purview of those who disagree with it. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

I'd like to know actually...I've been sniped many a times and it always makes me wonder if I really should have been buying the item or not....hmmmm divine intervention perhaps //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/up2something.gif.dd110ecf3ae4b76050d87598f2f8de7c.gif

 

[thai_creeper 10+ year member]

thanks guys, lotta good info. hey what would you say a good deal for a 9835 would be? the reason is because i want to know how much to expect to spend on that compared to around 200 for a 9815 and see if im willing to put in the extra X amount of dollars. about snipe bidding, sounds good but i don't think i could depend on my internet connection to do it 10 sec before it ends haha i have the high speed charter but its slow sometimes still

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

thanks guys, lotta good info. hey what would you say a good deal for a 9835 would be? the reason is because i want to know how much to expect to spend on that compared to around 200 for a 9815 and see if im willing to put in the extra X amount of dollars. about snipe bidding, sounds good but i don't think i could depend on my internet connection to do it 10 sec before it ends haha i have the high speed charter but its slow sometimes still

I know people with dial-up that snipe bid on a regular basis. It's all in the preparation //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

And if you cannot be anywhere near a computer when the listing is scheduled to end? There are services that for a nominal fee will do it for you.

http://www.eSnipe.com is what I use. The first 14 days are free then it is paid service after that. But once the necessity to pay kicks in it still won't cost you a single red cent if you don't win the suction //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[thai_creeper 10+ year member]

good to know prowler, i wonder when you wouldnt win the auction with that service. i also wonder what happens when you and another person use that service on the same auction..maybe i answered my own question? lol

 

[zfactor 10+ year member]

a 9835 usually ends up 300-350 now... just fyi

 

[thai_creeper 10+ year member]

^ thanks for the info