eBay Is Over

I used to really love eBay. You could find anything you ever needed on there, and always for a great price. Any junk you needed to get rid of - there was always a person willing to buy! Unfortunately, eBay has gone steadily downhill to the point where I may stop using it altogether.

The first crack in the system was the bid sniper. Did you ever have a bid on an object that got outbid, like 2 seconds before the auction closed? You actually thought you won the auction, only to see somebody else got it - for $1 more than your bid! You got sniped. These jerks slowly have taken over bidding, making any bid a battle to get the last bid in.

Snipers have directly led to another problem with eBay - overpriced items. The great deals you used to get on eBay are a thing of the past. Perhaps it is the competition to win an auction that fuels increased bids. People get eBay fever, bidding higher than an item is worth in an effort to win! It never ceases to amaze me why someone would buy a used item that they could get BRAND NEW for a couple dollars more. Hey, enjoy your lack of warranty and don't forget about those overpriced shipping charges!

Finally, the age of Power Seller has arrived. These are the morons who use eBay as a storefront to sell their garbage. A lot of these people are entrepreneurs who buy merchandise at wholesale and sell it with a markup to make a quick buck. However, I bet a bunch of them are crooks who steal from trucks, warehouses and people's homes only to resell for pure profit. eBay has become the internet Black Market!

I would like to leave you with an example of my recent run-in with a Power Jerkoff on eBay. This is the mindset of the typical eBay seller these days. As background, I have a set of Polk Audio RM Series II satellite speakers (5 speakers + sub) that I bought in 1998 for $599. These speakers served me well for almost nine years, until one of the satellites died. I went onto eBay to see if I could find a single speaker to replace it. Amazingly, I found a guy who was selling a set. Even more amazing, he was asking for $275 for the set, when you could buy a brand new Polk set for $279.99 (I guess speakers have become more affordable in 9 years)! This is a 9 year old set of used speakers that he admitted had some damage, but still sounded great. Of course he didn't have any bids, so I was hoping he might want to make some cash and sell me a single speaker to replace mine. The following email exchange is verbatim. I couldn't make this stuff up. Please note the excellent grammer.

Ted
I have the exact same system you are offering. The problem is one of my front speakers died. I am looking for a replacement - a single front speaker (the one with the granite finish, NOT the rear speaker). Not to be mean, but you could purchase a BRAND NEW Polk RM6005 set with a sub for less than what you are asking for your set which is about 9 years old. Would you be willing to sell me a single front speaker? Better to make some cash than nothing at all!

ragpickers33460
Your are VERY rude and selfish individual.

Ted
What is wrong with you? A simple, No, I would prefer to sell this as a set, would have sufficed. I asked a very legitimate question, and pointed out a VERY obvious fact. If you are going to be a complete jerk about it, good luck. I see you have another bidder now. Maybe he will be fooled by your outdated item and pay you unlike the last guy who apparently came to his senses!

ragpickers33460
Actually that last guy was a crook and is nolonger an Ebay user, with your attitude you'll end up the same way!One can only hope. would you take the arm of the child so YOU could have a Complete Set? All about you....my reputation speaks for it's self. god we get all kinds..

Ted
Are you actually comparing a speaker set to a child???!!! Are you completely INSANE? I never said anything rude or criminal in any way until you started accusing me of things after asking a question. I will not be responding to any further messages by you.