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It’s really reassuring to hear other, more experienced users offering their stories about their experiences with the ebay auctions. I wonder if in general now that the store seems to be producing items more regularly if in general things won’t stabilize overall more. Not to say that OOAK or limited edition items aren’t worth some extra money, they truly are, but the greedy part of me that wants to have *many* lovelies instead of just a few would like that more.
In any case, I’m definitely going to have to exercise moderation, or at least be picky/choosy as there will always be more lovelies, and it’s nice to know I’m not the only one that feels like that’s not a terrible strategy from the sounds of it…
Ebay is always up and down. Just depends on how popular a piece ends up being and how many people want it and have money at the same time. 🙂 Some times of year are better than others if you want special ebay pieces (summer tends to be slower – right after tax time and right before Christmas tend to be the worst for consumers – more people wanting to spend money at those points).
Though a grab bag young went for over $1,000 today so it’s clearly not THAT slow! 🙂 Honestly, it’s hard to really plan – you just have to set a budget when you see that piece you love (production, ebay, or otherwise), and decide what’s important to you. 🙂
All of the auctions I’ve won I had different approaches. A few years ago there was a Buckskin baby kirin that I really wanted, I bid on the first day and then never looked at the auction again until I got an email a few days later that said “Congrats! You won this auction!!” Yay! Happy accidental win!
**I have a problem with bidding on eBay, as soon as I see “You’ve been outbid..” I KEEP BIDDING just to win. When the auction is over I realize what number I typed and step back and go “What have I done?!”**
A couple weeks ago there was a little dragon that I really wanted, so to keep myself in check, I bid the highest number I wouldn’t feel guilty about within the last minute then held my breath as the clock counted down. Nobody else must’ve been watching that auction end because I won him for less than I had bid. I expected a snipe or two at the end!
My beloved eBay Poad, I was only in the lead by a few cents! For the three days she was on eBay, I looked under all the couch cushions, seats of my car, everywhere and bid to the exact cent I could cover with the shipping cost. If the other bidder would’ve bid another dollar, she wouldn’t be mine today!
Some things are just meant to be when it comes to Windstones I guess! <3@Kiya
Yes, I can see why those would be high demand times! I bet after Christmas, though, might be a decent time to look for deals in classifieds and on ebay though. I’ll have to remember that. (Also wowzers!! Was that the teal one? I saw that and thought it was very pretty, but holy cow, I never would have guessed for that price…)@skeeterdeee
Ahhh I bet that buckskin baby kirin is just lovely. I love the natural colors.Also, that “you’ve been outbid!” thing is just. It makes me bananas, haha. These are really interesting stories. No two windstone purchases are alike! That really was super lucky with the poad. Congra
After Christmas is hit or miss. Sometimes people have Christmas money to spend so things go up for a while, and sometimes people get things they DON’T want as gifts and resell them. 🙂 You never can tell what’s going to happen.
I think, at the end of the day, if you never spend more than a piece is worth TO YOU, you’ll never be sad. 🙂
I think, at the end of the day, if you never spend more than a piece is worth TO YOU, you’ll never be sad. 🙂
Truer words have probably never been spoken. 🙂 I imagine it could be hard to tell in the moment sometimes if something is really worth it-but then again, maybe not.
Sorry, I didn’t mean it to come across that way. I’ve never bid on anything I didn’t like or want. I have seen some pieces go for some really good deals that I didn’t bid on because they weren’t my thing. Although I have sometimes wondered if other people bid on Windstones to get them to a certain price because most seem to go for decent prices. I think that’s maybe what people do in the beginning if they see something come out and bid on it to get the price to a decent amount because I have noticed a lot of initial bidders don’t usually bid in the end or maybe once the prices are higher. The way I work actually is if I think someone wants a piece more than me, I usually will not bid unless I absolutely love it because I feel bad if I get something I know someone else was after. There have been a couple auctions where I liked a piece and realized not many other people bid on it so thought maybe I had a chance and bid. I actually didn’t see the koi kirin until after I won the first baby kirin and realized I also really liked it but backed off because I thought a couple others wanted it so I didn’t try to snipe at the end. I just put a bid in ahead and waited to see what it would do. So I was surprised no one else bid at the end. It would be silly to try and bid the price up on something though and then end up winning it and having to pay more so I if I bid on something, I bid the most I know I can spend that seems fair for what something is worth and if someone bids higher, it’s theirs. Anyway if someone else really wants the koi kirin, just message me as I will be more likely to sell or trade pieces like that if I can get a grab bag colt I like when they come out. It is actually one of the only kois I liked though so will see how it looks with my other ones, if it fits or not.
Looking for rainbow or pink & teal grab bags!
What I do is if I really like a piece enough to bid on it, I’ll get an ultimate ceiling cost in my head of what I would want, or could afford to pay, and I’ll watch the piece. I’ll make a note what my ‘max’ bid would be – I normally also include the shipping cost as part of my ceiling cost consideration and know what I would need to enter as a ‘max’ bid + shipping to equal my ceiling cost.
I normally don’t bid until the very end of an auction, so I sometimes will snipe in the last seconds if the piece is still below my ‘max’ bid. But, if the piece has already been bid up past my predetermined ‘max’ bid, then I won’t bid at all.
This formula works for me to keep my anxiety level down and keep me from spending beyond my means. I figure if I don’t win, it wasn’t meant for me and perhaps something I like, or love more, will come in the future.
🙂
IN SEARCH OF MY NEXT GRAILS:
Black Peacock & Butternut Adult Poads
Kickstarter 'Rainbow Tiger' Bantam Dragon*~*~*~* Ela_Hara: The DragonKeeper *~*~*~*
*** Come visit me on deviantArt at http://ela-hara.deviantart.comI am definitely in the “bid the most you are willing & able to pay for an item and let it go” camp. I actually don’t understand the strategy of waiting until the last second to bid, but that’s just me. Everyone’s different!
I don’t buy off eBay [even the ‘low’ prices are too much for me], but if I did I think that putting in your max bid amount on a piece you love is a good strategy =) that way, you don’t go over what you can afford ^^
I’d be bidding on Oriental dragons XD I so want a moon or sun dragon
I think the thought is that if you bid at the last minute, the other person has less time to decide to respond with a higher bid so you’re more likely to win.
I think the thought is that if you bid at the last minute, the other person has less time to decide to respond with a higher bid so you’re more likely to win.
That, and I’ve found out the hard way that sometimes the Other guy just wants to keep bidding up and up to ‘punish’ you for having a higher max bid. I know no one here would do that type of thing for Windstones, but I’ve been in that type of ‘bidding war’ on other items. And, if the only time I can do a max bid is within the last hour or so, that is okay too. I don’t wait until the last seconds for all auctions I bid on.
IN SEARCH OF MY NEXT GRAILS:
Black Peacock & Butternut Adult Poads
Kickstarter 'Rainbow Tiger' Bantam Dragon*~*~*~* Ela_Hara: The DragonKeeper *~*~*~*
*** Come visit me on deviantArt at http://ela-hara.deviantart.comI sometimes will put in a low bid at first and put in my max bid close to the end of an auction or watch and put in my max right at the end but if it is already gone over my max, I don’t bid. Funny thing is though I have rarely even won an auction sniping as I am usually not fast enough or it usually goes over what I can afford so I let the piece go. I have mostly won auctions that I bid on ahead that others didn’t snipe at the end. I had only won one special piece in the last year or so which was a little pegasus and then just in the last month or so I have won another little pegasus and the two baby kirins so after trying for the last couple years to win things, it looks like I finally just got lucky these times. But now that I am out of money it will be a while before I can bid on anything else.
Looking for rainbow or pink & teal grab bags!
I was waiting to see if Chloe would post, but she hasn’t. I was keeping track of the auctions in Notepad, just in case… but then today my mother unplugged my computer, and since I was foolish and hadn’t been saving the Notepad, I lost the info. I was able to reconstruct it, since most were still up. The only one who I don’t have the auction link for (or the actual title of) is the Tiger Bat Winged Flap Cat. Thankfully I had his image saved already.
“Tiger” Test Paint #2 Bat winged Flap Cat By Melody
“SUSHI CATS” FRAMED PRINT – 15″ X 12″ VINTAGE PRINT BY MELODY
http://www.ebay.com/itm/WINDSTONE-EDITIONS-034-SUSHI-CATS-034-FRAMED-PRINT-15-034-X-12-034-/301231779276?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140107095009%26meid%3D8091924570844887099%26pid%3D100040%26prg%3D20140107095009%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D301231779276&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=KDgRw5J3seqiYE59ZNap0jHsCaE%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc“STORM SHADOW” MALE DRAGON TEST PAINT #1 BY BRANDI
http://www.ebay.com/itm/WINDSTONE-EDITIONS-STORM-SHADOW-1-MALE-DRAGON-FIGURINE-FANTASY-STATUE-/301231658304?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4622ce5540“BRONZE MUSTARD” MOTHER PEGASUS TEST PAINT #1 BY PATRICIA
http://www.ebay.com/itm/WINDSTONE-BRONZE-MUSTARD-1-MOTHER-PEGASUS-FIGURINE-WINGED-HORSE-STATUE-/291182303741?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43cbd159fd“MIDNIGHT CALICO” ORIENTAL SUN DRAGON TEST PAINT #1 BY PATRICIA
http://www.ebay.com/itm/WINDSTONE-EDITIONS-MIDNIGHT-CALICO-1-ORIENTAL-SUN-DRAGON-FIGURINE-STATUE-/291182331787?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43cbd1c78b“SUNBURST” BAT WINGED FLAP CAT TEST PAINT #1 BY MELODY
http://www.ebay.com/itm/WINDSTONE-EDITIONS-SUNBURST-1-BAT-WINGED-FLAP-CAT-TEST-PAINT-FIGURINE-STATUE-/301233473141?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4622ea0675——————————————————————————————————
Congratulations to whoever won the Sushi Cats print, so cute! I love Patricia’s Midnight Calico pieces, glad to see another one available to a lucky person. I am also loving the Sunburst flap cat, what a handsome little guy! Those rich browns with that pop of blue, yum. 🙂
What I do is if I really like a piece enough to bid on it, I’ll get an ultimate ceiling cost in my head of what I would want, or could afford to pay, and I’ll watch the piece. I’ll make a note what my ‘max’ bid would be – I normally also include the shipping cost as part of my ceiling cost consideration and know what I would need to enter as a ‘max’ bid + shipping to equal my ceiling cost.
I normally don’t bid until the very end of an auction, so I sometimes will snipe in the last seconds if the piece is still below my ‘max’ bid. But, if the piece has already been bid up past my predetermined ‘max’ bid, then I won’t bid at all.
This formula works for me to keep my anxiety level down and keep me from spending beyond my means. I figure if I don’t win, it wasn’t meant for me and perhaps something I like, or love more, will come in the future.
🙂
I think I like this strategy. I was doing something similar with the “roof” bidding (figuring out the max I might want to spend) but when I was putting in my bids early (like, two+ days left to the auction) it would leave me feeling squeamish and anxious. Actually, I had a lot of trouble sleeping during those times. I just get anxious too easily. Also, a few of those times I kept reconsidering what my max bid should be–I kept thinking to myself, well, *technically* I could go higher without it being a problem… so *should* I? And although I didn’t regret it and could and did pay in those situations where I did opt to, *if* I hadn’t then I would have had more money to spend on other things later.
I’d much rather do something similar during the last couple hour stretch, maybe even could minutes if I could time it right. Like someone else (I think Kiya) mentioned it gives another person less time to think…
I have seen that “punishment” thing going on, or wondered if it wasn’t happening. I think it’s hard to know if that’s what’s happening, or if someone isn’t just trying to test to see how much further they have to go up. At least, that was what happened in my case once. Logically though it would make more sense to still use the max bid thing, but I always get to feeling leery, like what if ebay makes a mistake and instead of using the next increment necessary to be the top bidder, what if it puts in my max bid straight away? That would be… a really frustrating situation.
Stormshadow and Midnight Calico are nice schemes. 😀
I haven’t had the type of funds yet to go bidding on Ebay auctions yet and I’m pretty picky so pieces that I would bid on don’t come along very often. There was a tiger griffin last year that I loved but I wasn’t in a situation to bid. That said, it’s kind of a Windstone bucket list goal to have at least one Ebay piece in my collection so with hope one day that will happen. 😀 For now I just admire them – this thread is eye candy!
Check out my finished artwork at http://falcolf.deviantart.com/ and my sketch/studio blog at http://rosannapbrost.tumblr.com/
Excellent!
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