Hi,

Being an ebay newbie, I just noticed that there are a lot of land auctions going on, relatively cheap I might add. What is the deal with that? Is land really that cheap out west? I know some of require you to bid just for the down payment, but some are the total price of the land. Is this land out in the middle of nowhere, all I saw were pieces close to towns or interstates. Maybe some of those folks looking for land could find their homestead through ebay.

Just a thought and what is the deal with all the snipers? I have bid several times on an item and right at the end (like the last 30 seconds) someone comes in and bids. I think I like Ubid better than e-bay. It appears to be fairer.

Anyway glad that this forum is back up and chugging along, See ya'll if we don't git flooded out..it sure has rained down here in the south.

-- Cindy (colawson@mindspring.com), February 06, 2002

Answers

Response to ebay question

Remember, If it sounds to good, most likley it is.

Be very carefull. IS the land really usable, if your miles from power, and dont have any water rights or the land, will no meet sanitation test or was part of a nuclear bomb test, its not going to be worth much.

-- Gary (gws@columbus.rr.com), February 06, 2002.

Response to ebay question

I spent many years going to auctions for a living. Done properly, nothing is more fair to buyers and sellers. Ebay has the interesting twist of having a time determinant ending to their auctions.

As to what you perceive to be a problem with 'sniping,' I might suggest you consider using the 'proxy bidding' option. With that you can put in the absolute top amount you will pay for an item and Ebay will bid up to that amount for you. They will only bid enough each time, however, so that you outbid another bidder, not just one bid at your maximum amount.

Let's say you want to buy a widget and the current bid is $5.00. You can bid $30 now and Ebay will just bid enough now to make you the top bidder (let's say $6.00). Later someone else bids $10.00. Ebay instantly bids $11.00 for you. So it would go until either the auction ends with you the highest bidder or someone outbids your $30 bid.

The tough part is that you have to decide EXACTLY what number you will not exceed in buying the widget. If it's $30, as in the example and someone else bids $40 with no other bidders, they'll own the widget you wanted at $31. Don't fall into the trap of thinking "If only I'd bid $32," because you'll never know how much they would have gone to, you only know what they ended up paying.

I'm not working for Ebay here. They certainly have their flaws, but the system is the same for everyone. Search around their site and read about some of the features like 'proxy bidding.' I think you'll like it better then. I hope this helps.

-- Gary in Indiana (gk6854@aol.com), February 06, 2002.

Unlike other auctions on Ebay, bidding for real estate on Ebay is non- binding. You can go to the Non-Binding Policy to read about it.

-- Karen (mountains_mama@hotmail.com), February 07, 2002.

I would sure have a hard time buying land without seeing it. You have all sorts of easement issues, access, water, sewer, permit and on & on issues. If you are used to what 5 acres of land looks like in Virginia, and want to buy 20 acres in Arizona, you will be _surprised_ at how little you are buyng! If it's too cheap to be true - it is!

As to what you call 'sniping' - isn't that the point of bidding? All part of the game. The other person described it well so I won't repeat, but I see it as a good system from that standpoint?

--->Paul

-- paul (ramblerplm@hotmail.com), February 07, 2002.

Cindy - About the snipers: Remember that they may not necessarily be coming in right at the last minute - they may have set their highest bid earlier on in the auction - Then Ebay inches it up for them as needed. That way they beat you right at the last minute.

Hope that makes sense -

-- hmm (h.m.metheny@att.net), February 07, 2002.

I see, use the proxy bid and let ebay do the bidding for me. Thanks, it just seemed impossible to sit at the computer and wait for an auction to end.

As far as the land goes, it does seem like the land is awful cheap on these auctions, of course I did see one piece that was around 39,000 but you bid on what you were willing to put down. I'm like most of you guys, I wouldn't bid on a property or buy any unless I saw it first. But the pictures are nice for all the dreamers out there wanting a piece of land. Some were really beautiful, of course they were probably taken when the property looked it's best! My Dad used to say if you're going to buy land, go look on a beautiful spring day and then, if possible, go on the worst day you can, cold, rainy, etc. If you are still in love with it on it's worst day, then buy it. Makes sense to me.

Ya'll have a good one!

Karen, I like the little swing! How'd you do that?

-- Cindy (colawson@mindspring.com), February 07, 2002.