I was robbed, robbed I tell you

VacuumLand – Vintage & Modern Vacuum Enthusiasts

Help Support VacuumLand:

K

kirbysthebest

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 26, 2008
Messages
2,086
Location
Midwest
I was bidding on a Hoover Portable 3013 on ebay. Pretty little green, totally compete. It had a buy it now, but I thought there had been no interest so I gave a bid for the starting price of $50. It sat at $50 for six days. On the last day, Wednesday, I upped my bid, just in case to $75.77.

I was watching the clock count down and I was the highest bid at $50. Ebay never indicated there was another bidder or anything. All the sudden the clock runs out, i was expecting the "you won" and then I got a text that I had lost the auction.

WHAT!!!. I logged back in and in my history it shows that I had been out bid, by only one bidder at $76.77, this bid took place 15 minutes before closing. I just feel robbed, if ebay had told me I had been out bid during the auction, I was watching the clock count down; I would have increased my bid. I feel robbed.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Ho...vip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m43663.l44720
 
As an eBay Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
i wouldnt pay 75$ for a hoover portable, unless it was new in the box. id be hard pressed to cough up $25 for one. check your local thrift stores, no one ever buys them. them or slimlines.
 
maybe in your part of the world the thrift stores are aflush, but I have never seen one in a thrift store here.

What often happens in cases like this is the seller is actually bidding against you, and he overshot your maximum. The item in those cases will either show up relisted in a few days, or you will get the notice that a bid has been retracted do you still want it.

I was just disappointed that I was watching the auction from five minutes to the close and the bids did not change on the screen until the auction was complete. I have never had that happen before. I think it was a glitch in Ebay. Typically I never bid over $30 for a used machine, but I really wanted that one, and It just so happens to be my money I was spending so I didn't ask anyone else to chip in.

I have been shopping on ebay for 15 years, and this is the first time an auction I was watching did not update live. [this post was last edited: 12/7/2018-12:43]
 
I've had that happen many times. The best thing to do (for your own sanity) is enter the maximum you are willing to pay for the item, then walk away. If you sit there and keep refreshing, you will likely end up paying more than you wanted to and potentially regret your decision to spend so much. Ebay only shows the winning price, so as far as we know, the winner could have bid much more $!
 
John

That would be great.
If you have a spare, Private message me and we will make arrangements.

I've been on a Hoover kick lately.

Besides the Air -revolve, I found a stainless Connie, my Orange Portable, and a React. Added those to the Wind tunnel anniversary Self propelled. Oh and two Hoover spin scrub.
 
I lucked into mine at a Salvation Army store for $10.
But it was the only one I've ever seen at a thrift/second hand store.
For that matter, I never really see anything but uprights, when they have vacuums at all.

Barry
 
eBay is known to have email delays in their notifications of being outbid, or they are never sent at all. What happened was someone did a bid snipe, either manually or automatically with a program/app. There's nothing you can do about it, it's the nature of bidding at auction. If you want it immediately, look for buy-it-now listings. Just keep hunting. Also save a search for the vacuum you want so you are notified by eMail when one is posted. That's how I got my Hoover Z700.
 
 
As an eBay Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Thank you Huskyvacs
But. . .None of them are that color green, I have the orange one. None of them appear to have the cord winder.
Some of them are missing their attachments.
Many of them have shipping cost far above what the price of the machine is, which actually exceeds the total of my bid.

I do know how to do a search on ebay. I was not interested in the ones you have listed.

I was not dealing with an email delay, I was watching the auction on the screen live watching the clock tick down.
 
if you want help , consider dropping the bitter attitude. insulting people who are trying to help out will get you nowhere quick.

that is one of the last portables made, and they were made in lower numbers. john long would be a best bet, but scoffing someone (huskyvacs) offering alternatives is childish.

its a vacuum. youll find one you want eventually. if you want a less stressful aquisition of vacuums, ebay is not the place for you to aquire things. try picking local vacuum shops, estate sales or craigslist. travel to places where stuff is helps too. dont limit yourself just to city limits.
 
Well I guess you told me.

I don't believe anywhere in any of my post did I ask how to bid on ebay, or how to search on ebay, or what I should pay. The post was originally posted in good humor that I lost a vacuum that I was coveting. And again in testament that some ebay sellers will boost their sales by bidding against you.

John very graciously, as always, offered to look in his collection and he and I will discuss privately if a transaction can happen.

I am so sorry that your criticism is unwarranted or unneeded, but thank you for offering your unsolicited verbiage anyway. So far the only thing you have offered is a large pile of Texas fertalizer. So give yourself another upvote for that.[this post was last edited: 12/7/2018-17:42]
 
eBay is not the manual marketplace it once was.

Automated Bidding Apps will place a buyer's bid on their behalf, in the last one or two seconds of an auction.
In the past 'snipers' had to sit there monitoring an auction in real-time, hoping they had bid enough in the one or two bids they could manage in quick succession. If not, they raised the price for you, and moved-on. But now, these Apps do the work for them.
This hides their interest, leaves you no opportunity to counter-bid, and wins the item for them, often at a lower price because you don't learn of their interest in the same item until its too late.

The only way to beat this is to bid a very high amount and expect to pay a high price for the item, or be prepared to lose it and try for another.

Sounds as though this may have happened in this instance.

I have thought for many years that eBay's system should extend an auction's expiry-time, by say 15 minutes, when a higher bid is made in the closing minutes/seconds, to give everyone an opportunity to respond, either by App, or in-person. This would ensure the best possible price for the Seller, increased commission for eBay, and a happier bunch of Buyers. A physical Auction House, with Auctioneer, would never dismiss further bids while two or more parties were competing. That's eBay for you.[this post was last edited: 12/7/2018-19:31]
 
You weren't robbed, but auction-sniped. It has happened to me as well several times.

Many years ago there was actually a site or software which was marketed as an auction sniper - it may still exist today.
Basically it knew the exact end time of the auction and it put in the users max bid at the very last minute, giving no opportunity for others to raise their bids. Your competitor could have put a max of 150 or more, so you might not have had a chance even if you were notified.

If you really want something, you do have to put your maximum bid. I usually do this within the last 10 seconds or so if there are other bids going on. Even then I have been sniped. All I could say is that they valued it more than I.

Keep watch for another and don't get too discouraged. :o)
 
Not a lot of vacuums at charity shops....

Has anyone else noticed....

particularly at Goodwill, WHEN YOU OFFER TO GIVE THEM a DONATION, they sometimes try and 'cop an attitude' ? "oh, we don't take _____, we CAN'T take ____...."

I've donated FREE stuff to them over the years and especially in the last 5 years, I've heard "we CAN'T take vacuum cleaners".
Now I know they sell them, so if they aren't taking donations, then where is the stock coming from?

I recently went to drop off a single box of household stuff: books, kitchen things, and an electrolux power nozzle wand. This woman comes out and thinks she's going to sort through the box and take what she wants.

B.S.- I grabbed the box out of her sleezy hands, before she could take any of it, and pushed it back in the trunk. Her naive assistant helping her uttered "oh, that's a vacuum part. We can't take...." I was already getting back in the car.

It's ALL or NOTHING !

It was so rude. These resale shops have NO over head inventory, they get it for free. All they have to do is sort it, price it, and put it on the floor. They have NO RIGHT nor privilege to be nit picky. They are in much better position than say even walmart as they are making 100% profit regardless what an item sells for. As long as people aren't dropping off literal garbage or toxic waste, Goodwill is obligated to take EVERYTHING and do it with a smile on their face.

As it is now, I won't even consider contributing to Goodwill anymore. What are they going to try and request next? Have us sort it, price, and put it neat packages for them?

Goodwill Industries is a sleazy business that hasn't been exposed yet.....YET.

Don't get me started on the people working there. They often look like they have fear in their eyes. I've heard and seen videos on the demeaning working conditions there. Unacceptable.

Anyway, if you aren't seeing vacuums at YOUR local Goodwill, it could be the stores, or the regions sort center's attitude. Consider calling to find out.
 
Similar problems with SOME Charity Shops here in the UK.
Directors on £100,000+ per annum. Staff all unpaid volunteers.
Staff cherry-pick from donations.
Good stuff goes up on eBay, or to shops in more-affluent areas, not in the window.
Poorly-performing shops set ridiculously high prices, sometimes more than New, to achieve 'Sales Targets'.
Its a Business.

Electrical items such as vacuums have to be safety (PAT) tested before they can go on sale. This costs the business money and creates storage problems while they're awaiting testing, so they turn-away donations.
 
I learned about auction sniping years ago, when a vacuum club member with very deep pockets used to snipe all the auctions he wanted. He used a service I believe was called "bid sniper", he would put in the auction number and a high bid of like $1000 to be placed at the last 3 seconds automatically. This cost him twenty five cents for the service.

I'm sure it bit him in the behind several times, when TWO people used the bid sniper. $50 vac with no bids. "MP" robobids $950. "JL" robobids $1000. Both think they'll get the machine for a reasonable amount since no one else has expressed "interest' by bidding. Last seconds come, and the $50 vac is now $960 with the winning bid going to "JL" who trumped the $950 bid with his $1000 bid. All in the last 3 seconds. Surprise for the seller. Surprise for "MP" who thought he'd win. And real surprise for "JL" who now is paying dearly for a $50 cleaner he wanted so badly.
 
Auctions can be disasters like Tom points out. Never go above your maximum practical limit when using auction assistant programs. Unless it’s “one of one”, you can probably find it again.
 
I've never bought an entire vacuum on eBay, though I have bought a power nozzle. The bulk and weight of a vacuum makes shipping tend to be high.
For other things that I DO buy on eBay, I never, ever place a bid until the auction is about to close. All that does in a lot of cases, is drive up the cost if someone else starts bidding. I just bid the maximum I want to pay, at the end of the auction.

If there have already been a few bids or the price is getting higher than I'd like, I don't usually bid unless I really want it, and I usually still lose.

It's interesting how sometimes an item will get a lot of bids and go high, yet a while later, a same or similar item gets relisted and gets only one or no bids.

I don't usually see vintage vacuums at thrift stores here either. I did buy a Hoover Slimline once at a thrift store, and they had a Portable another time, but it was missing the handle. In fact, I also saw a mint Hoover Convertible Elite in green there too. Unfortunately since they moved, they don't seem to get any good stuff in anymore, or as much either.

Habitat used to get old Convertibles and others in but rarely anymore do they get anything older than an Elite or Bissell bagless. I've seen a few old Kenmore canisters, but incomplete.

At Goodwill they sometimes get newer Electrolux or Kirbys, but no vacuums more than 20 years old. I have seen a few nice PowerMaxs.

Maybe you'll have to go outside your area to find better stuff.
 
I rarely buy from ebay but

Last year I tried to bid on a red Panasonic MC-V7398 because I have been after that model for like years now. Someone already bid on it so I waited for like the last minute to bid on it, sure enough that same person out bid me for like the finals seconds there was left on the auction. As much as I was frustrated with myself, I quickly let it go because I knew it was not the end of the world and that I would find another one again someday.
 
Goodwill

I have been noticing lately that Goodwill in my area is really going downhill. The housewares section is extremely sparse, and it's almost like they are just selling out of anything. The one an hour away is the same way. Lately they have also been upping their prices on things, stopped taking credit cards for any purchase under $10 and revoked their 7 day return policy. The only vacuum they had when I was last in there was a little Hoover bagless that looked like it had seen much better days. It was dirty, and just beat up. They wanted $20 for it. On the other hand though, the Salvation Army and St. Vincent dePaul are doing well. I think I know where people are dropping things off at around here, and it is not Goodwill
 
I've noticed similar with Goodwill in the housewares section lately. I do wonder though if the good stuff sells quickly after it goes out. I typically go once a week on Friday. Sometimes if I'm in town and want to kill time I might make a Saturday stop. Typically I come out empty handed.

One thing about them is whenever they ask if I want to round my purchase up to donate change, I always seem to say yes. So a small purchase quickly becomes more after tax and rounding up.

Our St. Vincent de Paul store closed a few years back, it was small and I didn't go to it much because it was rarely open. They did get some neat things when I did go.

Salvation Army here is almost not worth going to anymore. About 15 or so years ago it was always busy and getting in new stuff constantly. You could hardly move around it was so packed and crowded. But they remodeled about 10 years ago and must have gotten more selective about merchandise or something because I rarely see anything good anymore. I'll go once every few months and usually the same old stuff, and most is random dishes or silverware, some old furniture, or cheap small appliances. It's never busy either. Maybe they're putting all the good stuff somewhere else or nobody donates.
 
Check out the neighborhood first, 'cuz Goodwill.....

no longer has any Good Will! It's all about funding their programs. I was shocked when I saw how HIGH some of their crap was priced! I've seen lots of price gouging and demographics seem to come into play quite a bit. If you go to a Goodwill on the edge of a posh neighborhood, the merchandise quality will look considerably better, but you WILL pay for it.

I went to a Goodwill last week in Baytown Texas (oil refinery community) and bought an Oxo salad spinner for $6. Albeit, it was used but I needed one since I'm out here working during the week. Baytown isn't exactly a "salad eating" community, because salads aren't typically chicken fried, made with a roux, or pan seared in butter. You know where I'm going with this, hence the reason why it looked unused. (LOL) I took it even though I'd have expected to pay less.

I'm starting to think that either Goodwill has hit hard times, or "inflation" has hit Goodwill. I sure wouldn't call Goodwill a "thrift store" anymore.
 
@ luxlife

The prices at Goodwill are set by the employees working in the back room that put the prices on stuff. Not by Goodwill. There are several large rolls of price labels on spools at a workbench of values 0.99 to 29.99 and it is up to you to determine what you think an item should be worth. There are people that don't know anything about junk and will price coffee mugs at 2.99, then people that do know could come in a month later and price them at 0.99.

There is a rough guide that states DVD's and VCR's be priced at $19.99, vacuums at $29.99 and so on. But outside of that it is whoever holds the price stickers that day that decides the values.

Don't blame Goodwill, blame the employees that work there that have no education on the value of things.

Also, go on 50% off days which is every other saturday.
 
@ husky: I'm not blaming anyone........

I was just making an observation. If you seem to have an insight to the pricing metrics that Goodwill uses, then more power to ya.
 
Goodwill

If there is any blame to lay on the Goodwill organization, it is more than likely with the regional offices. For instance, the Goodwills near me are under the umbrella of "Goodwill of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan". I believe the ones downstate where my parents are, aka "Goodwill of West Michigan" still have the return policy, and even have coupons with a donation.
 

Similar threads

vap0rtranz
I hate plastic rant (Electrolux SuperJ failure)
Replies
12
Views
821
lazzlazz
L
T
Working Kirby Classic III - as-is, or I can rebuild for you
Replies
6
Views
569
texaskirbyguy
T
E
I accidentally bought another vacuum today.
Replies
24
Views
218
jo
J
human
Another bidder saved me from myself
Replies
8
Views
65
ridgidwd0670
ridgidwd0670
hoover300
Kresge(KDS) Model 322 Handheld Vacuum
Replies
2
Views
114
lesinutah
lesinutah

Latest posts

Back
Top