MONEY MORAL DILEMMA: Should Pete bid for Carl's amp on eBay?

plasticflower

If Carl was a mate he would have known that cash strapped Pete was after an amp. If Carl put amp on ebay for £50 quid then he's obvioulsy happy for it to be sold for that. I don't think Pete owes Carl anything as he should have had first refusal in first place!

JayD

£50 start price, with no reserve, means you risk getting just that.

Yes , Pete should bid on it - although I'd leave it til the last 20 seconds myself. He should bid the max he would want to pay in those final seconds and then, whatever he gets it for, he should offer Carl the difference on top of his winning bid (separately of course). That way he is paying the max he wanted and Carl is getting more than he would otherwise have got.

However, my experience of eBay is that there may well be another final seconds sniper who will bid just that little bit more than Pete - so winning the amp from under his nose. This would make the whole dilemma academic.

However, if they are such good mates, how come they never talked about this amp before it got listed? Pete would then have made his offer to Carl without any messing about with ebay and fees at all.

dianehollybeth

Yes, why not? If Carl knew that Pete wanted an amp he should offer to sell it to him before putting it on ebay. Therefore, Pete should grab his bargain!

Felicity101

How did Pete know that Carl had listed the amp on EBay? If Carl told him, why didn't he ask if he could buy it then? If he saw it on EBay while he was looking, how can he be sure it's his friend's?

And yes, just who is Mick???

raymond

therrawbuzzin wrote: »

The guy is supposed to be a friend, for heaven's sake.

He's only selling it in the first place because he needs to.

Lend/give him the dosh he needs to tide him over.

Get your amp elsewhere and don't be a parasite.

How did you deduce that scenario ???

markjprobert

we sold a sofa on ebay once and it went to a friend for 14p. They didn't take advantage though and gave us the £50 that they had said they would have it off us for before they realised we had put it on ebay already. They still got a bargain and we were happy somebody hadn't ripped us off when it was clearly worth more than £50 let alone 14p!!

JDPower

markjprobert wrote: »

we sold a sofa on ebay once and it went to a friend for 14p. They didn't take advantage though and gave us the £50 that they had said they would have it off us for before they realised we had put it on ebay already. They still got a bargain and we were happy somebody hadn't ripped us off when it was clearly worth more than £50 let alone 14p!!

If you didn't set a starting price then no one was ripping you off anyway, simply buying it for the low/non-existant price you listed it for

Willowcat_3

If Pete feels out of place buying the amp on Ebay, he should either (a) let the auction go through and if it didn't sell approach Carl about buying it from him, or (b) tell Carl he's seen it on Ebay and that he's interested in biding for it and should he win, he'll leave him much needed "positive" feedback. If Carl was hoping to sell for a higher price then he has an opportunity to say so.

therrawbuzzin

raymond wrote: »

How did you deduce that scenario ???

The amp is worth £400, so why risk a sale at £50 unless you're desperate?

qbjb

A.Jones wrote: »

It would not be interpreted as shill bidding. Their is no link between the two accounts, and so long as Pete didn't go to his mate's house to place the bid, there would be no suspicion. Someone from the same town as you bidding on one of your items would not be flagged as shill bidding.

I'd bid £200 if I thought it was worth £200 and I was willing to pay £200. If it was left to run without a bid, chances are it would be sniped in the ast seconds by a stranger anyway. At least then, if someone else bids, he will get a decent price. If not, I get a bargain and he sells ata price he was willing to accept.

Or, I might tell him to stop the auction, take decent pics and relist it.

If the amp is listed at £50 then, even if you bid £200, it will remain at £50 until someone else bids ...