The thing I don't get about Ebay...

[Corey]

This is the thing I don't get. This item is $599 brand new, with a manufacturer warranty and free shipping.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/WX5/

There are a half dozen or so on Ebay, if you add in shipping they range from $541 to $642!
http://search.ebay.com/search/search...rclo=&saprchi=

To quote Seinfeld, "Who are these people?".

[Intrigued]

Uneducated Shoppers.

I check prices in such shopping-bots as:

www.shopping.com
www.pricescan.com
www.pricewatch.com
www.mysimon.com

Don't forget www.slickdeals.net

and somewhere in that shopping check I'll buzz over to eBay.

Books I'll usually land over at www.amazon.com (even witih the www.bamm.com (s) out there)

Tip for Amazon: SEE: attachment (highlighted section, you'll usually find deep discounts)

[gbrown]

It's pretty bizare. I've had a mineral specimen that didn't sell at $7 one week that I've relisted at $5. It then goes on to sell for $20. Go figure...

[eric_darling]

Part of it is the thrill of an auction. People love to win auctions, and that will often drive prices for items higher. It happens at Sotheby's, too. So, I don't think it's a factor of something "low brow" or even necessarily uneducated shoppers. If there are a lot of bids on an item, you'll often see its price rise sharply over identical items with fewer bids.

I have even caught myself venturing into bidding more than I wanted to spend for a particular item. It's easy to get caught up. So, to stave off unnecessary spending, I use eSnipe. I set a maximum price I'm willing to spend right from the start, I don't waver, and I win the auction about 75% of the time. The great thing is eSnipe enters my bid automatically about 4 seconds before the end of the auction (they sync their clock with eBay's every day). That way, I'm not contributing to the build up of bids on any item in which I'm interested. Other interested bidders never even know I've placed a bid.

[Corey]

When I'm buying used music gear I try to pay 50%-ish, 70% max. For me to give up the warranty on a complicated electronic piece I'd have to be saving at least 20-30% off retail, but even then I'd probably pay retail if the total savings were under $100.