ebay sales dropping out

Hi,

I've been looking for a replacement PC for home and although a P4 around 2Ghz would suit, I noticed a few Pentium Duos locally at low prices, so I've been watching them.

One, looks like a start-up PC builder in Grimsby, advertised a new 'no-name' case , with (AIR) Pentium Duo 2.3 Ghz, 4 Gig ram, 160 Gig drive and a DVD R/W starting at 99p Buy it Now was around £260. No bids, ending in a couple of days, I thought I was 'in' with a chance there so I watched it and it suddenly said it had ended seemingly a day early.

I thought I'd maybe got my days wrong as it was over the weekend...

but he re-listed it, this time it had half-a-dozen bids up to around £130 or so and due to end in a couple of hours. I came back later and it'd finished with one bid at 99p, most odd. So I checked the bidding and they'd all been terminated.

Another one today, one year old Pemtium Duo in Scunthorpe due to end tomorrow night. Two bids up to around £25, I sniffed a bargain so added it to my watch list around mid-afternoon. When I got home I checked and it had 'ended', again with bids cancelled.

I thought this was barred by Ebay?

I can't blame someone for not wanting to sell at a big loss, but they should have put a reserve on it in that case...or at least had a mate pump the bidding up a bit! They hadn't even used the old 'get out' of 'advertised locally so auction may finish early' ploy!

Anyone else noticed similar?

Regards
Peter

Hi Peter, Have a look at Speedie they auction on the bay as well as sell direct, a work colleague has bought a couple via auction and they seem pretty good value for money.
p.s. I have no connection with Speedie, but do work on the next door factory estate

Hi,

nice link, thanks

Peter

It's more likely the auctions were ended early because the guy accepted a cash offer from someone who had seen the Ebay listing .....

There's a a company called ITC that sell old stock Dell pc's at a good cost:

ITC_Sales

We just bought one for my work, a few minor scratches on the case but came to about £500 with a monitor and keyboard and mouse....

If your just after a base unit they're pretty good for the £250 mark which is pretty good value for a Dell machine....

Hi,

thanks but I can get dual core pentium base units for for a lot less and reasonably local (within 30 miles).

It's not that I'm /that/ picky, I was using a 70 Mhz processor on Win 95 until last year, but I hate pratting around with PCs so I'm looking for something that I can use for a few years once I've set it up. It usually takes me around three days to get my PC running how I want it...

I've seen a recent ebay auction for a full Dell system, 2.something duo, 2 gig ram, 80gig HDD, DVD/RW, XP pro with COA and a 17" flat screen for £135 in Sheffield where I could pick it up after work. If he'll allow me to open it up to install a second video card (for a second monitor) and my own second HDD without invalidating the warranty I'll have that!

My original message was more to do with dodgy dealings on Ebay ending auctions early without stating that they reserve that option. I can't say I've noticed it before so it struck me that to find two sellers within a couple of days, selling similar gear, was a bit much.

Regards
Peter

now i take you you are wanting dual screens and to do that you will need a dual output gfx card or be able to crossfire.

and tbh ive got systems better than that at a local auction house
ive payed £20 for a system with 1.8p4, 512ram and 80gb hdd and a 15"tft
and ive seen systems that were tthe bees knees go for about £100(as in a very high end gaming systems)

Ive seen that load of time peter, and it is forbidden but people still seem to try it.
The crux is they want a reserve amount for their goods, but dont want to pay the extra fee to set a reserve price, and dont want to start the initial bid too high also. So they let the auction run until the last day or so, then cancel all the bids then rerun the auction from scratch.
Which is a bit dull, as most bids happen in the last hour or so anyway...
I personally wont bid on the second time round, as for me that means the seller is unethical and going to potentially be a nightmare to deal with...

Hi,

Originally Posted by toddy

now i take you you are wanting dual screens and to do that you will need a dual output gfx card or be able to crossfire.

Or get a Dell with built in video and add a second card. It doesn't need to be high spec, I'm mostly running MS Office apps and VB code.

MrFluffy,

I guess they don't want the reserve on there as it makes some people loathe to place bids, I know I'm not keen. It's different if they specify what the reserve is so I can decide if it's worth waiting a week to see if it makes it.

Regards
Peter