Drat nad the wait and search continues

Went to bed last night thinking I had it. Woke up this morning to check the ebay auction status and make arrangement for that long looked for CM Hall left bucket for the left front light.

All week I waited, and waited, and waited. Sunday night rolls around and it's all I could do not to think about the CM Hall left bucket up for auction. All week it held at one bidder at 5.00.

All week I strategized, and decided to go for broke. Auction due to close at 10:00 PM last night. I place what I thought was a ridiculously high bid to ensure the bucket would be mine. I mean, who would think that one bucket would sell for $100.00? But I placed it at that thinking...at the most 50.00, maybe 75.00 dollars.

NOT!

Woke up this morning at 0430, logged in, and there it was...stunned I saw the note "You have been outbid - early 9N CM Hall light."

Man Ooh man, did that sting... two years of looking, and it the old saying is true...I lived i: ..."ya snooze, ya lose."

Oh well, so it goes...the CM left front bucket search continues...

Should I kick myself? or should I be thankful? Ya got me! ...all I know is that maybe my wife is right she said: "I am one bucket short of a full set" I didn't know if it was an insult or not, I just drank my coffee, and went ouside to look at my 9N and kicked the rubber. 9N'er

"The 39-42 had Tractor Lite headlights. They were made by the C.M. Hall lamp comapny. They consisted of a left and right front light with the following parts:

* Bucket - 7 1/4" in diameter, * painted bezel, * inside reflector nickel plated, * bulb holder, * bulb (not sealed beam),

* glass lense (with the owrds "CM HAll Lamp Co. Detroit Michigan Tractor Lite")(embossed in the center of the lens),

* and three wire clips to hold the lens in the bezel.

They went to same size light but with a sealed beam in 1943 and used until 1950 model 8N...."

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you. tom (9N'er)

That's the beautiful thing about auctions...the exhorbitant price you pay is voluntary. You just didn't volunteer high enough. It can be dangerous when two people are both determined to win the item at all cost. Suppose you both set a proxy bid at $300? You really won that one by setting a limit you thought was reasonable.

I recently set a top limit on a tractor that would have required a 6,000 mile round trip to retrieve it...and lost by $3 at the last minute. I set my limit myself, and it wouldn't be any different if I had lost by 3 million. That's how auctions are supposed to work! I became a friend of the winning bidder after the fact.

George Willer

Oh well now you got my interest, have you got a pic?

I have occasionally come across an auction where the first time I see it, there is maybe 30 minutes left and I outbid the others and win. It makes me feel bad that I look to the other bidders like a thief lurking in the shadows but that was as honest as I could bid.

What I hate is the guy who sneaks in during the last minute and outbids me.

Maybe Ebay needs to get rid of the "watch this item" feature.

"Sniper" bids are just another bid, just like yours, but placed late in the game. If the other guy wants it more than you, you lose. There's nothing diabolical about it, it's just a bidding strategy. The sniper doesn't want you have another 10 minutes to sit and decide if you really want to bid higher or not. Decide up front how much you are willing to pay and live with it. Many times I've watched something go on a last second bid and kicked myself because I know I would have paid more but was just trying to get the item on the cheap.

>> What I hate is the guy who sneaks in during the last minute and outbids me.

Maybe Ebay needs to get rid of the "watch this item" feature. <<

It's not just the "watch this item" feature. There are services out there that will submit sniper bids for you, and you specify when (ex: 14 seconds before auction ends). They charge a small fee for this "service." I use one on occasion because it's the only way that I can compete against others who also use them, and I don't have the time to sit in front of my PC at some God-forsaken hour watching herd over my bid.

fwiw..... ..... .Ed
'52 8N475798

How diabolical!

Why hasn't Oliver Stone done a movie about this????

I am serious - that cheeses me off!

I wouldn't sell ANY of my train collection
on eBay because of the time limit that cuts
off bidding. As a seller the cut off keeps
two guys from getting auction fever and "going at" each other bidding the item up and up and thus getting the maximum possible.
It's good for the buyer - especially those that don't "telegraph" their max bid by early
bidding.

My $0.02
Larry

For a lot of things, like your tractor parts, ebay is OK, things where there are enough being resold that the market value is pretty well known. BUT I have stuff that I have NO IDEA what they are worth. Any guess I made could be off by as much as TEN times - that is a lot!! Besides I belong to TCA (The Train Collectors Asso.) where I have access to over 45,000 members - many of which would have SERIOUS heart palpatations if they could have a chance to bid on some of my stuff. NOW a lot of what I have is fine for ebay, but I was mainly thing of the stuff that was not when I made my comment above.

Regards,
Larry

Martin Sheen refused to play the role of Sniper King.

LOL..... ..... ..Ed
'52 8N475798