On a more realistic note....
Have been looking for a toner cartridge, preferably genuine, at a reasonable cost. Found one listed and watched it for a while. Only the one, opening bid - all the way up to the last few minutes, so I decided to have a go.
After the usual contemplation about how much I'd
really go to, I settled on a figure and set myself up to snipe - the
real way... manually!
Countdown in one window, confirm button waiting in another. Looking good all the way. Got to about 5 seconds (yeah - I chickened early) and hit the button.
I didn't get the 'Outbid' message ... I got the "The following must be corrected before continuing" message.
Another sniper beat me to it.
The first bidder won the item - but were pushed to their maximum.
The sniper missed out - by less than one bid increment
I missed out - but I had set my maximum.
Item=120519621481Upon reflection, this turned out to be a classic example of a fair outcome, with good and not so good points for everyone... that just needs a philosophical outlook.
The winning bidder got the item (good) but for their maximum - not the $50 it looked like until the last 3 seconds (not so good)
The other sniper got in for a chance (good) - but missed out by less than a bid increment (not so good)
I had my shot (good) and missed out (not so good) but didn't have time to convince myself to pay more (very, very good)
The seller didn't get the $150 he had as a BIN option at the start (not so good) but he did get $129 and not $50 (good).
...and what makes this all the more comfortable as a fair outcome is that 3 different people put the value to them within a $10 range.
