eBay stress!

[petit_bijou]

Hi all,

I'm just wondering if I'm insane, or if anyone else gets really stressed about finding and trying to purchase stones on eBay...

I found a few that I LOVE, but I'm so freaked out about missing them or losing them to another buyer . I have nightmares about using the "automatic bidding" option, and putting my max price in at 5 cents below what the item ends up going for... crazy, right?!

The silliest part, is that I'm not expecting any of these to be "the one" for my project, I'm just in an info-gathering stage to decide on colour. I guess of course I'm trying to choose items that I could set into something else later on, but it still seems a little bit crazy how attached I get to the idea of having the sparklies in my hands at some point!

Any tips on not getting so possessive?

 

[FallenRox]

You're so cute. And I don't mean that in a derogatory sense by any means.

I have been freaked out by ebay for years and refused to open an account until I came here. So, I can see where you're coming from completely. The way I ended up looking at it, is there were colors/stones I had to see- but at my decided top end budget for what they were. After all THE stone has a budget too...

If there was a stone I really wanted, I put my max price in (less a few dollars), and then I stalked it when it got down to a minute. If anyone outbid me, I popped in a few more dollars and in a few cases, that did it. To me, it's fun. But yes, we want them all. Now I have glass boxes, a loupe, a prong thingy stone grabber.... and a new hobby!

Once you figure out the color range you like, then you won't feel so frantic. It's just those first few that gave me mental fits. And I did buy one with my possessive bidding finger that I didn't even like. Spent $80 on it, but it was misrepresented. I sent it back and got credit for it really quickly.

I don't know if any of this is helping or not, but that's my experience. Since I'm on to the "ring" stage, I have to keep myself away from there because I still have all my spinel searches saved. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH and I wanna go back! lol maybe I can. To- help you- look. Yeah, that's it!

 

[JewelFreak]

Another thing to remember is that there will always be another stone along that makes your heart pitty-pat. Especially in the lower ranges if you're testing out what you like. It took me a while to learn that & I still have to remind myself now, knowing what I want & deciding to spend mostly for THE one. I always see others I can hardly stand to leave for some other lucky buyer, but I'll fall in love again soon. So will you!

 

[Deathspi]

Another thing to remember is that there will always be another stone along that makes your heart pitty-pat. Especially in the lower ranges if you're testing out what you like. It took me a while to learn that & I still have to remind myself now, knowing what I want & deciding to spend mostly for THE one. I always see others I can hardly stand to leave for some other lucky buyer, but I'll fall in love again soon. So will you!

I completely agree. There's plenty more fish in the sea, so to speak, so try not to get too hung up over not being able to have what you want.

For me, if I'm bidding on something that I know I could find again, I decide on a maximum bid, throw it down at the last minute and if it goes higher then that's that. I find that some people end up overpaying for common things because they get so caught up in the 'bidding war' so it's best to stick to your guns. You get something you really love in the end.

 

[petit_bijou]

Thanks FallenRox, JewelFreak and Deathspi. You're all right- I need to just calm down, there will always be more of what I want. Just because I happen to be hyped up about the type of stone I'm currently looking for doesn't mean the whole world is.

I'll have to live vicariously through my "watch" list instead of clicking bid for awhile and keep in mind the fact that I have lots of time to be choosy... but you can bet that once I've settled on the colour I want I'll totally enlist your help FR!

 

[T L]

At least with ebay auctions, you have a chance to win a stone. If you try to buy anything from any of the popular lapidaries, someone will always get it before you do. That's how I look at it. I always set a target limit of what I think a stone is worth to me, and lately I've been losing a lot, but I figure that it's okay, as I feel the other people overbid.

One of my favorite ebay vendors has prices that have gone super high, and I've refrained a lot from bidding as his auctions have been ending too high, and his BIN prices are a bit too expensive as of late.

 

[JewelFreak]

If you're thinking of who I'm thinking of, TL, yeah. Where did I just read, though, that investors are going to gems (rough included) as well as gold, silver & other commodities as a hedge against coming economic rocky times. A vendor's website, my crummy brain won't cough it up. Prices on the rise & availability not so hot.

 

[T L]

If you're thinking of who I'm thinking of, TL, yeah. Where did I just read, though, that investors are going to gems (rough included) as well as gold, silver & other commodities as a hedge against coming economic rocky times. A vendor's website, my crummy brain won't cough it up. Prices on the rise & availability not so hot.

His prices are going up on ebay, but not so much his competitors, so I think it's a bit of Pricescope fame working in his favor there. The thing is I knew this would happen, and I'm happy for him, but I need to move on. Have not been buying as much from him as I used too.

 

[FallenRox]

Hey, Petit- I forgot to mention that in one of my weaker moments of this affliction... I won an auction with free shipping on a 22 carat, green amethyst. $5.00 but still, what the hell am I going to do with it? you could give me some ideas to take up your time when you need to lay off the spinel stalking. ha ha

It's really pretty! but ummm... yeah
I guess I could make one of those big gem sucker pacifiers to put on my desk as a paper weight?

*No offense to anyone sporting a 22 carat anything, I mean this all in good nature*

 

[petit_bijou]

Thanks for chiming in with some good perspective TL. I guess the phenomenon you and JewelFreak are talking about with people raising prices and reacting to favourable comments is what feeds some of my worry, but still- I need to just keep my personal goals in mind and not go bonkers.

FR, that's hilarious! What even are the dimensions on something like that?! I like your idea for the pacifier paper weight- just be careful some child doesn't come along and chip a tooth on it by accident! My mother has several crystals hanging from the kitchen table lamp from fishing wire that scatter sparkles around the room in the morning light- depending on its shape maybe you could do something like that with it?!