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Does anyone else have an EBay addiction? I can't stop buying bargains on Ebay. It is killing me. So far I have not paid over the odds for anything, and it is all going to be useful stuff, but I don't know how much longer I can hold myself back. The closest thing to a frivolous item I've bought is a Johnny Alpha, Wulf Sternhammer & Gronk set, but that is something I've wanted for 20 years, so doesn't count.

I'm finding it hard to resist buying bargain marines, even though they are my third army and consist purely of bits I've picked up here and there (2nd Ed clip-ons, for example). (Oh, and my 1991 Games Day Captain, one of whom I saw stripped on EBay for £60 )

I way prefer the old Howling Banshees, for example, so I bought 5+Exarch to go with the 5+Exarch I already had, and I am trying for a few more, but they will certainly get used. Same with the old-style 1989 Harlequins I bought, which I LOVE.

I also got 2 Deff Dreads for my Orks at £44 inc postage, and that would have been almost £70 in the shops and £50 + P£P even from 40kempire.

Luckily, cheap EBay purcahses are helping me resist full-price original purchases, though I will need a couple of Black Reach sets soon for my Ork army.

Anyone else got a similar problem? How can I stop?

You'll stop when you run out of money thanks to all the bargains you're getting and they suspend your internet service for not paying the bill.

Of course I'm not speaking from experience or anything...

I had a major eBay addiction for about two years and blew over £3000. Then it just stopped all by itself.

I feel like I own all the existing models I need. I buy the new releases, but I no longer get the urges to buy more stuff just because it's cheap.

Fifty wrote:Does anyone else have an EBay addiction? I can't stop buying bargains on Ebay. It is killing me.

I have the same issue. I avoid eBay as much as I can because I always manage to find away to blow $600 before I even know what I'm doing.

I just have to use willpower to stay away.

BYE

Hahah, looks like people's advice consists mostly of "Keep spending money until you learn your lesson".

Try deleting your paypal account. Not like you use it for anything else, do you?

Keep spending, but use the link to ebay on the dakka homepage as we get some commission then, so it is not just shopping but also donating to dakka

Try adding ebay to your naughty sites list on your browser.

I have come to realize I can trade or find stuff cheaper elsewhere. The only time I Ebay is when I can find a good item at a Buy it Now price.

I have only bid on stuff for other people.

YIKES!

Yeah, I got to the point where it's Buy It Now or nothing. I hate sniper wars.

BYE

Yeah, I had a bit of a problem with it, buy all these really cool old skool orks. Now I've got a few blisters I have no use for, but I just stopped after a while.

Honestly, it was pretty harmless for me, a few bucks here or there for this or that odd blister. If you don't want it, back onto eBay it goes.

"I started out by looking for some cheap marines to flesh out my fallen angels force. Ended up seeing a LRC for pretty cheap, so i tried to get it...didn't win. Shame, oh well there's a couple of speeders cool! Oh crap, didn't win. Well this is disappointing, maybe I should just start bidding on everything I want, since I'm winning so few of the auctions!"

This innocent train of thought turned into:
-predator with FW extra armour (not used)
-predator (not used)
-black templars boxed set (solid investment, got for like 80/90 shipped, cost 140 at the time, NIB)
-plastic terminators (turned out to be like space-hulk era plastic terminators...ugh)...only 20 bucks though
-land raider crusader (also not used, though i'm planning to go deathwing so we'll see)

Around the same time I also managed to get a friend of mine interested in warhammer, and he was looking into an eldar army. I told him about all the deals on ebay and he ended up with about a 3-4000 point eldar army that is now primed and sitting in a box in his closet somewhere, where it's stayed for the last 3 years.

Really though, addictions last until you realize how much gak you have to paint. Assembling all those marines made me want to stab myself in the face. I will never do another marine army again. Again, the problem with doing an army all at once...

Fifty wrote:Does anyone else have an EBay addiction? I can't stop buying bargains on Ebay. It is killing me. So far I have not paid over the odds for anything, and it is all going to be useful stuff, but I don't know how much longer I can hold myself back. The closest thing to a frivolous item I've bought is a Johnny Alpha, Wulf Sternhammer & Gronk set, but that is something I've wanted for 20 years, so doesn't count.

you are lucky! almost everytime i buy something ( looked like a bargain ) it always ended up costing more
then i expected .

( custom , duty fees ) if its from USA shipped into canada. That or the "we'll combine s&h" didnt really make it cheaper.

I bought skullpass goblins, off ebay, after calculating, it ended up costing around 10% more then i could have bought at
another discount shop near me.

I pretty much stick to 'commodities' on eBay: New in-box stuff is usually honest sales, arrives mostly as-advertised, and is available for less than list if you pay attention.

I don't buy painted stuff. Might for a rare model, but only if I was going to strip it. My painting may suck, but it's mine and it's not going to get better by buying someone else's stuff.

My best find was (several years ago) a partial Necromunda set. I bought it for the goodies and got good use out of it: gave the buildings to a friend (since we played Necromunda at his house) kept the quick reference card and surplus whippy stick for myself. Ended up using most of the plastics for rabble IG or WH-Opposition Mutants.

The seller ended up throwing in some old epic sprues he didn't want anymore... Haven't thought of anything to do with them. I wish they were 10mm I'd use them as proxies for HGB. is there a market for sprues of old-style Rhinos and such?

Never had the problem really. After having an Ebay acct for like 6 or more years, I think I've purchased less than 30 items total. I certainly can see the lure. I tend to only look for items that are either, OOP or just not available locally (locally being about 100 miles or so).

I had one issue where I never received an item and at that time Ebay had nothing in place to help a buyer out. I still have TFG's address though...maybe I'll visit him sometime.

Here's an idea that worked for me (for awhile, at least).

I got to a point where I was spending a fair amount on eBay, just like the OP. But once I realized how nuts I was going, I dug through my stuff, and collected a batch of stuff that I knew I would never paint/use. I put it up for sale, and promptly sold it.

The money from that went into my PayPal acct, and then I made a decision to ONLY buy more stuff on eBay using the money I had made from selling stuff of mine I didn't want/use/need.

Granted, there were some times when I went over (I see a special item I just HAD to have, for example), but by sticking to this for several years, I was able to spend without breaking the bank.

And yes, some of the 'finds' I bought on ebay, eventually were re-sold in order to fund the purchase of other things. That's just how it works sometimes.

Not really a solution, but it's something that's helped me from time to time.

I also made rules for myself that I follow strictly:

1) I will NOT be raped on shipping. I've done enough ebay sales myself to know how to spot 'shipping cheats', and if a person is doing it, I won't buy from them.

2) I look at "Buy It Now" first. I hate 'sniping' other people as much as I hate being sniped myself.

3) If it says, "Pro Painted!", chances are, it's NOT. If it's something I really want, I'll ask the seller for more/better pictures. If they are serious, they'll have no problem getting them to me.

4) Before I place a bid on an item, I formulate the maximum amount I would bid on that item. No matter what happens - no matter how badly I get sniped - I will not exceed that price. Some months I will even place a dollar limit for the month that I allow myself to spend - and then stick to it. Of course, this often has me REALLY looking forward to the next month.

Anyway, just some random thoughts on the vice/virtue that is eBay.

I am keeping it under control, luckily.

I had a silly evening where I bid on loads of stuff I did not need, but I got lucky and got outbid on all of it except a cheap Chaplain and metal SM Dreadnought (£7), so I came through quite well. I have a healthy-ish SM third army, so it won't be wasted. Once I get Black Reach a couple of times for the Orks, my marines will be quite a force to be reckoned with too.

Right now though there are two of an item for sale, one fully painted to a decent-ish playable standard and another in the original box, from the eighties. As I've wanted them since 1989 and never bought them before I quit playing GW in 1994, I am willing to pay through the nose for them. I'm likely to get ganked, but when it is something you'll love for ever, cost in money is less important than the joy it will bring, IMO.

I buy mostly bits on ebay from an e-bay store and buy/trade models either here in the Swapshop or on Bartertown. Between that and adding a monthly budget of $20-30 for my hobby has worked great for me.