CBid.......

[UPGRAYEDD]

OK, so we all have been to CBid, placed bids, and bought cigars (I ass-u-me, anyway). Perfect opportunity for everyone to score those sticks under normal online pricing. You get in in early, claim your lot, and set auto bid for a reasonable max amount under the normal selling price including the shipping costs. Simple. You sit on your bid for a few days, with the occasional challenge from others checking your muscle and bumping your auto bid. Then, on the last day, people will come in and get into a cock fight with each other over your lots, an hour or so before the bid closes. Hey its all fair in bidding I guess, except these Darwin award winners will bid 10-25% over the freaking retail price thats advertised on the exact same site. They could have just placed a regular order and saved themselves a lot of money. Sometimes its so stupid that I can't help but think its the admin at CBid doing it on low bid lots to protect their margins.

[TX_toker]

You gotta figure that when the lot gets down to the wire, someone may not wanna take the few seconds to check the retail price and risk losing the lot. I do know how irritating that can be though.

[Volker]

I never used Cbid but bid quite often on the auction site of Famous.
There it actually tells you/warns you that the price you want to bid is higher then the offer currently in store.
You have to confirm that you want to 'over'.

[mc2712]

Some guys just get carried away when bidding, I call it the "the ebay effect".

[blueeyedbum]

I'd like to think that Cbid is more ethical than that. I've found CI and its subsidiaries to be great vendors.

I too notice that sometimes prices tend to go too high.

I think everyone bidding may not compare their pricing to CI. Other vendors may have a higher price on an item and they may use that price for comparison.They might not be the frugal shoppers that we are. There are still great deals to be had. It just takes more work. It's buyer beware.

I have found some great deals on Cigar Auctioneer as of late, but the situation is similar there.

I also keep an eye on Joe's Jambalaya and Cigar Monster. Some great deals to be had there and the free shipping makes them more attractive. Even there its not a sure thing cause the really hot buys sell out in minutes.

Sometimes its a matter of being at the right time and place.

[UPGRAYEDD]

Well, I'm pretty sure that CI has higher ethics than that too. Its just frustrating because I put a little effort and research into it and know what the going rate is.
It kinda explains things when you realize these same people vote too.....

I bought my first order from Cigar Monster the other day. Smokin' deal. I had not even heard of it until I came here. I'll have to spread out a little and try some of these other avenues.

[NickD2008]

Originally Posted by blueeyedbum

I also keep an eye on Joe's Jambalaya and Cigar Monster. Some great deals to be had there and the free shipping makes them more attractive. .

Same thing here. I have bought alot from those deals. Cigar.com also does daily specials with free shipping. If you can get a stick for $2.99 when normally they are $5, $6, even $7 sometimes, that is awesome.

I have won some steals though on Cbid so I dont think its the Admin. It is idiots who dont research first. Like someone said, the ebay effect - I will not lose! Well, they just did!

[ffup]

Isn't this called shill bidding, which is illegal. I do not believe that cbid would do that. For one it would ruin them and the other it is illegal. Now I would not put it passed anyone to do this kind of thing, even a politician, but I will have to lean on the side of this is just bid happy, just have to win people (the fleebay effect).

[slyder]

thats why I rarely bid anymore.......I use the buy it now price. You can usually save $20 to $40 a box depending on brand. I get all my 5 Vegas Classics that way. 5x55s usually run $70 and you can buy it now for $42.

[rajuabju]

If someone wants to pay $30 for cigars that can be bought elsewhere for $10, why would, or should, CBID tell them no?

It's not their job to monitor such things.

[Cigary]

Originally Posted by slyder

thats why I rarely bid anymore.......I use the buy it now price. You can usually save $20 to $40 a box depending on brand. I get all my 5 Vegas Classics that way. 5x55s usually run $70 and you can buy it now for $42.

When you know your pricing on the products you like the Quick Buy feature can save you money right off the bat. I usually watch the auction close until the bids get within a couple of dollars of the Quick Buy and then I use that feature. At some point you will win the auctions you are bidding on,,,I win 50% of my auctions on a weekly basis and save lot of money,,however, I spend more than I want to but the deals are hard to beat.

[Stench]

I haven't jumped into the Cbid fray yet, but I noticed that a lot of the bids were close to retail. I run two monitors on my pc, so I was pulling up retail sites on one while I looked at the bids on the other.

I guess I'll try quickbuy before I jump in too far!

[tx_tuff]

Originally Posted by slyder

thats why I rarely bid anymore.......I use the buy it now price. You can usually save $20 to $40 a box depending on brand. I get all my 5 Vegas Classics that way. 5x55s usually run $70 and you can buy it now for $42.

I have only used Cbid 4 or 5 times, and just started this year. I have only used the bid process once, all other times I have used the "buy it now" price. Now I'm sure on some deals you can really save your money on bids, but as long as I'm making a good deal I;m fine with that.

[Cyber]

Originally Posted by UPGRAYEDD

Sometimes its so stupid that I can't help but think its the admin at CBid doing it on low bid lots to protect their margins.

They may but I do not think they would bid OVER the retail. I would expect them to bid up to the buy it now price or to with in 10% of retail, then stop.

Originally Posted by ffup

Isn't this called shill bidding, which is illegal.

Shill bidding is illegal in some states and legal in others. It is common online and to day I have never heard of anyone getting in trouble for it.

Originally Posted by rajuabju

If someone wants to pay $30 for cigars that can be bought elsewhere for $10, why would, or should, CBID tell them no?

It's not their job to monitor such things.

You are 100% correct! I believe it was once summed up as "A fool and his money are soon parted"

I will set my max bid to within 10% of retail if there is not a buy it now option. I am amazed at how often I am outbid and how many suckers pay more than retail for a box. I was outbid on a box of Sancho Panza, they won it for 85$ I ordered on through CI for $48.95. Heck I lost a bid on a box of La Aurora Leoninos tonight. The guy just could not let me get them for 43$ He had to have them and bid $49. That was $0.99 less than retail.

I am tempted to start using the comment field to add comments like "CI retail price is xx.xx" Just to see two things, #1 see if cbid gets upset #2 to see if they stop bidding more than retail.