Osmio on EBay
Uncletits That is definitely worth bidding on…someone could get a real bargain there!
DavecUK But don’t bid until the last 5 seconds or you are just bidding it up
dfk41 But don’t bid until the last 5 seconds or you are just bidding it up
I used to use free a bid sniper that ran on the computer, would wake it up and snipe in the last few seconds…can’t remember what it was called. Unfortunately disappointing results due to some seller’s very tenuous grasp of the truth, meant I quickly stopped bothering to bid on stuff.
Auction Sniper
As soon as you decide you want to buy it:
a) Bid the top price you are willing to spend
b) That’s it……..
No need for sniping, constant checking (and bidding) or anything else.
Your first bid will be 1 bidding unit higher than current bid and your ultimate bid will be unknown to anyone else.
As other bids come in (if any) your bid will incrementally increase.
Waiting until the last few seconds (either manually or via sniper) makes absolutely no difference - the lowest you’ll pay is whatever the 1st acceptable increment is the highest is your max bid.
Drewster It does make a difference. If you bid large and early competitors have the chance to respond to your interest - i.e your constant one increment higher auto bids. If you use sniping software people live blissfully unaware that they have competition - check their bid throughout the week and sleep soundly knowing that there is no other interest in the item. Then five seconds from the end - bang - your highest bid lands and grabs the item from them shattering their illusion. Either that or their bid was higher than your max and they still win - but they were willing today more than you - so they win fair and square. The former outcome is the norm though.
I know that what I do know about real coffee preparation you could fit on the head of a pin and what I don’t know you could fill a tome as thick as War and Peace with but… I had no idea what an Osmio was, then I went looking. Obvs it is to do with water treatment but, chuffin hell they aint cheap!
To my woefully inexperienced brain who has enough to worry about when it comes to making a decent cup of coffee with an espresso machine and grinder and WDT…ing and tamping etc etc, adding the right chemical composition of water to the mix is just a step too far, and besides, how much would someone like me really benefit from such a device?
I think you guys who have taste buds as developed as a dog’s nose sense of smell, then sure. Like the wine taster who from a single sip, can tell you what grape, where from, what facing hillside it was grown on, the composition of the dirt it was grown in and whether or not the bloke treading the grapes had a bunion and a limp or not. But, for people like me, I can just about deal with deciding whether to buy either Ashbeck or Lockhills depending on advice given and having to de-scale every now and then, apart from that, I’ll always be a Blue Nun sort of guy.
But it is still facinating to read about.
Pompeyexile To my woefully inexperienced brain who has enough to worry about when it comes to making a decent cup of coffee with an espresso machine and grinder and WDT…ing and tamping etc etc, adding the right chemical composition of water to the mix is just a step too far, and besides, how much would someone like me really benefit from such a device?
Well for me, it’s about faults…..I simply tend not to get them (or very rarely)….and that’s 100% down to good water. Not I always say good water…not just soft water!!
Plus, I have been drinking RO for 20 years…why stop now.
If anyone is interested I got a great tip from @DavecUK and asked Osmio directly if they had any graded products (prices now are a lot higher than the deals most on here got theirs for)
I got an A grade product for £350 delivered and it was like brand new and from Osmio - I saw a used one go on eBay recently for £320 plus postage and thought I got the better deal
They also had B and C grades at £250 and £150
Neil
Uncletits I got an A grade product for £350 delivered and it was like brand new and from Osmio - I saw a used one go on eBay recently for £320 plus postage and thought I got the better deal
They also had B and C grades at £250 and £150
Something well worth doing
DavecUK But what is the ‘good’ water and do I really need to spend on something like the Osmio to get it?
Oh, and sorry for being such a pleb, but what is RO?
RO stands for Reverse Osmosis - the process for stripping all of the crap out of the water.
Might be worth taking a read of this thread
https://coffeetime.freeflarum.com/d/158-bottled-water-and-descalling-espresso-machine/116
I reckon that Osmio might go very cheap, unless of course someone mentions it on a coffee forum 🤣
Sniping it i think is worthwhile for a few reasons.
- Stops you being tempted to overpay and caught up in the bidding war
- eliminates “nibbling”
- eliminates the rip of where a high bid is made, disclosing all other maximum bids, then that high bidder drops out.
I can’t see why sniping is not a good idea. I hope someone from this forum has a go for it…be nice to pick it up for next to nothing!!!
Hammer snipe
Decent De1pro v1.45 - Niche Duo - Niche Zero - Decent is the best machine ever made -
DavecUK Totally agree. I’ve used the Auction Sniper app for almost as long as I’ve used eBay. I’ve had quite a few bargains along the way but also won more than my fair share of auctions for a fair price without needlessly driving up the price. It’s amazing how much some people will pay for old tat on eBay.
@Gagaryn - I repeat my original point.
If your bid is the highest (accepted/acceptable)….. you win
If nobody else bids…. you win (at the lowest acceptable bid)
It doesn’t matter if you bid manually once, manually multiple times or if you snipe….
If your bid is the highest acceptable bid - you win!
If your maximum bid is 1p more than anyone bidding after you - You win!
So if you bid £50.01 (on an item with no other bidders)
and acceptable increments are £5…
Your initial accepted bid is £5
Anyone else bidding later will up the accepted bid by £10
(£5 for their bid then £5 from your bid)
If some one bids £50 your £50.01 is still the highest acceptable bid - and you win
They would need to bid £55(.01) in order to “win”.
So you actually have an advantage by bidding manually in advance - because you can “beat” all the snipers by adding odd pence into your highest bid.
I know some snipers add an artificially high bid to “get round” this….. but they can get burnt if two (or more) snipers do the same… and they end up “winning” but at a silly price (over their actual “maximum”)
It basically comes back to - if you bid the maximum you are willing to pay - you win if no body else bids more…. irrespective of how they bid!
The one major advantage I remember when sniping…Placing an ebay proxy bid o and item committed you to bidding on it, I don’t even think you were allowed to lower it. If then a second identical item came up, you couldn’t proxy bid on both in-case you won both items, when you only wanted one.
With a bid sniper, I was never committed to bidding for something, and if I wanted I could place max bids on both items, using the local software, if I won’t the first, the software then wouldn’t bid on the other item.
I could even put a lower max bid on one item, knowing if I didn’t steal it…then a more realistic bid would still be placed on the second item.
Yep - There are definitely “weaknesses” in EBays auction model the one you outline and the one that led to sniping in the first place - an end time!
Most auction models basically extend the close point if/when a (higher) bid is received…
Going once… Going twice… and a new bidder….
Any more?? (logically any underbidders that want to increase)
- Edited
Drewster In reality it works slightly differently. Imagine there is something for sale on eBay, we’ll keep it simple - starting price is £5 and there is no minimum sale price. It’s a niche item and only two interested - me and Bob.
Bob sees the thing, reckons he fancies it and he would pay £50 quid for it. He puts a bid in, say £15 quid. Thinks to himself, if anyone bids over £15 I’ll big again. His bid is noted by eBay and the next bid amount is £5.50
I see it too - I also think I’ll pay upto £50 quid for it. If I put in a bid - say £10 - the item bid price increases to £10.50 but Bob is still winning the auction with his earlier bid of £15.
If I put in a bid of £20 - Bob sees he is losing - the minimum bid price is now £16 because my bid of £15.50 trumps his earlier bid of £15. So he bids £25 - so on so on… One of us will win at around £50.
But if I see the item - with one bid placed - current bid price £5.50 and don’t bid but silently prime my snipe to land in the closing seconds at my max amount I don’t give Bob the chance to partake in a bidding war. I don’t know how much Bob has actually bid, but if my max bid is higher than his bid I win - In this case I would get the item for £15.50.
Granted, if Bob had put his early bid in at £50 and my late Bid was also £50 - he’d win. That’s why I always make my Snipe for just over - for a £50 thing, I’d make my bid £52.01. But in reality, very few people put in one Bid early with their max amount - lots more either just bid in the closing moments or use sniping software. My technique does not guarantee a win as you point out the highest bid wins. But it is not sensible to advertise your interest early, it only increases the chances of the item price being bidder up.