I want a VCDS cable so thought I’d check out eBay. I was watching a cable that finished today and it finished at £237 + £8 P7P. Why wouldn’t you just pay the extra £20 and have a new one. The listing didn’t mention if it was registered with Ross Tech so if it is, the buyer has essentially paid over £300 for a cable that can be bought new for £265.

I’m watching a second cable, that I know has been registered for support (I asked) and that’s at £164 + £9 P&P, with over a day to go.

 

Some people are crazy.

The problem is because it's on ebay people assume it's a bargin, when is some cases it clearly isn't.

The support package isn't transferable so, if it has been registered, it wipes $99 off the price.

But they do go on eBay for almost full new price.

Try this forum if you want to pick up one cheaper - but they rarely come up.

Although I suspect there will be a raft of them for sale once Ross Tech launch the wireless / tablet edition in the UK market.

It is not just ebay, "Auction Fever" is common in all auction venues; I can remember seeing the contents of a bankrupt corner shop being sold at auction for more than you could buy it at Tescos - even BEFORE the 10% commission + VAT was added.

...I want a VCDS cable so thought I’d check out eBay. I was watching a cable that finished today and it finished at £237 + £8 P7P. Why wouldn’t you just pay the extra £20 and have a new one. The listing didn’t mention if it was registered with Ross Tech so if it is, the buyer has essentially paid over £300 for a cable that can be bought new for £265...

Some businesses who already have a cable (and already have Ross-tech support) will buy a second cable this way. Even so, £245 is a lot to pay.

I used eBay in it's very early days and you could get some genuine bargains then. Partly because there were so few bidders and also because people generally hadn't yet learned the tricks like out bidding others in the very last second of an auction. When I buy anything on there now I usually use 'buy it now' so I know what I'm paying and don't get caught up in the auction fever.

I've noticed VCDS cables go for silly money on there too and wondered why people don't just spend a little more and get a new one.

I used eBay in it's very early days and you could get some genuine bargains then. Partly because there were so few bidders and also because people generally hadn't yet learned the tricks like out bidding others in the very last second of an auction. When I buy anything on there now I usually use 'buy it now' so I know what I'm paying and don't get caught up in the auction fever.

I've noticed VCDS cables go for silly money on there too and wondered why people don't just spend a little more and get a new one.

 

I was going to say much the same, I remember when you'd see something in a shop then go onto ebay and find it for less.  Now with many items it's more expensive on ebay or for certain types of product (flash cards, batteries, DVD's) there's a high risk it's a fake or pirated.  I do find ebay fantastic for simple cables where you can get them for pennies rather than the huge markup they charge in the shops but there's little else these days aside from the occasional rare item.

 

John