Missing something

[girlyswot]

I have been planning to get a mobile broadband Pay as You Go package to use when I'm at the Old Shed (inside complete, hard landscaping happening outside, should be ready in plenty of time for Christmas). At 3 Mobile, you can buy a dongle for £39.99 (more expensive versions available at £49.99 and £59.99) for which you then purchase top up cards at various prices depending how much you want to use it.

Ah, I thought, this is the kind of thing that Ebay is good for. Even if it only works out a few pounds cheaper, it'll be worth it. So earlier this week I bid on a 3-mobile dongle, complete with sim card. I didn't win. The final price was £38.80 + £2.50 postage. Which is MORE THAN YOU WOULD PAY IN THE SHOP for a new one. I notice that there are also quite a lot of Buy It Now ones priced (including postage) at between £45 and £55.

So, um, what am I missing? Is there a global shortage of mobile broadband dongles so that the second hand market has risen sharply? Or are these people just bonkers?

Comments

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

I see this every more frequently on Ebay. I suspect that for some things people just don't look up the price beforehand and assume ebay will be cheaper.

(I walked past the shop yesterday, and they were doing a dongle plus 12GB (to be used over max a year) for £99 as a Christmas package, though if you're not at the shed much, it may not be worth it. I am definitely looking forward to having more internet access this Christmas than that snatched on the family computer next to the telephone.)

[girlyswot.livejournal.com]

That's interesting. The other top ups only last for a month, so I'd have to get a new one every time I was at home. Need to do some sums, I think.

Though I have just bid on another one at Ebay, so I'll see how that turns out first.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

This is very true. I have disciplined not to bid on a book on eBay without checking both Abebooks and Amazon first.

[girlyswot.livejournal.com]

I suppose it really does prove the point that something is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it.

[oldnarkoverian.livejournal.com]

If you lived on the Scilly Isles, or the Hebrides, could you get to the T-Mobile shop?

[girlyswot.livejournal.com]

If you lived in the Hebrides or the Scilly Isles, I'd be prepared to put money on the fact that mobile broadband wouldn't work. It doesn't work where I live in a mid-sized town in the Highlands.

But even then, you could still get it from the 3-mobile online shop.

[girlspell.livejournal.com]

I think some people are plenty dumb when it comes to Ebay. They think they are getting a deal. A lot f the times, they end up spending more on something 2nd hand then if they had gone in a store. I only use Ebay to get books that are heard to get, but even I end up with a purchase more then if it was in a store. I not longer deal with Ebay.

[crumplehornedki.livejournal.com]

Nah its just that people are too busy/lazy to go to the shop to buy one so they get them on line assuming that it will be cheaper. People run online businesses taking advantage of this, good on them.

Glad the Old Shed is almost done - pictures when you get back there!

[girlyswot.livejournal.com]

But even the official online shop is cheaper...

[amamama.livejournal.com]

It's amazing. I guess the level of human stupidity still keeps reaching new levels. When even the online shop is cheaper - I'm speechless, actually. *shakes head*

"Verden vil bedras" is a Norwegian saying that's used for occasions like this - the world wants to be deceived. Like CHK said, they want to believe eBay is cheaper, so they don't even bother to check...

[amamama.livejournal.com]

And yay for the Old Shed. I guess it'll be awesome to have your own house for Christmas.