Back when I was actively buying hardware I was watching an eBay auction for a Yamaha SW60XG. I have a habit of not bidding until the final stages of an auction and this particular one finished on a Sunday afternoon. Anyway I was at the park with my family and of course forgot all about it. The auction finished at something ridiculous like £4 🤣

In 2012 when I was unemployed and couldn't buy parts, it seems eBay was flooded with all kinds of great stuff I'd been looking for for years. Now that I am flush with cash the land of vintage computer parts is barren.

Good timing on this thread - I just had a major screw-up today. The Sapphire 9800 XT I was watching just sold for $0.99 + $5.00 shipping, and I completely forgot to bid. Kicking myself so hard right now! 😠

My only consolation is that I probably would have been outbid anyway...

This is part of the reason why I bid early incase I forget!! Missed a few good deals like that.

I rarely regret missing anything on ebay. If someone outbids me for something, they're paying more than I feel it's worth so it's no loss to me. Sometimes something good slips completely under the radar, but that's usually because it is not described properly by the seller so my saved searches don't pick it up and not because of a lack of vigilance on my part. It's disappointing when that happens, but because it's not through any fault of my own I don't lose sleep over it.

There is so much stuff out there that it is impossible to buy everything. 🤣

The only major opportunities I missed were not stocking up on duplicates back in 2001 when things were dirt cheap (including shipping). Had no idea some of this stuff would be worth major money down the road. Of course I have no idea where I would have stored it all anyway. I get outbid all the time anyway, being cheap will do that.

I joined ebay back in Mach 2001.

A couple years ago I saw a Matrox M3D listed for $4.99, the seller had no idea what it was. I didn't buy it because at the time I was under the impression that PowerVR cards were trash and I didn't know how rare they were until later. I wish I bought it so I could try out MechWarrior 2 on it 😵

Kicking myself in the foot for not having any cash when I saw these Australian releases of Jill of the Jungle and the whole Commander Keen series with no bids on them. They were sold for a very good price and I wish I took advantage of that, would have had a legal copy of Aliens Ate my Babysitter and of course Jill of the Jungle.