We all have hobbies that we take a little too seriously. Whether it is collecting rare sneakers, hunting down vintage vinyl, or building intricate scale models, the passion can turn intense very quickly. But nothing brings out the primal, hunter-gatherer instinct in a hobbyist quite like a company going out of business. It is absolute carnage. It is every collector for themselves. And apparently, for one man on Reddit, it is the perfect recipe for accidentally declaring war on his own best friend.
The Original Poster (OP) and his friend are deep into the world of scale model building. Recently, a beloved company shut down, turning the secondhand market into a chaotic free-for-all. The OP spotted a kit he desperately wanted on eBay, currently sitting at a steep $140. He decided to throw his hat in the ring and placed a bid. But as anyone who uses eBay knows, the “automatic max bid” feature is a silent killer.
Every time the OP put in a manual bid, he was immediately outbid by someone else’s pre-set maximum. It is the most frustrating game of whack-a-mole on the internet. He kept inching the price up, testing the waters to see just how deep the other guy’s pockets were. He wanted the item, but everyone has a limit. When the price hit $200, the OP decided that was his breaking point. He tapped out, figuring he would just wait for another listing and hope for better luck next time.
Frustrated by the loss, the OP called up his friend to vent about the insane inflation in the modeling market. He complained about the “crazy” bidding war that pushed the kit to $200. In a twist worthy of a sitcom, the friend revealed that he was the silent bidder. And he wasn’t celebrating his victory. He was absolutely furious.
The friend accused the OP of “shilling,” basically implying he only bid to drive the price up without any intent to buy. He claimed the OP had “completely f*cked him over” because now he was on the hook for a $200 toy. The OP rightly pointed out that he did intend to buy it up until the price got stupid. He also dropped the ultimate truth bomb: if you set a max bid of $200, you have to be prepared to pay $200. That is literally how the website works. You don’t get to be mad that someone else also wanted the thing you wanted.
But the universe wasn’t done messing with this friendship yet. Later that day, the friend messaged the OP again, even angrier this time. He had found another seller listing the exact same model kit for a much lower “Buy It Now” price. But because he was the high bidder on the auction he just won, he couldn’t retract his bid. He was stuck paying the premium price while a bargain sat right there, mocking him.
This is where the OP decided to choose violence. Instead of offering sympathy, he simply replied, “Oh cool, thanks for the heads up, buying it now.” He snagged the cheaper kit right from under his friend’s nose. Then, to twist the knife, he added, “BTW, goodluck explaining to your wife about spending 200 on a model kit.”
The friend is now “twice pissed,” and honestly, can you blame him? But is the OP the ahole? absolutely not. N-T-A. This is a classic case of “don’t hate the player, hate the game.” The friend played stupid games with his max bid and won a stupid prize. The OP simply took advantage of the market.
The cherry on top is the update. The friend has now listed the $200 kit back on eBay with a starting price of $199.99, clearly hoping to recoup his losses. Good luck with that, buddy. Maybe next time, don’t set your max bid higher than your wife’s patience level. The OP might be a little petty for that text, but sometimes the truth hurts almost as much as overpaying for plastic.