After stumbling upon an old auction site and looking at some lots from 2005 and 2006 of items that I would have loved to add. I was wondering what are some of things you have done to try and track down items you missed out on or did not find till later?

A separate question, do auction sites keep email and contact info from 5 or more years ago? Any luck on getting them to give it out?

I remember missing out on Johnny Cueto Reds game used bat that I wanted badly. I was willing to pay twice as much as it went for on ebay, but just happened to have computer problems when the final bidding went down. As for tracking it, I waited for the buyer to leave feedback so I could send him a message and see if I could pry it from their collection. Think I offered about $250 for a bat that sold for about $115, but no luck. All he would say is no thanks, I really like pitchers bats. No luck yet...

Fill me in on any items you missed out on and tracked down? Could use some tips and maybe some success stories!