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ebay bidding technique

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NutmegCT

NutmegCT

Great Pumpkin
Bronze
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Good morning all.

I've been trying to get an "item" on ebay for several weeks. Today, a repeat of the same thing that's happened six times before.

I place my only (max) bid about an hour before the bidding ends. I'm in the lead up until about one minute before auction ends. Then out of nowhere another bidder shows up, and outbids me by one dollar *in the last minute of bidding*.

Example:

Bidder Bid Amount Bid Time

bidder x( 50) US $57.26 Nov-14-07 08:40:43 PST
me ( 67) US $56.26 Nov-14-07 08:02:43 PST

bidder y( 15) US $45.51 Nov-14-07 08:01:57 PST
bidder z( 39) US $40.00 Nov-12-07 16:32:50 PST
Starting Price US $24.69 Nov-07-07 08:40:55 PST

I realize all the "automatic" bids aren't shown - only the final "automatic" bid.

But where did that gol dern "bidder x" come from? And how'd the bidding go over my max in just the last minute? There's no time for me to "outbid" cuz you can't see that last bid until after the auction's closed.

grrrrrrr

Thanks.
Tom
 
Tom,
The other bidder is probably using sniper software. If they had placed a higher bid earlier, it would have automatically topped your bid, but a snipe can be entered to go in within the last 5 seconds. I use Auction Sniper for this, and will forward you an offer to sign up for three free snipes, and if you use it, then I too will get some free snipes.

The bidder may have out bid you by $10, but the eBay interval only registered $1 above your high bid. Frustrating...
 
Tom,

The other bidder waits until the 10 seconds or uses a proxy program. Let's say they put in a max bid of $100. This would then outbid your max bid by the bid increment (by $1 in this case). I suggest you wait and make your max bid in the last 10 seconds or so. Otherwise it's too easy for another bidder to see what they have to do to beat you.

Cheers,
John
 
Hi Tom;

I agree with John: Wait till there`s around 20sec. left: 10sec. may be too close & your bid may not get entered:

I lost a sweet TR3 a few months ago the same way: I had a pretty good Max. bid that I placed with approx. 1 min. left in the auction: I thought I was good! 7 Seconds left & I got outbid! lost the car:

So; 15 - 20 seconds is typ. pretty good: You have enough time to enter & confirm your bid:

Good Luck;

Russ
 
Yep 15 to 20 seconds is my criteria too! Any longer {especialy an hour and most} times you`ll get sniped! If I really want the item badly enough I get everything {My bid} set in the last few minutes. Then sit there waiting With my finger on the mouse for the clock to tick down to the last 15 seconds till I click it in.
 
/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/lol.gif /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/iagree.gif That is my technique also!!
 
If you placed your max bid 1 day or 1 hour or 1 minute before bidding ended & someone bid higher than your max bid, it shouldn't matter - unless your max bid really wasn't your max bid!!
 
eBay now has a refresh button on the actual web page of the auction. This way it refreshes just the bid amount, not the whole page (slower). I've gone with 5-7 seconds as the Cable interent seems to be pretty fast. Just remember you still have to confirm your bid.
 
tony barnhill said:
If you placed your max bid 1 day or 1 hour or 1 minute before bidding ended & someone bid higher than your max bid, it shouldn't matter - unless your max bid really wasn't your max bid!!
Click to expand...

Yes, but don't forget you're also having to bid against people that get bidding fever. They get the "oh whats another $10" attitude in the last few minutes.

Putting your "max bid" in a few seconds from the end prevents those with "bidding fever" the opportunity to fool themselves into rebidding.

Another technique is to put your max bid in plus an odd number of dollars and a weird number of cents offset. Let's say your "mental" max-bid is $40 on something. Instead of putting $40 in, up it a few bucks to $43.61 - or something weird like that. The casual (and salvating, bidding-fever stricken) ebayer will just put in $40 and be done with it, while you win for a few dollars more. If the extra few dollars isn't worth it, just move on.
 
Hmmmm, I dont know beans about bidding,I rarely buy anything on ebay. I sell sometimes. I know everyone waits until the last day or hours or seconds. I can see the watchers, and I answer all questions. If after a few days if I get no action, BLAM....auction over. 6 1/2 days to stare at it and no bids,I don't think so. I always get emails from people saying they were going to bid but "something came up" or they were "out of town"....sure, you bet.I rarely answer emails after the auction is over. Its a game, they rightly want to save money,...and I want to sell. In my case though, I don't give a sh#*#t if I sell. Thats my leg up. After 40 yrs of doing and collecting this stuff,I can just leave it in the barn forever.
Sometimes I get a perverse pleasure in reading a whinning email concerning a rare piece that I canceled,because of zero bids in the last hours. Ben Frankin said it best...penny wise and pound foolish.
 
I'm going to reinforce my comment about people with bidding fever with an example: someone is selling a particular model airplane kit as "rare", even though the exact same airplane is still being sold brand new by the original manufacturer using exactly the same parts, same plans, same everything. The auction started almost $100 over what they sell for new...and people are bidding on it!

Crazy.
 
"started almost $100 over what they sell for new ..."

Boy do I hear you there. That "item" I've been bidding on for weeks in various auctions sold again last night (4am EST), with the final bid (most likely from a snipe 'bot - "alf293847eq") entered three seconds before the auction closed.

But the kicker is that the bot won at a price which was $10 *over* the retail price of the item at Sears (and well over my max bid).

And get this - there was an exact same item with a Buy It Now price of $20 less than that guy's final sale price. The Buy It Now item is still for sale! Makes me think some folks are more dependent on sniping bots than on checking the details!

I think I'll stick to my "set a max price and keep sluggin' away". The tool I'm trying to get is at auction several times a week, and has sold for much less than the recent auction prices.

Onward through the fog!
Tom
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]Originally Posted By: tony barnhill
If you placed your max bid 1 day or 1 hour or 1 minute before bidding ended & someone bid higher than your max bid, it shouldn't matter - unless your max bid really wasn't your max bid!!


Yes, but don't forget you're also having to bid against people that get bidding fever. They get the "oh whats another $10" attitude in the last few minutes.[/QUOTE]
Maybe I'm missing something...who cares whether or not they've gotten the "oh what's another $10" attitude....regardless of when you put in your highest bid, its irrevalent if somebody bids $1 higher than your highest...if your highest really is your highest....if you're angry somebody won the auction for $1 more than your highest, then you were trying to get the item for less than what your real highest was! In that event, you should've bid your real highest earlier!

That, or else you've personally entered into the "oh what's another $10" auction mania.
 
Hi There Scott;

I like your suggestion of bidding something other than a whole dollar: Ex. "DON`T BID" $40.00 / "DO BID" $43.76 in the last 10-15 seconds: /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/winner1.gif

I`m not a bid buyer on ebay (67 transactions) but I just lost a set of Golf Clubs yesterday in 3seconds & $1.00: Oh Well; There`s only over 13,000 clubs up for grabs! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/whistle.gif

Happy Bidding Folks;

Regards, Russ /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/banana.gif
 
Probably 90% of my snipe bids are too low, as the public (okay, one or two idiots) think an item is more valuable than I do, but the snipe keeps the lone idiot from keeping on upping the bid at $5 intervals because he does not want to lose, no matter how overpriced.
 
I agree with the "odd numbers" entry, I also check against the retail price in my catalogues, knowing that I can get what I want through them, and bid accordingly. If there is a chance to win the item at a good price, then it's worth a bid, if not, why not just order the part from the usual sources. I have won some good deals (BE windscreen, glass,frame and decent seals for $100) and some GREAT deals (smoothcase tranny for $.99!!) and I have also missed some I would have really liked, but if the frenzy sets in with the counter-bidders then one must know when to bow out!! Odds are another like-part will come up again to bid on!!
 
Tony, Aerog's bidding fever is a valid point. Those guys don't usually submit their highest bid. Instead, they tend to try outbidding you $1 at a time. Since this might take several bids, as yours keeps getting bumped another $1 for each of theirs, it also takes significant time. If you submit your highest bid just before the auction closes, there will not be time for that silliness to work.

Your point of submitting your real highest bid is also right on. Someone (I think here on the BCF but can't remember who) recently said "Remember, you don't win an auction. You simply agree to pay more than anyone else thought the item was worth.)
 
tony barnhill said:
Maybe I'm missing something...who cares whether or not they've gotten the "oh what's another $10" attitude....
Click to expand...

Yeah you are. Let's say there's an item that you're willing to pay $100 for, and that's your final price. The auction is over tomorrow at noon and the current high bid is $50, but you stick your $100 in today. Some dweeb is sitting there saying "$100 is fair, heck I'll put in another $10 and get it myself".

Now let's assume you stick your $100 max-bid in 10 seconds before the auction is over. That same dweeb doesn't have the opportunity to play the game of outbidding for the sake of outbidding and you still get it for $100.

If everyone just put in their "highest bid" it wouldn't matter, but a lot of them want to play the bidding game.
 
Scott - thus is the nature of auctions everywhere, on the internet & in person....I've won many that way, lost some also.

I was at a land auction not long ago bidding on a piece of property...I stayed with it all the way & when I reached my max I was the high bidder with no other active bidders - so far as I was concerned, I'd bought that piece of land - the auctioneer went through his "going once-twice" routine & suddenly a guy who'd not bid at all came in with a higher bid - higher than what I'd set as my high bid...I walked away & he bought the land.

Like I said, once your high bid is met & somebody else bids more - either early in the auction or at the last moment - you have to decide if your last bid was your high bid.

On a separate note: Not long ago I was bidding on a car on ebay & told everybody here on the BCF I was doing so...I was winning the auction (at my max bid) when somebody else went higher...so, he won...now, we can discuss the "hey, I want that don't bid against me" thing also if you want...sometimes being outbid by somebody who knows I want something bothers me more than a stranger beating my highest bid.
 
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