Last second Ebay outbidders, I hate em

[Dan Gibson]

I have to disagree with No. 1. Early bids only push the price up. Stay out of early bidding by using a proxy service to last second bid (usually 5 seconds remaining) and put in the max you are willing to spend. There's nothing more to it. It is monitored by the proxy service, so snipe it and leave. If you underbid and the snipe doesn't take place, then you didn't want it that bad. It's ok to monitor bids, but don't bid early.

After many unsuccessful bids on E-bay, a co-worker (who was a seasoned E-bay purchaser) told me a few things I was doing wrong and suggested these tips. They have helped me:

(1) It's okay to establish an early bid, but if someone outbids you early (i.e., 2 days before the bid ends), leave it. Otherwise you can get into a bidding war. This happened to me when my 10 year old son was desperate for a Kirby plush toy from Japan. I bid early and then someone out bid us. I bid again, and the same thing happened. Finally, we ended up in a bidding war, that (Thankfully!) I won. However, I payed dearly for this stuffed animal. Probably too much. But hey, it's my son.

(2) If you see that someone is interested in the same bid as you are, watch the item to monitor action but don't bid on it until the final minutes. In other words, sit in the bush.

(3) In the final minute, make your final bid a maximum price that you feel will win the bid. I have noticed that many people increase their maximum bids by $1. or $2. Sorry. If you want something bad enough to pay $300 for it, put a maximum bid of $350 or more on it. You may never pay that price, but you will often win the bid.

(4) I recently won a brand-new BCD on E-bay and this is exactly what I did. Someone tried to outbid me at the last minute by upping their bid by $1.00. I had put a $50 lid on the bid. I won but didn't end up paying $350; just $305.
And I love the BCD.

Hope these tips help,

ScubaGoddess

 

[adder70]

Somebody tell me when a buy-sell site with the 15 minute extension rule begins. I will be there in a heartbeat. I think a 15 minute no bid activity end of auction is the perfect way to set it up.

 

[outlawaggie]

I really get ticked off when I'm 5 seconds away from a killer deal on a product, then I get outbidded and I don't have enough time to put another bid in.

Anyone else with similar experiences, or have some advice on how to win an auction for once? I missed out on a great scuba accesory this morning.

Mel

thats the whole point of an auction. If you want to win put in a higher max bid to start with. also, the tips above about not bidding early help tremendously.

 

[krick]

Somebody tell me when a buy-sell site with the 15 minute extension rule begins. I will be there in a heartbeat. I think a 15 minute no bid activity end of auction is the perfect way to set it up.

uBid.com...

http://www.ubid.com/help/topic8.asp#1

1) Time Left to Bid and Overtime Policy

Time Left to Bid
uBid displays a countdown to the auction close time. This countdown represents the time you have left to bid on that auction. If a bid is placed within 10 minutes of the auction close time, that auction will go into overtime.

Overtime Policy

• If there are any bids within 10 minutes of the auction close time, the auction will be extended until there are no bids for 10 continuous minutes.
• There is no limit to the number of times an auction can be extended. Therefore, uBid recommends that you check back often as an auction nears closing time.
• As long as there are quantities available in an auction, traditional bidding will continue. If all quantities in an auction are purchased using uBuy It, the auction closes.
• uBid makes every effort to ensure system availability. However, uBid reserves the right to close an auction prior to, or extend it beyond, the posted closing time. This may be done at our discretion and without warning.
• uBid is not responsible for incomplete, failed, garbled, scrambled, delayed or misdirected computer transmissions due to technical computer hardware or software failures or other errors or problems of any kind, whether mechanical, human, electronic or otherwise, which may limit a user’s ability to bid in any auction.

 

[DiverDunk]

Submitting any bid if there is more that maybe 5 or 10 seconds left is a waste of time.

I really get ticked off when I'm 5 seconds away from a killer deal on a product, then I get outbidded and I don't have enough time to put another bid in.

Anyone else with similar experiences, or have some advice on how to win an auction for once? I missed out on a great scuba accesory this morning.

Mel

 

[alcina]

EBay should offer an auction extension service. Something like, add a minute to the auction after last bid.

If there are any bids within 10 minutes of the auction close time, the auction will be extended until there are no bids for 10 continuous minutes.
There is no limit to the number of times an auction can be extended. Therefore, uBid recommends that you check back often as an auction nears closing time.

This will keep me away for sure. Put your max bid in and that's that. If you aren't willing to spend more, why would it matter to your bidding how many times the auction is extended? But for those who had a max price, entered it honestly and "win" they should get the goods. None of this renegotiating stuff. That's like going into Target, picking up a whatever, getting to the check-out and having the clerk say "no, I overheard someone else wanted one of these so we're putting the price up by ten bucks."

I also hate that there are Reserve prices at any auction. I understand the security as a seller but...that's the chance you should have to take when putting things on auction - you roll the dice. Sometimes you make out like a bandit, other times you lose. If you want a certain amount for it, then say I want X for this item and I am not willing to part with it for less. I think it's dishonest, myself.

In many live person auctions an auctioneer will start the bidding and if it's at all sluggish (or for whatever reason) will call out "SOLD" and move on. He who hesitates...loses. And they don't go back coz someone calls out "I'll pay more than that!"

Rant off

 

[WVMike]

My name is WVMike and I too am a sniper

On ebay you pay an insertion fee whether the item sells or not.

As a seller I also love to see the price climb at the last minute.

 

[Sibhod]

Sniping could easily be eliminated:
Random end times for auctions. If you didn't know when an auction would end, you would put in the amount you are willing to pay and be done.
That said, I hope they never do it. I too am a sniper.

I don't use a stopwatch, I open two windows, one with the international time clock set to pacific time and one with the auction. enter bid about 20 seconds before the end. Bid in odd increments. If the bid amount is graduating in 1$ increments, bid in $1.01 increments, that way someone has to bid twice to beat you.

 

[plsdiver4377]

Sniping is the name of the game. Learn to play it or not, your choice.

I've never paid more than I meant to to begin with, but sniping has frequently let me pay less.

Get Broadband, multiple browsers/computers and snipe your butt off.

 

[dblednmike]

Like so many others here, I am a sniper, and PROUD OF IT!!!!!!!

The 3 most importants rule on E-Bay are:
1) Know what you're bidding on...
2) What it's worth...
and
3) The absolute most you are willing to spend (remember to factor in S&H in that amount).

Once you have placed that bid you either win it or you avoid paying more than you wanted to. Placing the bid at the last minute helps keep the bidding from getting out of control by bidders that get caught up in the fever of the auction and really overspending...

In a way you're doing them a favor by saving them from themselves, at least thats what I like to think when I have swooped in at the last minute on something... ~