This is what I do on ebay - not sure if it "peeves" people off..

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by MikeT, Jan 20, 2004.

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  1. MikeT

    MikeT Prior Forum Cretin and Current Impatient Creep Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    As you may know I am quite new to using ebay - and I only won one auction so far out of 10 or so that I participated in.

    Now here is what I have been doing, and I realize that it might just P!SS off the actually buyer (highest bidder) - but it's how I am going to continue.

    Generally I go in placing a bid looking for a bargain. That is if I probably know an item might go for $40.00, but the starting bid is $9.99, I may just place a $15.00 bid hoping that I might get the item for that price.

    Once someone bids higher than me - instead of merely placing a higher bid that might be right around the $40 level (since I don't really want to pay that price) I start adding maybe $1.00 or $2.00 to the current high bid - basically testing how high it actually might be. In a way I realize that, instead of leaving the item alone, I am actually driving up the price that the current highest bidder will pay - since I might add the one or two dollars for quite a few bids until I get to exactly where I might feel I am still getting a bargain. If I don't become the current highest bidder, I basically drove the price up and "killed" the bargain that the highest bidder at that point might have gotten an item for.

    I don't look at it as devious, but I am looking for a "bargain" and generally feel that most of what I am bidding on (gold discs for instance) I can really live without, especially if I have to pay quite a sum of money.

    A friend of mine told me that the best thing to do is place my maximum bid at the beginning and just forget about it. If I win the item, fine (I didn't pay more than I wanted to). But I believe my way can possibly get me a bargain (just in case someone decides to bid right under my bid, but not as high as I did if I keep my bids low until the end if I am outbid) - and on the other side of the coin, by placing small incremental bids I actually drive up the price the bidder who outbid me has to pay.

    Don't know if it is fair, but it is part of the "game" I guess.
     
  2. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialist™

    Location:
    B.C.
    :agree: Yup, it's just apart of the game.
     
  3. Sckott

    Sckott Hand Tighten Only.

    Location:
    South Plymouth, Ma
    Yep, part of the game.... But I feel if you're just bidding mid-auction, you're really wasting your time. It's who wins at the last moment not only GETS the item, but might get it for less than if they drove the price up. You want a bargain, but you want to also contribute to the inflation later?

    If you're just picking at the auction and not serious about the end result, IMHO, you're just nibbling on it. Doesn't make any sense.

    But that's all in the game of eBay.
     
  4. daveman

    daveman Forum All Star

    Location:
    Massachusetts
    It's fair all right :) You bidding incrementally doesn't make them pay more than they were willing. It may make them pay the MOST that they are willing, but they're still willing ;)
     
  5. Mark

    Mark I Am Gort, Hear Me Roar Staff

    Sure, that's negotiating and a smart way to do business, which, unfortunately, when money is involved, this is business.
     
  6. MikeT

    MikeT Prior Forum Cretin and Current Impatient Creep Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    Actually, I am only bidding on items I truly want, but I really don't want to pay $40 or $50 for (I don't think I would pay that much for any MFSL or DCC single disc no matter how rare). I am very serious about the end result, it is just that I don't want to win the item by putting in a higher than "willing to pay" bid.

    For instance - I recently was the first to bid on a $9.99 item I really want (but as I stated won't pay more than $45 for). I placed a $25.00 bid. The second bidder came later and outbid me. So in order to test the waters to see where his/her bid might be, so that I don't merely pick a larger number than I want and then possibly have to pay that later, I kept going up $2.00 or so at a time until I hit my maximum of $45.00. Yes, I could have put $45.00 right in and if I became the top bidder at that point it could be possible that someone could drive my winning price up to that $45.00 if they did not go over. Yet if I was able to beat my competition when I got to $30.00 I could have put a slightly higher than $30.00 bid in just in case. If someone bids higher than $30.00 I can then make a decision about placing another bid, etc. I can then at least be assured I am getting (for me and my thinking) the lowest possible price I could pay at any one time. Once it goes over I can then make a decision about whether I want to keep on going. Confusing isnt' it. :D

    By the way the item I was bidding on (which I stopped at $45.00), is now at $61.00 and I believe it might go higher. I want a lot of these MFSL and DCC discs I stupidly didn't buy when I saw them new (and in my many years of buying CDs I saw them all new and could have bought them then :realmad: ), but I am not going to pay through the nose to have them now - that is just me. YMMV. :D
     
  7. poweragemk

    poweragemk Old Member

    Location:
    CH
    By bidding before the last minute, you could be driving that price up higher. Lull your compteting bidders into a false sense of security. Maybe they'll go to the Sev for a slurpee at the end of the auction instead of sit locked in mortal struggle for the item with you...:D You should set an AutoSniper to hit it with your maximum bid five seconds before close. IMO, of course.
     
  8. -=Rudy=-

    -=Rudy=- ♪♫♪♫♫♪♪♫♪♪ Staff

    Location:
    US
    That might be a better way to play it: use a sniping service, or software, to win it. IMHO bidding early just inflates the price. If you don't "show your hand" until the last five seconds, you might score better bargains that way. And although it does blindside your opponents, it's just another way of playing the auction game. Honestly, that's what I've done, and I have dozens of snipes to show for it. AuctionSniper costs a little bit in fees, but overall saving $10 here, $20 there does add up in the long run. Music is a little bit more tricky though, since some titles are rarer and/or collectible, with a limited supply. Some items I buy online are electronics...and if I'm patient enough with my snipes, I can eventually get my price, even if it takes a couple of months.
     
  9. stever

    stever Senior Member

    Location:
    Omaha, Nebr.
    Mike - I think you probably are pissing potential buyers off and artificially inflating the price of an item YOU want.

    This is what I do: When I find an item I really want, I watch it until the last minute. If the price is still nice, then I bid the maximum I want to pay for it. Pretty simple, IMO.
     
  10. MikeT

    MikeT Prior Forum Cretin and Current Impatient Creep Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    You are probably right... I have to get a better tactic. Your's seems to be the best. :)
     
  11. JonUrban

    JonUrban SHF Member #497

    Location:
    Connecticut
    I never bid until the last minute. In the old days, before "watching", I would place a low bid so the item would show up in "My eBay", but once they let you "watch", I snipe it all the way.

    It makes no sense at all to bid to see your name as the high bidder during the beginning and middle of an auction. All it does is drive up the price.

    However, if you are out to deny a bargain, then go for it! :D :D

    As a sometime seller, I like it when people bid all week!!
     
  12. Ted Bell

    Ted Bell Forum Dentist

    Here's my method FWIW:

    If I'm the first bidder, I'll usually put a bid in at the start price. The reason I do this is because sometimes I will forget to bid at the end of the auction and it is frustrating to open my watch list and see that it closed with no bids. Then, if at the end of the auction, the price is less than I wanted to spend, I'll try to snipe it at my max price in the last few seconds. I really don't see any point in bidding it up early.
    Exception:I don't use any sniping software, so if I know I won't be around (or asleep) at the close, I'll just put my max bid in and take my chances.
     
  13. RDK

    RDK Active Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Yeah, Mike, I'm sure you're p**sing people off, but worse than that you're just wasting your time and driving up the price (as others have said). I pretty much follow Jay's practice (or is it Ted Bell - I'm confused! ;)) and "mark" the auction in some way and then put in a final bid at the very end. I've never used a sniper since I enjoy playing the game too much in real time.
     
  14. KeithH

    KeithH Success With Honor...then and now

    Location:
    Beaver Stadium
    I will bid early if a seller has a Buy It Now price that is higher than I want to pay. With many auctions, the Buy It Now option goes away once a bid has been placed, so by bidding early, no one can "steal the item out from under me". I might bid again at the end, but of course, I stay under the Buy It Now price.

    The other reason I will bid early if I cannot be at a computer when the auction ends. I have not used any of the sniping services.
     
  15. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    I follow Ted's method almost to a T.

    If there are no bids I can easily afford to put a bid in. No one thinks seriously of the first bidder, so you are not showing your hand really. If forum members see my bid and they don't want to bid against me, then they can make that choice (though I don't care either way). It's now in my list and in my eBay Toolbar Bid Alert - it has my full attention and I won't miss coming back at closing time.

    If there have been any bids I almost always will not bid - I put it in the watch list. I'm not as careful paying attention to the Watch Alert for some reason. I don't have "a dog in the fight" and it has a lower status - a psychological thing, eh? I've missed the closing of a few watched items.

    In either case, I snipe in the last seconds using the manual method. I'm happy to play the game and will not use automatic sniping s/w because I don't want to pay the fees. I can beat them anyway - so I figure manual snipers could beat me, if I was using an automatic sniping service.

    The main reason is pure fun - I love to win that item with 1 second to go. That's a rush!

    If I know I can't be there at the end I'll make my maximum bid and forget about it. Sometimes these stand up, and it's kind of cool to examine the bidding afterwards - you can see the snipers come in at the end, but they haven't bid enough. On occasions where I know I'll be available at closing, but for some internal reason don't feel like sniping, I'll also just bid my best price. I follow my intuition.

    I also think little bids that nibble away drive the price up. They show in the no. of bids on the main page, and in the summary. So some folks may think the item is desirable, just on the number of bids.

    Sometimes multiple bids are necessary if you don't know what the reserve is and need to know. It can be frustrating to snipe with your highest bid in the last second but not meet the reserve. I try to avoid auctions with a reserve.
     
  16. MikeT

    MikeT Prior Forum Cretin and Current Impatient Creep Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    I have learned a lot from all the replies. Thanks much guys.

    I don't want to get any of you good forum members mad at me ( ;) ) for driving up prices for items we all might be interested in - so I will definitely take all the methods mentioned here and try to put them to good use.

    I agree, in hindsight, that doing what I was doing was most likely driving up the price to the seller's benefit.

    I guess I was placing early bids and then getting the bug when I saw my bid was beat - I probably even caused myself to bid a few items higher than I wanted to (there were a few where I was hoping someone would come along and bid higher so I wouldn't be caught paying near $50.00 + $7.00+ for shipping - and it happened).

    I will use more discretion when I bid and I will wait it out as long as possible.

    Thanks again all. :edthumbs:
     
  17. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    I think you've analyzed human nature correctly.

    I can't be sure, but I would imagine most start bidding this way. It's fun to see your name up in lights, and you fantasize that you own the item already. It seems like it's yours. Now someone bids over you. You can't have that - it's your item. And anyway, it's only another couple of bucks. So you bid - and now your name is up in lights again. Cool isn't it.

    I believe that as soon as you can break out of this the better. And now you have an advantage over all the eBayers out there who still work on traditional lines, thinking eBay is like an auction house, with the auctioneer nodding to you as you gently raise your hand, and then asking "Going once, twice, sold to MikeT from New Jersey".

    The two big differences are the clock and the proxy bid. Use them to your advantage.
     
  18. -=Rudy=-

    -=Rudy=- ♪♫♪♫♫♪♪♫♪♪ Staff

    Location:
    US
    I like the idea of sometimes putting in an early "courtesy" bid if I know that other online pals of mine may be interested in the item. But I'll still snipe close to the auction's end. Plus, having that small first bid also one-ups anyone who has the same bid amount but bids at a later time.
     
  19. SamS

    SamS Forum Legend

    Location:
    Texas
    Yes, yes, yes!

    This is exactly how I do it as well. If I'm gonna bid at all, it's with a snipe. I watch the item all week. If it gets out of hand (or my price range), I just forget out about it. I don't want to get lured into "chasing" a price.

    This/my practice is a lot more common now than it was even a couple of years ago.
     
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