Does bidding early send the wrong message?

It seems whenever I lob in a bid early in the process, there is a bigger chance I get sniped with 1-3 seconds to go. I wonder if the number of bidders creates additional "excitement" around the auction...?

Any thoughts?

I assume its best to bid as late as possible and keep discipline on high you want to go?

 

There really is no point bidding early unless it's a very quiet auction you probably won't have to sweat too much to win. Otherwise, you might as well wait'n'snipe at the end, works for me...

 

That's my practice.

 

I often bid early just to be done with it. Does this screw me in the long run? Maybe, maybe not, but I hate all the damned game-playing on ebay. Just put up a bid with the most you want to pay and leave it at that - sniping's the dumbest thing...

 

Spoken like someone who's lost a lot of auctions...

That's cause sometimes sniping is the only way to win, and if it matters enough, that's whatcha do.

 

No, I'm not bitter because I've lost a lot of auctions due to sniping - a few, but not enough to bug me. I've also sniped at times myself. I don't like it but I'm not stupid - if I really want something, I do what I gotta do.

I just hate the CONCEPT of sniping and the fact it's become almost required to win an auction. In my own little ebay utopia, people would simply bid their maximum and leave it at that. You know what I'd love? Blind bidding without seeing the current top bid. Everyone bids their best offer and that's it - no rebidding, no sniping...

 

Bidding is much like the R&R HOF.

It ain't perfect but it's all we have.

 

I tend to bid small early in the auction to keep it on my buying list (I watch a lot of stuff and things can get lost there) and generally wait until the last few hours to up the bid if things get expensive.

 

I agree Colin. Unfortunately it seems that ebay is financially incented to maximize sales via maximizing bids.

 

Yep, and there's also the thrill of the hunt. Winning feels good, losing sux. I like to win and feel good, so a-sniping I do go...

 

That's why they call it an 'auction' and not 'Buy It Now'....

 

Only time I ever bid early is to tell you guys I'm interested!

Peace-
Norm/t5

 

Which in turn can interest me, so we can have a good bloodbath. Weeds out the amateurs...

 

Never bid early here but if You want to start a bid war and run the price up go early by all means. Sellers love ya to pieces.

 

Bid early, bid often.

 

Yeah, Norm doesn't care, he's the Gomez Addams of SH.tv...

 

Is that a good thing?

N/t5

 

I usually bid once (it does not matter to me if it's early or late in the auction time) at my maximum price. I do win and lose a lot of auctions...but never pay too much!

 

If you are able to decide how much you are willing to pay for something, then bid whenever it's convenient for you. Those "sniper" folks crack me up .

 

I find bidding Late works best for me - although I stll lose a lot to people willing to pay more.

On quite a few occasions when I have bid early, someone has come along and put a low bid on (just above the starting price). They then come back and bid 20 or 30 times until they have outbid me, or pushed me close to my maximum. I can see why sniping works, If you leave people wining an auction to the last second, they are more likely to have a low bid on. If you outbid them early, they will bid higher.

 

I keep a close eye on the My Ebay items I'm selling to see how many watchers I have. That's a good indication to me of how much the records I'm selling will go for. I keep a close watch on who's bidding early too. Since many bidders are repeat customers, I can pretty much guess what their high bids will be. When someone new to my auctions comes along, I check out his feedback. If I don't like what I see, I put him in my "blocked list" and remove his bid.

From my point of view I don't like snipers who use the programs to get in their bid in the last few seconds. If they're somebody I don't want to sell to, I can't remove the bid before the auction closes so I'm forced to sell to him.

OTOH, I use Auction Stealer on just about every item I buy on ebay. I also avoid visiting the actual auction page, thinking that there might be a few others who gauge the potential final bid price by analyzing the number of hits per day that the auction gets. If you're watching an item in My Ebay, you can get all the information you really need anyway. Sniping enables me to win about 95% of the time.

 

Why do people think you gotta snipe to win an auction? Seriously if you big high enough you will win no matter what? If you snipe or not there is a max you are willing to pay?

Maybe I can swallow if you snipe you might get it cheaper but I don't agree you have to snipe to win.

 

Well, it depends on the auction. With some, you can just bid your limit and no one will touch you. But on certain unique items--or ones simply in demand--then sniping is often the only option, since there are a few other nuts like you who will drive up the price. When it comes to that, you snipe...but the snipe had better be fairly high, or you'll be outbid. It really depends on who you're competing with to get the piece.

 

I agree 100%. That's what I do, and half the time I win, and half the time I lose.

Even if you snipe at the last minute, there's always the chance some nutcase who wants the item more than you will swoop in and out-snipe you at the very end. It's a frustrating game.

 

I sold about 40 CDs on eBay recently and nearly every one was bid on in the final minute. Only a handful received early bids. I think bidding early shows the demand for an item, so many buyers tend to not want to show their cards too early and drive up prices.

The only way to kill the snipers would be for eBay to add a 5 minute grace period after a final bid. If you have ever been to a real auction, the auctioneer works very hard for a last bid before he ends the auction. The 5 minute grace period would work the same way and earn more for sellers.