I got whupped by an Ebay creep yesterday

Has this ever happened to you on ebay: You bid on something that you like and nobody else bids on it for days, then 50 seconds before the end of the bidding, an ebay creep gets a higher bid in before you can possibly respond in time with another bid of your own. I got nailed yesterday as I tried to get one of those Canadian Help CDs with the original mix. Man was I pi**ed! It has happened to me before and I hate it. I can understand the strategy for doing this but, it does smack of being underhanded and, in general, rude. Sorry, I had to vent.

 

It's happened to me several times.I hate ebay.

 

This is called 'sniping' and it's perfectly legal. I've done it, a lot of guys here do it, it's called playing the game--win some, lose some. Sorry if you don't like that, but if you don't like the rules, don't play. When I lose, I don't take it personally, sharks understand each other. If you're not a shark, well...

 

If you really wanted the item then you should have waited until the final seconds instead of bidding days before the auction ended! Everyone bids late if they want the item, thats how it works i'm afraid.

 

Bid high and bid late if you want the item! Watch out for Ed, Norm and a host of us others.

 

Thats the way its done. No creep there. High bid wins nomatter when you bid.

 

Here's how I approach Ebay:
1. Find something I want.
2. Consider how much I want the item, then decide how much I'd pay for it (if I ran across it in a store for instance) and enter that as my maximum bid.
3. Sit back and wait to see what happens.
I've won many records on Ebay for rediculously low prices. I've also paid a lot more than I probably should have for some things, but I wanted them and was OK with it. And I've lost out to a lot of last-minute sniping.
However, I set my maximum price and live or die by it. It can be frustrating (especially when I go back to look and see that the winning bid was only a buck more than my max, but them's my rules and I sticks by 'em.)

 

Thats what i do 95% of the time.

 

I am an eBay creep...

(ah - the first step in the 12 step program )

 

In many cases, bidding early to your budget works better since the early bidding eliminates bargain hunters and habitual bidders from the process. Furthermore, many people have a similar price ceiling for the given item and I will get there first if I put in my bidding in first. You're not often ending up with great bargains with this tactic but you're more likely to get the items you want at a reasonable market price.

 

Calling an eBay sniper a creep is uncalled-for in my opinion.

 

The purpose of this is catching the others off-guard, when they are certain they will win the item and/or consider themselves the only bidders.
I've been sniped a lot on items I though I am the only one watching...

 

Yep. Happens. I do it.

What gets my goat are people who bid high early in the auction and never bid again. They could at least show more interest than that or leave the price low for those of us who actually want the item. ie. Prices would be lower if people didn't do that.

 

What I find very annoying is people who start a bidding war with hours or even days to go - unless I'm the seller, of course... I think prices would be lower if they'd wait until the very end of the auction.

 

It's an auction. You can bid at any time before the auction closes and the high bidder wins. Regardless of strategy, you win some and you lose some.

 

That's how bidding works, its just faster in the internet world. But there is nothing 'wrong' with it.

I dont 'snipe'. Like other folks, I just set the max amount I am willing to pay and check after the aution has ended.

 

Sour grapes. You employed the wrong strategy. Sorry, but that's the flat out truth. Sniping is perfectly within the rules on eBay, obviously.

Calling somone a creep because they used a better strategy than you is a bit extreme, me thinks.

 

Sniping is not creepy or underhanded, it is intelligent bidding.

 

I'm guilty of that, but it gets back to what other folks have said about bidding to your budget. If I think something's worth 20 bucks, that's what I bid. If I get sniped, so be it, but at least I didn't go out of my range.

I probably don't have the same success rate as someone who waits till the last minute, but my wallet would be a lot emptier if I played the snipe game.

Jeff

 

I was p*ssed the first time it happened to me, then I had a revelation. I needed to learn how to play the game. I did and I got over it.

 

I'm a creep too - it's usually the only way to not drive up the price prematurely and end up with what you want (unless you leave eBay completely and don't mind digging through thousands of records for a couple of rare ones).

 

Not in mine.

 

In that case I regard it as a compliment.

 

If you wanna play the game, learn the rules first.