eBay bidding

[Boom Shaka Laka]

OK, I'm stumped. It's finally time to ask the big question.

Why would anyone bid before the end an eBay auction? All it does is invite another bidder (or bidders) to top the bid, and sometimes it creates a week-long game of leapfrog bidding, with two or more bidders constantly trying to outbid each other... raising the final price sky high! It even invites shill bidding. And the weird thing is, I see experienced bidders, with huge feedback numbers, doing it. Bidders who ought to know better.

The way I see it, a bidder only needs to bid once: in the last few seconds of an auction, with the highest amount they're willing to pay, when there's not enough time left for a competitor to re-bid. Period.

Please help me understand why anyone would do it any other way.

Possible answers:
1. They won't be near a computer when the auction ends.
2. They don't own an accurate watch they can use to count down the final seconds of an auction.
3. They're using a dial-up connection, and couldn't bid in the last few seconds of an auction if they wanted to.
4. They don't care if they win or lose.
5. They're shill bidding for the seller.
6. -- any others? --

 

[djetaine]

I dont bid at the end of an auction because I always put the max I'm willing to pay anyway.

If I'm not willing to pay more than 100 dollars then it doesnt matter if it happens 2 seconds before the end of biddingor 3 days before end. I'm still not going to pay more than 100 dollars.
Keeps me from spending more than I want to.

 

[restocat]

Interesting post.

I do see one trend: 'Bid notice'

In 'bid notice' a person puts in a small bid just above the last one, and only once. It alerts the other bidders to their presence.

I saw this on a few high dollar boomboxes. The bid remained really low for a long time, yet there were multiple bidders.

 

[MasterBlaster84]

I dont bid at the end of an auction because I always put the max I'm willing to pay anyway.

If I'm not willing to pay more than 100 dollars then it doesnt matter if it happens 2 seconds before the end of biddingor 3 days before end. I'm still not going to pay more than 100 dollars.

Your ignoring the fact that others don't truly bid their maximums and will bid lower than they ultimately would unless there is a higher bid. In this case the bidder will then start bidding in small increments until they have the top bid. If your max bid is placed in the last 10 seconds these bidders don't have any time to bump their bid which they often do, if you just watch bidding behavior on many items over time you will see this behavior.

Not saying your bidding style is invalid just saying sniping is a very valid method that has a proven history as BSL is pointing out.
There have been plenty of times I've bid early and walked away until after the auction but my best buys have been BIN's or snipes.

 

[jaetee]

OK, I'm stumped. It's finally time to ask the big question.

Why would anyone bid before the end an eBay auction? All it does is invite another bidder (or bidders) to top the bid, and sometimes it creates a week-long game of leapfrog bidding, with two or more bidders constantly trying to outbid each other... raising the final price sky high! It even invites shill bidding. And the weird thing is, I see experienced bidders, with huge feedback numbers, doing it. Bidders who ought to know better.

The way I see it, a bidder only needs to bid once: in the last few seconds of an auction, with the highest amount they're willing to pay, when there's not enough time left for a competitor to re-bid. Period.

Please help me understand why anyone would do it any other way.

Possible answers:
1. They won't be near a computer when the auction ends.
2. They don't own an accurate watch they can use to count down the final seconds of an auction.
3. They're using a dial-up connection, and couldn't bid in the last few seconds of an auction if they wanted to.
4. They don't care if they win or lose.
5. They're shill bidding for the seller.
6. -- any others? --

6. to eliminate the option for others to "buy it now." This may be necessary for items with BIN but no reserve price. (then snipe it later... )

I dont bid at the end of an auction because I always put the max I'm willing to pay anyway.

If I'm not willing to pay more than 100 dollars then it doesnt matter if it happens 2 seconds before the end of biddingor 3 days before end. I'm still not going to pay more than 100 dollars.
Keeps me from spending more than I want to.

Well, if you put in your $100 in early then I liken that to basically playing all of your cards right away. The chance of you getting sniped by that $101 bidder goes up dramatically versus waiting to the final moments. Without your early bid, you may have had a shot at winning that item for significantly less as that other bidder may have only had to bid up to $50 to beat the previous bidder.

Bidding early not only gives others the opportunity to outbid you, but it also increaces overall perception of an item's value to all other potential bidders.

Look at this as a game of poker that you are playing against the other bidders as well as the seller. Your max amount is an important number and holding onto that info until the bitter end can only benefit you.

I go into bidding on items with that same attitude, bid for my personal max but do it via a sniping tool.... And if I lose out to a higher bidder that way, I have a much better attitude about it than if I get into a frantic bid at the last moment and loose. Or even worse, for five days I'm the high bidder, thinking I'm going to win the item and then see a flurry of bids bumping up the bid in the closing moments for me to lose out by a few dollars.

Personally, I think sniping has saved me a lot of money and grey hair.

 

[redbenjoe]

i say reasons #s 1 and 5 and jaetees #6

 

[reptoid]

I myself use sniping techniques, however bidding on ebay is truly a complex game. There is way more to bidding than sniping. It is sometimes like a game of chess or poker with similar strategies to both. I wouldn't always bank on one technique to help you win.

Here are some reasons I may bid early.

1) Bid just enough to remove the high priced 'buy it now' option that some maniac may come home one night drunk and pay. Then attempt to snipe at the end for a decent price.

2) Bid just enough to show the seller there is some interest. This way a box doesn't sit around for a week with no bids with a million people planning on sniping. The sellers anxiety of perceived lack of interest could have someone walking in the final day to offer a 'offline buy it now'. The seller may accept this low-ball offer and then you are out of luck. At this point, the snipe squad backfired on themselves.

3) This one is tricky. Bid just enough so that the casual watchers are going to losing interest. This can backfire as it can give amateur bidders an idea of inflated value of the box. However, if you have a low price on a box for a full week... it will be picked up in tons of watch lists. Then this in turn places the item in the 'most watched' category. People staring at that box all week have begun to convince themselves it is already theirs. This perceived ownership can in turn have them bidding higher than they would initially.

 

[djetaine]

OK, I'm stumped. It's finally time to ask the big question.

Why would anyone bid before the end an eBay auction? All it does is invite another bidder (or bidders) to top the bid, and sometimes it creates a week-long game of leapfrog bidding, with two or more bidders constantly trying to outbid each other... raising the final price sky high! It even invites shill bidding. And the weird thing is, I see experienced bidders, with huge feedback numbers, doing it. Bidders who ought to know better.

The way I see it, a bidder only needs to bid once: in the last few seconds of an auction, with the highest amount they're willing to pay, when there's not enough time left for a competitor to re-bid. Period.

Please help me understand why anyone would do it any other way.

Possible answers:
1. They won't be near a computer when the auction ends.
2. They don't own an accurate watch they can use to count down the final seconds of an auction.
3. They're using a dial-up connection, and couldn't bid in the last few seconds of an auction if they wanted to.
4. They don't care if they win or lose.
5. They're shill bidding for the seller.
6. -- any others? --

6. to eliminate the option for others to "buy it now." This may be necessary for items with BIN but no reserve price. (then snipe it later... )

I dont bid at the end of an auction because I always put the max I'm willing to pay anyway.

If I'm not willing to pay more than 100 dollars then it doesnt matter if it happens 2 seconds before the end of biddingor 3 days before end. I'm still not going to pay more than 100 dollars.
Keeps me from spending more than I want to.

However, if you put in your $100 in early, then you are basically playing all of your cards right away. The chance of you getting sniped by that $101 bidder goes up dramatically versus waiting to the final moments.

Without your early bid, you may have had a shot at winning that item for significantly less as bidding early not only gives others the opportunity to outbid you, but it also increaces overall perception to all other potential bidders of the item's value. Look at this as a game of poker that you are playing against the other bidders as well as the seller.

I go into it with that same attitude, bid for my personal max.... And if I lose out to a higher bidder that way I have a much better attitude about it. Personally, I think it's saved me a lot of money and wasted emotions as well.

I understand everyones points and sniping and all that makes sense to someone who really wants to be a dick and really wants the item. I think sniping is poor form. It's a legitimate bidding practice but its still douchetastic IMO. Kind of like well... sniper campers and corner campers in first person shooter games. We ALL hate them but it is indeed a legitimate strategy.

Even if someone outbids me by a dollar thats still a dollar more than I was willing to pay. When they go up in little increments like that I'll keep saying "oh its just a dollar more than last time, its okay" and I end up paying more than I think its worth or more than I wanted to. Not worth it to me.
sniping takes way too much time and effort. If it's something really expensive and something I really want, yeah, ill make the time but for a regular bid I'll max it out and hope I win. If I don't, there's always tomorrow.

 

[reptoid]

ha, i typed that as jaetee was submitting a response. i see we have a few similar reasons and even the same metaphors!

 

[MasterBlaster84]

sniping and all that makes sense to someone who really wants to be a dick .

Wow bro why do you say that? Bidding is bidding, sniping doesn't steal anything, damage items or inflict bodily harm on anyone it's an offer to the seller pure and simple. Are bids any different whether they come in 7 days or 10 seconds before the end of the auction? Sniping wouldn't have any validity if bidders truly bid their maximums and rolled the dice but that's not what people do.

 

[redbenjoe]

with MB --
except --thats the exact type of negative post --
that should be left alone
--------------------------------------------------------

also --here is reason #7 -
its called the d-doosh bid ......

if a member/friend puts a box on ebay --
i often place an early few bids --even if i dont want the box -
just to suk the d- doosh into a highest bid frenzy :

he acquires sudden desperate NEEDS for any box i bid on

 

[MasterBlaster84]

also --here is reason #7 -
its called the d-doosh bid ......

if a member/friend puts a box on ebay --
i often place an early few bids --even if i dont want the box -
just to suk the d- doosh into a highest bid frenzy :

he acquires sudden desperate NEEDS for any box i bid on

I've done that many times, sometimes to help friends and sometimes just to F*** with a doosh bidder.
Now that could be considered a "dick".

 

[Superduper]

All I know is........

There has been far more times than I can remember, where I think the bidding is gonna go high, and didn't bother to snipe thinking it's gonna go high.

Then it sells to someone who bid 3 days ago for a LOW sales price. THAT person likely put in a disciplined high bid and stuck with it.

All I'm saying is it goes both ways and you need to stick with what works.

 

[djetaine]

sniping and all that makes sense to someone who really wants to be a dick .

Wow bro why do you say that? Bidding is bidding, sniping doesn't steal anything, damage items or inflict bodily harm on anyone it's an offer to the seller pure and simple. Are bids any different whether they come in 7 days or 10 seconds before the end of the auction? Sniping wouldn't have any validity if bidders truly bid their maximums and rolled the dice but that's not what people do.

LOL, I say that because its a dick move. You dont have to steal, damage or inflict bodily harm to be an a**hole. I DID say it was a legitimate strategy, i just think waiting till the last second so noone can outbid you is a douchy thing to do. Pure and simple.

You don't have to agree with me and I'm not going to think any less of you if you do.

I look at ebay in the same way that I would a normal IRL auction. You bid until people are done bidding and if you outbid them because they dont want to pay that price, then you win the item.

Of course, ebay doesnt work that way because of the sniping but IMO that's how it should be.
I mean really, imagine you are at a real auction and there is a 20 minute time limit. The bidding goes really slow for the first 19:59 and at the last second someone stands up and says "I'll bid 1 dollar over the last bidder". Can you imagine the dirty looks that guy would get? Why would he get dirty looks? Because he's being an a**hole.

Which is why I bid my max and either win the item fair and square or I don't win. I may not win the item but at least I don't feel bad about screwing other people over. To each their own.

 

[MONOLITHIC]

Nice guys are losers... Don't hate the players, hate the game.

 

[djetaine]

Nice guys are losers... Don't hate the players, hate the game.

So you guys are dicks and I'm a loser.
Such is life.
lol, j/k

 

[jaetee]

After being sniped over and over again myself, I felt it was easier to adopt a different philosophy and win a few auctions every now and then. I guess I'm just a dooshbag and we'll have to agree to disagree.

As for the time it takes, I use esnipe and it takes me just about the same amount of time as it does to place a normal ebay bid. It's a fire and forget sniping tool which was brought to my attention by someone from this site. I guess that makes me an even bigger dooshbag, eh?

As mono said... don't hate the player, hate the game!

 

[MasterBlaster84]

Nice guys are losers... Don't hate the players, hate the game.

Right on Mono, if you don't play the game the way it's set up then you will get trounced. Last I noticed there isn't much fair about ePay anymore it's a bloodbath of sorts.

 

[MONOLITHIC]

Nice guys are losers... Don't hate the players, hate the game.

So you guys are dicks and I'm a loser.
Such is life.
lol, j/k

If your philosophy works for you and gets you the boxes you REALLY want, stick with it. But if you expect to get "grails"...

Which is why I bid my max and either win the item fair and square or I don't win. I may not win the item but at least I don't feel bad about screwing other people over. To each their own.

"Fair and square"...

 

[restocat]

"You bid until people are done bidding and if you outbid them because they dont want to pay that price, then you win the item. "

Yes, I dont snipe either for that reason. I know what a box should go for, and bid that amount if I want it.


There was this one case though that was strange. I bid 3x normal value for one box, only to lose the bid , a few minutes before the auction ended.
The box reappeared later, with the excuse that " the winner didnt want it".
If I had sniped it, I probably would have won it cheap. But they saw me coming a mile away, and tried to take advantage of my interest.