I just got schooled on Ebay.

[guitarcapo]

Whenever I bid on Ebay...I never snipe. It never makes sense to me. People who get mad when they lose an auction to a sniper just didn't bid high enough.

They see the item get away...they see the price...and they are mad because they wanted to pay THAT. To which I say: when you snipe, you have to enter some huge amount...and so is the other guy. Whatever that huge amount is JUST BID IT. If you bid a HUGE amount...you will always beat that sniper...and the price will always be a few bucks more than the sniper bid...even if he did it 5 seconds before the auction.

 

 

O.k....so how did I get schooled?

 

Well I'm looking at this amp I want to buy and I enter a huge final price like I always do. A price where if I lose I will be HAPPY that I didn't pay THAT and some other idiot did. Anyway with one day left in the auction, some douschebag bids all the way up until he beats my price...and then cancels his final bid (for apparently "bidding in error")....leaving me the high bidder. I'm thinking this MIGHT be a shill bidder working for the seller...or maybe a disgruntled bidder who feels if he isn't going to win the auction, he's going to make someone else hurt for it. What's more he does it at about 8 hours left in the auction, so by the time I find out, I can't cancel MY bid because this auction is tainted m(you can't cancel bids with under 8 hours left). I informed the seller that there was some funny business to the auction. Fortunately some other guy outbid me....but it's changed my whole idea about bidding on something and forgetting about it. You are really suceptable to "shill bidding" if you bid early

[sk8centilli]

Maybe I'm missing something, but isn't this the pot calling the kettle black?

[guitarcapo]

 

Maybe I'm missing something, but isn't this the pot calling the kettle black?

 

 

 

yep...you're missing something.

 

 

The guy shill bidding wasn't bidding with any intention of buying. He just wanted to milk as much as he could to get my final price to surface...and then cancel so that the bidding would sit exactly at my highest price...not where he started bidding and driving up the price with bogus bids. None of his bids were legitimate offers. (He backed out after he drove the price up but the auction didn't drop down to the price where he entered) He could well be just a friend of the guy selling the item.

 

Google "shill bidding" and maybe you understand the practice better.

[Preacher]

So you're the guy!

 

 

 

j/k

[BoneNut]

I just bid the maximum amount I'd will pay for the article.

 

Say it's at $5 when I find it, I'd bid $15. The price automatically would go up to $6. If someone bid more than $15, I'd get an Email letting me know I'd be outbid. Only occasionally I'd rebid.

[Sharkfin]

I've had to learn the hard way to not get very attached to items that aren't even mine yet, and quite probably never will be or should be for that matter. I've bid higher than I should just to "chase the auction" or to outdo the other bidders.

 

Now I often take some time letting an auction sit in my watch list. I use that period to give me some objective distance, I do research, compare prices. Then I don't bid more than what I'm absolutely willing to pay for it. My final price should fall into what I feel is a decent deal. I have to repeat in my head, "I don't actually need the item, there will always be other items up for bid."

 

Sure lots of cool stuff gets away at awesome prices that I kick myself for months after, but I'm more comfortable not having wasted money needlessly. Nothing is worst then seeing a similar item just days later sell for significantly less than what you just paypal'ed over to some other seller.

 

I still get caught up in the moment sometimes. For the times when I submitted bids and just about physically kick my own face in at my stupidity, someone who probably has a similar bid-crazy attitude soon comes in and shoots the price way beyond what I would pay for even on my more careless days. Fortunately my conditioned detachment is really helping me out and that is happening less. I have only myself to blame for my real eBay bidding disasters.

[guitarcapo]

 

I just bid the maximum amount I'd will pay for the article. Say it's at $5 when I find it, I'd bid $15. The price automatically would go up to $6. If someone bid more than $15, I'd get an Email letting me know I'd be outbid. Only occasionally I'd rebid.

 

 

O.k so how would you feel if the guy selling the item called his neighbor and told him to bid the item up until you dropped out...then just cancel his last bid so that you have to pay $15 instead of the $5 it was selling before the neighbor came in and "goosed" the auction with fake bids and no intention of buying?

[Barryj61]

I never bid until the last minute, and I only bid once - often I just let a sniping program do the work for me, and don't even look at the auction until after it ends. Means I lose most auctions, but the ones that I do win are great deals.

 

I understand the thread starter's point though - lots of scumbag bidders also put in a huge bid just to find out what they're competing with, then retract it after finding out other's high bids. I do realize that there are legit reasons to retract a bid - but Ebay should ban anyone who retracts a bid for at least a week, no matter why.

[guitarcapo]

Well I'm still convinced sniping is a waste of time...but I'm not entering bids anymore until there's less than 8 hours left in an auction so bids can't be "retracted" for any reason and the bids have to be legit.

[BoneNut]

 

O.k so how would you feel if the guy selling the item called his neighbor and told him to bid the item up until you dropped out...then just cancel his last bid so that you have to pay $15 instead of the $5 it was selling before the neighbor came in and "goosed" the auction with fake bids and no intention of buying?

 

 

I'd be seriously pissed:mad:

[Belva]

Another similar thing I see is people paying more than something is worth just to say they "won". I quite frequently will bid on GFS stuff to save a few bucks compared to the price @ the GFS site. I'll bid 50 cents less. Quite often people beat me by paying more than the going rate. I think it's hilarious. Moral: determine what you're willing to pay and bid that much to begin with. If you lose, so fooking what? At least you didn't get hosed.

[mcmurray]

If you put a bid in early you're inviting a bidding war and the item will inevitably sell for more than it would otherwise. Sellers love it when people do this.

 

Sniping is the ONLY way to go.

[poolshark]

 

I never bid until the last minute, and I only bid once - often I just let a sniping program do the work for me, and don't even look at the auction until after it ends. Means I lose most auctions, but the ones that I do win are great deals. I understand the thread starter's point though - lots of scumbag bidders also put in a huge bid just to find out what they're competing with, then retract it after finding out other's high bids. I do realize that there are legit reasons to retract a bid - but Ebay should ban anyone who retracts a bid for at least a week, no matter why.

 

 

If I catch somebody doing that, I ban them from my auctions. Chances are they aren't out to buy anything anyway.

[Carbohydrates]

I don't play around with eBay much. I only use it if I'm very seriously after something, so I don't really care for any of the strategies posted so far that involve potentially losing at the end. I snipe in the last few seconds with the maximum amount I'm willing to pay, plus a couple bucks (in case someone else is doing the same thing).

 

 

If you put a bid in early you're inviting a bidding war and the item will inevitably sell for more than it would otherwise. Sellers love it when people do this. Sniping is the ONLY way to go.

 

Yeah, exactly.

[Pope on a Rope]

 

O.k so how would you feel if the guy selling the item called his neighbor and told him to bid the item up until you dropped out...then just cancel his last bid so that you have to pay $15 instead of the $5 it was selling before the neighbor came in and "goosed" the auction with fake bids and no intention of buying?

 

 

If I was bidding $15 on an item, that is the most I would be willing to pay. If auction ends at $15 I win the auction at a price I was willing to pay.

 

If you bid more than you are willing to pay then you are bidding stupid.

[Guitar Heel]

Why are you convinced there's a shill bidder? Not all eBay sellers are crooks. But, lots of buyers are idiots.

 

Don't bid more than you're willing to pay. Your exact scenario happened to me last week. Somebody bid more than he could afford, got outbid, the other potential buyer backed out (as they do), then they got stuck...WITH THEIR OWN BID...and refused to pay. Had to take a loss and re-list. Don't enter a high bid unless you intend to pay for it.

 

And, as a seller, please, please don't start sniping. Bid high, bid early, bid often. There's no advantage whatsoever to sniping. It's all an illusion. So, don't do it, please.

[Brisbaneman]

Ebays great if you know what to do. Becareful with sellers who jack up their own bids with a seperate account.

 

Usually happens in the listing is private.

[HamsterSandwich]

 

I just bid the maximum amount I'd will pay for the article. Say it's at $5 when I find it, I'd bid $15. The price automatically would go up to $6. If someone bid more than $15, I'd get an Email letting me know I'd be outbid. Only occasionally I'd rebid.

In theory your logic is flawless, and in many cases this will play out just fine for you. The exception that sniping protects you from is the guy who fishes around for your bid amount.

 

Using your example, he sees your bid at $6 and bids $7. Yours jumps to $8 and you're still high. So the guy bids $9, jumping you to $10. This goes on three more times until he's the new top bidder at $16. He's placed 5 bids in a matter of a couple of minutes and you're out. He'd have never had the opportunity if you'd have sniped.

 

I'll use your method when I don't really care whether or not I get it. If I seriously want the item, however, I will snipe every time.

[Guitar Heel]

 

In theory your logic is flawless, and in many cases this will play out just fine for you. The exception that sniping protects you from is the guy who fishes around for your bid amount. Using your example, he sees your bid at $6 and bids $7. Yours jumps to $8 and you're still high. So the guy bids $9, jumping you to $10. This goes on three more times until he's the new top bidder at $16. He's placed 5 bids in a matter of a couple of minutes and you're out. He'd have never had the opportunity if you'd have sniped. I'll use your method when I don't really care whether or not I get it. If I seriously want the item, however, I will snipe every time.

 

 

 

Don't waste your time. They won't get it.

[photon9]

Sniping is the ONLY way to go.

 

THIS

[Armchair Bronco]

Dude, I think you've misunderstood the fine art of sniping. Snipers (and I'm one of 'em) don't bid some ridiculously high amount. Instead, they try to *guess* what the minimum bid required to win would be, and then they wait until the last possible moment to make that bid.

 

If an item has a current price of $200 and you're willing to pay $235, then instead of announcing your intentions, you bid $235 with only 40 seconds left in the auction.

 

Nuttin' wrong with 'dat.

[guitarcapo]

 

If I was bidding $15 on an item, that is the most I would be willing to pay. If auction ends at $15 I win the auction at a price I was willing to pay. If you bid more than you are willing to pay then you are bidding stupid.

 

 

There aren't enough facepalms to express to you how you just aren't getting it.

[guitarcapo]

 

Dude, I think you've misunderstood the fine art of sniping. Snipers (and I'm one of 'em) don't bid some ridiculously high amount. Instead, they try to *guess* what the minimum bid required to win would be, and then they wait until the last possible moment to make that bid. If an item has a current price of $200 and you're willing to pay $235, then instead of announcing your intentions, you bid $235 with only 40 seconds left in the auction. Nuttin' wrong with 'dat.

 

 

How do you "announce your intentions?" How is bidding $235 five hours earlier any different? Please explain. I'm all ears.

[roners5]

 

In theory your logic is flawless, and in many cases this will play out just fine for you. The exception that sniping protects you from is the guy who fishes around for your bid amount. Using your example, he sees your bid at $6 and bids $7. Yours jumps to $8 and you're still high. So the guy bids $9, jumping you to $10. This goes on three more times until he's the new top bidder at $16. He's placed 5 bids in a matter of a couple of minutes and you're out. He'd have never had the opportunity if you'd have sniped. I'll use your method when I don't really care whether or not I get it. If I seriously want the item, however, I will snipe every time.

 

 

this is typically true if you're sniping ebay for "deals"- if you really want an item and put what you're willing to pay for it (fair price) and it's not really rare than I don't think it would make a huge difference. But yeah, if you're looking for the ZOMG!! deal than you need to snipe.

[mistersully]

i bid what i'm willing to pay... with about 20 seconds to go