E-Bay Bidding?!

[Hunny]

How does this work? Basically, what I want to know is.. when do people start bidding like crazy? You know, with how many minutes left?

[jrockster21]

Its a good idea to watch the item until the final hours, then bid on it. If you get outbid, you'll know someone else is watching it as well. Then wait until the final 2 minutes or so (depending on how fast your connection is, and how fast you can type), and enter your max bid.

A lot of people use "snipers," which are computer-programs that enter a bid at the last possible second. I think these are bogus, and refuse to use them; however they are a good idea if you want to ensure you get your item.

[dks1240]

Make sure you bid with an 'unexact' number such as 151.25 rather than 150. Your gut is to put in 150 but someone has already placed 151 as their highest bid.

[Hunny]

Good advice..any way to tell how many people are watching an item?

[dks1240]

Hmm i dont know if you can tell if people are watching...Im assuming not. You can search for "Buy Now" products and avoid the bidding altogether (but you probably already know that)

[Mark The Homer]

Not really.

Check out esnipe.com. It costs you 1%, but only if you win. And you can bid when you're not home or when you're working. You can even bid when you're sleeping. And you can bid in the last 3 seconds.

I love esnipe.

[Walking Deadman]

Good advice..any way to tell how many people are watching an item?

Nope.
Only guess is by how many are bidding.
But usually when I lose it's not to a previous bidder, but somebody who jumps in right at the end :mad:

[jrockster21]

I could have sworn it showed you how many people were watching the item, but I guess not.

You probably won't be able to tell until the final hours anyway, because a lot of people hold off on bidding until then.

The other strategy, which requires less effort but isn't always as effective, is to just enter your maximum bid right away, and ebay will automatically outbid people until your limit is reached. The longer you wait the better, however.

[Predicto]

Frankly, gaming it like this is generally not worth the time and trouble. Just put in your maximum bid and relax. The bid you made will only go up if other people bid too.

If not too many other people bid, you get a bargain. If too many other people bid, then it is isn't a good deal anymore. Wait for the next auction.

Waiting till the last second is pointless, unless your "max bid" is not really your max bid, but where is the real benefit of holding back like that?

[jrockster21]

Waiting till the last second is pointless, unless your "max bid" is not really your max bid, but where is the real benefit of holding back like that?

The benefits are obvious.

- Your competition may forget to look at the auction

- Your competition may have a slow internet connection or type slowly, and won't be able to outbid you in time. This is the primary benefit.

[Hunny]

THANKS GUYS! WOW! WHAT AN ADRENALINE RUSH! I just won two Bills tickets on Ebay. :silly: This one girl Glitterchick and I were at it until the very last second and I came out victorious!! MWAHAHAH!


I'm a very competitve person... in all aspects of life. Even E-bay bidding. Hehe.

[Slacky McSlackAss]

Meredith, your crazy. See you at the game.

[Hunny]

Free Shipping, too. :D

[Predicto]

The benefits are obvious.

- Your competition may forget to look at the auction

- Your competition may have a slow internet connection or type slowly, and won't be able to outbid you in time. This is the primary benefit.

Except if you have already put in your max bid, he won't be able to outbid you except by going over your max bid, and if he does go over your max bid, let him have it. And if he doesn't go up to your max bid, you get the item at the exact minimum price you could have gotten it at.

There really is no point to the last minute thing unless you have no "max bid" at all.

[Mark The Homer]

Listen to JRock. He knows his stuff.

The benefit to bidding at the last second is hoping that you're bidding against noobs. Because noobs will bid $5 at a time twenty times. You swoop in, you bid your max bid with 3 secs left, you win, and they're left crying in a corner somewhere. This is called sniping.

If you're bidding against a pro, then you're both bidding at the last few secs, so, whoever has the max bid wins.

In either scenario, you're better off sniping since you don't know who you're bidding against anyway.

[Predicto]

Listen to JRock. He knows his stuff.

The benefit to bidding at the last second is hoping that you're bidding against noobs. Because noobs will bid $5 at a time twenty times. You swoop in, you bid your max bid with 3 secs left, you win, and they're left crying in a corner somewhere. This is called sniping.

If you're bidding against a pro, then you're both bidding at the last few secs, so, whoever has the max bid wins.

In either scenario, you're better off sniping since you don't know who you're bidding against anyway.

I understand the idea - I have bought on Ebay for years and I sniped many items in the past.

I have come to the conclusion, however, that it just doesn't actually make any real difference 99% of the time, and it is isn't worth bothering to do it. Sometimes you get caught out with a burp in your ISP or wireless network that costs you the item, and you inevitably waste a ton of time monitoring the damn auction that you could be doing something fun. Why bother?

[jrockster21]

THANKS GUYS! WOW! WHAT AN ADRENALINE RUSH! I just won two Bills tickets on Ebay. :silly: This one girl Glitterchick and I were at it until the very last second and I came out victorious!! MWAHAHAH!


I'm a very competitve person... in all aspects of life. Even E-bay bidding. Hehe.


Congrats! See you at the Tailgate! :cheers:


The benefit to bidding at the last second is hoping that you're bidding against noobs. Because noobs will bid $5 at a time twenty times. You swoop in, you bid your max bid with 3 secs left, you win, and they're left crying in a corner somewhere. This is called sniping.

Stated much better than I could. :)


I understand the idea - I have bought on Ebay for years and I sniped many items in the past.

I have come to the conclusion, however, that it just doesn't actually make any real difference 99% of the time, and it is isn't worth bothering to do it. Sometimes you get caught out with a burp in your ISP or wireless network that costs you the item, and you inevitably waste a ton of time monitoring the damn auction that you could be doing something fun. Why bother?

99%? No, I think its more like 50/50. And even if it was 99% of the time, maybe that 1 out of 100 items is something you reeeeeaalllly want, and there is only one of them. Then, you're ****ed. :(

[Walking Deadman]

THANKS GUYS! WOW! WHAT AN ADRENALINE RUSH! I just won two Bills tickets on Ebay. :silly: This one girl Glitterchick and I were at it until the very last second and I came out victorious!! MWAHAHAH!


I'm a very competitve person... in all aspects of life. Even E-bay bidding. Hehe.


warning......ebay can be addictive :D

[Mark The Homer]

Predicto, here's an example:

Let's say an item is at $1, and your max bid is $100. The listing ends in six days.

If you start off bidding $100, some dumbass noob will bid $5. Then ten minutes later, he'll do it again. Etc. Each time he bids, he's not the high bidder. So he bids again. And it's very possible the noob will stop at some number like $80 and give up. And you win, paying, say $85.

Another similar example, but this time you snipe. The dumbass noob bids $5, and think he's going to win. He sits on his $5 bid because it's the high bid. Six days later you snipe it, you win the item for $10. And the noob is crying in the corner.

In both examples you win, but in the second example, you saved $75.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I can't recommend the ebay snipe enough.

I don't buy much on ebay, but when I do, I want to be damn sure that I'll win. That thing has never let me down.

[DCFDSKIN11]

Don't take this the wrong way, but..........


For the next month or so be very cautious of Sean Taylor items on Ebay.

We are ALL buying with our hearts right now, and the SCUMBAGS of the world know this!!!!

For example, just last week I purchased my "Authentic" Reebok 75th. Anniv. #21 jersey. I paid (at a BUY IT NOW price) $24.99 with $15.00 shipping.

THE SAME JERSEY IS NOW IN THE $200 + RANGE!!! :mad:

Do a search on ebay for a Chris Cooley jersey, and you will see what I am talking about.

Just like those vultures who swoop in around natural disasters, and sell the water, generators, plywood, etc.....

Don't let them USE US!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ancalagon the Black]

Predicto, your hypothesis would be true only in a world of rational agents (who, in this case, actually consistently enter their maximum bid).

Like much of conservative economics. :)