E-BAY STRATEGY

[paplinker]

I really can't see any reasonable comparison between a real live auction and an Internet auction.
Any live auctioneer that waited 15 minutes for another bid before gaveling the sale wouldn't be in business very long.

I agree with the 15 minutes part for sure.Even two minutes could work out. but the reasonable comparison is all may bid on both real or internet , on ebay its quickest or more savy bidder so it leaves some in the lurch. I guess people like both scenarios.

 

[DeadAye]

I think it would be way better (for us buyers) if they got rid of the proxy bidding and went to straight bidding. Kinda like an auction....

 

[quneur]

My strategy is to bid with 20-30 seconds left but I bid high enough that if someone elses tries to jump in at the last second with a slightly higher bid, I will still be higher. I usually double or triple the minimum bid plus a penny. Doesn't work if the other guy "really" wants it and ups the bid a good amount.

I don't bid much anymore but when I did, I always used two cents more because everyone was adding that one cent to their bids. So, after a while, I started using three cents for those that thought like me.

 

[perrazi]

please explain the concept of bidding on something you do don't already know how much you want to pay for it in the first place.

 

[john3136]

I think there might be some misunderstanding of how the ebay system works:

One day one of the auction, I can bid $100.00
The actually selling price may show up as $1.00
If no one else bids, I get the item for $1.00

If you come along with 2 seconds to go and bid $2.00, ebay knows I bid $100.00 earlier, so it will automatically bump my bid to say $2.20, so I win.

The only way you can beat me is to bid over $100.00

This is all without a sniping program.

Best thing to do is put your max bid in as early as possible - the only way you can lose is if someone else is willing to pay more than you are!

 

[mac2]

1) Decide what your absolute maximum buying price will be.

2) Wait to bid until just before the auction ends.

This keeps you from getting into a bidding war with the newbs. And if you get outbid, oh well, that was the max amount that you were willing to pay anyway.

That's what I followed on my 2nd auction - and won this time; received the Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub gear for £10 ($14) just now

 

[65kaiser]

I think there might be some misunderstanding of how the ebay system works:

One day one of the auction, I can bid $100.00
The actually selling price may show up as $1.00
If no one else bids, I get the item for $1.00

If you come along with 2 seconds to go and bid $2.00, ebay knows I bid $100.00 earlier, so it will automatically bump my bid to say $2.20, so I win.

The only way you can beat me is to bid over $100.00

This is all without a sniping program.

Best thing to do is put your max bid in as early as possible - the only way you can lose is if someone else is willing to pay more than you are!

The problem with your theory of placing your maximum bid as early as possible is that other interested parties over the length of the auction will chip away at your maximum bid driving the price up each time. If you place the same maximum bid at the very end of the auction you have a better chance of winning at a lower price.

 

[deadin]

And for those of you that have said that you don't know what you maximum limit may be, just maybe you shouldn't be bidding in auctions in the first place..... (You are exactly what the auction companies love. Especially if they can get two of you bidding on the same auction.)

Sellers have several ways available to "protect" themselves from losing on their items. They can set a reserve or an opening minimum bid. They can also gamble with a no minimum/no reserve auction and absorb any losses that may occur. This only works well if the seller has enough auctions to balance out the winners and losses. (i.e. a dealer.) For those of us that only occasionally sell something and don't have a lot of capital to invest, the first two options are almost a requirement.
As a buyer about the only "protection" we have is to try to find a way to discourage/limit the "nibblers" and those bidders that don't know their limits. Sniping is probably the best/only way to do this. (or just don't bid on auctions. Stick to the classifieds or Buy It Now auctions.)

 

[machete]

Gunbroker drives away business with their silly system. Ebay's system is much better. On Ebay, I know that my snipe will win or lose, but people won't have the time to rationalize besting my top bid. The near certainty of the system induces me to bid. On GB, people can convince themselves of a lot in 15 minutes, so a strong bid might not win, and I'll be exposed for 15 minutes, so other bidders can just nip at me. This lack of certainty causes me to try to find other places to do my buying.

Gunauction.com, nee AuctionArms.com, has the best way of running an internet auction. Too bad their volume isn't higher.

 

[DeadAye]

Gunbroker drives away business with their silly system. Ebay's system is much better. On Ebay, I know that my snipe will win or lose, but people won't have the time to rationalize besting my top bid. The near certainty of the system induces me to bid. On GB, people can convince themselves of a lot in 15 minutes, so a strong bid might not win, and I'll be exposed for 15 minutes, so other bidders can just nip at me. This lack of certainty causes me to try to find other places to do my buying.

Gunauction.com, nee AuctionArms.com, has the best way of running an internet auction. Too bad their volume isn't higher.

Ya gotta watch your pennies in that case or you could loose BIGTIME

 

[mountaingun629]

Sniping is the best way to win an auction at a reasonable price. If you "bid early, bid high, and bid often", it encourages a bidding war with other lookers that develop "auction fever".

I always opened the page for the item twice, (in two pages) that I downsized each to half the width of the screen. Get your highest and best bid ready on one of them so all you have to do is hit the "confirm bid" button, then keep refreshing the other page so you can keep track of the remaining time and the current price. Within 2 or 3 seconds of the end time, all you need to do is slide your mouse over to the other page and hit "confirm bid". That usually doesn't give others time to try to outbid you.
Confused already? It takes a little practice to get it right.

All that said, I have not shopped Fleabay since they mandated that sellers, and therefore buyers must use Ripoffpal. Got ripped there once, not going to do it again.

Myron

 

[paplinker]

And for those of you that have said that you don't know what you maximum limit may be, just maybe you shouldn't be bidding in auctions in the first place..... (You are exactly what the auction companies love. Especially if they can get two of you bidding on the same auction.)

I get your point. i do not want a bidding war either. But my max limit can change depending on need, unexpected funds.( my max could be lower earlier because of lower cash flow not by item worth)It even can change just by reflecting on it over over the week. Havn't we all changed our mind before what a gun is worth? Since auction close i have found what nice alves have been bringing on diamond targets and my max bid was a bit low so i guess i may have lost anyway. Still learning about auctions and smith products and this forum has given me much more insight on how others handle both areas.