I don't "get" auctions

[S&W Fan]

So after watching the activity on auction sites I am left baffled by the strategies employed by many bidders.

If an item is only up for a short time I can understand a lot of activity but for the life of me I don't understand running up the price when an item still has a week or more to go?

Now I admit I've only purchased one item through a successful bid (and it led me to this wonderful forum) but this is a strategy that completely baffles. Wouldn't it be better to wait until the time gets shorter to run up the price? Unless of course those bidders are just shills for the seller. Hmmm, maybe I just answered my own question.

I guess that's why I prefer to use the classifieds here to try and find what I'm after.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

 

[S&W Fan]

So after watching the activity on auction sites I am left baffled by the strategies employed by many bidders.

If an item is only up for a short time I can understand a lot of activity but for the life of me I don't understand running up the price when an item still has a week or more to go?

Now I admit I've only purchased one item through a successful bid (and it led me to this wonderful forum) but this is a strategy that completely baffles. Wouldn't it be better to wait until the time gets shorter to run up the price? Unless of course those bidders are just shills for the seller. Hmmm, maybe I just answered my own question.

I guess that's why I prefer to use the classifieds here to try and find what I'm after.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

 

[mississippi revolverman]

I have made many purchases off Ebay and I agree with you. Just check out the bidders buy history and it is usally a Newbie that runs the price up weeks in advance

 

[toroflow1]

Sometimes I will bid up a price early just as a reminder to myself later on when the auction nears an end. I will receive an email that says I've been outbid. I get busy and forget to watch the auctions, and this method (early bidding) insures I will get an email notification. And if I don't get an email notification, then I've won the auction!

Another thing is I will bid on a certain auction that I know I will not meet the reserve price. There have been a few times that I've bid (but not met the reserve) and been the high bidder at the end of the auction, and have the seller contact me after the auction ends to sell to me at that price, even though it had not met the auction reserve price.

 

[kleinkaliber]

Originally posted by toroflow1:
Another thing is I will bid on a certain auction that I know I will not meet the reserve price. There have been a few times that I've bid (but not met the reserve) and been the high bidder at the end of the auction, and have the seller contact me after the auction ends to sell to me at that price, even though it had not met the auction reserve price.

I do this too. If an auction has a reserve, I'll put in a bid of what I feel the gun is worth to me early. If I meet the reserve, great, if not, I don't have to waste time watching a gun sell for more than I'd have paid for it (or, more typically, not sell at the overpriced reserve and be relisted over and over and...)

 

[walnutred]

What difference does it make it the price goes up to $X on the first day or the last day. I don't think it has any bearing on the closing price. If the item is really worth more the $X to at least two people the price is going past $X anyway.

 

[animalmother]

On all the auctions I've monitored in the last few years, a lot of bidding takes place in the last few minutes. I have not won a S&W in an auction for some time now. The bidding often goes way beyond what I'm willing to pay.

 

[shovelwrench]

Heck, when I use Ebay, I have software that bids the amount I want 4 seconds before the auction ends. Got some good deals with that.

Gunbroker has a fifteen minute rule. If there is less then 15min left in an auction, each bid there after resets the clock to 15min. Maybe its 5min, I don't recall.

 

[Grayfox]

If you find something you like, decide what you're willing to pay for it and bid that amount. The auto-bid system will keep you in the game until either you're out bid or the auction ends. It doesn't matter if it ends in 5 minutes or 5 days. Don't allow yourself to get caught up in bidding wars.

 

[mtb1bkr]

I generally bid at the last second for something I really want. That way, if I'm outbid I don't have the chance to bid again. I scored a really nice set of pre-war magnas like that awhile back. I set my alarm for 0435 to bid on an auction that ended at 0440, I'm glad I didn't hit snooze. If it's something I would like to have but don't feel like waiting around until the last second, then I put in the most I'm willing to pay and let it ride. There usually is a lot of bidding in the last few minutes/seconds, and a lot of those bids are by guys who get caught up in the moment and bid more than they wanted to spend because they didn't want to be outbid.

Bill

 

[S&W Fan]

Good feedback, thank you all. The auction I was successful on I did exactly what many of you suggest. I set the bid to what I was willing to spend at the time, the autobid function took over and I won. My good fortune.

I wish more sellers used a "buy it now" function, not a fan of "reserve" auctions.

Good luck to all.

 

[pred]

I treat auctions like yard sales,,, If there is something I would like, I offer what I think it's worth to me and walk away, I dont care about timing,,, For me there is too much to do, And another one will come along soon enough.

 

[roarindan]

Lastnite I was at GB and had a lee bullet mold in my pocket....was watchin the last 6 min tick by and i was winnin. last 20 sec somebody outbid me, before i could send in my new bid it closed!!!

Ha HA on him!! I found the sellers other stuff for sale and found a mould that better fit my needs,,for $20 less

 

[RobbW]

In my opinion, you don't really "win" an auction. Paying more for something than anyone else in the world was willing to pay for it isn't really "winning", IMHO.

 

[walnutred]

Originally posted by RobbW:
In my opinion, you don't really "win" an auction. Paying more for something than anyone else in the world was willing to pay for it isn't really "winning", IMHO.

It's not "anyone else in the world", it's paying more than everyone else participating in that particular auction.

Also, the real fun is when the seller either incorrectly describes what they are selling or does not know what they have. A "32 S&W revolver" that turns out to be a 32 WCF. Or in one case I ran into a H&R revolver that for whatever reason the seller ignored the US Government markings in the listing.

Something as simple as a misspelled word in a title can keep a number of buyers from finding the auction.

 

[paladin42]

Gunbroker has a 15 minute rule. Even if you'd been outbid in the last 20 seconds, the bid clock would have been reset to 15 minutes and you could have rebid.

Originally posted by roarindan:
Lastnite I was at GB and had a lee bullet mold in my pocket....was watchin the last 6 min tick by and i was winnin. last 20 sec somebody outbid me, before i could send in my new bid it closed!!!

 

[44wheelman]

Sometimes I throw out what I think a fair-market price should be as soon as I happen to find the auction. This does a few things, if I don't meet the reserve or beat the winning bidder at that time, I can forget about it. If the price is already high, fewer people will be inclined to watch the auction (and get into bidding wars later) if they know they can't get a deal on it. As was previously mentioned, the auction sites send an e-mail when you get outbid; it's a great reminder.