Discussion
I've been selling some items on ebay and am quite surprised at how some people go about bidding. I've noticed quite a few bidders putting bids in early on (days before the auction finishes) and then come in and bid again at the last minute.
Am I missing something? what's the point in bidding so early? Doesn't it just bump up the price?
Do many of you use automated bidding?
Am I missing something? what's the point in bidding so early? Doesn't it just bump up the price?
Do many of you use automated bidding?
Bid the maximum you want to pay, not what you think it will sell for.
If you win for less that what you would have paid, be happy.
If you lose out to a price higher than you wanted to pay, nothing lost.
Job done.
In answer to OP, people may bid to get the item on their 'my ebay' page, auto email to warn of the item finishing shortly etc.
If you win for less that what you would have paid, be happy.
If you lose out to a price higher than you wanted to pay, nothing lost.
Job done.
In answer to OP, people may bid to get the item on their 'my ebay' page, auto email to warn of the item finishing shortly etc.
el stovey said:
I've been selling some items on ebay and am quite surprised at how some people go about bidding. I've noticed quite a few bidders putting bids in early on (days before the auction finishes) and then come in and bid again at the last minute. Am I missing something? what's the point in bidding so early? Doesn't it just bump up the price?
I suspect they're putting on a single high bid to start with - but this only shows up as the next increment. If another person bids, they're automatically outbid by the system. In short, the system will keep bidding for you until/if the second bidder exceeds your highest bid.mickk said:
Whenever i bid, i leave it till the last possible second, but still lose out. I must be doing something wrong.
See above. There's little point in simply bidding to the next increment. If you're prepared to pay, say, £10 for an item, just bid £10 at the last moment and you'll either win it, or lose to someone who was prepared to pay more.maser_spyder said:
In answer to OP, people may bid to get the item on their 'my ebay' page, auto email to warn of the item finishing shortly etc.
The 'Watched Items' list will achieve that equally well, and doesn't warn other punters that there's another person interested.(Obviously all the old hands have quit like me!)
Simpo Two said:
maser_spyder said:
In answer to OP, people may bid to get the item on their 'my ebay' page, auto email to warn of the item finishing shortly etc.
The 'Watched Items' list will achieve that equally well, and doesn't warn other punters that there's another person interested.(Obviously all the old hands have quit like me!)
Getting an 'ending soon' email only for an item you really want to buy isn't such a pain.
Sadly, I'm an 'old hand' too, been on there since 2000 with well over 10000 feedbacks!
I don't use automated bidding, but after selling a few higher priced items this weekend I have now encountered the new PayPal anti-fraud method, which consists holding funds (and making some nice interest for PP!) until positive feedback is left or 21 days pass without issues! PITA 
I can see scammers who buy products to take full advantage of this ...
I can see scammers who buy products to take full advantage of this ...
I don't understand why people leave it till the last minute.
If I see an item that I am willing to pay up to £25 for, I bid that straight away, if I win I'm happy if not I wouldn't have wanted to spend the extra anyway. If I were to wait for the last minute to do it but someone else bids £25, then they get it because they placed their bid first.
If I see an item that I am willing to pay up to £25 for, I bid that straight away, if I win I'm happy if not I wouldn't have wanted to spend the extra anyway. If I were to wait for the last minute to do it but someone else bids £25, then they get it because they placed their bid first.
maser_spyder said:
Bid the maximum you want to pay, not what you think it will sell for.
If you win for less that what you would have paid, be happy.
If you lose out to a price higher than you wanted to pay, nothing lost.
Job done.
In answer to OP, people may bid to get the item on their 'my ebay' page, auto email to warn of the item finishing shortly etc.
I sometimes pop in a low bid early on just in case it goes at that low price. If I won I would be delighted. If not, what have I lost? I then sometimes go back at the end if I am still interested in paying the proper price. I do sometimes put in a mid-range bid to flush out any opposition and test the top end of the bid if there is just one more bidder. Again if I won at that price I would be pleased but probably wouldn't pay any more.If you win for less that what you would have paid, be happy.
If you lose out to a price higher than you wanted to pay, nothing lost.
Job done.
In answer to OP, people may bid to get the item on their 'my ebay' page, auto email to warn of the item finishing shortly etc.
I am that confusing and annoying t
t.freecar said:
I don't understand why people leave it till the last minute.
If I see an item that I am willing to pay up to £25 for, I bid that straight away, if I win I'm happy if not I wouldn't have wanted to spend the extra anyway. If I were to wait for the last minute to do it but someone else bids £25, then they get it because they placed their bid first.
You really don't understand how the bidding system works do you? The point is by leaving it till the last minute, you are keeping the bidding price low for as long as possible, thus reducing the chance of anyone else putting in a higher bid than you're prepared to pay.If I see an item that I am willing to pay up to £25 for, I bid that straight away, if I win I'm happy if not I wouldn't have wanted to spend the extra anyway. If I were to wait for the last minute to do it but someone else bids £25, then they get it because they placed their bid first.
If you put your highest bid in hours or days before the auction ends, you're giving everyone else ample time to ramp up the bidding and raise the price. Leave it till the last few seconds, your rivals don't have time to respond and you win the item for a much cheaper price.
I will wait until the last five mins. Put a feeler bid in to see roughly how high the next highest one had been.. Then if I am winning I will open another ebay page, and enter a higher amount that I am still happy to pay and leave that on the other screen so one click confirms the bid, then I will refresh the other screen every second and that way usually I can get the last bid in there in under 4 secs if needs be. Won two items in the last 5 secs yesterday from this.
How the above people fail to understand how ebay works is beyond me..
How the above people fail to understand how ebay works is beyond me..
Ikemi said:
I don't use automated bidding, but after selling a few higher priced items this weekend I have now encountered the new PayPal anti-fraud method, which consists holding funds (and making some nice interest for PP!) until positive feedback is left or 21 days pass without issues! PITA
I can see scammers who buy products to take full advantage of this ...
I encountered that today. Bought an item (approx £100) from someone with about 2 feedbacks from last year. He then asked whether I can leave him positive feedback now so the funds can be released and he can send the item.I can see scammers who buy products to take full advantage of this ...
I have politely declined that request and am now awaiting a response. I hope he isn't just a scammer as I really want the item to be genuine. eBay really is a PITA however you use it.
mikey_p said:
I encountered that today. Bought an item (approx £100) from someone with about 2 feedbacks from last year. He then asked whether I can leave him positive feedback now so the funds can be released and he can send the item.
I have politely declined that request and am now awaiting a response. I hope he isn't just a scammer as I really want the item to be genuine. eBay really is a PITA however you use it.
It's incredibly annoying. I sold something the other day and Paypal put my money on hold (despite the fact that I have 100% feedback and have been a member for four years). So I sent the item straight away, but buyer has yet to leave feedback (I've checked his feedback history and it often takes him a month or so to leave it - I assume he is an infrequent user). I don't blame him for that at all, but it's bloody annoying having to wait three weeks for Paypal to release my money. I wouldn't dream of asking a buyer to leave +ve before they had the item - that's just cheeky beyond belief.I have politely declined that request and am now awaiting a response. I hope he isn't just a scammer as I really want the item to be genuine. eBay really is a PITA however you use it.
Always last minute, or even sniping with last second. The higher it's sitting, the higher the next person will bid.
People don't play the system, they'll try a bid, wait, get outbid, and decide to throw a few more quid into it. Then outbid again, and they'll up it by £1 a time for a few bids, then eventually give up.
That's great for the seller, but not for the buyer.
Because most people don't just whack in the highest they'll pay, you can use this to your advantage, and don't give them time to sit, think, and up a bid.
You can get auction sniping websites that will place a bid with 4secs to go automatically.
People don't play the system, they'll try a bid, wait, get outbid, and decide to throw a few more quid into it. Then outbid again, and they'll up it by £1 a time for a few bids, then eventually give up.
That's great for the seller, but not for the buyer.
Because most people don't just whack in the highest they'll pay, you can use this to your advantage, and don't give them time to sit, think, and up a bid.
You can get auction sniping websites that will place a bid with 4secs to go automatically.
Talking of ebay bidding, we've just done exactly what I suggested myself earlier today!
Normally I'm a 'last minute' bidder, but this item (an antique fireplace for our bedroom) was finishing before we would be back from our walk.
It was at £10 when we left earlier today, we would have expected it to go for between £50 and £100, depending on the interest for a slightly odd Sunday.
However, we've never seen one like this before, it's absolutely perfect for the room, right size, right style etc.
Our maximum bid was £252.52, as this is pretty much what we would have to pay in a shop, assuming we could find anything like this again. Hassle factor of finding another one would easily have cost this much.
We won it at £90, so well chuffed!
Normally I'm a 'last minute' bidder, but this item (an antique fireplace for our bedroom) was finishing before we would be back from our walk.
It was at £10 when we left earlier today, we would have expected it to go for between £50 and £100, depending on the interest for a slightly odd Sunday.
However, we've never seen one like this before, it's absolutely perfect for the room, right size, right style etc.
Our maximum bid was £252.52, as this is pretty much what we would have to pay in a shop, assuming we could find anything like this again. Hassle factor of finding another one would easily have cost this much.
We won it at £90, so well chuffed!
LukeBird said:
I tend to just stick in a bid and see what happens.
If it goes higher because I bid earlier, so be it!
If the item is rare or a particular item I want then I'll bid a little more strategically!
That's me too although I don't use sniping tools.If it goes higher because I bid earlier, so be it!
If the item is rare or a particular item I want then I'll bid a little more strategically!
It depends when the item is ending. If I know I'm going to be busy or likely to be distracted I bid early otherwise I refresh the tab and bid with 33 seconds to go.
I do ok.
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