Outbid - again - at the end of the process on E-bay. Why bother?

[Faygo Kid]

There was a book I really wanted. As usual, been up for days. I was high bidder throughout, but with an hour left, another jumped in. At least I made the f-wad pay $130 for it, when he/she could have had it at $52, had it not been for me.

Sometimes I wish I was Bill Gates. Then E-bay would see some butt kicking.

But it's just par for the course over there. Tough for us amateurs.

[femmocrat]

1. I never bid until the last hour or so.

I found out that bidding during the week just drives the price up and other lookers will want the item, too.

What was the book? Maybe you could find it somewhere else?

[Faygo Kid]

3. I will find it eventually. Commercial bidders on these.

You can check out their bid histories, and this is what they do.

At least it costs the winner a LOT more than they wanted to pay.

It was a book about National Park Seminary, a girls' school in Maryland. The building dates back to the 1880s, and the book to the 1920s. It is being renovated, and I am moving into a glorious apartment there this fall. Here's the link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170240259643&ssPageName=ADME:B:BCA:US:1123

More info, and I have the best apartment in the place lined up: http://www.washingtonian.com/blogarticles/homegarden/openhouse/4894.html

[femmocrat]

9. How interesting! Thanks for the link.

I really hope you find another copy of the book.

Such a gorgeous place to live. It's too bad it fell into disrepair, but how exciting that they are restoring it. Congratulations on getting the best apartment! Thank you for sharing.

[carlyhippy]

2. if it's something you really want to win

you almost have to sit on the auction and wait until the last minute or 10 seconds then put in a bid, just be sure your computer is in good working order lol

[Faygo Kid]

4. Thanks for the advice. I will live and learn.

Much appreciated. :hi:

[Awsi Dooger]

8. Yeah, I usually wait until the last 10 or 15 seconds

Never show yourself before then. Pick a max bid and put it in, no second guessing if you fall just short. But you have to make sure you've already gone through the sign-in crap so they don't make you do anything but confirm the bid in the final seconds. Sometimes I keep a separate window open, on the same item, and refresh it to check the bid level approaching the end of the auction.

I generally bid on things I know the value of, like golf clubs and computers. I look for poorly listed auctions, ones that end in the middle of the night or have an absurdly low Buy It Now. Last week I bought a golf club purely to resell it. I paid $38 total including shipping and I know with a good listing I can fetch $70 or $80, maybe more. The same club went for $124.50 last night. But I might end up keeping it.

Good luck on the book. There are the same annoyances with sporting equipment, professional bidders who spot value and ruin it for average bidders. I can frequently tell what they are doing. One major golf company, Callaway, has preowned clubs on their website, very good to excellent condition with low shipping rates. Some ebay stores buy those clubs in bulk and then sell them on ebay at higher prices. They take advantage of ebayers who don't know about callawaypreowned.com. I can spot it a mile a way. Specific clubs on callawaypreowned will disappear in huge quantity then days later ebay is flooded with that same club. Actually, I should be doing it myself. I know the gag and the profit is generally $10 to $30 average per club.

[nytemare]

5. Try esnipe.com

It will bid for you in the last few seconds of the auction, so bidding wars don't inflate the price as much.

http://www.esnipe.com/

[Faygo Kid]

6. Thanks! It's saved to favorites.

I really don't bid that much, but the commercial guys seem to win every time.

At any rate, this one cost them.

[nytemare]

15. I love esnipe.

I would hate to get into last minute bidding wars, wasting my time to lose an auction. This way, it saves time, and helps you to win the item because your interest is hidden.

[GOPisEvil]

7. You know, I just put in my max bid and forget it.

If someone outbids me at the last, so be it. I don't want to get into a last-minute bidding war and end up paying more than I should for something.

[Gold Metal Flake]

10. Alibris often has rare and out of print books.

http://www.alibris.com

[garybeck]

11. There is a science to Ebay. Rule #1: If you want something, you have to

be online right at the time the auction is ending. Decide ahead of time how much you are willing to pay. Put that in, about 10 seconds before the auction ends.

that's how to win, if you really want the item.

[Awsi Dooger]

12. I agree

I gave essentially the same advice earlier in this thread.

Originally I used to bid about 30-45 second before auction end. That was too soon. It allowed others to follow and steal it.

I also like to use 2-3 eBay accounts, in case I bought something for the purpose of selling it, or am selling a recent buy that I'm not happy with. You don't want it to be simple to check your recent transactions, and you bought something for $30 and now are asking $50+. I use my sister's account or my dad's on occasion.

[1]

13. your ebay-fu is powerful, but just slightly flawed...

many responses in this thread are close. if you combine them, they are ebay truth.


"Decide ahead of time how much you are willing to pay. Put that in, about 10 seconds before the auction ends." excellent!

perhaps the closest to describing ebay truth, but "be online right at the time the auction is ending" is only valid if you want to watch the "kill-shot" as there is software to do this for you. better living through software...



although i must confess that i play the same game as garybeck. i too stalk an auction as prey and decidedly go old-school on the auctions i really want to win. entering my bid... but not hitting that enter key to submit it... watching the auction, until the end... lying on the floor, with my laptop, in my ghillie suit, in my own urine, until 10 seconds before the auction ends and THEN pressing that enter key...

BAM! HAH! OUTBID YOU! HAH!


and for my bud, garybeck i will add :sarcasm:


ok, just having fun. but honestly, after playing the ebay game for many years, if there is something you want, bid in the last minutes never before. think about what you will pay for that item, hold off from bidding on it until the end.

you win sometimes, you lose sometimes.

its like life...

[grasswire]

14. as a seller, I long for the good old days...

...when people would bid early and often and get into wars and drive up the prices.

As a bidder, I bid in the last ten seconds.

I also long for the days when the bidders' names were visible and I would know if I was bidding against someone who would pay any price for items. It's a waste of time to bid against one of those!

[InvisibleTouch]

16. Part of the adrenaline rush is placing that last-second bid.

If it's a rare item that I absolutely must have, that's the way I do it. If it's something that I know I can find again easily enough, I'm not so specific. I do a lot less bidding these days due to plain old economics, but in the good old 90's I was quite the expert sniper. I used to say there's nothing longer than an Ebay minute when you're counting down the seconds. And it's kind-of exciting as a seller, too, when your item shoots up in the final moments!

Sorry you got outbid, but now you know the strategy for next time. :)