how to do well on EBAY

[DavyRay]

Do you drive on the highway? Imagine this: you are driving at a steady 66 mph. Ahead, you see a car in your lane and you are gaining on them. You move into the left lane (USA perspective, you foreigners!) You estimate that you are going about 3 mph faster than the other car. As you approach the other car, the other driver speeds up. You maintain your steady speed. Eventually, the other driver drops back to their original speed, and you pass by.

Why? It is not the other driver being contrary. It is that people are influenced by other people.

If you think an item is worth $50, maybe it is. Maybe I should bid $51, since a bidder with more points than me is willing to pay more for the item.

 

[johnmrson]

Only rule you need to follow:

Bid what you are willing to pay for an item in a sniping program like Gixen. Does all the work and you don't have to sit in front of a computer and wait for the auction to end.

That's what I do. Set up a snipping program to drop a bid in 4 or 5 seconds before the end with the maximum amount I want to bid. If I've bid high enough, I'll win. If not, someone wanted to pay more than I was prepared to so they are welcome to it.

 

[thosriley]

I use www.esnipe.com, a sniping website.
There are several advantages of holding the bid at a secondary site rather than putting it directly into eBay.

First is the ability to set your bid and forget it like you do at eBay BUT be able to cancel the bid later if you change your mind or find a better item. You can also change your maximum bid up or down until five minutes before the auction.

I have often thought twice about an item after submitting my max bid to eBay and wish I could change or cancel it. With esnipe I can. Cuts down on buyer's remorse.

Another advantage are "bidding groups." You put bids on multiple identical items into a group knowing you only want to win one of them, not them all. The bids are submitted automatically a few seconds before the deadline and as soon as you win one in that group, all the other bids are canceled. I will choose an item, set a lower max and patiently wait for one of them to come in lower than expected.

They have a Firefox extension that makes it very easy to use.

There is a small fee based on the cost of the item in a successful bid but no fee for auctions you lose.

 

[SliceOfLife]

1 - dont bid until the last 15 seconds of any auction
2 - read rule number 1 again
3 - bid the max you are willing to pay for the item

any bidding before the last 15 seconds only drives up the price for all who are interested in buying the item - and accomplishes nothing

of course the sellers dont want you to know this - as bidding wars are all profit for them

Actually I can say based on myself this isn't true. If I see a Thuringian at $60, I pass over it. If I see one at $0.99, I will quite possibly bid more than $60 on it. Does sniping every bid get you a lower price on average? Most likely. Does it absolutely 100% get you a lower price every single time? Definitely not. Scaring off other snipers or avoiding the attention of people who tend to focus on auctions with low prices WORKS. It's the same math that makes auctions started at 0.99 end at $200 while ones (for the same exact item) started at $159.99 sell for $159.99.

 

[surpera1]

i believe that bidding actually encourages others to bid myself
you say you are scaring off other bidders ? thats interesting

 

[johnmrson]

i believe that bidding actually encourages others to bid myself
you say you are scaring off other bidders ? thats interesting

I think that both are true. It just depends on the people watching the auction. There are people that will get put off an item if it has a number of bids on it as they perceive alot of competition for the items but then there are people that see a number of bids and think that it must be something worth buying and it encourages them to bid on it.

 

[proxymoron]

yeah - i just watch these guys driving up the price days before the end of the auction - and i am like - cmon man - no sense in that at all - not for us buyers anyway

I used to be like that before I realized that all the serious auctions are being sniped. Now I just bid my max (typically lowball) price and forget about it, knowing that the winner was going to come over top of me at some point anyway.

Of course, I am actively sabotaging my bids, since my life's just fine without another user grade copy of a razor I already own.

 

[CaptainK]

It's the same math that makes auctions started at 0.99 end at $200 while ones (for the same exact item) started at $159.99 sell for $159.99.

... or not at all.

 

[robrtx]

How is the security track record for sniping sites?

 

[franz]

Scaring off other snipers or avoiding the attention of people who tend to focus on auctions with low prices WORKS. It's the same math that makes auctions started at 0.99 end at $200 while ones (for the same exact item) started at $159.99 sell for $159.99.

Good point Ian.

I also think there may be a difference in bid strategy between high-value or rare items and run-of-the-mill user grade pieces. A Toggle with 5-6 early bids on it won't scare too many people away.

 

[nuskins]

i didnt read the whole thread, but if someone hasnt mentioned gixen, check that out. i use it all the time.

 

[kt66]

I always take the max I'm willing to spend and add a random amount, maybe even a buck or two with some random amount of change.


I use AuctionSniper for those same reasons. Easy and reliable.

I use AuctionSniper too, have done for years. Put in a snipe with an odd amount, then forget about it until it's over. I despair when I see a pair of hotheads bidding up an item with days left to run.

 

[Dalejr]

I use AuctionSniper too, have done for years. Put in a snipe with an odd amount, then forget about it until it's over. I despair when I see a pair of hotheads bidding up an item with days left to run.

I dont use a sniper, but I too get annyoyed when these idiots drive up the cost, they either don't get the rules of the game or they purposely want to make others pay a fortune for an item of interest...

 

[CaptainK]

I dont use a sniper, but I too get annyoyed when these idiots drive up the cost, they either don't get the rules of the game or they purposely want to make others pay a fortune for an item of interest...

If you don't use a sniper, what do you do when there's an item you want? Do you wait until the last minute to place your bid, or do you place your bid ahead of time and leave it at that? If it's the former, what do you do if you're not going to be available when the auction ends?

These aren't criticisms (as plain written text might convey) - just plain, honest curiosity.