ebay bidding strategies. Have you ever....

[thinman]

...bid up the price on an auction you didn't intend to win?

I ask because I recently spotted a pair of RL Camdens in my size from GVH. While waiting for the end of the auction to approach so I could try to snipe the shoes, a bid appeared from a relative newbie whom I recognized as having recently paid near full retail for subs. Given his history, I was relatively certain his bid was at least the level of the BIN price on the GVH website. Since I may be competing with him for shoes in future ebay auctions, I decided to help him drain his bank account by entering a series of incremental bids to a point just below the price on GVH's website. I did this several days before the auction's end so I would look to him like an ebay neophyte and give him time to bid again should I outbid him. Sure enough, he had already bid close to the GVH price and won the auction. In the unlikely event I had won the auction, I would of course have paid for my shoes. Now, I'm hoping a sweet pair of John Lobb shoes is listed tomorrow and I won't be bidding against him.

Does anyone else recognize ebay competitors and take a multi-auction approach to ebay bidding? Are there other strategies you find useful?

As a postscript, I should add that I received a "second chance offer", probably not because the auction winner didn't pay, but because I suspect that GVH has another pair of these in my size. I think I'll take my chances in open bidding, though.

 

[Get Smart]

once...I was watching a pair of shoes and some newbie zero feedback guy kept throwing in bids as soon as someone else upped the price, at one point I think he put in about 4-5 bids in one day driving the price very high....being a lurker/sniper, this fool was pissing me off so i put in a few bids to get the price a bit higher as it was getting to my own max with a few days left and sure enough he kept throwing in bids raising the price higher and higher...ultimately it sold for quite a bit more than I was prepared to pay and I'm sure the seller was watching the action screaming for joy through it all

once, I bought a vintage 1950s rayon gab s/s shirt that I won with my snipe of $250...and just barely beat out a local rockabilly guy I know (who I've sold to before and bought from) as his max was $220 (and I'm sure the seller was happy since the aucton went from $150 to $250 in a matter of seconds)...a couple years later I had my fill of the shirt and put it back on ebay with a BIN of $250 and sho nuff who bought it from me...

 

[gorgekko]

Yeah and my story is essentially the same as Get Smart's.

 

[rnoldh]

Originally Posted by Get Smart

once, I bought a vintage 1950s rayon gab s/s shirt that I won with my snipe of $250...and just barely beat out a local rockabilly guy I know (who I've sold to before and bought from) as his max was $220 (and I'm sure the seller was happy since the auction went from $150 to $250 in a matter of seconds)...a couple years later I had my fill of the shirt and put it back on ebay with a BIN of $250 and sho nuff who bought it from me...

Maybe I'm in the wrong business. Did someone really pay $250, for a 1950's rayon gab shirt?

Well, I'm sure it's true, but I wouldn't recognize the good stuff. Some of our resident experts like pejsek and vintage_gent seem to have a great collection of these type of things. But they are experts at that sort of thing, and put in the time and effort! I really love their threads on Thrift Store Finds and great vintage items. Still, 4 shirts X $250 = $1000!! Not bad if you can find 4 of them a week, and do it part time!

As to your subject, I haven't done what you describe. But many times if there are no bids on an item, I'll make the first bid, even though I know that there's no chance it will be successful! As an example, if BlondysBay has a Canali, or Oxxford NWT suit (which they do occasionally), I'll always make a first bid if there are no bids. I doubt, that BlondysBay has shills(they're too big), and one day I might get a desirable suit for $.99!

 

[edmorel]

I've never done this but I've seen it done when I was heavy into the watch auctions on ebay and I've also seen it done on auctions that I have been running. It pisses me off.

 

[odoreater]

Originally Posted by Get Smart

once...I was watching a pair of shoes and some newbie zero feedback guy kept throwing in bids as soon as someone else upped the price, at one point I think he put in about 4-5 bids in one day driving the price very high....being a lurker/sniper, this fool was pissing me off so i put in a few bids to get the price a bit higher as it was getting to my own max with a few days left and sure enough he kept throwing in bids raising the price higher and higher...ultimately it sold for quite a bit more than I was prepared to pay and I'm sure the seller was watching the action screaming for joy through it all

once, I bought a vintage 1950s rayon gab s/s shirt that I won with my snipe of $250...and just barely beat out a local rockabilly guy I know (who I've sold to before and bought from) as his max was $220 (and I'm sure the seller was happy since the aucton went from $150 to $250 in a matter of seconds)...a couple years later I had my fill of the shirt and put it back on ebay with a BIN of $250 and sho nuff who bought it from me...

Nothing beats buying something on ebay, wearing it for a while, and then selling it for your money back or a profit. A while ago I bought a Zegna suit on ebay for $200 and it was pretty damn sweet. Well, anyway, I outgrew it and sold it again on ebay for $400. So I got a few months of wear out of the suit and $200 in my pocket.

 

[rnoldh]

Originally Posted by edmorel

I've never done this but I've seen it done when I was heavy into the watch auctions on ebay and I've also seen it done on auctions that I have been running. It pisses me off.

Hello Ed, I'm one of those that thinks you are a wonderful seller!

One question though. If two bidders are bidding up one of your own Ebay auctions, and it drives the final price up (as described in the beginning of this thread), and they are real bidders that will pay if they win. Then why would that piss you off?

 

[Get Smart]

Originally Posted by rnoldh

Maybe I'm in the wrong business. Did someone really pay $250, for a 1950's rayon gab shirt?
A standard rayon gab shirt will fetch $10-20 but the *right* ones can get a lot of $$$ and will sell for many hundreds...but you have to know how to recognize it (which i do) and often the right buyers are scouring ebay for such items. But the stuff David (VGent) is into and that I am into is geared towards a different audience even tho we probably both buy from the same eras. and I wish I had 4 of these shirts but realistically you will never see another 3 of these in your lifetime

 

[grimslade]

Originally Posted by Get Smart

A standard rayon gab shirt will fetch $10-20 but the *right* ones can get a lot of $$$ and will sell for many hundreds...but you have to know how to recognize it (which i do) and often the right buyers are scouring ebay for such items. But the stuff David (VGent) is into and that I am into is geared towards a different audience even tho we probably both buy from the same eras. and I wish I had 4 of these shirts but realistically you will never see another 3 of these in your lifetime
Um, what's a rayon gab shirt?

 

[edmorel]

Originally Posted by rnoldh

Hello Ed, I'm one of those that thinks you are a wonderful seller!

One question though. If two bidders are bidding up one of your own Ebay auctions, and it drives the final price up (as described in the beginning of this thread), and they are real bidders that will pay if they win. Then why would that piss you off?

If you get paid, it's wonderful. I had an auction where a Versace pocket square was driven up to over $50. The high bidder was a prankster. Never got paid. I went to the second bidder and his attitude was basically, "you used a shill bidder to drive the price up so no thanks". Obviously, that guy will not bid on my auctions if he thinks I use shills. When you sell the same stuff over and over, you keep running into the same people and if your rep is that you use shills, your prices will reflect that.

 

[Get Smart]

Originally Posted by grimslade

Um, what's a rayon gab shirt?

many shirts in the 50s were made of rayon gabardine, a very nicely draping fabric. a run of the mill rayongab shirt won't get too much $ but certain patterns and color combos are very rare in good condition and to 50s rocknroll purists they will pay top $ for it, esp the collectors in Japan and Europe, where it's obviously harder to find this stuff, being purely American. I've seen certain gabardine jackets selling for $1000+ and shirts that go for over $500....and the best part is if you take really good care of it you can resell it and make your money back

 

[LabelKing]

I've seen vintage '50s gabardine overcoats and trousers.