My biggest ebay pet peeve

[drizzt3117]

is when people bid on one of those auctions that has a low starting price but reasonably high buy it now price, say, $1 and $300-500, and people bid $1 on it with 9 days, 23 hours and 58 minutes left on a 10 day auction. Do they really think they'll get the item for $1? I bid $5 just to see if they had, and became the high bidder... argh, I wanted to use buy it now too.

 

[Nick M]

It's always struck me as odd... Why does anyone bid before, at the very least, 24 hours until the auction close? It just gives everyone else the opportunity to think about how much more they're willing to pay for it. Â

A while back, I was watching an auction with no bids, and a Buy-It-Now. Someone placed a bid a few days before the auction close, so I figured I'd wait until there was a minute left before I bid. I valued the item at around the Buy-It-Now price, so I figured I'd bid that amount and trump the guy. But he still won. It turned out, at auction's end, that his first bid was higher than the Buy-It-Now price. WHY?

 

[mano]

On a few occassions I've been the lucky $1 winner (or some absurdly low bid) for a nice garment on ebay. Â For whatever reason, it stayed "below the radar." Â For that reason, I'd rather people who post here NOT to alert others to good ebay auctions. Â It just bids the price up. Â If it's something you really want and there's a buy it now, buy it now. Otherwise don't be surprised if you don't get it.

 

[drizzt3117]

right, I've gotten some ridiculous deals also, like an Oxxford suit for $9.95 in mint condition, my point is that I was would have used "Buy it Now" but the person bid $1 like 1 min after the auction started.

I will just snipe it even at the $9.95 price right before the auction ends.

 

[aybojs]

That's kind of the point, at least when I do it every now and then. If the BIN is too high for my personal tastes, but I'm still interested in the item, then it's a good strategy to place an early bid to knock off the BIN and give me time to bide on whether I want to bid or not (usually with a maximum price in mind, somewhere below the BIN value, like $300 on a $350 BIN auction). That way, nobody can snap it up in the meantime.

 

[acole]

Two reasons I can think of...actually there are three, but one is now moot. Â One is as aybojs mentioned: Â Stomp the BIN, snipe for the win. Â A judicious reserve foils this strategy, yet eBay is rife with $1 NR auctions with a high BIN, so it is frequently useful. Â With well-considered BINs there is always a gamble involved. Â The bidder Nick mentioned really wanted the item (hence the high proxy bid) but gambled on getting it for less than the BIN (hence the BIN stomp). Â If you stomp and a bidding war starts, you're screwed. Â I'll admit to getting nailed like that on a Canali suit from a certain seller named Chuck...nixed his BIN early, then wound up paying 10% over it after all the sport bidders and countersnipers had their say. The second reason for early lowballing has to do with sellers modifying listings. Â If there are no bids, the seller can do just about anything to the listing. Â The Kiton suit you've pointed your auto-sniper at could be replaced by a bag of rocks if the seller is that sort of person. Â Placing even a $1 bid sharply limits the seller's ability to screw you that way. Finally, back in the days of the 30-item max watch list, bidding low was a convenient way of keeping track of your targets in My Ebay. Â Now that you can watch 100 items at a time, it's usually not necessary. Â Nick M, let's all hope and pray that eBay bidders do not become rational, and that the pool of available items outstrips the number of strategic bidders. Â Otherwise, eBay will become a wasteland haunted by the shades of great deals past. --Adam, celebrating the pair of brand-spanking-new chestnut Alden captoes that just arrived today, sniped @ $70

 

[Huntsman]

I don't do so, but I understand people do this so they can get an alert (email I suppose) from 'My eBay' when the auction is near the end.

I just use my bookmarks and then snipe, by hand, but hey.

Regards,
Huntsman

 

[Brian SD]

Nick M, to answer your question, I think the eBayer who made an initial bid higher than the BIN price was probably assuming that the bidding would not go higher than the BIN, but since he really wanted it, he would be willing to pay more in the case that it does. However, he didnt want to pay the full BIN price if he did not have to, so he makes a high maximum 1st bid, and hopes that no one else cranks it up to the BIN price. In this case, he lost money, but he could have saved quite a bit if other people would not have tried to outbid him.

 

[Brian SD]

If I was him I would have just placed the minimum bid to trash the BIN option and then snipe it up.

 

[Carlo]

But what a nice Canali suit that was

You guys have it figured, 3-4 of my regular customers routinely bid at my opening price (I rarely do $1 auctions though) and often come back in the last hour to keep an eye on it. Now here is how you should all bid: 1. Place an opening bid 2. wait til two hours before the auction ends 3. Start drinking heavily, take your laptop to a bar with wi-fi and look for three girls you want to impress. 4. Email other bidders, tell them that not only are you going to outbid them, but they are 'Girlie Men', do your Ahnold impression and wink at the girls as you do this. 5. Keep drinking and talking loud. 6. With 5 Seconds to go enter a ridiculously high bid and if you win, and this is crucial - paypal before you have a chance to sober up and consider the wisdom of this advice. ...This public service message provided free of charge.

 

[VMan]

But what a nice Canali suit that was

You guys have it figured, 3-4 of my regular customers routinely bid at my opening price (I rarely do $1 auctions though) and often come back in the last hour to keep an eye on it. Now here is how you should all bid: 1. Â Place an opening bid 2. Â wait til two hours before the auction ends 3. Â Start drinking heavily, take your laptop to a bar with wi-fi and look for three girls you want to impress. 4. Â Email other bidders, tell them that not only are you going to outbid them, but they are 'Girlie Men', do your Ahnold impression and wink at the girls as you do this. 5. Â Keep drinking and talking loud. 6. Â With 5 Seconds to go enter a ridiculously high bid and if you win, and this is crucial - paypal before you have a chance to sober up and consider the wisdom of this advice. ...This public service message provided free of charge.

I've learned that buying things on ebay when you've had a drink or two is a bad idea...very bad. Of course, you end up with some nice things you usually wouldn't have purchased otherwise, but your bank account will not thank you in the morning.

 

[armscye]

Melissa Etheridge tells a great story about breaking up with a lover (my, how discreetly I handled that one), getting drunk, going on Ebay, and buying a muscle car on the other side of the continent.

So intox-ebaying happens even to the rich and famous...

 

[A Harris]

Now here is how you should all bid: 1. Place an opening bid 2. wait til two hours before the auction ends 3. Start drinking heavily, take your laptop to a bar with wi-fi and look for three girls you want to impress. 4. Email other bidders, tell them that not only are you going to outbid them, but they are 'Girlie Men', do your Ahnold impression and wink at the girls as you do this. 5. Keep drinking and talking loud. 6. With 5 Seconds to go enter a ridiculously high bid and if you win, and this is crucial - paypal before you have a chance to sober up and consider the wisdom of this advice.

Excellent strategy. I adovocate it wholeheartedly

 

[FIHTies]

Quote:

Now here is how you should all bid: 1. Â Place an opening bid 2. Â wait til two hours before the auction ends 3. Â Start drinking heavily, take your laptop to a bar with wi-fi and look for three girls you want to impress. 4. Â Email other bidders, tell them that not only are you going to outbid them, but they are 'Girlie Men', do your Ahnold impression and wink at the girls as you do this. 5. Â Keep drinking and talking loud. 6. Â With 5 Seconds to go enter a ridiculously high bid and if you win, and this is crucial - paypal before you have a chance to sober up and consider the wisdom of this advice.
Excellent strategy. I adovocate it wholeheartedly Â

As buyer or seller?

JJF

 

[drizzt3117]

wow... i'm getting outsniped left and right lately, lost an auction for a belvest jacket and two brioni suits... maybe I need to stick to buy it now.