Last Minute Bids

Party_Animal

Can anyone advise? Last week I narrowly missed out on an item I thought I'd won. It was my bid and it went below the minute and at no point was I told I'd been outbid. It was only later that I saw the item listed under not won. I assume that someone must have used some software to bid at the last minute. There is a simlar item for sale this week and I want to make sure I get it. I've downloaded software, I think its called Trillian but I've never used it. Any tips and what if 2 or more people are using the same software?
Thanks

frivolous_fay

I've just signed up at justsnipe.com, you get 5 free snipes a week. I won an item at a nice price yesterday using it... I set it to bid with 5 seconds to go.

Hintza

You don't need software, I find my software misses sometimes. Your main problem was you didn't leave it until the last 15-20 seconds and you didn't pay enough!


I keep two browsers open one with my bid primed and ready to go and the second one with the item listing which I continually refresh until about 15 seconds to go then I press the confirm bid button. But also decide your maximum bid and bid that; that way you will never be beaten because if you are out bid it was more than you were willing to pay anyway.

manhattan

i too have 3 browser windows open on the bid confirm stage with different amounts i click within 20 seconds before the auction end starting with the lowest bid ,middle bid,then my highest one.

i keep an extra browser window open for refreshing the main auction page,to keep an eye on the time.

GabbaGabbaHey

manhattan wrote:

i too have 3 browser windows open on the bid confirm stage with different amounts i click within 20 seconds before the auction end starting with the lowest bid ,middle bid,then my highest one.

Do you actually understand how eBay works? I'd strongly suggest that you read about Proxy bidding on the eBay site - it is very different to a traditional "going, going, gone" auction.

You should never place more than a single bid (your maximum) on any eBay auction.

Jay-Jay_4

manhattan wrote:

i too have 3 browser windows open on the bid confirm stage with different amounts i click within 20 seconds before the auction end starting with the lowest bid ,middle bid,then my highest one.

i keep an extra browser window open for refreshing the main auction page,to keep an eye on the time.

But.... you're driving up the price by doing that.

soolin

Jay-Jay wrote:

But.... you're driving up the price by doing that.

You can't outbid yourself, each bid is linked to the original bid so only a second bidder can raise you.

There is one amendment to that, and that is if the original bid was at maximum and the new proxy bid reaches another full increment, then your bid will raise by a few pence, but that is rare.

Also, I tend to agree that if you place your maximum bid once towards the end of the auction then you can only lose if the item goes beyond your upper limit. If you get outbid at that point then you didn't lose to a snipe you onlyl ost on price.

Sniping does have some advantages in that a bidder who is reluctant to put in a high enough bid initially and who intends placing a last minute bid if the price rises will usually get caught out by a snipe.

Soo

Jay-Jay_4

Soo, I meant that if there's another person that wants the item and is bidding last minute then you are giving them time to enter a higher bid, they do and you do too..... then they do again and you then enter your maximum bid so you've paid more than you would if you had left it until the very last second and whacked in your maximum bid.


That's the way I see it anyway


Edited to add: If you mess aroudn with low bids before the very end of the auction then you're just alerting others that you want the item too which in turn drives up the price. Much better to catch them off their guard with a single, late, high bid.

LULUBELLE_2

GabbaGabbaHey wrote:

You should never place more than a single bid (your maximum) on any eBay auction.

There's nothing in Ebay's rules to say that you can't, lots of people do - you might place a bid, get outbid, then decide to go a bit higher.

manhattan

GabbaGabbaHey wrote:

Do you actually understand how eBay works? I'd strongly suggest that you read about Proxy bidding on the eBay site - it is very different to a traditional "going, going, gone" auction.

You should never place more than a single bid (your maximum) on any eBay auction.

yes i do know what im doing.
entering higher bids will not push the price i pay up every time i enter a higher bid it is when someone else bids that it will increase,i feel that this system works for me in that it stops shill bidders to a certain extent,and other bidders who try a last minute bid but dont have time to quickly put in another bid in the heat of the moment when they find out that their last minute bid was still not enough.

but at the end of the day if someone places a higher bid i still wont win with this method,but as i said it works better for me this way.

Party_Animal

Thanks everyone. I never though of using more than one browser. It was really annoying as I was sure I'd won this. My bid was winning when it went below the minute and I didn't think you could physically bid at that point. The item had 2 days left to run and at the moment there are 3 silly low bids. I won't be bidding till near the end.