Why do people bother bidding when they dont want to bid close to the reserve price?

fatherazhara

before_hollywood wrote: »

erm....mate you can raise it, cos you can revise your bid at any time so if you want to revise your bid so you are over the reserve you can do.

of course you can raise your bid, that not whats being questioned, 'other members' believe that if you are the first bidder n an item with a reserve og eg £50 that if you bid £51 then you will automatically have met the reserve, however this isnt true, if you are the first bidder then no matter what your bid eBay will always bid the lowest amount which would still possibly be £0.99 regardless of max bid.

NeilJung

A few times I've seen an item listed by someone who has no idea of the usual going price for with a reserve. What I mean is they will list something that always goes for well under £50, so you know right away they are wasting their time and listing fees already. If I'm feeling mischevious I have been known to bid £49.99 on such items. It gives me a chuckle.

DaveAshton

fatherazhara wrote: »

of course you can raise your bid, that not whats being questioned, 'other members' believe that if you are the first bidder n an item with a reserve og eg £50 that if you bid £51 then you will automatically have met the reserve, however this isnt true, if you are the first bidder then no matter what your bid eBay will always bid the lowest amount which would still possibly be £0.99 regardless of max bid.

What the hell is wrong with you, yet again you're talking absolute, utter bo11ocks (how the hell you've lasted 6 1/2 years on ebay with so little knowledge of how it works is beyond me).

A reserve counts as an invisible bid. If the reserve isn't met, the reserve's "bid", wins. If the reserve is met (whether by only one bidder or several) the actual bid wins.

Here's a little game for you. As you're so incredibly confident of how the reserve feature works, I'll list an empty shoe box with a £99 reserve. Then, you can bid £100. No-one else will be stupid enough to bid, so by your theory you won't win the item with your solitary, above reserve bid. 7 days later you would have an NPB dispute opened against you, and 15 days after the sale date you'd get an NPB strike. You willing to take me up on it? :A

soolin

:wall:I can understand a new buyer or seller not understanding how a reserve works but an existing one.

Of course a single bidder who places a bid above reserve will win the auction, but frankly I can't even be bothered to argue the point with someone who just doesn't get it.

cyberbob

fatherazhara wrote: »

of course you can raise your bid, that not whats being questioned, 'other members' believe that if you are the first bidder n an item with a reserve og eg £50 that if you bid £51 then you will automatically have met the reserve, however this isnt true, if you are the first bidder then no matter what your bid eBay will always bid the lowest amount which would still possibly be £0.99 regardless of max bid.

I live on planet earth why don't you join me.

Hintza

fatherazhara will you take up DaveAshton's challenge?

before_hollywood

DaveAshton wrote: »

What the hell is wrong with you, yet again you're talking absolute, utter bo11ocks (how the hell you've lasted 6 1/2 years on ebay with so little knowledge of how it works is beyond me).

A reserve counts as an invisible bid. If the reserve isn't met, the reserve's "bid", wins. If the reserve is met (whether by only one bidder or several) the actual bid wins.

Here's a little game for you. As you're so incredibly confident of how the reserve feature works, I'll list an empty shoe box with a £99 reserve. Then, you can bid £100. No-one else will be stupid enough to bid, so by your theory you won't win the item with your solitary, above reserve bid. 7 days later you would have an NPB dispute opened against you, and 15 days after the sale date you'd get an NPB strike. You willing to take me up on it? :A

mate you should know by now £99 reserve on an empty shoe box is giving it away

can i not bid? i like a bargain :rotfl:

pulliptears

Smart_But_Casual wrote: »

If I see "Reserve" on an auction I don't usually bother with it.

I may email the seller and ask him what his reserve is set at and I often find that they really don't have a scooby of the real market value and have plucked an inflated price out of thin air.

Waste of time and cash IMHO

I'm a bit like you and do try and avoid reserve auctions. Last night however, OH noticed something he had been looking for and bid £357. Auction ended with reserve not met at £351 but seller offered to let it go for our bid so everyone happy and he is saving fee's.

I wouldn't normally go down this route, but seller is local so we can collect the item and inspect it fully before any cash changes hands.

DaveAshton

before_hollywood wrote: »

mate you should know by now £99 reserve on an empty shoe box is giving it away

can i not bid? i like a bargain :rotfl:

Nah, you can have one for £75 as I know you :rotfl:

BFG_2

I sometimes bid as it's a way of 'registering your interest' eg seller withdraws item and then relists later...some sellers email previous bidders telling them its up for sale again.

Some sellers offer a 2nd chance at a price way below their prev reserve [when they realise their reserve was way ott]

A seller sometimes uses 'bids' as a way of judging market value.

Some sellers email prev bidders and offer a sale off ebay [fine as long as you take precautions].

Just watching doesn't do any of the above.