Last seconds of auction...How long to wait?

RubyMurray

Moglex wrote:

I think that absurdly getting "close to the tape" is a somewhat overrated ploy.

The only time that's important is you have some numpty bidder who happens to have lightning reflexes.

I don' thing there are that many people who sit refreshing the screen with the intention of bidding if their top bid is trounced.

Oh I don't know.. I've won many an auction by bidding 1p over.

laura1976

mrbadexample wrote:

I've lost out on one this evening, where I would have bid too much if I'd have had time. I was furious, but have calmed down a bit now. :rolleyes:

I get to a point where winning becomes more important than the price, last time I did that I paid £60 for a phone that was probably worth £30:o . Getting better with time though. Been outbid tonight yet again on timberland boots for my little lad, why won't anyone let me get them!:mad:

mrbadexample

laura1976 wrote:

I get to a point where winning becomes more important than the price, last time I did that I paid £60 for a phone that was probably worth £30:o . Getting better with time though. Been outbid tonight yet again on timberland boots for my little lad, why won't anyone let me get them!:mad:

Then you need to adopt the last-second tactics. That way you don't get chance to go silly.

I was outbid tonight by (judging by the things he's bought recently) a very wealthy American (considerably richer than me, anyway :rolleyes: ), so wasn't going to win anyway.

mamajustify

I always put bids on within the last 40 seconds. The only problem with this is that if you are outbid you don't always have time to bid again. It all depends on how badly you want the item. The beauty of ebay is that you can usually find another item similar to the one you were outbid on.
If it is something you really want, go to your highest price and put the bid on anyway.
I did snipe something the other day for my son and I got so flustered bidding in the lastfew seconds that I bid £1050 instead of £10.50.Luckily I won it for £10.50.

ginger_nuts

I use auction snipper .
I decide my max bid and the bid is entered by auction snipper in the last 30 seconds .
sometimes I win ,sometimes I dont but I dont get carried away and bid silly amounts .

kriss_boy

I totally disagree with sniper bidding as in selling expensive guitars for several years Ive seen exactly how my customers get bargains.

Place a high early bid and youll deter other bidders. This has worked time and time again on over 300 guitars. If a guitar is sitting cheap, everyone watches it, and most people bid. If its high already after a couple of days they look elsewhere.

My turnover on guitars wasnt far off a quarter of a million dollars. I knew what each model was worth and like I say, the way to get them cheaper was bold, reasonable early bids.

Moglex

kriss_boy wrote:

I totally disagree with sniper bidding as in selling expensive guitars for several years Ive seen exactly how my customers get bargains.

Place a high early bid and youll deter other bidders. This has worked time and time again on over 300 guitars. If a guitar is sitting cheap, everyone watches it, and most people bid. If its high already after a couple of days they look elsewhere.

My turnover on guitars wasnt far off a quarter of a million dollars. I knew what each model was worth and like I say, the way to get them cheaper was bold, reasonable early bids.

Anything other than sniping will only work with inexperienced (or stupid) bidders.

The only sensible way to bid on ebay is to decide the most you're willing to pay and snipe with that amount.

I suppose there might be an exception for catagories of item which attract newbie, or possibly less intelligent, bidders who could be intimidated by early high bids, but why would anyone with any intelligence be put off bidding £100 for an item which the think is worth that just because someone else has already bid £95?

It simply doesn't make sense.


BTW, how did these people manage to get big bids showing?

alba37

Anything other than sniping will only work with inexperienced (or stupid) bidders.

The only sensible way to bid on ebay is to decide the most you're willing to pay and snipe with that amount.

I suppose there might be an exception for catagories of item which attract newbie, or possibly less intelligent, bidders who could be intimidated by early high bids, but why would anyone with any intelligence be put off bidding £100 for an item which the think is worth that just because someone else has already bid £95?

It simply doesn't make sense.


BTW, how did these people manage to get big bids showing?

I agree!! Big bids won't show, so that can't work. They will only go up if someone else puts in a bid.

I use snipestation. It's free and bids in the last 20 seconds. Just make sure you do put in the maximum you would pay, as there is No chance of upping your bid!

Alba

Mikeyorks

Moglex wrote:

The only sensible way to bid on ebay is to decide the most you're willing to pay and snipe with that amount.

Agree with that. The only time I've really been taken to the cleaners is with a French chandelier I bought from a seller in the US. The auction (Pre snipers) was timed to finish around 0400hrs our time. No way I was staying up until then. Did all my homework on prices bid for similar items in the States and left a bid several $hundred more than the current price at midnight. And some $250 more than I expected it to go for.

Very depressed, next morning to find some newbie had placed 20 consec bids in the last hour and taken it up to within $5 of my OTT figure. And it rubbed salt in the wound when I was then charged £70 import duty / VAT.

It's the first and last time I've ever bid outside the last 20 seconds.

bella4uk

I always start my definate selling items at 99p...as the more bids there are on an item it generates more interest as people are curious as to why it has so many bids....just like when you are in a shop if there are a huddle of people looking at something it makes people come over and see what all the fuss is about...
so to conclude, do not bid until near the end or you can bet someone will else will bid pretty soon afterwards.....please forget this theory if bidding on my auctions though...:)