Why do people outbid at the last second

shockingmoment

try:
https://www.gixen.com
free for life.
who ever you choose, make sure its secure (SSL / https, little padlock etc)

wigglebeena

I just got outbid for something I wanted as a Christmas present. It's a bit gutting for the first couple of seconds, then you realise that the guy who won paid too much anyway, ha ha ha! other presents out there, lots of them.

kriss_boy

Something I used to do, but it never worked! Was to to state "Free postage on bids placed before the final 12 hours".

I only did this on expensive items where postage wasnt a significant proportion of my profits.

Didnt really work though but its worth a try perhaps. You cant really lose anyway.

JoeyG

kriss_boy wrote:

Something I used to do, but it never worked! Was to to state "Free postage on bids placed before the final 12 hours".

I only did this on expensive items where postage wasnt a significant proportion of my profits.

Didnt really work though but its worth a try perhaps. You cant really lose anyway.

That doesnt make any sense!

You said yourself, the items that stay at a low price for longer get more watchers, and usually end up going for a higher price

Tirian

You're assuming that people wait until near the end of the auction to decide how much they want to "snipe" something for.

If you know from the start the max you are willing to pay, you can set up snipes for those items priced below that well in advance and then forget about it till the auction's over. If the price goes too high, you don't win - simple as that. If the price stays low, you win .. at a bargain price.

Used properly, there's no way that you will end up over-paying by sniping. You'll either win for a cheap price ... or lose, and not pay at all.

In fact, one of the main advantages of using snipe software for me is that I can decide my max bid rationally without being caught up in the excitement of the moment at the end of an auction, where you may well push your boundaries a bit .. or a lot!

kriss_boy

JoeyG wrote:

That doesnt make any sense!

You said yourself, the items that stay at a low price for longer get more watchers, and usually end up going for a higher price

Sorry, to clarify, I only did this on expensive guitars, like £1000 plus.

The reason being I need a good indication of how much the guitar will sell for beacause ebay changed it rules to prevent sellers ending auctions within the last few seconds.

In the past Id cancel an auction with 20 seconds left if it was low, but then ebay put in the 12 hour rule.

I refuse to pay £30 to put a reserve on an item.

mangomango

People do this because Ebay is an 'auction' just like a real life auction (like Sotherbys) people bid right up to the hammer; they bid right up to the last second online too!

kriss_boy

mangomango wrote:

People do this because Ebay is an 'auction' just like a real life auction (like Sotherbys) people bid right up to the hammer; they bid right up to the last second online too!

Its hardline the same thing tho!!! Ebay auctions last days not minutes for a start...

GabbaGabbaHey

shockingmoment wrote:

who ever you choose, make sure its secure (SSL / https, little padlock etc)

While you are right, there is a lot more to security than just throwing technology at it.

How do you know that the employees and system administrators at the sniping company are totally trustworthy, and will not sell your eBay password?

Even if they are totally trustworthy, how do you know that the sniping company has set up its security correctly, so that there is no risk of hackers obtaining your eBay password?

How exactly do these sniping companies (especially the "free" ones) fund their sites?

GabbaGabbaHey

mangomango wrote:

People do this because Ebay is an 'auction' just like a real life auction (like Sotherbys) people bid right up to the hammer; they bid right up to the last second online too!

Firstly, in a real life auction, the end of the auction is when the last bid has been made. It's not that people bid right up to the hammer, it's that the hammer falls when people have finished bidding!

Secondly, eBay is not an auction (it calls itself an "online marketplace", and is not subject to the same laws as a traditional auction house) so comparing it with Sotheby's is not exactly a fair comparison.

Thirdly, auctions use a "going, going, gone" mechanism. eBay uses Proxy Bidding, which is totally different.