bidding on reserve price items?

windswept

when you bid on an item with a reserve, but your bid isn't high enough, does the seller get notification of that bid?
I am watching an item that is worth over £100 but is in a very specialised field that only serious collectors would be interested in-I have only ever sold one, I paid £80 for it and sold it on for £130.
I have put in a couple of low bids to try and guestimate the reserve but I don't want to go very high and tip my hand that I know what it's worth.
there are no other bidders and it has a couple of days left, it's also in an under-used category. I suppose I am hoping that he won't sell but then will contact me as the (hopefully) only bidder and I will get it. does that make me bad? everyone wants a bargain!

rare_stuff

the seller will see you bidding but will not know how much you have bid unless another bidder comes along or you reach the reserve price.

Hintza

Why are you bidding now? Bid late and bid high (maximum you wish to pay) and see if you get it.

You are making an assumption that the seller a bit dozy and will sell it cheap to you, however the fact that he has a reserve probably means he knows exactly how much its worth.

If you want it just don't be too cute or you will miss out.

Sugar_Coated_Owl

Well the reserve has to be at least £50.

When I used to put reserves on my items (when the minimum wasn't £50) the seller would be able to see that there had been a bid but it had not met the reserve.

windswept

I am now in a bit of a quandry, in the proper category for this item there is another one that ends 7 hours after his, it has 23 bids and is already up to £70, the only way someone would find his item is by searching for the very specific description as there are only the two of them.
my conscience says that I should tell him to put it in the right category but would that be auction interference? or do I wait it out and hope he doesn't get other bids and then get in at the last minute? to have two of these on at the same time is really unusual, to have one of them in a wrong category is most peculiar. I know it's silly but I would feel a bit guilty for not telling him, but on the other hand surely he would have checked out what it's worth, it's very distinctive and they are not too hard to find on the net, there were only 500 made and I know of at least 4 I could get hold of in the uk for @ £90 each. they are sitting on a shelf in a very dusty stockroom-they must have been there since they were first made. I may just buy all of them and start a bidding frenzy!

windswept

Hintza wrote:

Why are you bidding now? Bid late and bid high (maximum you wish to pay) and see if you get it.

You are making an assumption that the seller a bit dozy and will sell it cheap to you, however the fact that he has a reserve probably means he knows exactly how much its worth.

If you want it just don't be too cute or you will miss out.

he must be a bit dozy as it's in the wrong category, albeit a very similar one , the funny thing is that there is an absolutely specific sub-category for this type of thing. that's where the other one is. If I can get it for £50 I'll be a happy bunny, I have only bid £30 as yet so I'll leave it till the last minute.
If I decide to get some more of these, would it be best to put them all on together (probably not) or spread them out so there is only one at a time?;)

frivolous_fay

MickMack wrote:

This annoys me sometimes too, if there's something with a reserve on it, but no one else is bidding, then you cant win it even if your maximum bid is greater that the reserve price.

Are you sure about this? Surely if you bid over the reserve, the price goes straight to the reserve price? Only then does the real war begin... assuming there are other bidders!

You could get a friend to ASQ what the reserve is...? Reserves aren't state secrets.

Incidentally, I never browse by category - I use search - so don't assume no-one else has noticed the listing

pennylane99

frivolous_fay wrote:

Incidentally, I never browse by category - I use search - so don't assume no-one else has noticed the listing

I never search by category either.....I think most would just put what they are looking for into the main search box.

Sugar_Coated_Owl

Personally I wouldn't contact the seller and tell them that it is listed in the wrong category. It's the sellers responsibilty to ensure they list it correctly. You could pick up a bargain!

windswept

frivolous_fay wrote:

Are you sure about this? Surely if you bid over the reserve, the price goes straight to the reserve price? Only then does the real war begin... assuming there are other bidders!

You could get a friend to ASQ what the reserve is...? Reserves aren't state secrets.

Incidentally, I never browse by category - I use search - so don't assume no-one else has noticed the listing

So do I , that's how I found it, but you have to search for exactly the right wording, I have tried searching with other similar wording and it hasn't shown. he has worded it in a very peculiar way, if you search for what the item actually is , it doesn't show-only when you put in the specific "variety" for want of a better word.
perhaps it's just a glitch, but why would the other one in the right section have so much interest and not his, if it wasn't for the fact that the listing is practically invisible? surely the bidders on the "visible" one would have searched for others when they know how rare they are? I am sure one of them at least would have seen it. (perhaps they have and are being crafty-but now they know there have been bids).

pennylane99

windswept wrote:

So do I , that's how I found it, but you have to search for exactly the right wording, I have tried searching with other similar wording and it hasn't shown. he has worded it in a very peculiar way, if you search for what the item actually is , it doesn't show-only when you put in the specific "variety" for want of a better word.
perhaps it's just a glitch, but why would the other one in the right section have so much interest and not his, if it wasn't for the fact that the listing is practically invisible? surely the bidders on the "visible" one would have searched for others when they know how rare they are? I am sure one of them at least would have seen it. (perhaps they have and are being crafty-but now they know there have been bids).

do both listings have view counters?

is there a big difference on view numbers...