Is ebay becoming a snipe fest?

theoretica

paddyrg wrote: »

In a sealed bid auction id person A bids £100, B bids £110 and C bids £200, the goods sell for £200. In a sniped auction they would sell for £110 + the lowest increment (so maybe £120).

Probably not so. In a highest price sealed bid auction all your bidders would be second guessing what other people will be bidding and are likely to put in lower bids. With a second price sealed bid, or sniping on ebay, the person bidding £200 knows there is a chance they will have to pay £200 for the item, but also a chance it will be theirs for less. If it were a highest bid sealed bid auction they would know it would either cost them £200, or not be theirs, and they would be desperately trying to guess how many other bids and what it was worth to other people and bid only slightly more.

Dabbling in the theory and maths of auctions is fun, and worthwhile. Take for instance one item I wanted some years ago - 99p start, no reserve, buy it now £9.99. I was the first bidder and put in a bid of £15...

bartelbe

alykatz wrote: »

Different venue,totally different situation.You cannot compare them as like for like ,thats just silly. Plus the chance of shilling is very low although they do also have proxy bidding ect .If i go to somewhere like that i bid my max buy what i want then leave.Ebay is more for those selling bits and pieces they would otherwise donate or sell at a carboot, but they use ebay because of the far larger pool of possible buyers.
At the end of the day i see a lot of people crying about a fair deal for sellers and people shouldbe considering if the sellers getting a fair price!!! What a silly idea, i walk into a shop to purchase say a pair of shoes , i browse see what i like and questions cross my mind, will they look good with my outfit, are they comfortable ect. I pay what is asked and leave not once do i stop and ask myself should i be paying more, is the seller getting a fair price.
Harsh as it may sound i bid and pay whats asked if its not what the seller wanted price wise thats their problem not mine.
As has been said on here time and time again, start any auction at the minimum you want for your item, If it sells thats good if not then at least your not upset your buyer didnt pay what you wanted.

As for shill bidding, that is ebay not policing their site properly. If they allowed you to see who bid on items for example, shill bidding would become fairly obvious looking at the bidding history on items the seller sells.

You seem to be very anti-seller. Most sellers aren't looking to rip people off, but they are not charities. If they are selling their own items they want a fair price for them, if they are buying stock, they need to make a profit.

If sellers can't make money on ebay, they will simply give up on the site and buyers will find that all that is left is 99p junk, scammers, and big sellers. No more interesting finds, or quirky items.

Starting the auction at a minium price is fine, great, but there is already a listing method for that. Buy it now or buy it now best offer, which is a reverse auction. Now if ebay wants to switch to those selling methods only, fair enough.

I simply don't think the auction system works at the moment, it is becoming more like a buy it now sale, with one finish time, which I don't think was original intention of the site.

alykatz

bartelbe wrote: »

As for shill bidding, that is ebay not policing their site properly. If they allowed you to see who bid on items for example, shill bidding would become fairly obvious looking at the bidding history on items the seller sells.

You seem to be very anti-seller. Most sellers aren't looking to rip people off, but they are not charities. If they are selling their own items they want a fair price for them, if they are buying stock, they need to make a profit.

If sellers can't make money on ebay, they will simply give up on the site and buyers will find that all that is left is 99p junk, scammers, and big sellers. No more interesting finds, or quirky items.

Starting the auction at a minium price is fine, great, but there is already a listing method for that. Buy it now or buy it now best offer, which is a reverse auction. Now if ebay wants to switch to those selling methods only, fair enough.

I simply don't think the auction system works at the moment, it is becoming more like a buy it now sale, with one finish time, which I don't think was original intention of the site.

No im not anti-seller, i sell myself but always start just below the minimum i will accept so am never unhappy or blaming buyers looking for bargains because it sells for less than im willing to let it go for.

As for shilling i agree with you but we can only work within the given system as defined by ebay. There are ways to look at it still just is a little harder..
As for sellers wanting a fair price, well that can often be be subjective depending on who is pricing the item. And to be fair the market can and will set the price with no regard with what the seller might think its worth.I do see sellers who have unrealistic prices for their things and then wonder why it doesnt sell.

As for setting a minimum price, well all auctions everywhere do that without exception, so im not sure where your coming from with that one.

Especially in these hard times finacially ,everyone wants to find the best price for whatever they may want. Sellers always have it in their power to set prices, if they choose to take a gamble with the end price thats their downfall not the the buyers fault.

Crowqueen

Bart - if you price your items so that buyers are buying them, then you're fine. If you're not pricing your items so people buy, sometimes you've got to ask yourself a few questions as well as other people.

No-one forces a certain buyer to buy from a certain seller, or is forcing you to use eBay. In the absence of coercion, people are going to do what is most advantageous for them. No-one owes you a living - so actually find out what the people paying think, and then use that to fuel your own sales, not arrogantly decide what they ought to think and use that. You'll have a lot more success, get a lot more out of the current system, and be happier as a result.

eaglesrjh

Yes Sniping is more common, i do it myself as a buyer.

As a seller you have a number of options available to you depending what your selling and how desperate you are to sell.

option 1) Auction with low start price. For me this is only for things you are happy to sell whatever the outcome. Sniping may well decrease the final selling price as it does stop the "red mist" bidding we used to see. This method is not for anything with potentially a small number of buyers or something you would be unhappy selling at a low price. Sellers can protect themselves a bit with a reserve price.

option 2) Auction with higher starting price. Runs the risk of not selling, however if it does you have a price your happy with, multiple bidders will increase your price. For me best used when you have a minimum price your willing to let it go for but you hope to get more.

option 3) Buy it now with best offer. Set a price you would like but let buyers send offers for your consideration, For me best used when you want rid of the item and have hope it will sell for the higher price but you may be happier at lower.

option 4) Fixed buy it now. Seller prices the item, buyer agrees or does not agree to buy at that price. pricing is all important with this as price too high and it will not sell, if there are minimal buyers then repeated attempts to sell may be required before item sells.

option 5) Decreasing Buy it now. (my option) (best with 30 day listings) Seller prices at a price at the higher end of what they hope to achieve. If not sold after x number of days seller reduces price slightly. Continue this until sold or the BIN price is the minimum you would accept.

There may be more. For me Sniping is not a bad thing, it's up to each seller to decide which method is best for them. It has always been a case that if you start an auction low then you run the risk of selling it low. Sniping has stopped some of the excessive prices achieved by auction fever maybe but overall it's not a bad thing.

eaglesrjh

also to add if i dont think my item has many buyers I will set my first BIN price towards the lower end of what i'm happy with. As a higher price might scare away the limited number of buyers.

Doing this style I sell quite a few things at my first price (as i've done my research first), often many at 2nd price and rarely do I need to go down to my lowest price.

for me this is the balance between trying to get the best price but also making a sale.

for sellers it's about your attitude to selling, want rid of the item and minimum fuss, then low auction is for you, want to put more effort in and monitor your sales then a falling BIN is a good option.