ebay advise

[juanbenae]

i am starting to use ebay after being a member for two years. wow is it addicting!!!!

how do you guys play things?

lay out till the auction is near the end, say less than a day, while following the item up the ladder before joining the bidding?

bid throughout the journey up the list?

would it be a good idea (for me, as you know me) to send the seller an email and reference him to,, say as a pelican user in lue of any buyer rating? or is it better to just play it quiet?


glad work bans ebay use, i would not have anytime for pelican....
TIA

[RickM]

I have been a very successful auction sniper. I wait till the last 20 seconds to bid. IMO, bidding early just raises the price.

[Moses]

Originally posted by RickM
I have been a very successful auction sniper. I wait till the last 20 seconds to bid. IMO, bidding early just raises the price.

Absolutely. NEVER bid more than 1 minute before the auction ends. Just add the thing to your watchlist or use a surrogate bidding service. I have used BidNip successfully in the past.

[mikester]

Wait till the end - know your top price and stick that in. If it goes over - let it go. Don't get caught up in the bidding.

As always - Moses has it right.

[turbo6bar]

Sniping is the way to go. I'm an Ebay Junky. Many times, prices are ridiculous. Other times, the deals are really good.

3 weeks ago, I bought a cycling jacket from England. You can't buy it from a retailer for less than $300+shipping. I got it brand new with tags for $155 shipped. Last week, new Lexus factory service manuals for $110. Dealer price is $215.

Make a shortlist of items you want/need and search Ebay occasionally.

[Rot 911]

Sniping is the only way to go.

[bryanthompson]

Sniping is the best way to get something... but playing Ebay Chicken is fun also

I've ended up buying some pretty useless crap just playing chicken. it's entertaining though.

[RickM]

......and I've been known to fall asleep at the wheel. Only to wake up to an auction that ended seconds ago... Then I start saying to myself "I really didn't need that" it's actually pretty funny.

[VenezianBlau 87]

All of the above advice rings true...

I use Auction Sniper. Been awhile since I bid on anything though.

Your question:
would it be a good idea (for me, as you know me) to send the seller an email and reference him to,, say as a pelican user in lue of any buyer rating? or is it better to just play it quiet?

If I read correctly:
Sellers may request in their ad that no/low feedback bidders email them first. If not, they may contact you to make sure you're serious. If you use a sniper and win with zero feedback, just contact them right away so they don't go to the next bidder.

Additionally, I learned to curb the Warsteiner / Becks whilst browsing eBay late at night...I now have an antique diecast Matchbox model of a pink trailer!!!

Then there's the "Wierd" section. No further comment on that.

Have fun!

[widebody911]

There's a sort of life cycle that ebay-ers go thru, kinda like the stages od death, which ends up a sniping.

My epiphany was when I paid $700 for a 1959 Tonka fire truck set, after bidding back and forth with a single person for 7 days. If I had just sniped it, I probably would have paid < $100.

I know a guy who ran a sniping service (dunno if it's still running) and he told me it was a constant battle against ebay's countermeasures. They have a team whose job it is to sniff out and defeat those services; sniping means lower commissions; lower commissions leads to lower profit; lower profit leads to suf-er-ing.

[RickM]

Originally posted by VenezianBlau 87

If you use a sniper and win with zero feedback, just contact them right away so they don't go to the next bidder.

A seller can also reject a bid from anyone, usually bidders with poor or no feedback. You cou'ld get bitten if you're pulled at the last minute.

[RickM]

Who needs software to snipe?

Sniping is an art...you are one with your PC, your Interent connection and Ebay server perfomance.....

[juanbenae]

so much to learn.

bob, point taken,, no ebay after capt morgan has taken my mind. i am headed to the wierd section right away.....

rick,, so you are obliagted to buy if you win, but they are not obligated to sell? i guess i should email the guy and let him know i am good for it. a goverment email address might not hurt? i have also been registered for 2+ years, just never bought.

[cmccuist]

One thing i do to avoid paying too much is go to Completed Items. Do a search and click the completed items box. It lists all the auctions that have ended within the last 30 days. That way you can see what that particular item sells for typically.

Also, get the shipping costs up front. You don't want someone making money on the shipping as well as the piece.

[RickM]

Originally posted by k911sc
rick,, so you are obliagted to buy if you win, but they are not obligated to sell? i guess i should email the guy and let him know i am good for it. a goverment email address might not hurt? i have also been registered for 2+ years, just never bought.

A seller is "legally" obligated to sell after the close of an auction. He/she can refuse your bid Before the close though. A bidder can also retract a bid Before the close. I wouldn't make a habit of it though.

[bluebullet]

i have dialup still so I have to do ebay at work if i want to win anything.

I lost on a big for JDM recaro seats for my colt once when it was still a street car. I was winning the bid at a low low price of $300 with rails. some guy just coming along bid with 2 minutes left...sniper program obviously.

I was quite ticked that he was beating me...so I kept increasing my bid until I found out he had his reserve set at $700. I bid $701, then retracted it and contacted the seller that I made a mistake in the price. I won the auction, yet I was very fortunate that he accepted my apologies and sold them to the guy who had outbid me in the first place.

My motto is....if you are going to try and outbid....I'm gonna take you down with me. I'll make you pay the max your reserve is, if not more. I forgot how many times Ive gotten emails from the person that wins the bid saying that was fuked up what I did and that they are going to report me to ebay that I was in cahoots with the seller trying to jack the price. Everytime, they come up empty handed because I have no relation to any of the sellers. Im just a hater.....if I cant get it, either no one will or I'll make you pay some outrageous price for it.

[RickM]

You're exactly what makes sniping attractive.

[turbo6bar]

you're a real treat, bluebullet. hope you have lots of karma in the wallet.

[RickM]

Originally posted by RickM
You're exactly what makes sniping the best option.

[techweenie]

I use auctionsniper.com

I don't check in on the auctions too much, because you can rationalize too easily when the price goes over what you really wanted to pay in the 'bidding wars.' I've seen plenty of buffoons like our friend above overpay for stuff. And I suppose many of them them also beg their way our of their commitment.

You have to buy under market value to allow for surprises... Look at the orange/red '70 911 on eBay now: looks good, but there are no shots of the front pan, f&r windshield corners, heat exchangers or any of several other very expensive problem areas. This car may be just fine, but you must assume that what you haven't seen is a problem area.

The bottom line: never pay more than 85% of the value for an item on eBay (including shipping).