Ebay bidding question

yasir · 05-03-2005, 04:46 AM

Last night i was bidding on a Porsche diecast model and to my surprise one bidder made 3 bids one after the other from $38 to $46

Could this possibly be the seller himself ? Any way i have been snipped quite a few times in the past,on the very last few minutes but this time i was ready and could not stop laughing seeing the desperation of this person who joined the bidding in the last 2 minutes

pa911 · 05-03-2005, 05:03 AM

Quite possible,A person I work with who sells alot on ebay bids on his items to drive the price up!

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

Sellers bidding on their own stuff (shilling) is very common, and ebay actually used to condone it - hey, anything to raise commissions, right? And sniping is normal nowdays. I don't bid 'in person' unless it's something in which I only have a passing interest, or a friend of mine is selling it. That's probably why I don't use it much anymore.

stomachmonkey · 05-03-2005, 05:56 AM

Could be the seller could be just another buyer.

I don't use the "maximum bid" option much.

Just feels like an immediate way to drive the price up.

Sounds like the bidder used the same approach that I use. Open 2-3 bid windows, enter incrementally higher prices and leave them at the confirmation/submit stage.

Another window stays open for the item description and I refresh it continuously to see if I need to submit a new bid.

Scott

Scooter · 05-03-2005, 06:23 AM

Sounds like the bidder used maximum bid option and someone else was trying to outbid him. The maximum bid option will automatically bid up for you, to outbid the last bidder. Example: your maximum bid is $10 and the current price is $5; the bidding increments are $1; if someone bids $6, the system will tell that bidder that he has been outbid, then place the bid of $6 for the bidder with the maximum bid of $10. This could go on until the bid reaches over $10.

I am also aware of sniping software, but it doesn't sound like it was used in this case. I know what you are going through, E-bay bidding is a pain. That is why I use "buy it now" most of the time.

yasir · 05-03-2005, 06:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by stomachmonkey

I don't use the "maximum bid" option much.

Another window stays open for the item description and I refresh it continuously to see if I need to submit a new bid.

Scott

If you don't use the " maximum bid option " then how would you respond to the very last minute bid snipping ? for example yesterday the bid stayed at $38 up until the last 3 minutes when a new bidder jumped in.Can you imagine him trying desperately to out bid me by bidding first $48 then $52 and lastly $55 with $56 being the winning bid and i am sure he would have placed more bids had he not ran out of time.
With out the maximum bid option one won't have time to place a bid in the crucial final milli seconds

amity914 · 05-03-2005, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Scooter92
I am also aware of sniping software, but it doesn't sound like it was used in this case. I know what you are going through, E-bay bidding is a pain. That is why I use "buy it now" most of the time.

I like to just "buy it now" as well, I hate having to schedule the end of the auction, use my high speed connection, and super fast typing to snipe something. We have made most of our stuff "buy it now" and we sell much more that way. It bites even more when you get a second chance offer because the high bidder didn't complete his sale, and you pay your top bid, not what you would have won it for if the NPB would'nt have bid.

HIEDI

Steve Carlton · 05-03-2005, 06:41 AM

I just figure out the most I'm willing to pay without getting caught up in the auction fever and put in a maximum bid right at the end. Seems like "buy it now" prices are pretty high sometimes. And some sellers set up a reserve that's just barely lower than the "buy it now" price...

juanbenae · juanbenae's Garage

dont they have services that will bid for you as the auction closes uop to a specific amount?