Ebay rant, rookie bidders....

[adamred]

OK, I'm not the most experienced ebayer on the planet but I've gotta complain about people who shop for cars on ebay....I've noticed that a large proportion are very low feedback, I assume ebay rookies (or scammers)....

I've been tracking a bunch of older cars for kicks, seeing if I can swipe one relatively cheap to play with....These inexperienced ebayers are driving the cost of "no reserve" cars up to rediculous levels, with 6 sometimes 7 DAYS left in the auction....what's wrong with these people...it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that if you don't bid the price doesn't go up until the end!

Isn't that the darn point of ebay?!?!?

Rant over.....

[widebody911]

I've wondered what will happen once most people 'figure out' ebay, but I think between the sheer number of stupid people, and the shill bidders, this really won't be a problem.

[TerryBPP]

Those early bidders are most likely friends of the seller driving up the price. Nah, that can't be. Ebayers are all honest.

[billwagnon]

I'm not going to buy a car on eBay, but when I see something I want I put in the max amount I will pay, right then. Otherwise I'll forget about it, miss the deadline or whatever.


If somebody else bids over my amount (even a sniper) I don't care - they're overpaying.

it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that if you don't bid the price doesn't go up until the end!

it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the price will still go up to what the market will bear, and in a bell-curve of 'what people will pay to buy X', you are probably not at the far, "overpaying" end.

[LeeH]

I've got an auction going right now for the old radio I pulled from my car. There's a newbie bidder who keeps upping his bid by $1.00. He'll do that until he's the high bidder. Then when someone outbids him he comes back in upping it by $1.00 until he's on top.

[singpilot]

When I am the seller, I laugh at the stupid newbies and their need to be on top 7 days in advance of closing.

When I am the potential buyer, I curse the stupid newbies and their need to be on top 7 days in advance of closing.

Long and the short of it, there are a lot of stupid people out there.

[LeeH]

There are 12 bids on my radio. 10 of them are the newbie!

[speeder]

Originally posted by billwagnon
I'm not going to buy a car on eBay, but when I see something I want I put in the max amount I will pay, right then. Otherwise I'll forget about it, miss the deadline or whatever.

Bill,

All you need to do is click the "watch this item in my ebay" link on any auction and it will email you ~5 hours before the end to remind you, (and let you know if you still want to bid on it. Bidding your maximum amount several days before the auction ends is fine if you A) are sure you want the item, and B) are relatively sure that no one else wants it.

If it is a "hot item", or even warm, then bidding early is moronic. All you are doing is running the price up for the seller, plus now everyone knows what your max bid is. Auctions are like poker, you are playing w/ all of your cards on the table and you have a terrible hand.

What if another identical, (or better), item becomes available cheaper 12 hours before the end of the auction that you have already committed to for max dollar?? And if your max is fair market value, (or worse- a bargain), anyone else can simply beat you by $1.00, or whatever the increment is.

Like I said, if you really don't care about the item it's irrelevant. I buy things that I can't find elsewhere on ebay and get deals by playing a very simple game smartly. Don't ever tip your hand when you don't have to. Can you imagine the advantage at a real (live) auction if you could see all of the sealed bids in advance?? This ain't brain surgery, folks.

[She said:]

How the pros work:

"Selling on e-bay can be the most efficient 2-nd income ever,but like anything else in life you have to use common sense.
I buy and sell on e-bay. The way I see it is like this. I get paid at the end of the month (20-28) and my mortgage payment is due on the 1st but there is no penalty if I pay until the 15th. So I have at least 3 weeks to turn $1500 into $2200-2500. What do I do?

Well I buy $1500 worth of electronics on e-bay. The secret is not on how much you will sell it for (coz that is always known). The secret is on how much you will buy it. When you buy it low, and sell it for the average price you make a profit.

So you take a product you know, and you look at thousands of listing on e-bay. You find those that have the least possible description, and are ending at the worst possible time. Time and the way you list an item will determine the price it sells for. If a seller is new on e-bay, he has no idea how to describe and when to sell. You pray on these people. And believe me you will find plenty of those. You bid last 10 seks for the most you are willing to buy that item (leave room for $100-120 profit on a $200-$300 item).

Once you buy it, and you get the item, you list it with a complete description, lots and lots of fotos, 7-30 day warranty depending on the product and off-course you list for the auction to end at the best possible time."

[widebody911]

So what is the best possible time for an auction to end?

[cmccuist]

Originally posted by widebody911
So what is the best possible time for an auction to end?

Whenever I sell something on eBay, I try and end an auction around 6:00 PM on a Saturday or Sunday. I figure people are home at that time and there's usually nothing on TV, so they are on their computers.

[jrdavid68]

Originally posted by cmccuist
Whenever I sell something on eBay, I try and end an auction around 6:00 PM on a Saturday or Sunday. I figure people are home at that time and there's usually nothing on TV, so they are on their computers.

I do a little selling on eBay for a friend - mostly sports related stuff. I also have sold some computer related items as well as some coins etc.

I agree, it is definitely worth it to put some thought in to when an auction ends. For the sports items and coins etc., I agree, for the same reasons, that early Sat / Sun evenings are the best.

As for the computer components, I think having them end during the middle of a work day is best. Depending on the item, many of us "geeks" will be shopping for replacement parts while we are at work and the real "geeks" will be playing games at night and on the weekends (or out driving their 911s).

Living in the Pacific Time Zone, it is also important to take that into consideration. Something ending at 10:00pm PST will be 1:00am EST and will automatically limit your audience.

I have picked up a few good deals that have gone off early in the morning. Sometimes a seller on the East coast will list something at 7:00am or so - well that's 4:00am out here - good time to pick up a deal.

[widebody911]

Interesting.

On anything I want to buy, I use a sniping tool. Any other bidding I do is just to bid stuff up for people I know, or just being ornery.

[89911]

Nice information. I've bought a few things on eBay that for whatever reason, I didn't use. Relisted them with better pictures, description, and auction times and always sold them for more then I paid. There is money to be made at it, but it can really eat into your time.