E-Bay Users... Bid questions

ken_xman · 12-13-2005, 02:52 PM

As many of you know, I am selling my targa on e-bay.
I have never sold anything there, but now have the car and a couple other things on it.
I dont have any bids yet but can see several people have added my items to the watch list.

I heard of programs that will start bidding in the last few minutes.
Is this a common practice now? ... and should I expect to see no activity until the end?

ken_xman · 12-13-2005, 03:24 PM

Mostly curious to the technology that is now available. I am not too anxious yet, but interested in buyers tactics.
Thank you for the input.

Jay H · 12-13-2005, 03:50 PM

I'll wager a guess in that for items such as a mass produced car, people will be cautious on bidding (for the reasons stated by SoCal above) and I don't think you'd see people using software to bid at the last few minutes.

However, if there is a hard to get item such as a particular Christmas toy or something that is new in the box (to reduce risk and is a known quantity), you may see some people use bid software to work the pricing in their favor and win the auction.

My wife just won a set of discontinued DVD's last week, but was sucessful with a last second (20 seconds to go) bid using just her fingers, keyboard and high speed connection. There was enough last minute bidding to keep things interesting.

I've sold a few things that really skyrocketed in value during the last 3 minutes of an auction. I typically start my auction out at the bare minimum of what I'd take. No reserve either and typically no Buy It Now. That tends to get people thinking that they might be able to get my item cheap. It then hits the 'watched' list and people are reminded via eBay that this item is ending (another good sales tool) and they may try to bid. Some people may get caught up in the excitement at the end of the auction and inflate the price. Good for the seller, bad for the buyer.

Just my $02. after using eBay for years now...

Jay
90 964

techweenie · techweenie's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by ken_xman
Mostly curious to the technology that is now available. I am not too anxious yet, but interested in buyers tactics.
Thank you for the input.

I use www.auctionsniper.com, which places my bid in the last 5 seconds. It's not unusual to see bid levels double at the end of the auction. But there are no guarantees. Hopefully, you have a high reserve on your car. This is not the ideal time of year to sell any car with a soft top.

One way to anticipate interest is to look at how many eBayers are "watching" your auction. Again, no guarantees. It's an unpredictable market right now.

masraum · 12-13-2005, 05:42 PM

Lots and lots of people bid at the very end. Since that happens most people bid at the end because it's the only way to win.

rbarton · 12-13-2005, 06:21 PM

I just listed my Volvo yesterday; it's the first time I've tried to sell a car on ebay too. What gets me is all the people who've emailed me asking for the reserve. Isn't the point of a reserve that no one knows it?
I hope the theory of last minute bids is true. So far 23 watchers and one bid.
Good luck with your Targa.

einreb · 12-13-2005, 06:57 PM

a buddy of mine put his Rover Defender 90 on fleabay and got no bids... but several questions and ended up selling it to an 'ebayer' after the auction. Even if it does not sell in auction, its a good marketing tool.

good luck.

techweenie · techweenie's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by einreb
a buddy of mine put his Rover Defender 90 on fleabay and got no bids... but several questions and ended up selling it to an 'ebayer' after the auction. Even if it does not sell in auction, its a good marketing tool.

good luck.

That's not unusual. sometimes, when I think a car might be withdrawn or not meet reserve, I'll toss in a bid as a "placeholder" because eBay offers something called a "Second chance offer" where the seller can offer to sell the item at your final bid price -- even if it's below the reserve. Otherwise, I ask a question in order to open a dialog. That's resulted in a post-auction deal twice in the past year.

LeeH · 12-13-2005, 07:23 PM

My 550 Spyder replica has been on Ebay several times (my auction once and a broker's three other times) and is still not sold. I don't think car auctions get the last minute bidding like most Ebay auctions. I watched patiently for the price to jump at the end and it never moved beyond where it had been earlier in the day.

The sad thing is I would have gladly sold it at the high bid when the broker ran it - but they had a higher reserve. Now it's been on there so many times I worry people are scared of it. I'll wait some time and try again.

Joeaksa · 09:39 PM

I buy and sell a lot on Ebay. The way to do a large ticket item is to put your beginning bid at $99 or so. Then put a reserve that you feel comfortable with and your min price. When an auction has the starting bid high too many people are put off with the high price.

Once someone gets bidding THEN they get hooked and will drive the price higher. Will it get to your reserve? Who knows but if you want $12k and start the auction at $11.9k you are going to eliminate about 80% of your bidders. Once you get the hook in them, then they usually drive the bid up.

I am just as fast as the automated services. I have a triple screen setup on my home computer and put the auction page on two screens. On one I put my highest bid and hit the "continue" button but do not confirm it. The second screen with a copy of the same page on it is refreshed ever 20 seconds or so to watch for activity. If I see more bidders in the last few seconds all I have to do is to hit the "confirm" key and try to outbid them.

Why do this? I have used the automated systems and it usually ended up with my spending more than if I had done it myself. If I just put a high bid in at the first place then the automated program (and everyone) can figure out what my max is and have a chance to outbid me. Doing it at the last few seconds gives me a better chance of winning at a lower price.

When selling check the bidders feedback. If its less than 100 I get nervous. Less than 50 and its not good and I check the auctions that they have bid on in the past. Same with sellers and if someone does not have 100% feedback I want to know why and if its something screwy I buy elsewhere. Just not worth the problems and the two issues I have had over 6 years on Ebay have both been with a seller with several negative reports in their feedback.

Also, I ALWAYS put a bid in early on. Really hate people who "snipe" and never bid but try to outbid everyone at the last second. If everyone does not know how much interest there is in an item you have no idea if its popular or not.

Last thing. Never email a seller asking if they want to sell an item after the auction has ended. Ebay has a dim view of this and will suspend you. Email them and ask if they will "relist" the item. That way they can email you back and ask if you are interested. Never use the "Ebay" email system for the reply but email directly now that you have their personal email address. That way you can deal directly if you wish.

Joe A

Jay H · 12-14-2005, 05:23 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Joeaksa
I am just as fast as the automated services. I have a triple screen setup on my home computer and put the auction page on two screens. On one I put my highest bid and hit the "continue" button but do not confirm it. The second screen with a copy of the same page on it is refreshed ever 20 seconds or so to watch for activity. If I see more bidders in the last few seconds all I have to do is to hit the "confirm" key and try to outbid them.

My wife (who is very computer savy) and I do this same thing on items that have a lot of action. Works well and is simple.

89911 · 12-14-2005, 06:26 AM

I just sold about 25 things on Ebay last week. A few thoughts:

There is no such thing as "sniping". If you want an item and you have a maximum you want to spend, you are foolish to put this in for a bid at an early time so others can reconsider their bids and bid again. You are driving up the very items you want. I put my highest bid in as late as possible and take my chances. It's the others that don't want to commit to a higher price that get upset.

Most of the early bidders in my auctions had feedbacks of less then 25

I started my auction for the amount that I thought was reasonable, (I called several Porsche salvadge yards) and left them go at that. Reserves just bother me. Until you hit that, you are really just pretend bidding.

Winners that delay payment is something I don't understand. Sure there are exceptions, but when I win an auction I pay immediately. I can't understand why Ebay doesn't make that mandatory.

I've actually seen items selling on Ebay for higher amounts then can be purchased on other online stores. I believe this could be for several reasons: They have Paypal money that they solely want to use for online purchasine. They also would rather buy from an Ebayer that has a great reputaion then an unknown online store.

Good luck with the car.

speeder · speeder's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by 89911
I've actually seen items selling on Ebay for higher amounts then can be purchased on other online stores. I believe this could be for several reasons: They have Paypal money that they solely want to use for online purchasine. They also would rather buy from an Ebayer that has a great reputaion then an unknown online store.

I think that this occurs more because people do not realize that the item is available elsewhere for less. It's actually classic retail strategy, from way before the internet, and I see it all the time on ebay. Kind of ironic when prices are so easy to research online, but what the hey......

89911 · 12-14-2005, 07:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by speeder
I think that this occurs more because people do not realize that the item is available elsewhere for less. It's actually classic retail strategy, from way before the internet, and I see it all the time on ebay. Kind of ironic when prices are so easy to research online, but what the hey......

True, many don't do their research. I just sold an Ipod shuffle for $99 free shipping and the same item is being sold at the Apple website for the same price. I'm seeing them sell for as much as $120 on Ebay? Sometimes things get bid up by those who just want to win. Best advice is be patient. Things are going higher especially this week because many are trying to get them before Christmas.

techweenie · techweenie's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by 89911
There is no such thing as "sniping". If you want an item and you have a maximum you want to spend, you are foolish to put this in for a bid at an early time so others can reconsider their bids and bid again. You are driving up the very items you want. I put my highest bid in as late as possible and take my chances. It's the others that don't want to commit to a higher price that get upset.

I agree 100%.

It's akin to poker. Novices tip their hands early.

In any case where I put in an early bid, It's no more than about half what I think the item will sell for. And ultimately, I always have better things to do than sit monitoring an auction, especially when I can get a web service to throw in a bid in the last 5 seconds for a fee of pennies. I then have the luxury of deciding -- in a cooler environment -- what amount I'm willing to pay. It's too easy to rationalize raising a bit in the last seconds.

I also find the reports of "completed items" to be invaluable. I recently bought a PDA at 20% under the current going rate because I saw that prices were momentarily out of whack. This happens a lot with commodities on eBay.

Cars, especially, are hard to buy right on eBay. You're often up against someone more excited than able to buy. And you rarely are bidding against someone who has seen the vehicle. The results can be ugly. Two years ago, I saw a "slantnose" 70 coupe bring $10K. It was a $2,000 car, at best, with maybe three salvageable body panels. But it looked good in the (tiny) pictures. However, cars with well-documented problems (honest seller) are usually sold well under market value.

mb911 · mb911's Garage

whats the link to your ebay add?

pbs911 · pbs911's Garage

Ebay is a good way to advertise a car for sale.

RallyJon · 12-14-2005, 08:55 AM

Here's how to post an Ebay link that works. Just put your item number at the end of this URL:

Code:

http://cgi.ebay.com/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=

In your case, it would be:

http://cgi.ebay.com/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4597448787

ken_xman · 12-14-2005, 08:59 AM

Thanks, Jon
I am much better with grease and oil than I am with tech stuff.

Joeaksa · 12-14-2005, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by 89911
I've actually seen items selling on Ebay for higher amounts then can be purchased on other online stores. I believe this could be for several reasons: They have Paypal money that they solely want to use for online purchasine. They also would rather buy from an Ebayer that has a great reputaion then an unknown online store.

Good luck with the car.

Its funny to see people selling things from Harbor Freight on Ebay and most of the time it sells for a higher price than anyone can get on the webpage and buy it directly.

A sucker was born every day...

JoeA