Bidding on Ebay. I can't stand the pressure! (1 Viewer)

[Inspector Hammer!]

I think that I may have to stop bidding on eBay, i'm a very pressure sensitive guy, and frankly the excitment and suspense is too much for me to take, especially in the final moments of an auction.

I've really just started doing this recently, before that I was only purchasing 'Buy it Now' items, which was cool. But I got bold one night a couple of weeks ago and decided to bid on a cd recorder during the last 3 hours of the auction. Starting was $44.00 so I bid another $40, during those last 3 hours I was still #1 when during the last 20 or so seconds somebody came in with $1.00 and beat me!

And now, foolish male pride is threatening my wallet with another item i'm bidding on. I don't like to lose, I hate it in fact, it's a flaw in my personality, and right now i'm bidding a pretty penny on an item that's only worth $20.00 tops, because someone keeps outbidding me.

If I lose this auction, or even if I win it, that's it, i'm done with bidding forever. It's not like a real auction where you can hear what the guy in the next row just bid and you just go up a little more, on eBay everythings invisible, you don't know what's going to happen and I can't handle it anymore.

Who else feels this way? My friends have taught me how to bid and all that, but still its not worth it IMO.

 

[Craig]

Try going to auctionsniper.com and doing some sniping yourself.

 

[David Williams]

I learned this last summer that Ebay-style auctions are not for me. I bid on a complete set of Time-Life's TimeFrame history books and found myself fending off snipers until the last 30 seconds of the auction. I still managed to walk away with the set at a hefty discount, ($40 + S/H for a set of 25 books that originally sold for $20 each) but I don't need that kind of agita in my life. I'll stick to Half.com et al for my future purchases.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Auction snipers. That's a pretty scary sounding term, I don't think I want anything with the word 'sniper' involved in my life anymore.

David,
smart move going with Half.com I think i'll do the same.

I wonder what the numbers are for people who have had nervous breakdowns waiting for an auction to end? There are probably people in the mental hosptital just muttering to themselves "one dollar, one dollar." over and over again.

 

[Craig]

I've had hundreds of transactions on ebay over the years. I even bought a fairly pricey loose 1 carat diamond for an engagement ring off ebay. I usually only look at stuff that has a buy-it-now price, I don't get into bidding wars anymore.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Just bid your max price early on. If someone outbids you, it wasn't meant to be for you at your price.

Sometimes if you post an early bid that's a good price that's well under the market price, your high bid may discourage others trying to get a deal, and they'll move on to another auction of the same item. If someone really wants it, and they outbid you, c'est la vie.

Bidding is only nerve-wracking if you are trying to get something for an obscenely low price, and are only committed to paying a low price. The discouragment/disappointment comes when someone else is willing to bid a higher low end price. If you are into warding off sniping, then you may wind up bidding a higher price than you objectively wanted to bid, but get into a psychological bidding war for your "auction honor". Again, just bid your max bid and roll the dice. If someone else bids higher, at least you gave it a shot, and someone wanted this particular item and was willing to pay more than you.

 

[DaveNel]

Actually he may have only beet you buy $1.00 but his proxy bid may have been more. He may have had a proxy bid $1.00 $10.00 mebbe even $20.00

 

[Andrew Pratt]

If you can't beat them join them. Don't bid early as it only drives up the price and is what starts bidding wars. It also makes it harder to walk away as you've found out. Simply put in the maximum you're willing to pay when there's 10 seconds left and if you win you win...if not it was over priced in your oppinion...now that's from a buyers perspective...as a seller I'd prefer you got into bidding wars

 

[David Galindo]

VERY good point Patrick...Im gonna have to start doing that from now on!

 

[Malcolm R]

As DaveNel said, the other person's proxy may have really been $30 higher than yours, but the bid only has to beat your bid by $1 to win (i.e. if your bid was $84, the other person may have bid $100, but the system only had to run his bid up to $85 to beat you although he was willing to spend $15 more than that. He wins the auction and saves $15 from what he was willing to spend).

Set your absolute maximum price when you bid, then leave it alone. If you were willing to pay more than your proxy, then you have no one to blame but yourself for setting your proxy too low.

 

[DaveNel]

The best way to Bid at Ebay is to wait till the last 1-2 minutes and then throw a bid in. because if you have a proxy bid alot of the times someone will see that and raise it till its maxed. I wait and since I have road runner
I can bid 3 times or more in one minute. That to me is the easiest way to bid.

Also someone told me that Ebay is getting rid of
reserved prices. I hope they do. If someone wants a certain price for something let it be seen and not hid.

 

[Patrick Sun]

If someone has a reserve price, I usually just ask them what it is, and they usually tell me, otherwise, I just pass on by, or check back later to see if the reserve price has been bidded.

 

[Andrew Bunk]

Sounds like Buy It Now auctions are what you need. I never bid on running auctions anymore, mostly because there are too many ways for legitimate bidders to be outbid by non-serious bidders or shills for the seller.

 

[Jeremy Allin]

I used Auction Blitz a few days ago for an auction ending at 3am - worked like a charm. The free version will place your max bid with 10 seconds remaining.
Couldn't have said it any better. Bidding early is not the way to go if you're really interested in getting an item for the least amount of money.

 

[RichP]

As a seller on eBay, please let me say...

Thank You!!!

You are my favorite type of buyer!

The drive to "win" the auction and not the logic to pay only what you think something is worth is the reason I make such tidy profits on my sales. So on behalf of all eBay sellers, please let me say to you, "Don't go! We need more people like you!"

 

[Artur Meinild]

I've learnt to use this strategy, works for me... Put in a high bid with almost no time left. If you win, good for you! If you loose, satisfying, because you made the winner pay a much higher price!

 

[Patrick Sun]

The point is, whether you using a proxy-bidding program, or just enter your highest bid early or late, as long as you bid your max price, and don't get into a snipe-fest, you should be good to go on Ebay.

I've won auctions by being the first bidder in a week long auction (or 5-day, 3-day, etc. auction). I didn't stress about those auctions one bit during the listed timeframe.

 

[Josh Simpson]

If' it's just cds or books, sometimes I use half.com if the price is good an ignore the bidding. Otherwise, do like people have suggested. With a few seconds left, put in your max bid and see what happens. That way you aren't tempted to foolishly overspend because you aren't winning at the time.

 

[Citizen87645]

Well, it took me only one time of overpaying for an item (which I still have and serves as a painful reminder) and my lesson was learned. I bid the amount I want to pay and am done with it. If I really want something I'll put it on my watch list and do a last minute bid. Most of the time I don't want something badly enough to go over my first bid amount. But then I'm not a competitive person either.

Like one of the earlier posters, I am happy for those who are competitive or who aren't so good at pricing stuff. They've bailed me out many a time.

 

[cafink]

What is the difference between putting your bid in early or at the last minute? I've never understood the point of the "sniping" practice.