Ebay bidders - what are you thinking?

[Vintagedeputy]

ok, this is a pet peeve.

For the life of me, I cant understand why ebay bidders will nickle and dime an auction up every few hours with 5 or 6 days left in the auction. It just keeps going and going up.

I'm watching a few items and every time I look, its up another $5-10. Doesnt everyone use a snipe service these days and just set their maximum bid or at least put your max bid in with ebay?

[otismalibu]

For the life of me, I cant understand why ebay bidders will nickle and dime an auction up every few hours with 5 or 6 days left in the auction. It just keeps going and going up.

I hear ya!

If it's a newbie, I will occasionally send them an email and politely explain the goofiness of their actions.

I'm always surprised to see seasoned eBayers bidding early. I guess they have deep pockets and figure they can scare of the nibblers.

Still makes no sense to me. Why give your competition the better part of a week to convince themselves to maybe go a little higher?

Give them no time at all.

[brianborsch]

But, but nickel and diming, eventually the price will be high enough that it may scare off the competition whereas if they were to not do anything until the end, they may get outbid at the end.

I can see benefits to both sides. It all depends on how bad they want the item and how much they have to blow on it.

Obviously the first poster wants the item in question as well, as they seem frustrated that the price is getting higher and higher, which pushes it further away from the "deal" status that people hope to get on ebay and other auction sites.

[both-teams-played-hard]

Dear Ebay bidders,
Please disregard this thread. Please bid early and often.

thanks,
Both-Teams-Played-Hard (seller name):)

[camarokids]

There was a nicely used Ben Zobrist D-Bat bat on ebay a couple of months ago that sold for $102.50 . I checked the winning bidders (who could not stop bidding during the week) feedback and he bought only Zobrist cards and stuff . Obviously he wanted the bat badly , but like you say Vintage deputy he couldn't wait . Every time he was out bid , he would place another bid . The winning bidder obviously cost himself more money for the bat .

If I see an item I want I will place the minimum bid and just before the auction ends I will increase my bid accordingly ....

[33bird]

I tell ya what. I just picked up a Jeff Kent Giants game used bat hammered with good use on ebay today. Got for 190.00 which is a bargain. I would have had it for a measly 125.00 but one dude bid last second and jumped me to 190.00. I offered the seller 250+ shipping earlier to end auction and he said ok, and then never ended it. So I saved some dough. Bidders and buyers are little strange sometimes on ebay.
Greg

[3arod13]

ok, this is a pet peeve.

For the life of me, I cant understand why ebay bidders will nickle and dime an auction up every few hours with 5 or 6 days left in the auction. It just keeps going and going up.

I'm watching a few items and every time I look, its up another $5-10. Doesnt everyone use a snipe service these days and just set their maximum bid or at least put your max bid in with ebay?

I can't figure that out either. Let's see...I want an item...so why not keeping uping the bid on myself so I can pay more. Never could understand why people do that. I do realize you have your jokers out there who bid just to bid. And oh yes, those pesky shill bidders.

I do agree with you. It doesn't make sense bidding with 6 days left on something you want.

[3arod13]

Dear Ebay bidders,
Please disregard this thread. Please bid early and often.

thanks,
Both-Teams-Played-Hard (seller name):)

Sure...I agree you would think this way as the seller.

[Yankwood]

I have never used a snipe service but once when I was selling something on ebay, I had a very well known bat collector/dealer tell me that the service didn't work and then he actually scolded me for not contacting him first to sell the bat before I put it on ebay. I laughed off his "verbal spanking" as whining by a spoiled brat but ever since then I have been hesitant to use a snipe service. I use my own ridiculously high bid as my sniper. Has anyone else here ever had a "misfire"?

[bigtime59]

Could it be that they're probing...trying to find out the maximum of the bid ahead of theirs?

[big10champ]

I think as a bidder your saying that you do not want to pay market value for an item on ebay. The beauty of ebay is that you need two people to want an item at a certain price to be able to bump the bidding up. You want to throw in a bid at the last second and hope that you win a deal is not a good plan to win an item that you truly want. As a bidder why not throw down a bid ASAP, so the seller knows someone is interested and won't end the auction early to another bidder on the side? As a buyer you should research the item, and determine what the value is to you as the buyer, so you don't get caught up in a bidding war and over paying for an item. If you think the value of an item is $50.00 and no more, why not just bid $50.00 the first day of the auction and see if you win? If the item goes for more, o'well the next guy may have overpaid.

[both-teams-played-hard]

As a bidder why not throw down a bid ASAP, so the seller knows someone is interested and won't end the auction early to another bidder on the side? As a buyer you should research the item, and determine what the value is to you as the buyer, so you don't get caught up in a bidding war and over paying for an item. If you think the value of an item is $50.00 and no more, why not just bid $50.00 the first day of the auction and see if you win? If the item goes for more, o'well the next guy may have overpaid.
I agree with this philosophy. Anyway, no matter how poorly an item is listed (wrong category, misspelling, ends at a bad time, etc.) somebody else found your "hidden" treasure.

[mwbosoxfan]

If you think the value of an item is $50.00 and no more, why not just bid $50.00 the first day of the auction and see if you win? If the item goes for more, o'well the next guy may have overpaid.

I would prefer to wait until the end of the auction to place my max bid. If I place it up front (like many have learned from experience) many times there will be someone who will bid 20 times in increments of $2-5 at a time until they reach the high bid. If you get a couple of bidders going at it, well, good for the seller because they'll drive it well past potential market value. This strategy typically applies to items with not much interest, because items with lots of interest may well exceed what my max bid might well before the auction end. The bidder types who bid in small increments will typically put in a low bid to begin with. If you leave the bid alone until the end, you have a chance for the best deal.

[34swtns]

If you REALLY want an item, sniping is the best way to go.

Only amateurs keep bidding over and over, dinking and dunking money out of their own pockets, for a solid week. Ridiculous.

[Vintagedeputy]

Sniping is AWESOME........and some services are free for a good long while.

[richpick]

What sniper service is the best and do they all cost?

[Vintagedeputy]

I use esnipe and they give you something like 30 free snipes. After that you have to buy bid points but you can buy 1000 for $10.

[richpick]

I use esnipe and they give you something like 30 free snipes. After that you have to buy bid points but you can buy 1000 for $10.

When I go to esnipe.com you get 2 weeks free and then they charge 1% of the final auction price. Is this the one you use.
Thanks, Richard

[Vintagedeputy]

Thats the same site.......looks like they changed the rules since I signed up last.

I had 30 free snipes before they made me buy "bid points" and I could buy 1000 for $10. Well worth it and I've never had a snipe misfire with them.