Auction Bidding Question

[legaleagle92481]

Why do people place bids immediately after an auction goes live rather than wait until the auction is almost over to place their bid?

[karamaxjoe]

Are you talking about ebay or an auction house?

[legaleagle92481]

Like NFl auctions or the auction that was on here a couple of weeks ago. Ebay is different because sellers can end the auction early. I am a little perplexed why someone would bid on say a jersey on NFL auctions that has 10 days to go. I think this ultimately drives up the price that the item sells for and I was just curious as to why people do it.

[halzeus]

This is the strategy that I use:

Auction House
If there is an item I want, I bid early so I will have the option of bidding during the extended bidding period.

Ebay
If the listing is an auction with a Buy It Now option, I will bid early so the BIN option is not available.

If the listing is a pure auction, I wait to snipe at the end, either live or using www.gixen.com (http://www.gixen.com).

Just my 2 cents.

[karamaxjoe]

Like NFl auctions or the auction that was on here a couple of weeks ago. Ebay is different because sellers can end the auction early. I am a little perplexed why someone would bid on say a jersey on NFL auctions that has 10 days to go. I think this ultimately drives up the price that the item sells for and I was just curious as to why people do it.

Private auction houses like GUU require you to place a bid on an item before you can participate in the extended bidding period on the final day. That strategy helps push the hammer price up.

NFL and MLB have all kinds of bidders with deep pockets. Those bidders don't necessarily care what the final price will be since they have a lot of disposable income and can write the whole thing off in the end. Those guys will bid early since they have better things to do than monitor an auction .

[jhunt28]

Like NFl auctions or the auction that was on here a couple of weeks ago. Ebay is different because sellers can end the auction early. I am a little perplexed why someone would bid on say a jersey on NFL auctions that has 10 days to go. I think this ultimately drives up the price that the item sells for and I was just curious as to why people do it.


Think of it in the reverse way...perhaps all of these bids are people who don't have much interest in winning, and don't mind seeing the price of items go up in the auction, because they already hold something of similar value. If you just paid $25k for a Favre gamer, you surely don't want to see this item sell for $9k, especially for charity. So maybe you put in a high bid to drum up interest, and set a higher starting point for the item up for bidding. Similar to financial markets, and you place a bid for a security, because you want to sell it. Placing a bid bolsters the value, acts as a backstop, and it's only human nature to grab something once you know there are other buyers behind you. This is just another way of looking at it, and I in no way am saying I'm correct. Just a theory though...something to think about.

[MichaelofSF]

with eBay it makes the most sense to bid at the end, the reason is because there is a definite ending time. You become the high bidder as time expires, you win. There is no chance to bid again if the clock runs out.

with NFL auctions/auction houses there are a few reasons to bid early. Because there is an extended period, you are not likely to sneak a bid past someone who really wants an item. So if a bidder really wants something, they are going to keep bidding anyway. An initial bid must be placed at auction houses in order to enter into extended bidding. If a price is driven up early, there are potentially less people that will enter into the extended bidding period. Some bidders automatically place a bid once the extended period starts, with less of these bidders there can be less of these types of bids. Also, if your goal is to just win the auction and you are not very price sensitive, the less people bidding in the extended period, the greater your odds are of winning (the chance in a 1 on 1 bid that the other person is away from the computer vs. the chance that 4 other people are away from the computer in a 5 person bidding war).

Placing ceiling bids are a different story. Ceiling bids get bid up for various reasons: shill bidding, people who don't like other bidders and just want to bid up the amount they pay for an item, people trying to see what the bid amount is that was placed, etc.... I agree that placing ceiling bids early can lead to higher end totals. feel free to disagree with me, I won't take it personally.

[34swtns]

We "snipers" like to refer to them as "chippers" beacause they throw little bids at an item throughout the course of an auction, inevitably driving up the price on an item that they have no chance of winning. Consequently, when I swoop in at the last second and steal the item out from under them I'll be paying more for it due to their inane "chipping". Bottom line: good for the seller. Not so good for buyers.

[David]

Though it's popular today, sniping is a subversion of the traditional auction process not bidding early. Sniping is why seller's end auctions early to sell off auction, as the seller is left in the dark about bidding interest. When given an offer, he sees that no one is bidding, is unsure if there will be bidding, and so often takes the offer. With "chipping" the seller sees there is interest and can gauge the pricing ("after two days, it's at $95"), so is less likely to pull the auction.

One thing sellers hate and want to prevent is to have a $200 item sell for $9, and with no bids they see that as a possibility. This is exactly why they end auctions early-- little or no bids.

If you are a sniper who hates auctions ending early, realize that sniping is what led to the plethora of auctions that are ended early.

[David]

Also note that sniping, which is a recent thing, is used by bidders to lower the final price. One should not be surprised that sellers will try and undermine this, including by bypassing snipers altogether and ending the auction early. It can be said that ending an auction early undermines the traditional auction format. This is true, but it was in reaction to sniping which also undermines the same traditional auction format.

What is particularly interesting is that say ten years ago, most normal collectors considered sniping to be unethical. Placing a bid in the last second where everyone else had been bidding ("chipping") the traditional way was considered unusual and unfair. And, in fact, many people on this and other collecting boards would have considered sniping unethical back then. So snipers today calling sellers who end auctions early to be unfair and unethical is a curious thing.

[uhgrad2002]

I tend to establish my upper limit and bid early when an item is something I really want. That way I stick to something resembling a budget and do not have to worry about losing track of the auction, being otherwise occupied, etc... I realize that it may drive the price up, but if there is that much interest it is liable to go up anyway. This way whether I get it or not is a matter of how much I am willing to pay rather than who is the lucky one to hit the ENTER key last.

Mark Perkins

[Vintagedeputy]

I snipe.

I contact bidders and make offers to end the auction early.

I scan for mislabeled stuff.

I do what I have to in an effort to win the item that I want. I'm not proud, but I'm not ashamed either. :)

[halzeus]

I snipe.

I contact bidders and make offers to end the auction early.

I scan for mislabeled stuff.

I do what I have to in an effort to win the item that I want. I'm not proud, but I'm not ashamed either. :)

+10

That's my strategy exactly!

[34swtns]

I snipe.

I contact bidders and make offers to end the auction early.

I scan for mislabeled stuff.

I do what I have to in an effort to win the item that I want. I'm not proud, but I'm not ashamed either. :)

+100

My sole intent is to win the item, period, and by whatever means necessary.

If you don't take advantage of every option available, and rest assured somebody else is, you WILL miss out on some items and you will have no one to blame but yourself.........not the snipers.

Hate us all you want.......

but we have some really nice stuff!

[otismalibu]

One thing sellers hate and want to prevent is to have a $200 item sell for $9, and with no bids they see that as a possibility. This is exactly why they end auctions early-- little or no bids.

The seller can see the hits and watchers. One must have the courage to wait it out, assuming they did some homework and wrote up a decent description.

I'm sure more than a few buyers plant the seeds of fear (of a low final price), before emailing their lowball offer. I love when the seller posts all the emails as the auction goes along.