O/T: Why do people bid so early on ebay?

[gingi79]

Re: O/T: Why do people bid so early on ebay?

I am selling a bunch of stuff on eBay now and seeing all red numbers is depressing. Most of the items have opening bids much lower than I would ever be happy selling at but I am forced to do so to get some attention.

I personally never bid on auctions with a reserve unless it is a grail type piece therefore I refuse to use them.

Because people have learned that a bid cancels the BIN and simply bid on it to do so, I stopped ofering BIN on my auctions as well. I put in the description that I will accept an offer on items that don't have a bid and add the BIN if it is acceptable. I sold my Chris Hammonds Throwback jersey this week that way.

I will say not putting in a higher bid has cost he as a buyer and a seller as well. I sold a jersey this week for about $200 less than I ever thought I would let it go for. A bidder emailed that he would pay $200 more for the shirt than the winning bidder but forgot to snipe it. SO he lost the shirt and I was out $200. In these times believe me I thought about cancelling the winning bidder and refunding his money but my conscience got the better of me. Stupid Jimminy Cricket!

[ndevlin]

Re: O/T: Why do people bid so early on ebay?

Jojo, what is your email? I have a question. Or you can email me at Nathanieldevlin@yahoo.com

Thanks

Orrrr.....turn your pm's on.

[ndevlin]

Re: O/T: Why do people bid so early on ebay?

I use to bid only at the last second but I found this site called auctionshadow.com. They give you 2 percent back on your ebay purchase. So to make sure I get my money I place a low bid through the site and bid higher if I really want to go after the item.


Jojo

Jojo, what is your email? I have a question. Or you can email me at Nathanieldevlin@yahoo.com

Thanks

[OaklandAsFan]

Re: O/T: Why do people bid so early on ebay?

When it's a charity auction, all bets are off, and nothing really makes sense. Some folks will bid far more than an item is worth, just because it is a charity auction, and it's their way of contributing to whatever the cause is. A couple of years ago, at the Tillman Foundation charity auction, Eric Byrnes ended up being the winning bidder on one of his own jerseys, 'cause he didn't think the bidding had gone high enough, so he just said, "Okay, a thousand dollars" or whatever it was, and he won it.

Only person stupid enough to bid $1000 on an Eric Byrnes jersey would be Eric Byrnes, why does that not surprise me

[treant985]

Re: O/T: Why do people bid so early on ebay?

When it's a charity auction, all bets are off, and nothing really makes sense. Some folks will bid far more than an item is worth, just because it is a charity auction, and it's their way of contributing to whatever the cause is. A couple of years ago, at the Tillman Foundation charity auction, Eric Byrnes ended up being the winning bidder on one of his own jerseys, 'cause he didn't think the bidding had gone high enough, so he just said, "Okay, a thousand dollars" or whatever it was, and he won it.

You can get some good deals if the charity auctions aren't well-attended. I bought a bunch of gift cards at a local charity auction and actually paid considerably less than the cards' face value.

[godwulf]

Re: O/T: Why do people bid so early on ebay?

I hate when people do this during the weekend charity auctions up in Oakland. The items are on display and you can make bids on them as soon as the gates open, whatever you bid at that time is the top bid. in the top of the 5th they no longer take bids and it goes to silent auction. in the bottom half of the 5th they take the silent bids and the top bidder wins at that point but you have these idiots who walk up as soon as the gates open and bid $600 for something that if they had waited until the 5th inning they could have had for less than $300.

When it's a charity auction, all bets are off, and nothing really makes sense. Some folks will bid far more than an item is worth, just because it is a charity auction, and it's their way of contributing to whatever the cause is. A couple of years ago, at the Tillman Foundation charity auction, Eric Byrnes ended up being the winning bidder on one of his own jerseys, 'cause he didn't think the bidding had gone high enough, so he just said, "Okay, a thousand dollars" or whatever it was, and he won it.

[trsent]

Re: O/T: Why do people bid so early on eBay?

We have discussed this before - There are rare cases where a Buy-It-Now remains, without a reserve, when the bid is a low percentage of the BIN.

Here is a live example:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&item=160329983092

When I posted this link, the bid is $177.50 and the BIN is still there for $495.00 with 23.5 hours left in the listing. There is no reserve. Odd.

Anyway, though I use BidNapper for sniping, if an item doesn't have an opening bid I may open it due to the fact that then the seller cannot edit the listing and the item could change before my snipe hits.

Also, sometimes I just don't care so I'll bid my final bid early and if I get the item, great, if I don't, at least it went for more than I was willing to pay.

Some people are macho, they think raising the price early will scare off others.

[OaklandAsFan]

Re: O/T: Why do people bid so early on ebay?

I hate when people do this during the weekend charity auctions up in Oakland. The items are on display and you can make bids on them as soon as the gates open, whatever you bid at that time is the top bid. in the top of the 5th they no longer take bids and it goes to silent auction. in the bottom half of the 5th they take the silent bids and the top bidder wins at that point but you have these idiots who walk up as soon as the gates open and bid $600 for something that if they had waited until the 5th inning they could have had for less than $300.

[otismalibu]

Re: O/T: Why do people bid so early on ebay?

If the seller sets a reserve and a BIN price, there will be bids and the BIN will remain until the reserve is met.

Ah...that would explain it.

[treant985]

Re: O/T: Why do people bid so early on ebay?

You sit around waiting for the auction to end? There are a few websites for sniping. I use auctionsniper.com. You just set you max bid, go about your business, and check to see if you won.

Maybe I get a personal thrill out of watching the last minute or so...it's like sudokus--I can do the method where you solve it everytime by filling in possible numbers and it's faster than the regular method...but it's not any fun.

[BULBUS]

Re: O/T: Why do people bid so early on ebay?

I don't bid on enough stuff to have a game plan...I usually bid around 15 seconds since it'll take me 7-8 seconds just to enter the number and click submit twice...

You sit around waiting for the auction to end? There are a few websites for sniping. I use auctionsniper.com. You just set you max bid, go about your business, and check to see if you won.

I thought I saw some auctions where, even with bids, the BIN price was still showing. Can the seller set up auctions both ways?

If the seller sets a reserve and a BIN price, there will be bids and the BIN will remain until the reserve is met.

[otismalibu]

Re: O/T: Why do people bid so early on ebay?

anybody ever bid early just to get the buy it now option out of the equation.

I thought I saw some auctions where, even with bids, the BIN price was still showing. Can the seller set up auctions both ways?

I once killed a BIN with a bid, to give myself some time to consider the BIN price. Then, later, I canceled my bid (only one) and the BIN was back and I bought it.

[treant985]

Re: O/T: Why do people bid so early on ebay?

Back before bidder's IDs were protected, did you ever get a nastygram from somebody after you'd sniped an item? I did, and it wasn't even a case where I'd actually sniped - that's the stupid part. I was surfing around and came across an item that I wanted with something like two or three minutes left on the auction. I put in a bid, which won, and a few minutes later I get this outraged email from somebody with an "edu" address, telling me how it was "thoughtless, immoral people" like me who were "ruining eBay", etc, etc. It was hysterical. The usual snipe time I aim for is 3 to 6 seconds.

I used to get mad when somebody sniped me, but I eventually realized it was really my own fault--the sniper out-thought me and had come up with a better strategy.

I don't bid on enough stuff to have a game plan...I usually bid around 15 seconds since it'll take me 7-8 seconds just to enter the number and click submit twice...

[godwulf]

Re: O/T: Why do people bid so early on ebay?

Yes, putting in a bid to kill the BIN option is a good reason. Funny thing, I did that the other day on a jersey that had a $150 BIN...then, with a few days left on the auction and the bidding up to a little over $40, I got to thinking about it and decided I should have bought the thing outright, as I really wanted it. I contacted the Seller, who was happy to cancel all bids, end the auction, and sell it to me for the original BIN price. That's the only time I've ever done something like that, and I might have gotten the jersey for less, but I didn't feel like gambling on it.

Back before bidder's IDs were protected, did you ever get a nastygram from somebody after you'd sniped an item? I did, and it wasn't even a case where I'd actually sniped - that's the stupid part. I was surfing around and came across an item that I wanted with something like two or three minutes left on the auction. I put in a bid, which won, and a few minutes later I get this outraged email from somebody with an "edu" address, telling me how it was "thoughtless, immoral people" like me who were "ruining eBay", etc, etc. It was hysterical. The usual snipe time I aim for is 3 to 6 seconds.

[bigtime59]

Re: O/T: Why do people bid so early on ebay?

anybody ever bid early just to get the buy it now option out of the equation. example starting bid $99.00 buy it now price $250.00 and you want to pay around $175. i might put in a bid to remove the buy it now option and then do my serious bidding later.

take care
john

THAT's the only real reason to bid early...to kill a no-reserve "Buy-it-Now" option. (Although I have to say that when I have items for sale, watching them not draw flies for six and a half days can be a little unnerving!)