[Closed] Rant: What is it with bidding on ebay?

bid sniping software. it kinda defeats the whole point of any auction though.

but is there really an army of saddoes out there with nthing better to do than poise their fingers over the Bid key in the closing seconds of every auction?!

Yup

Ebay is a sellers paradise because of it....

I always put in my max bid and leave it at that and if its worth more to some one else then so be it. It may be that you need to spend that little bit more if you keep being out bid.

There's really software for bidding?!! I agree, it makes it all rather pointless. Makes me and my bike obsession feel less geeky!

Thanks guys, apologies for the rant, was just frustrated. I've calmed down now. Might try the Classifieds again, although got no interest before.

As Andy says, sniping software. But, why are you unhappy? You bid at a price you were happy with, and they sold for more than you were happy to pay. Just wait for another set to come along.

The advantage of sniping is that you don't get some nutter dertermined to outbid you come along and keep placing bids until yours is beaten - instead it becomes more like tendering for the item, where you can't reconsider your high bid in the light of other bids.

Vinneyh - that's the logical way to look at it, I suppose, my frustration is the long waits just to find that I'm too low each time at the last moment. I wanted to get a set of brakes on the bike and have been bidding and waiting for weeks - I may just forget ebay and buy new and be done with it, it'll be quicker.

I hardly use ebay but surely bidding early just pushes up the price overall

IF YOU HAVE THE TIME,

decide what your max bid is, watch the item without bidding then stuff it in close to the end of the auction. It won't alter what the automated bidders do, but gives the watchers less time to think about upping their bid "just a bit more"

Ebay is a sellers paradise because of it....

Have you not heard of the other 'PP' PP thats not the nice kind of PP?

Someoe did some research and decided that the most effective way to win an item on "an online auction site" was a single decisive bid very near the end.

I do not bid for anything these days. Use a sniper and have done with it. Solves a lot of anguish.

I always think "win" is a funny term, as effectively you LOSE.

You LOSE because you have paid more than anyone else in the whole world for that item.

Have you not heard of the other 'PP' PP thats not the nice kind of PP?

Whatssat?

Agree on the term 'win'. What have you won? Your paying for it arent you?!

Paypal PeterPoddy! Girl in office yesterday- bought some Raybans off of ebay- doesnt like them so contacted Paypal and told them they must be fake. They refunded her straight away and told her to keep them or bin them ('no need to return them'). So she was laughing as she just didnt like them- not actually thought they were fake. Nice.

Yeah . . . "Congratulations! this item is yours. Please pay now . . . . "
Great - another bicycle related debt . . . just what I need 😉

I just do as Scardypants - bid the highest amount I'd be prepared to pay in the last few seconds - usually works and if not then I couldn't afford it anyway.

Sniping isn't software. Well not the one I use (esnipe)- it's just a website you log into, enter the auction number, enter the price you want to pay, leave it.
Never get into bidding wars, never have to watch the last seconds of an auction in the hope you get that final bid in, can bid when you're away or on holiday.
Makes life far easier (and [i]less[/i] "sad"!).
I never overspend on auctions. Just need to check my email whenever the auction's over.
Most of the stuff I've bought lately is Buy It Now, so I hardly "win" anything!

You LOSE because you have paid more than anyone else in the whole world for that item.

That may have been your experiences. Other's mileage may differ 🙂

Girl in office yesterday- bought some Raybans off of ebay- doesnt like them so contacted Paypal and told them they must be fake. They refunded her straight away and told her to keep them or bin them ('no need to return them'). So she was laughing as she just didnt like them- not actually thought they were fake.

So, how's that going to work then- paypal refund her, and presumably going to let the seller keep the money too? Win, win, and paypal loses.

Why on earth would you bid early?

I always bid in the last 15 seconds, the amount I willing to pay, thats if the item is still bellow that figure. If you bid early, you are only giving a figure for someone else to bid against.

Why on earth would you bid early?

Because it's better than being late?
😉

Vinneyeh, I expect paypal will take the money back from the vendor, so the seller losses out

bought some Raybans off of ebay- doesnt like them so contacted Paypal and told them they must be fake

Fraud - great isn't it ?!

I hardly ever use eBay, but when I do, I try to wait until at least the last 30s before making a bid.

No point showing interest to others prior to that point. Yes it does mean sitting around waiting for it to end, but if I want something at a good price that badly then I don't really mind.

First time I ever bid on something on eBay it was a power amp (Nad 902) for my 3020i integrated amp.
Only time i've seen one on there & I was going away when it finished. I bid & asked a mate to check it as it came to a close. With 5 mins to go I was still the highest bidder, so I told my mate not to bother watching it anymore as I didn't think anyone else would be interested....
Lost the auction by 20p to someone who bid in the last 10secs & have never seen another one on there.....

I always wait till the last few seconds before manually placing a bid. I don't use software, that's just lazy....and silly.

It's a sure fire guaranteed way of getting what you want for a price you find acceptable. If you bid early and then get outbid you've then got more time to convince yourself that the added cost is worth it.

Vinneyeh, I expect paypal will take the money back from the vendor, so the seller losses out

On what grounds? Unsubstantiated word of a customer? And telling her to get rid of the evidence if she wanted, cos they weren't interested? I know paypal is weighted towards the buyer, but I've never heard of that happening- I'd consider that libellous

[i]I always wait till the last few seconds before manually placing a bid. I don't use software, that's just lazy....and silly.[/i]

I think sitting in front of the screen, waiting until the last few seconds of an auction is silly.

[i]I think sitting in front of the screen, waiting until the last few seconds of an auction is silly. [/i]

You realise they publish the time it will finish don't you? Make a note of it, then you only have to look at ebay for a minute or so. Certainly less time that setting up a peice of software. It's your lookout though.

Lost the auction by 20p to someone who bid in the last 10secs & have never seen another one on there.....

don't feel too bad - their max bid could have been way more than that, ebay just accepts the lowest amount that beats all others (I think)

bid sniping software. it kinda defeats the whole point of any auction though.

What a load of rubbish, the whole POINT of a timed-ending auction is that people rush bids at the end. What the hell is the point in bidding a day in advance? IF you want to put your money down and walk away then go buy in a shop! Sniping is what Ebay was designed for, thats the reason it gets a little refresh icon for fast refreshing in the last 15 minutes.

As Samuri says, if you "snipe" you're the one putting the effort in to watch the bid to the end and you're more likely to get the item for the price you want, rather than showing your cards at the beginning of the auction. You do realise that if you put in your max bid and others do, all paypal does is up the bids automatically, raking in cash in fees for themselves, don't you?

I won a Canon DSLR with lens for 210 quid last night (my max bid was a lot higher but the software didn't have time to up everyone elses bid), sniping works 🙂 Just waiting for the seller to contact me, odds on that he'll cancel/revoke it now!

there is a no such thing as '[i]the software didnt have enough time up up everyone elses bid[/i]'

ebay will take the highest bidder, ie you. and bid you to just over the next highest bidder. it doesn't matter at what point you put in that bid.

you wanted to pay more than anyone else. simple.

Girl in office yesterday- bought some Raybans off of ebay- doesnt like them so contacted Paypal and told them they must be fake. They refunded her straight away and told her to keep them or bin them ('no need to return them'). So she was laughing as she just didnt like them- not actually thought they were fake.

I'll bet they were fakes.

[i]Certainly less time that setting up a peice of software. It's your lookout though.[/i]

Didn't read my post, did you? There's no software.

[i]You do realise that if you put in your max bid and others do, all paypal does is up the bids automatically, raking in cash in fees for themselves, don't you?[/i]

Yeah and Michael Jackson is running a chipshop with Elvis and Jimi Hendrix doing the frying.

Yeah and Michael Jackson is running a chipshop with Elvis and Jimi Hendrix doing the frying.

While I accidentally mixed up paypal and Ebay (both are the same in actual fact) .... You do realise the [b]IS[/b] how the ebay site works, don't you? If two people put a max bid of 200 on an item currently at 100, the site software automatically bids for you in the minimum increment until your max bid and it does the same to everyone in the auction, so the price simply rises until the second-lowest max bid is passed.

because someone has bid that much. thats how auctions work...

there is a no such thing as 'the software didnt have enough time up up everyone elses bid'

There is, while the software theoretically isnt limited in speed, it does have a delay built in, I've been bidding on items against a mate, I know both our max bids on the same item.

ebay will take the highest bidder, ie you. and bid you to just over the next highest bidder. it doesn't matter at what point you put in that bid.

Only if everyone puts in their max bid in the first place, if you hold it back and bid in increments you can end up playing off other ebayers to get lower prices. This is why it is pointless bidding in advance. The number of people who tell me you cant get a bargain on ebay because things go for near the new price, yet they bid a day in advance and wait to see the result. I've never bought anything on ebay that wasnt VERY cheap and sniped at the last minute.

because someone has bid that much. thats how auctions work...

Thats not how ebay auctions work, they're not the same as normal auctions. You wouldnt walk into a normal auction and put down you max bid straight away would you, you'd walk in and start low, see how low you can keep the auction, bounce off the other bidders etc. You dont walk into an auction for a £2k car and say "I'm bidding 2K for this", you go in at 1K and watch it rise, then cut off at the end. All ebay is doing is bidding on your behalf up to your cut-off, with no "playing" of the opposition. Sure you CAN do that, but thats not the way to get good deals on ebay.

samuri - Member

You realise they publish the time it will finish don't you? Make a note of it, then you only have to look at ebay for a minute or so. Certainly less time that setting up a peice of software. It's your lookout though.

You realise they publish the time it will finish don't you? Make a note of it, then you only have to look at ebay for a minute or so. Certainly less time that setting up a peice of software. It's your lookout though.

but with sniping you decide for yourself how much you would be willing to pay, and leave it at that. you don't have to be anywhere near the computer "for a minute or so", no matter when it ends.

this is handy not only because the need to actually swoop at the last minute is completely removed, but if the auction ends at inconvenient time - the middle of the night or 9pm on a friday night, for example, then it doesn't matter.

Only things I've ever bought from eBay have been of the "buy it now" variety- just can't be bothered with the bidding, and the few things I've kept an eye on have shot up at the last minute to pretty much the same price I could have just bought them from, say, Merlin for.

I have a mate who built up a very nice bike pretty much all off eBay, but it took him months of patient lurking. I'd sooner just buy bits straight off for a bit more and be done with it.

(mr MC posting)

must admit I dont see the point in putting in an early bid and then walking away expecting to win it. Not how real-world auctions work-people bide their time to force someone to put in the first bid, and serious/regular auction types dont even bid until the other bidders have all but dried up-all you do is potentially drive up the final price you pay by encouraging a bidding war.

I tried www.auctionsniper.com a couple of times (you get 3 free snipes) when I couldnt be near a terminal for the end of the auction. I find the time the page takes to update, and the double steps required frustrating, if you try put a bid in the last, say 20 seconds, by the time youve gone through the confirm steps and youre screen's refreshed the auction's ended and a lower bidder may have won. I assume thats a benefit of using the sniping pages.

I agree with Coffeeking in that its pointless putting in an early bid. All it does is encourage others to put in early bids, which is great for the seller but not the buyer. I usually make a note of the auction time, and if Im not doing anything special log on with ten mins to go and refresh it. I dont normally bid til about 40 seconds left, then I put in another slightly higher bid to get past the other bidder/s who think putting in another quid is going to get them past me. For example, an item is at £5.00, I come in with £7.01, then re-bid at 20 seconds with £8.51. I get the item for the price I wanted often, unless of course it is so busy it does go for a stupid price. I dont use software or any websites, I think thats a bit unfair but timing is the way to do it. I also find putting in weird amounts helps, like adding on a penny or 20p as you could very well win it by that.

The rational strategy to win on ebay is to bid your maximum as early as possible. As if someone else bids the same, the earlier bid gets it.

However this assumes everyone else is rational - they're not, some people will wait and see how others value the item, and up their bid. So bid once, your maximum, near the end.

You'll feel better about yourself when you see people get into such a bidding frenzy they end up paying more for a second hand item than it would cost to buy new

You'll also feel better about yourself when you bid on an item and only one other person is bidding on it, so you're effectively costing that person £X

See, think positive 🙂

Seeing as there's plenty of interest in ebay here. Just a warning to people thinking of selling on there. Last week I sold my SX Trail frame for £495 on ebay. Very pleased as it was the BUY-IT-NOW price. However, after totting up the charges.......Advert £3.......Paypal fee for £495=£17.....THEN ebays Final Value Fee £40 =Total £60 to sell the frame.

Girl in office yesterday- bought some Raybans off of ebay- doesnt like them so contacted Paypal and told them they must be fake. They refunded her straight away and told her to keep them or bin them

HOW??!!

My wife was stung for nearly a grand's worth of fraudulent transactions through her Pay Pal account and it took MONTHS to get it refunded. Even now we are still chasing the £100 or so that we "lost" when the refund was applied at a lower exchange rate (the fraud was in $USD) and the £15 or so in overdraft fees that NO ONE is interested in paying. Not very impressed at all and will not be using Ebay or Pay pal again.

I dont use software or any websites, I think thats a bit unfair but timing is the way to do it. I also find putting in weird amounts helps, like adding on a penny or 20p as you could very well win it by that.

you know that you are just doing the exact same thing as a sniping site, just relying on yourself not to mess it up, though? 🙂

EZ Sniper does the business for me.

theflatboy - you want to put your ebay User and pass into a site controlled by people you dont know? Or a piece of software with access to the net and no way of knowing where it goes? Personally I don't! Might as well just ask a stranger on teh street to do it for you, and you wouldnt do that would you?

Fivespot - the fees are pretty immense, but they are stated there for all to see - I sell small stuff on there only.

coffeeking......I use ebay quite a lot, and am aware of the fees. I was just warning those that might not be aware. I had the same frame on here and Pinkbike for less but it didn't sell, then put it on ebay at a higher price because of the charges...It Sold and I'm happy.

coffeeking - Member
theflatboy - you want to put your ebay User and pass into a site controlled by people you dont know? Or a piece of software with access to the net and no way of knowing where it goes? Personally I don't! Might as well just ask a stranger on teh street to do it for you, and you wouldnt do that would you?

ah, but the tradeoff for that security risk is a good as new silver thomson seatpost for just £35. 😀

[i]Odd that this seems to be a big deal for you. [/i]

I didn't realise it was. It clearly is for you and number of others though. You're welcome to bid early or use sniping software, that's fine by me, just makes bidding on ebay all the more easier.

I only buy off ebay now as it's become a bit expansive to sell stuff.

If I really want something, I'll wait till about 8 seconds to go before I bid. I'm a sad computer nerd (used to be a programmer) that will sit with 2 windows open, one with the bid ready to be sent and one being refreshed. BUT, like all other auctions, don't bid over your maximum price and don't forget the p&p.

Check out some of the stuff from Europe and the US too. Even with the shipping and exchange rate you can get a bargain.

I only buy off ebay now as it's become a bit expansive to sell stuff.

If I really want something, I'll wait till about 8 seconds to go before I bid. I'm a sad computer nerd (used to be a programmer) that will sit with 2 windows open, one with the bid ready to be sent and one being refreshed. BUT, like all other auctions, don't bid over your maximum price and don't forget the p&p.

Check out some of the stuff from Europe and the US too. Even with the shipping and exchange rate you can get a bargain.

I've also used it to find obscure things that I wouldn't have a clue where to find a shop that sold them (rubber feet for an ironing board, don't ask!!!!!).