Ebay noob

[irishScott]

Making my first purchase on ebay, and the auction currently has zero bids, but days left. If I bid now, will that make it jump closer to the top of the search results or something? Kinda like the number of hits determines a site's rank on google?

 

[Q]

No it won't make it jump

 

[isekii]

Link ?

 

[dyna]

Originally posted by: irishScott
Making my first purchase on ebay, and the auction currently has zero bids, but days left. If I bid now, will that make it jump closer to the top of the search results or something? Kinda like the number of hits determines a site's rank on google?

I use myibay to snipe, its free and has worked flawlessly. By default it places your bid 6 sec before the auction is over but you can lower it.

 

[uhohs]

snipe it.

 

[irishScott]

Originally posted by: isekii
Link ?

Now why would I encourage competition? Suffice to say it's (currently) an awesome deal.

 

[2Xtreme21]

Usually if there are days left on an auction, the price will go up (if it's an awesome deal and the item is popular) by the time it's close to ending.

 

[irishScott]

Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21
Usually if there are days left on an auction, the price will go up (if it's an awesome deal and the item is popular) by the time it's close to ending.

Well this is kind of a niche item, so hopefully the competition will be minimal.

 

[Baked]

I'm gonna bid $25.02 to ruin your sniping. Haaaa ha.

 

[Titan]

Ever since I was first sniped back in 1999, I have learned to snipe everyone that I can.

 

[lxskllr]

Sniping is the *ONLY* way to play Ebay. Otherwise you get in ridiculous bidding wars with people, and it gets bid over what the item's worth. Bid the maximum you're willing to pay with seconds left on the clock, and hope for the best. Don't forget to be logged in before you make your bid ;^)

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: lxskllr
Sniping is the *ONLY* way to play Ebay. Otherwise you get in ridiculous bidding wars with people, and it gets bid over what the item's worth. Bid the maximum you're willing to pay with seconds left on the clock, and hope for the best. Don't forget to be logged in before you make your bid ;^)

Nailed it.

I snipe, but I don't resort to using lame sniping software. It's easy enough to do in Firefox with two tabs open. Have one tab on the auction page where you can refresh the time, and the other tab on the *very* last screen before your bid is confirmed, with your maximum bid amount entered and your mouse ready to click the "Confirm Bid" button.

Sniping isn't a science. All you're doing is entering your bid during the last few seconds of an auction so a bidding war (initiated by you or another party) can't be done. It's a self-control measure, in some respects, preventing you from getting emotionally involved in the bidding process.

 

[nublikescake]

Originally posted by: lxskllr
Sniping is the *ONLY* way to play Ebay. Otherwise you get in ridiculous bidding wars with people, and it gets bid over what the item's worth. Bid the maximum you're willing to pay with seconds left on the clock, and hope for the best. Don't forget to be logged in before you make your bid ;^)

It's certainly not the "ONLY" way to "play" eBay but it's certainly the most fun! More than 95% of the stuff I've bought on eBay has been through sniping. Nothing like beating all the suckers in an auction by placing your only bid in the last few seconds.

 

[Farang]

eBay is generally a terrible place to buy and a great place to sell, if you are looking to sacrifice some of your rights in the name of getting the highest price. The bidding system almost always guarantees overpricing for properly listed, even remotely popular items.

 

[nublikescake]

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: lxskllr
Sniping is the *ONLY* way to play Ebay. Otherwise you get in ridiculous bidding wars with people, and it gets bid over what the item's worth. Bid the maximum you're willing to pay with seconds left on the clock, and hope for the best. Don't forget to be logged in before you make your bid ;^)

Nailed it.

I snipe, but I don't resort to using lame sniping software. It's easy enough to do in Firefox with two tabs open. Have one tab on the auction page where you can refresh the time, and the other tab on the *very* last screen before your bid is confirmed, with your maximum bid amount entered and your mouse ready to click the "Confirm Bid" button.

Sniping isn't a science. All you're doing is entering your bid during the last few seconds of an auction so a bidding war (initiated by you or another party) can't be done. It's a self-control measure, in some respects, preventing you from getting emotionally involved in the bidding process.

Exactly the method I use...two tabs is all you need (and a hi-speed connection!)

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: jpeyton


I snipe, but I don't resort to using lame sniping software.

Using software would take the fun out of it. Sniping gives you the rush of gambling, and you really can't lose. You either "win" by getting the item, or you end up neutral by spending no money, without winning.

 

[TheNinja]

Originally posted by: nublikescake

Originally posted by: lxskllr
Sniping is the *ONLY* way to play Ebay. Otherwise you get in ridiculous bidding wars with people, and it gets bid over what the item's worth. Bid the maximum you're willing to pay with seconds left on the clock, and hope for the best. Don't forget to be logged in before you make your bid ;^)

It's certainly not the "ONLY" way to "play" eBay but it's certainly the most fun! More than 95% of the stuff I've bought on eBay has been through sniping. Nothing like beating all the suckers in an auction by placing your only bid in the last few seconds.

well technically you beat all these other "suckers" b/c you were willing to pay more for the item than they were. who's the sucker now??

but ya, i usually put my bid in like 10 seconds from the end.

 

[nublikescake]

Originally posted by: TheNinja

Originally posted by: nublikescake

Originally posted by: lxskllr
Sniping is the *ONLY* way to play Ebay. Otherwise you get in ridiculous bidding wars with people, and it gets bid over what the item's worth. Bid the maximum you're willing to pay with seconds left on the clock, and hope for the best. Don't forget to be logged in before you make your bid ;^)

It's certainly not the "ONLY" way to "play" eBay but it's certainly the most fun! More than 95% of the stuff I've bought on eBay has been through sniping. Nothing like beating all the suckers in an auction by placing your only bid in the last few seconds.

well technically you beat all these other "suckers" b/c you were willing to pay more for the item than they were. who's the sucker now??

but ya, i usually put my bid in like 10 seconds from the end.

Ha ha agreed. But many times when I lose an auction, I wish I had entered a higher price. If any one of these "suckers" feels like this after losing to me because of trying to low ball and still hoping to win.....he's the sucker, NOT me!

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: Farang
eBay is generally a terrible place to buy and a great place to sell, if you are looking to sacrifice some of your rights in the name of getting the highest price. The bidding system almost always guarantees overpricing for properly listed, even remotely popular items.

eBay can be a great place to buy and a terrible place to sell.

Or a great place to buy and a great place to sell.

Or a terrible place to buy and a terrible place to sell.

It depends on how intelligent the buyer/seller is, just like in *any* marketplace in the world (online or offline). Gross generalizations like yours just means you don't understand how this marketplace works.

 

[Farang]

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: Farang
eBay is generally a terrible place to buy and a great place to sell, if you are looking to sacrifice some of your rights in the name of getting the highest price. The bidding system almost always guarantees overpricing for properly listed, even remotely popular items.

eBay can be a great place to buy and a terrible place to sell.

Or a great place to buy and a great place to sell.

Or a terrible place to buy and a terrible place to sell.

It depends on how intelligent the buyer/seller is, just like in *any* marketplace in the world (online or offline). Gross generalizations like yours just means you don't understand how this marketplace works.

I understand how it works. Popular products if properly listed gather within a couple cents of the highest price someone would pay. A marketplace like AT FS/FT, in contrast, has the seller list their price. So multiple people may be willing to buy that item for its listed price, but the price never gets inflated through their bidding.

I used to sell new/used XBOX games on there and they would get above retail if you included shipping. I mean literally these people could have ordered the games from Gamestop and had them shipped for cheaper. Not even great games--Burnout, All-Star Baseball, etc.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Yeah, nobody will bid until about 5 minutes before the auction ends...

I would snipe it yourself, at about 20-30 seconds.

 

[kalrith]

I saw a nice deal on a TV just a little while ago. The highest bid was at $341 for the last few hours until less than one minute left. In the last 45 seconds it jumped to $490.

The thing I like about sniping software is that you can snipe even when you can't be on the computer (office meeting, sleeping, etc.). It also allows you to calmly decide your maximum bid rather than getting caught up in the moment and bidding more than you really want to.

 

[Reckoner]

snipe dat sheet yo