Ebay Question: Everytime i bid, it says im out bid...EVERYTIME

[labgeek]

Guess you don't read much before you enter contracts (btw the bid is a contract just pointing it out since you MUST be new to ebay)...

Right below the box where you put in your bid is says:

eBay automatically bids on your behalf up to your maximum bid.
Learn about bidding.

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: Toasthead

Originally posted by: Ausm
If you really want something NEVER bid early wait and snipe the item with 20 seconds or less time left.


Ausm

Or jsut always put the maximum youre willing to pay in the inital bid and save yourself the hassle.

true you save the hassle, but you raise the price artificially because others will keep going up after you so long as there's time. Why do you think most people's 1st bids come towards the end of an auction ? If you snipe, then others won't know your "max bid" and will assume theirs was high enough. Remember people can change their minds and go higher. You end up beating them by paying less than what you intended because they never knew to bid that high (unless it's already above your max anyway - then you don't care anyway). You're playing the game vs other bidders, not just against the price you're willing to pay. Sniping increases your chance of actually winning the item at your acceptable price.

 

[DannyLove]

NEWB, ready the rules!

 

[ActuaryTm]

(recycled post, as it bears repeating)

eBay - bringing imbeciles together since 1995.

 

[eplebnista]

Originally posted by: ActuaryTm
(recycled post, as it bears repeating)

eBay - bringing imbeciles together since 1995.

:laugh:

 

[DBL]

Originally posted by: Jzero

Originally posted by: DBL

Originally posted by: Jzero
Outbid you by $.50 more than you said you were willing to pay. If you were willing to pay $.50 more you should have set your max $.50 higher. Someone is always going to outbid you by the bid increment if you get outbid. How long will you say "Just another 50 cents!" before you give up? That is your maximum.

No. Sniping prevents a bidding war in most cases. The other guy will not have time to counter your bid. Regardless, if you are not willing to pay more than someone else, there is nothing you can do. The point is to take advantage of the other guy low-balling his bid by not giving him a chance to counter-bid.

You state the obvious - sniping is only effective against other snipers and people who don't understand or trust the proxy bidding system.

Ebay isn't a "game." You don't really "win" auctions. You name your maximum price and you either get the item for less than or equal to that price or someone else overpays.

People who don't understand how bidding works WRT eBay make up a decent percentage. That's where sniping pays off. Besides that you are also discounting the "human nature" factor. Despite people?s best efforts, they have a hard time sticking to their maximum bid. After an item hit $100, why not pay .50 more to possibly get it? That's the thinking of an eBay user and you can avoid this by sniping.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: MainFramed
Why is it that everytime i goto bid on something it comes back saying i've been outbid, and it goes up by like .50 cents and it says a another bidder has out bid me, like that second, but everytime i do it. its like they have something set to outbid anyone who bids more than them... wtf??:|

Chose your highest price you will pay for the item and set that as your max. It will automatically outbid anyone with a lower bid. Obviously, if someone else wants the item more they will have a higher bid and you will be outbid again.

I recommend caution when bidding on items on ebay though. You can find some good deals there but you really have to know what the item you are bidding on costs retail and factor in shipping. Then decide if it's worth the wait and possibility of being out bid and losing the auction vs buying it somewhere else.

 

[Inappropriate4AT]

Are you fvcking serious? This is a joke right? Coming from an '02 member with 5K posts and a custom desktop, how can you not know how Ebay works?

 

[dxkj]

Originally posted by: Jzero

Originally posted by: mAdMaLuDaWg

Originally posted by: Toasthead

Originally posted by: Ausm
If you really want something NEVER bid early wait and snipe the item with 20 seconds or less time left.


Ausm

Or jsut always put the maximum youre willing to pay in the inital bid and save yourself the hassle.

Yeah and watch the guy outbid you by $0.50

Outbid you by $.50 more than you said you were willing to pay. If you were willing to pay $.50 more you should have set your max $.50 higher. Someone is always going to outbid you by the bid increment if you get outbid. How long will you say "Just another 50 cents!" before you give up? That is your maximum.

That mentality is how people spend more for items than they retail