Ebay question?

[MrDingleDangle]

can anyone explain to me the purpose of hiding the reserve?

first off...i have a bid on something, i put in $20, but it only bids $9.99 (outbidding another person)...but it says reserve not met, y dont they just make my bid $20 and say reserve not met?

if the reserve was $19 would they put my bid at $20?

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

it's how they more people to bid, thus driving the price up, thus making them more money cause they make a % of the sale price.

 

[MisterPresident]

Right, but what if I'm willing to pay $20, and the reserve is $19, but it starts proxy bidding at only $9.99, and leaves it there until more people bid.

 

[Hector13]

Originally posted by: MisterPresident
Right, but what if I'm willing to pay $20, and the reserve is $19, but it starts proxy bidding at only $9.99, and leaves it there until more people bid.

I am pretty sure your bid would be raised to the reserve (if it was $19) if it is below your max bid. So it seems like the reserve is above $20

 

[MisterPresident]

Originally posted by: Hector13

Originally posted by: MisterPresident
Right, but what if I'm willing to pay $20, and the reserve is $19, but it starts proxy bidding at only $9.99, and leaves it there until more people bid.

I am pretty sure your bid would be raised to the reserve (if it was $19) if it is below your max bid. So it seems like the reserve is above $20

I was just bidding on an auction. I put my max bid at $120, and after the auction ended, I found out the reserve was $90..... but it never raised my bid until others also bid. I think there might be a "non-proxy" bid option.

 

[fr]

Originally posted by: MisterPresident

I was just bidding on an auction. I put my max bid at $120, and after the auction ended, I found out the reserve was $90..... but it never raised my bid until others also bid. I think there might be a "non-proxy" bid option.

Non-proxy would suck at eBay because someone could bid $900 on GeForce FX 5800 as the first bid and no one would dare outbid him. Then at the last minute, he could retract and say "Oops, I meant to bid $90 (or $9)." Then rebid at the lower price with no time left and the seller gets screwed (if there was no reserve).

With proxy bidding, there is someone willing to buy at a price right below yours.

 

[dman]

Usually I'll just go find another auction with the same item without a reserve.

I guess they could have a check box to raise your price to the reserve amount when you bid and put in a max amount. I think that would annoy sellers, as then they may as well just use a minimum bid price. (Or they are dreaming and have the price too high).

 

[AnyMal]

Proxy is great because it eliminates the need for sniping. Once you determined the max amount you're willing to bid you can eneter it and just let it ride.

 

[C'DaleRider]

Originally posted by: MisterPresident

Originally posted by: Hector13

Originally posted by: MisterPresident
Right, but what if I'm willing to pay $20, and the reserve is $19, but it starts proxy bidding at only $9.99, and leaves it there until more people bid.

I am pretty sure your bid would be raised to the reserve (if it was $19) if it is below your max bid. So it seems like the reserve is above $20

I was just bidding on an auction. I put my max bid at $120, and after the auction ended, I found out the reserve was $90..... but it never raised my bid until others also bid. I think there might be a "non-proxy" bid option.

Sorry, but there is no non-proxy bid option. Quite possibly the reserve was dropped during the auction. But if your max is higher than the set reserve, the bid that you placed automatically goes right up to the reserve bid. At least that's how every one I've placed or bid upon worked.

I use reserves so I don't lose a valuable piece for too cheap and lose money in the proposition ....... especially stuff like the Roseville pottery I've started to sell. On cheap junk, I don't use it.

 

[Marauder-]

Originally posted by: AnyMal
Proxy is great because it eliminates the need for sniping. Once you determined the max amount you're willing to bid you can eneter it and just let it ride.

That's only if your proxy is a reasonable price. Cheapsakes still need to snipe it.

 

[chowderhead]

Originally posted by: fr

Originally posted by: MisterPresident

I was just bidding on an auction. I put my max bid at $120, and after the auction ended, I found out the reserve was $90..... but it never raised my bid until others also bid. I think there might be a "non-proxy" bid option.

Non-proxy would suck at eBay because someone could bid $900 on GeForce FX 5800 as the first bid and no one would dare outbid him. Then at the last minute, he could retract and say "Oops, I meant to bid $90 (or $9)." Then rebid at the lower price with no time left and the seller gets screwed (if there was no reserve).

With proxy bidding, there is someone willing to buy at a price right below yours.

They fixed some of problems with bid retractions. You cannot retract if you placed a bid 12 hours before an auction ends and there is less than 12 hours before the end of an auction. If you placed a bid within 12 hours of the end of the auction, you can only retract within one hour of making the bid. There is still the issue of bid shielding but I don't want to give the scammers any more ideas than they already have.