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why are ebay bidders so stupid?

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Wtf is with that 'he bids $100 so he gets it for $51' stuff? So basically if someone offers a Rolls Royce for $1 I could bid $50,000,000,000, and would get it for $2 cause no one can overbid me? Either E-gay is f*cked up, or it doesn't work that way...


It does work that way. It goes up in increments. If the increment is set for $1, then whatever you are willing to bet, that auction bet is $1 above the last bet.

And it's not 'f*cked', because there is almost always interest. You'll be an idiot if you put down a RR and not have a reserved price.
 
Let's put it this way: assume that all bidders have a maximum price they are willing to pay for a given item. The person who wins the auction is the person willing to spend the most on the item. In the event the two highest bidders are willing to spend the same amount, then the person who bids first will win. Simple as that. Bidding at the last moment does nothing but reduce your inhibition to paying higher-than-normal prices. Sniping still requires that the person sniping be willing to pay the amount he's sniping at. Proxy bidding is simple, in that it gets you the lowest price possible beneath your ceiling. If Bob wanted to bid $50 on the video card in your second example, he would've still set his bid to $100 in $1 increments. It would "appear" to be $50, then Fred would bid 100 and Bob's bid would bump up to $100. But since Bob was there first, he wins.

The best way to BUY on ebay is to set a maximum price you're willing to spend no matter what, then proxy bid that amount. You won't drive the price up or draw too much attention to it, since your actual bid is just the minimum possible bid at any given time. THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN LOSE THIS, is if someone out-bids you, in which case they would've won anyways since you weren't willing to spend a penny more. Additionally, the final price would be the lowest possible price since, and I re-iterate for those who don't understand, proxy bids always bid the lowest possible winning value.
 
If you bid your maximum amount early in an auction all the other bidders are just going to pump your bid right up to the maximum and maybe beyond (because they get caught up in the moment). and if you hadn't have bid, their bids would be lower because they would not have to try and outbid your maximum bid. their bids will likely be lower than your maximum, and you can get then bid your maximum price in the last few seconds

edit: if bidding at the last minute increases your chances at over bidding because you get caught up in the moment, that is your own fault and is not a flaw in the method of bidding at the last minute. and if you believe this is true, then other people bidding in auctions at the last minute, will do the same to beat out your maximum proxy bid. which wouldnt be happening if you were sniping
 
Sigurd you are wrong.

So there is a $100 item, you will spend $100 on.

Bid right away, you now are in the lead of the auction with a current price of $1 and a proxy bid of $100. Joe Moron of ebay comes along and thinks he is going to steal this item so cheap so he bids $2...and your bid is bumped up. So he bids $5...your bid is bumped up...he bids $50...your bid moves up to that amount. So he gives up. You win the item for $50.

By not bidding at all in the beginning...Joe Moron of ebay comes along and bids 1 penny on the auction thinking he is really getting a steal this time. You come along at the last few seconds and big $100, you win the item for $1 (an exagerated scenario, but proves the point)
 
The best way to do it (presuming that you have an always-on connection) is to get a piece of software that will snipe for you and set your bid at the highest amount that you think it would be worthwhile to pay when you decide that you want the item. Once youve done that, all you have to do is wait.

Theres a program for linux called bidwatcher that will do this. I'm pretty sure theres something for windows too.
 
By not bidding at all in the beginning...Joe Moron of ebay comes along and bids 1 penny on the auction thinking he is really getting a steal this time. You come along at the last few seconds and big $100, you win the item for $1 (an exagerated scenario, but proves the point)

But this is ASSUMING he starts the bid low, and ASSUMES that he's on a slow connection and unable to see your higher bid, and ASSUMES that time runs out before he can put down what he's really willing to pay for the item.

Lots of assumptions, with any of them wrong, and you'll end up with no different than if you'd proxy bid.

Anyways, believe what you want... if you get the rush of the 30sec bidding, then go for it. But you're incorrect in thinking that you can get a better deal because of that... it just doesn't make sense. Proxy bidding isn't exactly a new concept. In a traditional auction, it's just somebody that sits for you at the auction because you're unable to, and bids normally. Same thing with ebay, it's no different than if there really was an intelligent person bidding for you.

The best way to do it (presuming that you have an always-on connection) is to get a piece of software that will snipe for you and set your bid at the highest amount that you think it would be worthwhile to pay when you decide that you want the item. Once youve done that, all you have to do is wait.

How exactly is this different from proxy bidding?
 
I am currently auctioning off Windows XP on ebay and some guy emails me asking if it is a real version. I told him yes so he bid $1.
 
Why are you guys nitpicking?

Sometimes bidding at the last minute works, sometimes it doesn't. There are no hard fast rules that will work all the time.

Although, I agree that in general it doesn't make sense to bid too early because it may drive the price up more quickly.

The most important rule is to never bid more than you're willing to pay.

Once, I wanted to buy an expensive compactflash card for my new digital camera. I got it cheaper than (cheapest) retail on ebay by about $50.

The auction ended at a time when I would be in transit to work so I put in the maximum I was willing to pay before I left (about 45 minutes before auction was to end).
Someone tried to snipe me at the last minute but he didn't know what my bid was so he didn't have time to outbid me before time ran out and I got it for a decent price.

Every auction is different.

Just my $0.02.

Jason
 


<<

<< The one that blew me away was the Northgate Omnikey keyboard that I sold for $300, paid $100 for it new. It was huge & heavy... >>


what is a northgate omnikey keyboard and why is it so expensive? >>



$300?! LMAO! The brand new kbds made by Avant are only like $175! WTF?! What a sucker....most I ever paid for an Omnikey (I've got about 6) was $100 for an evolution with the touch pad built-in. Most I got for $75-80, some were even NIB. w00t

For those who don't know, the Northgate Omnikey is the greatest keyboard ever made, with the old IBM clackety-clacks coming a close second. Northgate developed a panted mechanism for the keys. It's satisfying and clicky. The keyboards were completely reprogrammable, the older ones could be reprogrammed in hardware. They really do weigh about 15lbs because of their heavy metal back.

 
Another disadvantage to sniping is increments. You have to go up a dollar or two every time, but if you are using proxy, you can enter in a ridiculous amount like 10.03, which will likely kill anything you're winning.

For me, it depends on the item. If its something that has 10-20 auctions a day, I'll snipe. If its something that comes up once a week, I'm proxying, because I dont want to chance losing.
 


<<
The best way to do it (presuming that you have an always-on connection) is to get a piece of software that will snipe for you and set your bid at the highest amount that you think it would be worthwhile to pay when you decide that you want the item. Once youve done that, all you have to do is wait.

How exactly is this different from proxy bidding? >>



Proxy bidding only works in a perfect world. The problem lies in a number of things.

For instance, I may consider my max to be $100, but that will be out bid at $101.50. Well, if I'm willing to pay $100, I'd be willing to pay $103, it's only $3 extra. This is what leads to a bidding frenzy--you just keep saying "Just a little bit more won't hurt..."

Additionally, bidding early allows people time to "feel out" what the competing bid is.
Ebay leaves no incentive to bid early. Sniping doesn't get you a lower price, it simply helps you win at the price you want from other, slower snipers. If I bid $100 early on, I can easily lose it at $101.50. If I snipe $100 with 1 second left, the punk trying to outsnipe me won't have enough time to beat me.

If EVERYONE simply picked their max and bid once and only once, proxy bidding would ensure the win goes to the highest bidder.
But it doesn't work that way.

Here's why I snipe:
1)Protects me from a bidding frenzy--I decide how much I want to pay, tell the sniper and then just forget about it.
2)In steals auctions from other people "actively bidding" up in an effort to edge me out by not giving them enough time to edge me out.

 
Well, that only assumes you're the only one using a 'sniping' program. What would happen if another or everybody uses one?
 


<< Well, that only assumes you're the only one using a 'sniping' program. What would happen if another or everybody uses one? >>



Then it becomes equivalent to a closed-proxy-bid auction. If everyone always did it the same way, either sniping (which is really just double-proxy bidding) or by just using Ebay's proxy bidding, then the auction would always go to the person who is willing to pay the most.

Personally, I'd prefer EVERYONE to snipe because when you snipe, by the time your bid is lodged, it's too late to change it, so you have to pick your price accordingly.

I've didn't used to believe in sniping but I started to find that the only auctions I could win were the ones in which I could bid lower and sit there inthe final seconds incrementally raising my bid until time ran out.
Sniping saves me the trouble.
 


<< 90% of the time, you can get the item cheaper by waiting till the end of the auction. >>



To all the sellers: don't try to reason with these people. It's idiots like them that allow me to buy DVDs at retail and sell them for higher than retail. I've made $1000 selling DVDs on Ebay in the past year.
 
I quit using the Buy it Now feature, people kept bitching about the buy it now price...

Do you-all get many international bidders? I've had a couple & they're a pain, Even though the auction clearly says US only, they keep asking, every time I've given in, I've had more problems with them than any other buyers that could be categorized into a group. I've just recently started replying NO to the emails. Have had a few military folks & the overseas stuff goes smoothly to the APO addy's.
 
Well not everybody uses a sniping program it's a good thing we have people like Moralpanic to make sniping easier for the smart people
 
Well not everybody uses a sniping program it's a good thing we have people like Moralpanic to make sniping easier for the smart people

LOL now you claim to use a sniping program? You didn't even mention it throughout the entire thread till now.

Even Jzero said himself that:
Sniping doesn't get you a lower price, it simply helps you win at the price you want from other, slower snipers

The only difference between a sniping program and proxy seems to be that it goes over a few dollars from what you set your limit to, and does it at the last second. You could have rebutted all my arguments if you'd brought up these sniping programs (my argument was that you ASSUMED that the other bidder connection is slower, that they'll start low, and that the time would run out before they could bid... a sniping program seems to be able to negate all those, so there is an advantage), but you didn't, because you obviously had no clue about them. So don't pretend to place yourself in the 'smart' people category.

Do you-all get many international bidders?

Yeah i do... i'm in Canada that's why. But most of the stuff i sell are MMORPG related, such as credits, items, and characters, so there is no shipping involved. I just log into the game and hand the stuff over.

I've only purchased 2 things from ebay, but i've sold 50+. Ebay is for dummies... i can find a lower price, or a matched price elsewhere most of the time, and don't need to go through the BS of ebay.

 
If only ebay would auto extend an auction by 5 mins every time someone bid in the last 5 mins, we wouldnt have to deal with idiot snipers.
 
I have to agree with jmw8se. If you can be in front of a browser at an auction's end, it almost always pays to bid during the last seconds. Proxy bidding is fine if the auction ends when you can't be "there".

I've used eBay for over 3 years and have noticed the "ego" effect. Some people want to "win" by beating other bidders. Price is not always a top concern. I, however, want the lowest price. That means bidding at the last possible second, so nobody can outbid you. Perhaps it's not the most ethical, but that's how to play the game based on eBay's fixed time auction rules. If eBay changed their auctions so that a bid placed at the last second would automatically extend the auction by, say, an hour, then sniping would be a bit less effective. But auction end times are fixed, so sniping is the most logical bidding method.
 
Yeah I know what you mean, there is an auction that had a really good price and I was looking at it, but then stupid people bid on it, and now the buy it now is gone, the price is still pretty decent though, I might go in and buy it when there are 30 seconds or so remaining.
 
i was selling an old motherboard and K6-III 450 MHz processor. The highest bid was $70, then two tards got into a bidding contest and I ended up selling the combo for $140. I had just bought a Duron/Abit KT-7 combo for about $200 and was hoping to get at best $100, so $140 was unexpected. I almost felt sorry for the fool who won my auction. It's like those people never do a price compare on pricewatch or dealtime.

 
SHUT UP, you're gonna screw up my buisness... you eGay, I mean eBay bidders are l33t (elite). Keep buying all that Diablo2 stuff, and the used cars you've never seen or heard. Power to the people!
 
I think it's dumb to start an auction at $1 anyway. I started all of my auctions at about 50% of what I expected. If I sell a video card worth $100, I start the auction at $50. No dork is going to get my card for $1. lol

I've never seen a "Buy it now" price that was even moderately competitive. Like Mr. T used to say "I pity da fool" who buys it now.
 
yeah.. a lotta ebayers will ruin deals for people.. but lets face it, if it weren't for them, who knows how successful ebay woulda been, maybe it wouldnt even be up still... so, everytime we see somebody like that, we should thank them, as long as their not bidding on something you want... hehe... I can see the email..

"Dear stupid ebayer, Thank you for being an idiot and not thinking before you bid. It is people like you who keep this great company running, and who keep items cheap for smarter people like me. Thanks again stupid." - smart ebayer....

(note: feel free to copy and paste this letter and send to the next idiot ebayer you see.)
 
I'll give you all a little selling "secret". List your item with a low opening bid price ($1 or less). This minimizes eBay's listing fee because it is based on your opening price and it also encourages people to look at your listing (I don't like looking at listings with 0 bids and a $49.99 opening price). Use BuyItNow! and set it to a fairly high price, a price where you have some doubt that it is feasible for a sale, but might be. Finally, set a reserve for some figure between the opening and BuyItNow! price.

For instance, let's say you have a used 24x Lite-on CD-RW to sell. You list it for $0.99, set the BuyItNow! price to $79 and the reserve price to $60. If the first bidder places a bid for $0.99, they won't make the reserve, so your item is "safe". However, because you used a reserve price, the BuyItNow! function is still valid. You are right, it sucks how BuyItNow! is disabled after the first bidder places a bid. However, using reserve price keeps the BuyItNow! function available UNTIL that reserve is met. So if the second bidder bids $25, the reserve still isn't met and BuyItNow! remains available.

See, if you are a bidder and see an item for $0.99 with a BuyItNow! price of $79, you don't want to use BuyItNow! because you think "heh, I'll get it cheaper than that $79...it's only 99 cents now!". But let's look at my reserve price example. Say the auction has a few bids and the price is now $50, not $0.99. BuyItNow! is still available on the listing. Hmm, maybe a bidder will end the auction and pay the $79, seeing the smaller price gap. I've used this method many times and it works more often than not. I get a desirable BuyItNow! price AND a shorter auction duration.

The only risk to using this method is that if the reserve price is not met, you have to pay the reserve listing fee. Otherwise, if the item sells, the fee is waived.
 
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