ebay

[Nemesis]

Is there anything more nerve wracking (or indeed racking) than being one minute away from the end of an auction and being the current highest bidder???

Especially when it's something you really want and it's going to enhance your period prop no end...

 

[Pford75]

I know what you mean....and my work often means I am out of the country when the auction ends.

I have used the linked software below.....have a look...you might find it useful

http://www.auctionsniper.com/

 

[Nemesis]

Missed it by thirty secs... bugger!

Ta - looks useful...

 

[lindy]

I always wait until the last 20 secs then put my bid in (you have to make sure you are already logged in else 20 secs wont be enough!). Is usually successful. I bought both my fireplaces on ebay

 

[Nemesis]

Well others are wise to it all too... it's the automated bidding which is complicated, and you really have no idea how much some are prepared to bid.

 

[MdB]

My wife does a lot of ebaying and never manually places bids. She just uses http://www.auctionstealer.com/ to place a single bid 15 secs or so before the auction closes. She also always puts in what she is willing to pay rather than anything related to the current value.

My mate used this method to buy a 1960s motor boat. Two other people were bidding against each other over the previous hour when my mate came in from nowhere in the last 15 secs to beat them both. As the other people were only going up by the minimum bid each time, he was confident that his bid would trump theirs. He has now spent the last couple of years doing the boat up and it should be back in the water fairly soon.

 

[Nemesis]

It's all too complicated!

I do place my max bid with ebay using the automatic bidding but it all gets quite difficult and you can be caught up in bidding more than you wanted to, esp after a glass or thrree of vin!

 

[MdB]

It's all too complicated!

No it is not.

1) Decide on the maximum value you want to bid on an item.

2) Put this value into auction stealer.

3) Get on with your life until auction is over.

4) Check to see if you won or not.

Using the above, you don't get caught up in a silly bidding war and end up paying more than you wanted to.

 

[Nemesis]

You don't if you place your max bid via e-bay either - it automatically bids up to the max for you.

I don't see the difference between that and these other sites?

I don't get caught up in bidding wars, it's just irritating to have some idea of what seems to be the going rate and then at the last second find a bid has won which is way above what it seemed the winning price would be!

However - I assume it's because some put their bids in via other sites that 'normal' e-bay bidding where you put in a max bid and it bids up to that for you is being skewed by these other sites.

Hmmmmm.

 

[Michelle73]

If you think e-bay is nerve racking you should try purchasing a property in Scotland under the closed bid process.... :roll:

 

[Nemesis]

Oh yes - awful!

It's just as bad when it's sealed bids in England too... you have no idea if what you are bidding is so far over that you are paying way over the odds...

 

[MdB]

You don't if you place your max bid via e-bay either - it automatically bids up to the max for you.

I don't see the difference between that and these other sites?

The difference is that other people see your bid if you place it more than a few seconds before the auction closes.

Take this auction as an example. There are 17 bids at the time I post this going from £3.5k to £8.1k in relatively small increments. My guess is that it is likely that the top bidder has put in a bid of £8.5k or something like that though they may be willing to go a lot higher (say £15k for example). Now, if I had a maximum of £10k and I put in a bid at £10k now, the top bidder has time to react and bid £11k before the end of the auction. If I used auction stealer though, he / she won't have chance to react and would loose the auction to me for £10k.

 

[Nemesis]

It rather makes it all not much of an auction doesn't it?

I like the nail biting bidding stuff and this all takes the fun out of that for people!

Think I'll stick to auction rooms!

 

[MdB]

It rather makes it all not much of an auction doesn't it?

Exactly. If everybody did this then it would be the same as a sealed bid auction.

I like the nail biting bidding stuff and this all takes the fun out of that for people!

Think I'll stick to auction rooms!

Very true. Follow my method if you want to get something for the lowest price. If you want to enjoy it (and pay more) then your method is best.

 

[Gervase]

I have to confess to being a cad and always using a 'snipe' application when bidding on eBay. As has been said, it means I can wander off and consider the lilies and what have you, safe in the knowledge that there will be nothing to indicate my fevered interest in the item until the bid is placed in the last five seconds. That way I've managed to bag a few 'sleepers' for very low prices. Maybe it's not as sporting as hovering over the keyboard in those final minutes, but it's a lot less stressful and a heck of a lot easier on the wallet. And, if someone happens to come along with a higher bid before the 'snipe' and bags the item, c'est la vie.

 

[Nemesis]

The prob is, it seems the things I want also have 'snipers'...