why do people on ebay bid before the end?

[SnowSurfer]

I am looking to buy a new watch on ebay, something nice but i definetly don't want to pay retail, what is the point of bidding right at the start of the auction and not waiting till the end? All that does is drive the damn price up. Why can't more people be smart about bidding and not raise the prices to inordinate levels?

[Markel]

Yeah. Half the fun of buying on eBay is the last second sniping! :heh:

[RIVERWIDOW]

I am looking to buy a new watch on ebay, something nice but i definetly don't want to pay retail, what is the point of bidding right at the start of the auction and not waiting till the end? All that does is drive the damn price up. Why can't more people be smart about bidding and not raise the prices to inordinate levels?

If the bidding process causes you stress maybe you should just look for a watch that has the buy it now feature. Of course that is always more $ and then you have to wonder "would I have gotten it cheaper if I had just bid?"

[SnowSurfer]

i personnaly always snipe auctions and i save them as favorites instead of watching them. it just gets really stupid when people bid when the thing still has 7 days to go

[Showtime]

Careful lots of fake real watches on ebay.

-j

[SnowSurfer]

its a nixon watch, i don't think there has been any fakes of those made because they arent really that expensive in the first place, just damn sexy

[MrGreg]

Rule #1: Most people are stupid.

A lot of people have no idea how the bid by proxy works and think they are actually bidding the amount they enter. In reality you are bidding up to that amount.

Say I bid $x for an item at any time before the item closes...

-If the item sells for less than $x, I win.
-If it sells for more than $x, someone else wins.

The trick is to make $x the most YOU are willing to pay for it and only bid once.

If everyone did this, it wouldn't matter when you bid. The problem is there are a lot of people who will bid $50. Then $60. Then $80. They get emotionally invested in that particular auction and bid more than they otherwise would. If you want to win the auction, you don't want these people outbidding you, so you use the single bid strategy above, and place the bid at the last second.

[Mike_N_Ike]

For people like us who enjoy sniping auctions and what not, it doesn't make a lot of sense.

I think a lot of people either are too busy to keep checking back on the auction, or just don't care that much. If you are at work in the morning and have a meeting in the afternoon when the auction is scheduled to end - you don't really have much choice in the matter.

[BrewMaster]

Rule #1: Most people are stupid.

A lot of people have no idea how the bid by proxy works and think they are actually bidding the amount they enter. In reality you are bidding up to that amount.

Say I bid $x for an item at any time before the item closes...

-If the item sells for less than $x, I win.
-If it sells for more than $x, someone else wins.

The trick is to make $x the most YOU are willing to pay for it and only bid once.

If everyone did this, it wouldn't matter when you bid. The problem is there are a lot of people who will bid $50. Then $60. Then $80. They get emotionally invested in that particular auction and bid more than they otherwise would. If you want to win the auction, you don't want these people outbidding you, so you use the single bid strategy above, and place the bid at the last second.
that's exactly it. i think sniping is the stupid thing. i make my bid and if i win, great, if i lose, no problem.

[Merlin]

Rule #1: Most people are stupid.

The problem is there are a lot of people who will bid $50. Then $60. Then $80. They get emotionally invested in that particular auction and bid more than they otherwise would.
Wow, did I ever see this in action last weekend. I went to the local Ren. Fair and there was a vendor selling swords. Mostly cheap junk but some nice stuff. At the end of the day they did an auction. People were whipped into a frenxy and just started bidding crazy amounts. Way more than they could have just walked inside and bought it for. Real funny to see someone bid $120 for something being sold inside for $40. I think it is the competition thing that gets people going. Can't let that other guy get what you want - price be dammed.

[SnowSurfer]

ive had to stop myself a few times from rebidding just so i didnt spend any more money, i hate to loose and if i really really want something i will win it but some of these people are just stupid!

[Paymaster]

I think a lot of people either are too busy to keep checking back on the auction, or just don't care that much. If you are at work in the morning and have a meeting in the afternoon when the auction is scheduled to end - you don't really have much choice in the matter.

Yeah, that's me. I put in my max price, and if your sniper bid wins, so be it. I'll move on with life.

As a seller, a feature that I would love is if the auction automatically extended by 5 minutes for any bid recieved in the last five minutes. Then the snipers could start second-guessing themselves, and bidding it up even more!

[MrGreg]

i think sniping is the stupid thing. i make my bid and if i win, great, if i lose, no problem.

In theory that's great.

Now take that same idea, and factor in that you are less likely to be outbid by the previously described idiots by placing your bid at the last minute.

What I think eBay should offer is a seller's option (with a fee, or course) to extend the auction by 5 minutes if a bid comes in within the last 2 minutes. They won't do it, though, because it would piss off too many buyers.

[Paymaster]

What I think eBay should offer is a seller's option (with a fee, or course) to extend the auction by 5 minutes if a bid comes in within the last 2 minutes. They won't do it, though, because it would piss off too many buyers.

Not really arguing so much, but:
Extending the auction = higher selling price = more money for eBay.
I'm sure that the snipers piss off a lot of buyers too.

[DarkFury]

that's exactly it. i think sniping is the stupid thing. i make my bid and if i win, great, if i lose, no problem.
Heh... you don't want it "bad enough, cheap enough" :heh:

What I hate more than folks bidding early is when people put up an auction for 7 to 10 days... Geez... 3 to 5 days is usually enough for folks to see it and wait on it to end. Sometimes it's like "forever" waiting for a 10 day auction to end and you came across it with like 9 days to go. :rolleyes: :2far:

[BrewMaster]

i am a smart shopper. i set my price and i always get my price even if I have to wait a while until a win an auction at my price. paying "any price necessary" is a fool's approach.

[MrGreg]

Not really arguing so much, but:
Extending the auction = higher selling price = more money for eBay.
I'm sure that the snipers piss off a lot of buyers too.

I did some consulting work at eBay with my previous company. I suggested a "going, going, gone" option just like this. Their response was "we get this suggestion every day, and we will never offer it as an option"

So don't hold your breath.

People buy stuff on eBay because they think they are getting a good deal, even when they drive the price up wayyyy to high. They don't want to do anything to piss off buyers. I'm sure this option would increase revenue in the short run (fees + higher final prices) but they are more concerned about the long run effects.


i am a smart shopper. i set my price and i always get my price even if I have to wait a while until a win an auction at my price. paying "any price necessary" is a fool's approach.

I completely agree with you on this. All I'm saying is by delaying your bid (at your predetermined price) you are more likely to win any given auction. Not because bidding early will cause you to bid again later, but because your early bid could cause other people to bid more than they might otherwise have done.

[BigJon]

They bid early for the same reason why idiots continue to bid after the bids have far surpassed the value of the product.

[bachviet]

I usually put in the max amount I want to pay for the item and if someone outbid me, so be it. I could always wait for the next available auction.

[BrewMaster]

I completely agree with you on this. All I'm saying is by delaying your bid (at your predetermined price) you are more likely to win any given auction. Not because bidding early will cause you to bid again later, but because your early bid could cause other people to bid more than they might otherwise have done.
ok, I can agree with that. I don't bid on the first day of an auction either. but the stupid people are the ones sniping, not the ones who put their bid in more than 10 minutes before the auction closes.

[PrObLy]

ok, I can agree with that. I don't bid on the first day of an auction either. but the stupid people are the ones sniping, not the ones who put their bid in more than 10 minutes before the auction closes.
:stupid:

I definitely agree. A couple months ago I was considering purchasing a Zen Micro and would place a bid on a different one every couple days when it had a few hours left or so. I knew exactly how much I wanted to spend;so, if someone sniped at the end to beat me, I wasn't very upset. In fact, they were the ones getting screwed over. More than likely in the heat of their "sniping" back and forth they drove the price up to ~20 dollars more than retail value (plus the 15-20 dollars that the seller usually charges for shipping).

I guess what I'm trying to say is that regardless of whether you're sniping or not, you really should have the exact price set for what you want to spend or you might end up like the dozens of auctions I saw where people were routinely paying 40 dollars total over the retail price of an item that they could have easily purchased from Amazon or eCost. And these people were always the snipers trying to outbid eachother in the last 10 minutes.

[MrGreg]

There was a study done to figure out how to maximize selling price and the results showed the best think to do is:

-No reserve
-Start bid at $1

This gets people to bid on it early when the price is still low, and they get attached to that particular item and compete for it. Length of auction didn't matter. Of course people may choose to put a reserve as a level of insurance, but it might actually lower your final selling price.

[Gothic Girl]

The problem is there are a lot of people who will bid $50. Then $60. Then $80. They get emotionally invested in that particular auction and bid more than they otherwise would.

I do that! :dead:

[DaFunkyUnit]

sniping is the way to go. period.

you set your price, and if the item is below that price come closing time, snipe away. else, look at another item.

i tend to buy things on ebay that are rather rare and hard to find, so "waiting until the next auction" means waiting quite a long time.

[DarkFury]

So what do folks want? Have eBay set a limit where you can only place one final "all or nothing" bid for an item in the last 5 minutes of the auction... and then announce who won when 5 minutes are up?

Oh well... I'll definitely continue sniping for stuff I really want, cause that's the best way to get it at the price I want/am willing to pay. :D

[SnowSurfer]

yes i love sniping, i actually just bought my watch 59.95 with 7 dollars priority mail shipping, pretty nice considering it retails for 120

but seriously sniping is the best way to win things, they actually have programs people pay for because they are too incompentent to do it themselves...

[glagic]

how do you get the bid by proxy to work? every time ive tried, it enters my max bid price as my bid for that moment.

[DarkFury]

how do you get the bid by proxy to work? every time ive tried, it enters my max bid price as my bid for that moment.
Well... how far out did you set it? Where there other bidders?

The only way it would go out to your max is that your max was just beyond the max of the previous bidder.

[SnowSurfer]

maybe the people bidding with 7 days left are just that persons friends?

[comp]

i start early and bid low, then watch to see the action

[BrewMaster]

i start early and bid low, then watch to see the action
then you would be considered one of the not so bright people. just put your max bid in and wait. no need to keep bidding if you have any type of self control.

[ArkiStan]

As Snowsurfer said, those "stupid early bidders" are often the seller's friends who are strategically driving the price up.

;)

[BrewMaster]

As Snowsurfer said, those "stupid early bidders" are often the seller's friends who are strategically driving the price up.

;)
but you wouldn't know anything about that... :P

[SnowSurfer]

yea damn those bastards, i can honestly say i have never done that ever cause i think it is unethical (drive up my own auction, or one of my friends)

[ZrEo0]

i bid when there is still alot of time left, if i win, i win, if i dont, i dont. half the time i still win it with a bid that is a few days old

[BrewMaster]

half the time i still win it with a bid that is a few days old
well, I think the demand for German midget pr0n is shrinking. :hihi:

[ZrEo0]

well, I think the demand for German midget pr0n is shrinking. :hihi:
its becoming harder to find, ebay is all i have left

[Merlin]

why do people on ebay bid before the end?
Because I've got much better things to do with my time then sit around and wait for a auction to end. I put in my bid and then go about my business. I'll then check back the next day and see how it went. It really is not worth any more effort than that.

[cheapie]

how do you get the bid by proxy to work? every time ive tried, it enters my max bid price as my bid for that moment.


i think that's what happens if your bid doesn't make the reserve.