[78-L] e-bay bidding

[Taylor Bowie]

I think Buster is correct,  although all our theories are pretty anecdotal 
about what is "good" and "bad" for auctions,  bidders and sellers.

I've gotten to the point where I have so much stuff as it is that I just 
can't go into a tizzy if I miss something.  I don't snipe,  but I usually 
wait until a few hours are left to go and then bid.

The one thing...the ONE thing...which bugs me on eBay is not the sniping, 
it's the bids from the fraidy cats who try to top your bid by making their 
own bids in teeny-tiny increases...and they do so all at once,  not as if 
they've spent some time thinking it over or doing price-comparison.

No,  I've seen times when I've bid $15 and something on a $1.99 starting 
bid,  and some weak-willed type comes along and bids $2.08,  then $2.58, 
Then $3.08,  then $3.58, etc. etc. until they just top my bid.  When I see 
this and have the time to do so,  I usually make a second bid at a much 
higher amount,  mainly just to torture Mr. Step-Bidder.

As Buster says,  figure out what YOU want to pay and just leave it be...if 
someone pays a buck more or a hundred bucks more,  let them have it.  For 
some reason or another,  they are willing to pay more than you.

Taylor




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "buster" <busterdog at mac.com>
To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Sent: Monday, September 13, 2010 2:07 PM
Subject: Re: [78-L] e-bay bidding


> It might help if you think about it like this:
>
> When one previews at a live auction, most folks will get a mental notion 
> of the absolute highest price they'd ever be willing to pay for an item.
>
> In modern online auctions, you simply take that amount and enter it into 
> the snipe bid. Then forget about it. Find out later whether you've 
> prevailed, knowing you've not exceeded your own budget.
>
> More often than not, your idea of what you're willing to pay is higher 
> than the others' best bids, so you win. None of this incremental stuff, 
> and none of the emotion-based overbidding like old fashioned auctions. And 
> no elevated pulse rate, either.
>
> Come to think of it, this isn't too different than a sealed-bid silent 
> auction. Do folks dislike them?
>
> -- Buster
> Busterdog at mac.com
>
> On Sep 13, 2010, at 1:47 PM, DAVID BURNHAM <burnhamd at rogers.com> wrote:
>
>> Malcolm Rockwell wrote:
>>
>> And
>> nobody wins but the buyer willing to pay just to beat out everyone else.
>> And the seller, of course.
>>
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>
>> This isn't entirely true.  Programs like e-snipe, (automatic bidding in 
>> the last
>> few seconds), have scared off many legitimate bidders like myself.  I 
>> have often
>> bid on an item only to lose it in the last few seconds to a sniper. 
>> Hence I
>> have for the most part stopped bidding on e-bay.  If bidding had 
>> proceeded as
>> it's supposed to with a series of bidders upping the previous bids, the 
>> item
>> would go for much more but now many items just sit at or near the minimum 
>> bid
>> until a sniper grabs it at the end for a cheap price.  The seller loses 
>> out on
>> this process.
>>
>> db
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