[78-L] e-bay bidding

[David Lennick]

Snipe or be sniped. That way you bid only what you'd have been prepared to pay. 
It worked more often than not for me, until the day I finally got fed up with 
the idiots who ignored my packing instructions (and even the packaging I sent 
them) and accused me of buying records, taping them and returning them. I 
haven't bought anything on eBlat for over two years now.

dl

On 9/13/2010 5:22 PM, Taylor Bowie wrote:
> 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
>>> _______________________________________________