Topic: E-Bay bidding

[bowhunter]

For those of you that do a lot of Ebay-ing, could someone explaine this scenario?
There was an item that came up( no names numbers, etc) for an item that I really wanted. In fact I put in 4 bids, just to get past the Reserve price.
For almost 7 days, not another bid, up untill 4 hours b4 the close bidding. I waited intill after close of bidding, only to find that one bid
had beat my max by ONE dollar :-[How the hell does that work? No other bids for almost 7 days, to be be beat by a buck in the last hours? That totally sucks

Bowhunter

[Bodain]

Lesson 1 on Ebay.. Never ever bid on an item until the last two minutes. Your doing nothing but driving the price up.
Most of the time. I never bid until the last 45 seconds. So all those guys that put in an early bid just made the item higher for me.
I can't tell you how many times I won the item by one dollar.

[Uncle Ernie]

Sometimes it's a psych thing. If you keep bidding and the same name keeps outbidding you, you might be tempted to give up. It works that way at live auctions.  Also, the are sniper programs that some people use that go in at the last second.  Bottom line, though, if you bid your top dollar, then don't worry about it.

[cbjunkie]

yep. that's the only way to keep from having a heart attack...set it and forget it...

[Gordon]

You can never lose (or win, for that matter) by more than one bidding increment, which is one dollar until the price gets over $100.  Then it becomes $1.50, I think.  That's why, if you're the second highest bidder at the end of the auction, the final price will only be one dollar over your bid. 

The person who won may have bid 50 or 100 dollars more than you, but you won't know because ebay only used as much of their bid as needed to get one increment over your bid. 

Never get in a bidding war, only bid once, and the later you bid, the less likely that others will have a chance to counter it. 

[oldbiker]

It is no good putting in a minimum bid and hoping! Bid late and bid the absolute maximum you are prepared to pay. You may (if you are lucky) get the item for the minimum showing or you may still not win because someone else is willing to bid more than your maximum. If you are the winner, eBay only puts the bid at the lowest needed to win so even though you have set a maximum bid of say $75, if $58 is all that is needed that is the amount eBay puts on it.

[Terry in Australia]

As a seller, I know at any time how many potential bidders are watching my auction, every time you click on "watch this item" it tells the seller that there's another interested party out there.

As a buyer you can't see it, but as a seller, you know that you're gonna get some bids, regardless of how smart the bidders think they are by not bidding early, but with a snipe program, the seller, just like the other bidders and watchers, have no idea that you're lurking.

Once again, because I buy mostly CB750 stuff and have a high feedback rating, I'll sometimes have other watchers watching me as well, so it's like a psychological chess game going on at times, because of this, I tend to use the snipe program to watch so no-one else knows that I'm lurking. Ebay is not a game...................... 

[750goes]

where can I get a virus free, and really free Sniper program ?? and do they work ??

[einsteingarage]

I used to use snipe swipe.  I think it is $5 a month.  Not free but $5 is worth it if your buying a few items a month.  I am sure there are better things.  It's a really basic program.

[cbjunkie]

well, that's true terry, however i'm watching one of your oil coolers right now, but have no intention of buying - not trying to get your hopes up, and i'm sure you'll do fine without me, but it is one of the methods i use for researching ...

i may "watch" for months to see the range of final bids on like parts - and then go straight to jcwhitney...

(not in your case of course - if i ever get to the point of wanting an oil cooler, i will of course give props to the master machinist!)

cbj...

[Gordon]

As a buyer you can't see it, but as a seller, you know that you're gonna get some bids, regardless of how smart the bidders think they are by not bidding early, but with a snipe program, the seller, just like the other bidders and watchers, have no idea that you're lurking.

What difference does it make to me, as a potential bidder, that the seller knows there are 50 anonymous people watching his auction, and I may be one of them? 

None... 

[Terry in Australia]

As a buyer you can't see it, but as a seller, you know that you're gonna get some bids, regardless of how smart the bidders think they are by not bidding early, but with a snipe program, the seller, just like the other bidders and watchers, have no idea that you're lurking.

What difference does it make to me, as a potential bidder, that the seller knows there are 50 anonymous people watching his auction, and I may be one of them? 

None... 

Probably none mate, but it lets the seller know that the interest is out there and that his item will sell. I'm sure he cares not whether you'll buy it, but as Ebay is a world wide venue for selling goods, the more watchers there are, the more chances he has of selling the item. Cheers, Terry.

[Terry in Australia]

well, that's true terry, however i'm watching one of your oil coolers right now, but have no intention of buying - not trying to get your hopes up, and i'm sure you'll do fine without me, but it is one of the methods i use for researching ...

i may "watch" for months to see the range of final bids on like parts - and then go straight to jcwhitney...

(not in your case of course - if i ever get to the point of wanting an oil cooler, i will of course give props to the master machinist!)

cbj...

Don't worry mate, I'm not gonna get too depressed if you can't afford one right now, I've got orders coming from every direction at the moment.

You see, the Ebay thing is just cheap advertising, I make more sales from guys who don't want to wait for the auction to end, or want a special order. I did 5 on the weekend, and as much as the money is great, I didn't get to ride my bike, so I'm taking a break for a week or two.................. Cheers, Terry.

[cbjunkie]

affording one is hardly the problem - needing one seems to be my big worry for now...

[ElCheapo]

Lesson 1 on Ebay.. Never ever bid on an item until the last two minutes. Your doing nothing but driving the price up.
Most of the time. I never bid until the last 45 seconds. So all those guys that put in an early bid just made the item higher for me.
I can't tell you how many times I won the item by one dollar.

Bid first, bid often, bid fast, in the closing minutes bid your way to divorce court. 

I have to make money somehow 

[Terry in Australia]

affording one is hardly the problem - needing one seems to be my big worry for now...

Are you worried that you do need one CBJ, or you don't need one? Here's a hint mate, if you live in Alaska, you probably don't need one, anywhere else, you probably do.

My cooler sells for around 150 bucks, and takes about 30 minutes to fit. A top end rebuild will set you back $500+ and it's a major "engine out" pain in the ass. As I said previously, I don't need any more orders (for this week at least) but for my two cents, a cooler is cheap insurance.............. 

[cbjunkie]

i have to bite my tounge terry - with temps here in saint louis up in the 100's and the power blown out for 5 days, i'm indulging in a little air conditioning just now...

i may have to put off buying your cooler and put my mutual funds towards the electricity bill! 

cheers,
junkie out...

[Pinhead]

Power out for 5 days?? I'd be spending a lot of time at work!

I won my CB650 in the last few minutes. I only had to raise my "max" price by $10 otherwise I wouldn't have won the auction.

[cbjunkie]

great idea unless there is no power there either...

[Terry in Australia]

i have to bite my tounge terry - with temps here in saint louis up in the 100's and the power blown out for 5 days, i'm indulging in a little air conditioning just now...

i may have to put off buying your cooler and put my mutual funds towards the electricity bill! 

cheers,
junkie out...

Hey do you guys in the US have "Ducted Cooling" CBJ? I was gonna get the house air-conditioned 4 years ago, but the cost here to run aircon was then approx $1.00 per hour to operate, but ducted cooling (using air drawn thru water soaked filters on your roof as opposed to refrigerated aircon) cost about 1 cent per hour? The thing I like with it is you have to leave your windows open a bit, and your doors too, so your house doesn't smell like a refrigerator? Good stuff! Cheers, Terry.

[Gordon]

Hey do you guys in the US have "Ducted Cooling" CBJ? I was gonna get the house air-conditioned 4 years ago, but the cost here to run aircon was then approx $1.00 per hour to operate, but ducted cooling (using air drawn thru water soaked filters on your roof as opposed to refrigerated aircon) cost about 1 cent per hour? The thing I like with it is you have to leave your windows open a bit, and your doors too, so your house doesn't smell like a refrigerator? Good stuff! Cheers, Terry.

That only works in drier areas of the country, so pretty much only the southwestern and desert states.  They're called swamp coolers, or evaporative coolers here, and they're prevalent here in Colorado.  Growing up in central Texas, I'd never even heard of them, because it's so humid there that a swamp cooler would only make things worse.   

[cbjunkie]

a similar device to the one used by professional orchid growers - called a "swamp cooler" i believe...

it is very, very old technology - simpler versions of this have been used for centuries, primarily developed by our "brown" brethren in the country currently run by the 21st Century's Napoleon...

I did a lot of research into this type of technology while still in school...and to answer your question,

NO.

Americans just don't get it yet...Terry if you suggested something like that to a contractor from the states he would #$%* slap you for being a hippy and probably do you in a'la Easy Rider from the comfort of his SUV!   

Part of the problem of course is simply market inertia - that, and a lack of government funded incentives for industrial development on a massive scale necessary for our large geographical footprint. (such as yours)...but don't get me started.

My 5-year plan includes me moving off to some land somewhere and experimenting with such things.

there are also interesting experiments to be tried with heating, i.e. geothermal  or underground piping.
a little research into geothermal will have you steaming when you realize what and inefficient and costly system passes as "good enough"

ironically the arrogance of technology has blinded us to many possibilities for conservation long ago discovered by simpler, but no less ingenious humans...

[cbjunkie]

well, there - gordon has brought it around practically - i grew up in the super-humid southeast and the only people who used them were orchid gardeners...

[Terry in Australia]

Geez CBJ, that was the longest, most roundabout "No" I ever read, ha ha!

"it is very, very old technology - simpler versions of this have been used for centuries, primarily developed by our "brown" brethren in the country currently run by the 21st Century's Napoleon..."

Who Dat? 

[Bodain]

Ebay is a game. It's a great game at that. The goal of the game is different for each player. Typically there are 3 players.
Player 1   = Ebay     There interest is profit.. Many nickels and dimes add up to big dollars. So the key is volume. Ebay hosts the battlefield.
Player 2   = The seller..  Now the seller. The seller goal is obvious. He wants as much money as he can possible get out of any given item.
Sellers come in many different shades, so be cautious... Most sellers try to accurately discribe the item for sale, so as not to mislead potential buyers. Some sellers are just bold. They might even try to sell an original chain and rear sprocket from a 1975 motorcycle claiming it barely shows wear,( maybe they don't know what chain wear is). Or maybe they try to sell a totally rusted part claiming it will clean right up with a little elbow grease. So use common sense.

Sellers will also tell you to bid early and bid frequently. What else would they say? Remember their goal! As the third player the potenial buyer you don't want to do either. As a buyer I highly recommend you actually look at stuff you have absolutely no interest in. The really clever Ebay buyer will even send some inquiring questions about the item they have no interest in. Remember your goal is confuse and distract the seller.

The game begins. The Auction.... The duration of the auction will vary. Personally I like six day auctions, because in the first few days I can see how many really serious players there are. Remember this is a game of patience. Many auctions will start out with what I call limp bidders. They will place early low bids. Go out and check various items. These guys are everywhere. Most of the time these bids carry no wieght. This will be revealed when the serious bidders come in.

If you see a six day auction and in the first day it has 6 seperate bidders. You can assume 3 are lightweights. They will cease to bid anytime an item goes over $15.00. Don't worry about these guys. The other 3 are to be concerned about. You will watch them repeatedly outbid each other over the next 4 to 5 days. Unless you can't live without this item. Forget this auction! For every 3 serious bidders you can see. There are at least 3 more that will only show their hand in the last 1 minutes. How deep are your pockets?

The perfect auction is when you find your item. It only has one bid. This usually is the early bird who's heart really isn't into it.
The auction has gone 5 days. Still the early bird is the only bidder. This is looking good! You come in at the last one minute and take the item.

This gets even better when you repeatedly beat the same guy on different auctions for similar items.

Also be aware...Consider this... Joe Blow has a Honda 750. He needs parts, so he is browsing Ebay.
Lets say he searches on "Honda CB 750"  he find his list of items.

Notice many auctions will contain the various text of the same thing..  Honda CB 750, HONDA CB750, HONDA 750, HONDA750
You and I know these all mean the same thing, but Ebay may show slightly different results for each string. So say a seller lists an item and he has a bad moment and lists it only as HONDA750...   So you may rarely find an auction that many bidder never see.


So play the game and play it well. It's not unlike Texas Hold'em, but as a buyer.. Rarely, rarely SHOW YOUR HAND EARLY!