Why do people bid on ebay?

[Joe Nerve]

I'm kinda new to buying stuff on ebay. Made a few purchases though, and I think I may be missing something. Can someone please explain?

Why do people actually make bids days before the time is up? I know this is how the whole thing works, but why doesn't everybody (if they're really interested in an item) simply bid their max in the last minute of the auction? Doesn't that make your chances better of actually winning - and if you have a max you're willing to go shouldn't that be the end of it all?

Please fill me in. Thanks.

 

[Jazzin']

People put the maximum that they are willing to pay and then if someone else is willing to pay more, too bad.

 

[Joe Nerve]

People put the maximum that they are willing to pay and then if someone else is willing to pay more, too bad.

Yeah, but why give people 3 days to think about whether or not they want to go higher. Isn't it better to just throw it out there in the last minute?

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Because sometimes people dont have time to go and bid in the last minute.

Also (tho rarer), some sellers finish the item early.

 

[vbsurfer3001]

And sometimes a listing will slide by under the radar, I picked up an old Marantz stereo amp for $1 plus shipping.

 

[Poop-Loops]

If something has 0 bids, I'll bid on it. Maybe it is just a case of "sliding under the radar" like vbsurfer said.

 

[Joe Nerve]

Also (tho rarer), some sellers finish the item early.

Ahhhh....

SO. If I found something I want that in the last day is still going for dirt cheap and there's no reserve, there's a chance the seller may close the bidding? Or would they now be obligated to sell it to the highest bidder? Actually, the latter would make more sense, but I'll leave the question nonetheless.

If I CAN be around for the final minute, is there any advantage to me bidding earlier???

 

[Chunk-O-Funk]

I've bought a couple of things with the "buy it now" option, but have never won anything with regular bidding. I just can't do it in most cases. If I want something I'll usually just go buy it.

 

[Vandelay]

It's simple. If you know up front what your max bid is going to be, then there's absolutely no difference between entering that amount three days early and entering it at the last minute. So it's a convenience thing. I don't want to schedule my life around the last minute of an auction.

 

[Johnny Fila]

It's simple. If you know up front what your max bid is going to be, then there's absolutely no difference between entering that amount three days early and entering it at the last minute. So it's a convenience thing. I don't want to schedule my life around the last minute of an auction.

ding, ding, ding....best answer yet

 

[Son of Magni]

Yeah, but why give people 3 days to think about whether or not they want to go higher. Isn't it better to just throw it out there in the last minute?

A lot of people don't understand that. All it does is vastly increase the final bid. (Of course that's why disreputable people have other accounts to help bid up their items.) Experienced ebayers wait until the last 20 seconds or so to bid so others can't respond in time.

It's simple. If you know up front what your max bid is going to be, then there's absolutely no difference between entering that amount three days early and entering it at the last minute. So it's a convenience thing. I don't want to schedule my life around the last minute of an auction.

That's just wrong. No one enters their highest price at first, have you ever been to an auction?

 

[Joe Nerve]

It's simple. If you know up front what your max bid is going to be, then there's absolutely no difference between entering that amount three days early and entering it at the last minute. So it's a convenience thing. I don't want to schedule my life around the last minute of an auction.

I disagree.

If I make a maximum bid now people have time to think about whether or not they want to match that. I got outbid one time because I bidded 2 minutes before it was over. It took somebody 3 really quick bids to outbid me, which meant they were willing to go higher - but it wasn't their original highest bid. Given time, people may often say, "Ahhh, what's an extra $20 or $50."

I also don't think I have to schedule my life around the auction. It's a matter of being in front of a computer a 1 given minute. Not too difficult for me, especially when it's a time I know I'm going to be home. If I were heaing out to a store it would take me a hell of lot more time than that.

 

[Vandelay]

I don't think you guys understand how eBay works. And I don't feel like explaining it.

EDIT: Ok to be brief, if I enter in a MAXIMUM bid amount of $1000, that doesn't mean that $1000 becomes the CURRENT bid displayed on the screen to other users. It may display only $700. But eBay REMEMBERS that my max bid is $1000, so if someone sees the $700 a day later and bids $800, I'm still the high bidder.

 

[Joe Nerve]

Experienced ebayers wait until the last 20 seconds or so to bid so others can't respond in time.

That's pretty much what I thought. My computer isn't fast enough for me to do the last 20 sec thing though. I feel safe with a minute.

Just posted this thread to see if there's something I might be missing.

 

[Passinwind]

I disagree.

If I make a maximum bid now people have time to think about whether or not they want to match that.

They don't have any idea what your maximum bid is though, due to the nature of proxy bidding. I've won items at 30-50% of my max bid a few times.

In any case, I don't worry about other bidders at all. I just put in what the item's worth to me as soon as I see it, and let the chips fall where they will.

 

[Joe Nerve]

I don't think you guys understand how eBay works. And I don't feel like explaining it.

If I'm winning the majority of the things I'm bidding on (which I am) at a really good price, then I think I understand it enough thus far. Trying to learn more.

As mentioned, it seems my only mistakes so far at getting things at awesome prices were bidding a little too early (when I got outbid), and bidding only seconds too late (my bid got in after the auction ended). Pretty much won all the other things I was goin for.

 

[Brendan]

Also, they bid to kill the Buy It Now.

Say it's got a BIN of like, $800, but no reserve and a starting price of $0, they might put in $1, so that they can try to get it for cheaper than $800. And if it's a really sweet BIN, to keep someone else from scoring it before than can try to lowball the already sweet BIN.

 

[markjazzbassist]

They don't have any idea what your maximum bid is though, due to the nature of proxy bidding. I've won items at 30-50% of my max bid a few times.

+1

sometimes entering your highest bid off the bat is a good bet.

a lot of times, if the item isn't getting high bids or no bids at all, the seller will pull it. if you have a bid, it'll stay and likely get it for cheap.

 

[Joe Nerve]

So if an item is going for a whole lot less than it's worth, even if there are already bids on it, the seller can pull it?

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

So if an item is going for a whole lot less than it's worth, even if there are already bids on it, the seller can pull it?

Yup

I did that earlier this week actually.

The item (cheapy epiphone SG) was sitting with 2-3 days to go, only one bid on it. And someone contacted me, offerning the buy it now price. They were local so it was a simple case of a 5 minute drive for him to pick it up, hand over of cash.

Saved alot of hassle

Of course, people can pull them with worse reasons, like they arent getting what they want for it!