How do you get the best success on YJ?

hyaku1 · Post by **hyaku1** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 6:09 am

I'm thinking about bidding on my first auction on Yahoo Japan, the auction still has several days left. I'm wondering how I should go about bidding since I don't have a fortune to spend (in fact, the auction may go way over my head before I get a chance to bid but, lets say it doesn't).
How should I put in the bid for the best chance of winning it?
On ebay I usually wait until the last few minutes but, sometimes the seller withdraws the auction. Also, what if on YJ you wait until the last minute only to find out that the seller won't accept deputy bids, or that you needed to have your deputy put the bid in manually?
So far I'm thinking about using the "put in a small bid to test the waters" aproach.
Any thoughts or advice?

Post by **JWR** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 8:12 am

One strange thing about auctions on YJ is that unlike Ebay an auction does not end till one gives up. The countdown timer resets to 5 min after each outbid.
On an AMG movie cel of Belldandy my auction went 1:25 min past the end time (I was 1 of 7 active bidders) and went from $225 up to my final $585 I got it for.

Post by **sensei** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 8:58 am

I'm with JWR. It's difficult to tell who's really in the game until about 5 minutes before the auction, and by then you have a realistic idea of what the item is likely to go for. Then I normally put in my max bid about 5 min. before the close.

Sometimes I give myself a little reserve in case it's answered and then I want to put in an absolutely maximum bid ... but in any case I set myself a limit. There was one YHJ auction where I actually had the maximum in cash in an envelope under my keyboard, and I took it out during the final moments to make sure I had figured my absolute top bid right. (Got it ... but it took the whole envelope ... but I never had a moment of buyer's remorse as I got one of my top 5 treasured cels that day.)

I should note that not all buyers put in for the auction time reset option, and so there have been times that I've been sniped in the last 10 sec. on YHJ exactly as on eBay. But if you get some experience, you'll know which sellers usually do set this option. All told, I think it's a fairer way to run an auction than the hard closing second of eBay, and certainly more profitable to the sellers.

Of course one can't always watch the closing moment of auctions, and then you just have to bid your max whenever and hope for the best. But even so I try to do this as late in the game as I possibly can.

So far as bids not being accepted ... I've never had that happen. You could try it, just to be sure you're doing it right. I once lost an eBay auction I was sniping because I typed in the wrong password ... then waited till the last second ... and hit "bid" ... and "BONK! Wrong Password! Try Again!" but now there was no "again."

Anyhow Ganbatte bibblebibble! Let us know how it turns out.

Post by **Rekka Alexiel** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 9:00 am

To absolutely win what you want, you have to be there at the end of the auction. Since the auction time will increase by 10 when someone puts in a late bid close to the auction end, the auction could go on forever...

kittens · Post by **kittens** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 9:05 am

I think already everyone said, but YJ has time extension and I hate it.....

So you never know what ganna happen until 5 minutes before.....

I always bid as soon as I see it because I just do not want to forget (or over sleep) the end of the auction and I do feel that it does not matter if I bid 6 days before or 5 minutes before b/c of the time extension.....

(I donot think bidding just before the end does not save any $$)

But I ususally do not bid the max first. I bid some amount depend on how much I want to have the cel, then see how it goes......

yukineko · Post by **yukineko** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 1:01 pm

This doesn't help you at all-- but I always bid as soon as I decide I want to try for the item. ^_^;; I know it would be smarter to wait until close to the end like everyone else advised... but I just get so gosh darn excited! Plus I worry that I won't be able to be awake when the auction ends or that I'll forget about it (because I'm a dingbat).

Don't be like me!

darksuzaku · Post by **darksuzaku** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 1:16 pm

unfortunately it's not only a matter of your actions but also the kind of item you want and the opposition of other bidders that you might encounter.....

with that said, the "tactic" everybody mentioned is the obvious one and the one everybody uses, so just wait until the end and go through the bid war with all the other bidders.

2 more advices.....

1- If the item has no auto-extend time go for the snipper kill
2- If you definately want an item and it receives no bids for a few days it might be a good idea to place a low bid so that the seller is not tempted so easily to cancel the auction or to agree to a private sale to other person.

ReAnimator · Post by **ReAnimator** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 1:20 pm

This is my first ever post to this awesome board... and it is a question about the "extended auction" feature on YJ....

I understand it keeps extending 5 minutes if a new bid comes in, but does this go on forever? I thought I read somewhere that it will stop extending after 2 hours.

Does anyone know for sure?

kittens · Post by **kittens** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 1:24 pm

I am not sure it ganna stop after 2 hours, but I am posting this to welcome ReAnimator

Welcome to beta

kymaera · Post by **kymaera** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 1:37 pm

The only time I did before the last minute is either when I'm too lazy to get
up early enough to do so or it ends when I'm unavailable. In that case, I'll
just throw my max bid at the last moment that I can and hope for the best.

Also, welcome ReAnimator.

Maiko · Post by **Maiko** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 1:49 pm

I know a lot of people sniper-bid, and I know that it aggravates me when I lose an auction because of a "snipe". ( And I know people will argue, well then, just put in your ultimate maximum to ensure you still won't lose to snipers. But sometimes in the heat of battle, your maximum can suddenly increase to something you are really not comfortable with paying, but now you can't stand to lose that auction ). So typically, I do not do the same. I have my own Y!JP ID, so for auctions that offer international shipping, I usually put in a bid a shade below my highest maximum several days before the auction end. That way, I can watch and see how much the auction increases in bids. Someone else might outbid me and put the auction high above what I would want to spend, so that way I don't have to waste my time staying up to watch an auction that I don't want to pay more for. However, sometimes ( like with my latest IY Movie 3 Genga win ), someone else tries to outbid me in the last remaining hours, and then I'll go in and watch the auction until it's close and up my maximum if I have to.

As for auctions that you need a deputy for, I use a different deputy service than most people. With mine, you don't have control over clashing bid wars- the person who runs the deputy service simply puts in a bid for you, using your account. So if you get outbid in the last few hours, chances are he's not going to get a new maximum bid email from you in enough time to bid again for you. So in that case, usually a day or 2 before the auction's close, I email him with my ultimate, ultimate maximum. Because I know if I bid smaller, I have a very small chance of him receiving another email from me in enough time to up the bid ( he's gotta sleep sometime ^_~x )

It's not really advice, it's just the way I do it. The other posts are good avdice, though ^_~x

Amsterdam781 · Post by **Amsterdam781** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 1:52 pm

I tend to put in a small bid and kind of test the waters a day or so before the auction ends. I then try to stay up or get up early to keep an eye on the auction and engage in a bid war if need be(actually did that this morning)

. Most auctions have the auto extend and some don't. But with all auctions you always have to worry about last minute bidders so its always best to try and watch the auction during the last moments.

kittens · Post by **kittens** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 2:15 pm

Maiko's thread reminded me something

I have a YJ id as well and if I can use it (or I have my parents and sister or my friends in Japan so if I can ask them I will use my YJ id, but usually I do not want to bother them so much

), I will bid more and kind of aggressive. But if not, I will be very slow and carefully bid on them and hope it stays low....

I have only rinkya account so I cannot use other options, but if I really really want to have some cel I will beg my family in Japan to take care of things and I will use my YJ id

(so I can pay more

)

Ashura · Post by **Ashura** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 4:08 pm

I'm a sniper. Even with the auto extend. I once battled someone for over an hour, boy was that fun

and expensive

Ashura

Hey Kittens, we are cel buddies. The Kenshin OVA of Himura gashing from his mouth and forehead, I have the sequence right before it. A8

hyaku1 · Post by **hyaku1** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 4:11 pm

Thanks guys, this is really helpful. I think with the kind of item it is, the price could go either way. I could be the only one interested but, more likely it could go for a lot.
Anyway, i'll put in a small bid tommorrow and then wait 'til the end to up it. That seems to be the most common approach.
I'll let you guys know what happens but, the end is still over six days off.

Anime-Beta TNG

How do you get the best success on YJ?

How do you bid for things and win?

How do you get the best success on YJ?

How do you bid for things and win