Question about bidding practices

Wolfette · Post by **Wolfette** » Wed Mar 12, 2003 9:01 pm

Ok, I've always wondered about peoples bidding habits on auctions.

For example, this one person I constantly see place a starter bid on auctions. S/he gets outbid, and bids again (and again and again if necessary) until they are, once again, the high bidder. And this is NOT some newbie - they have more than 900 feedback showing. o_O

WHY do people do this? Honestly, I'm curious... why not place a small bid at the beginning - and if you get outbid .... let it go until just before the auction ends!!! >_< Trust me, you'll save money in the long run! You won't have newbie bidders walking your bids up .50 at a time til they outbid you. =P (I hate those people!!! >_<)

As a sometimes seller I shouldn't be voicing that I guess .. but seriously! Even from the time I was a newbie, the most I'd do is place a small bid at the very very beginning of an auction. Then when it comes to the close I sniper it. :P Most of the time, I don't even do that much now - I just set the sniper program as soon as I see the auction - it's set to bid in the last 5-10 seconds and I forget it until the auctions over. I don't get caught up in "auction fever" and spend more than I really wanted also,

Anyway... just curious what everyone elses style is ... and if you're so inclined, comment on WHY you bid the way you do.

dbzmomma · Post by **dbzmomma** » Wed Mar 12, 2003 9:06 pm

I used to snipe. But lately I've been bidding right away because I hate to bid against anyone I know. That's probably dumb, because it's every man for himself when it comes down to it. But still...

So I figure if I bid right away, then I don't have to risk making someone else angry. On the other hand, it doesn't bother me to be outbid by a friend. Go figure.

super17 · Post by **super17** » Wed Mar 12, 2003 9:07 pm

i bid first on the listed price

, wen i get outbidded i wait till last min
but some auctions i wait till last, n dont bid on them till the end,

ya it annoys aswell wen ppl keep biddin wen they get outbidded, damn
the price gets jacked, so it pisses me off, i jack it up higher for them

i was lookin @ some cels on ebay, i emailed the bidders sayin, why the fuck
u guys bid so ealry n jack the price, in return i got dissed by sayin oh u cant afford it
which pissed me off n then i outbidded the bidder, waited for him to outbid me
then wen i got outbidded, i retracted my bid, there his bid is still high, well
over what i bidded, so @ end i will jack up the price for him

he really ticked me off

Super17

pastatdude · Post by **pastatdude** » Wed Mar 12, 2003 9:09 pm

This one is mine:

I put in a small bid to let people know "Hey, I'm here and going to win this damn thing" - and then bid big at the very end.

I do this on auctions that I really really want. If it's an auction that I'm not quite as obsessed with, I'll just watch the auction and bid at the very end.

Wolfette · Post by **Wolfette** » Wed Mar 12, 2003 9:13 pm

pastatdude wrote:I do this on auctions that I really really want

Actually, I do this too. On the ones I'm determined to either win the freakin thing or walk away with a pound and a half of the winning bidders flesh. ;) But those have been few and far between lately, thankfully. ;)

Elfstalker · Post by **Elfstalker** » Wed Mar 12, 2003 9:20 pm

I ususally wait until the last moment. The more I want something, the closer I wait until the last seconds. I even wake up at 4AM to wait the auction out.

Recently, I've bidded low on an auction just to claim territory in a sense. It works sometimes, and nobody bids against me.

Candyman · Post by **Candyman** » Wed Mar 12, 2003 9:28 pm

Back when I used to use ebay, all I ever did was snipe, and I would be a nervous wreck for a week.

CsuperhoeM --PD n SN17 rock on!

Govogeta · Post by **Govogeta** » Wed Mar 12, 2003 9:30 pm

I am generally a sniper

sometimes I'll bid the opening bid too...but really I just wait till the very end and drop in my max bid and hope no one has a larger max than me. No special technique I guess

pastatdude · Post by **pastatdude** » Wed Mar 12, 2003 9:35 pm

SaiyanWolf wrote:But those have been few and far between lately, thankfully.

Yes, same for me. Whew!

rebomancels · Post by **rebomancels** » Wed Mar 12, 2003 9:42 pm

Well, sometimes I will put a minimum bid in mainly just to put the item on my "Items Bid On" page.

Then, I'll snipe high and very late [usually with 5-10 seconds left]. Since I'm not using any software to do this, I have occasionally missed putting my bid, but thankfully that does not happen too often.

Occasionally, I'll feel guilty, as in the case when I get the same person on CCS cels with few seconds left two days in a row with sniping. But, on the other hand, I'm starting to learn that if I can't snipe, to put the absolute highest I'm willing to pay.

Even with sniping though, you still can get caught up in 30-second bidding wars. On one cel, I didn't intend to pay more than a certain amount. I ended up winning for twice that [not that I really mind, but things certainly can spiral in a hurry].

ogr81vegeta · Post by **ogr81vegeta** » Thu Mar 13, 2003 9:17 am

I usually bid at first. If I get outbid, I'll wait until it ends, to see if I want to go any higher.

Golden Dragon · Post by **Golden Dragon** » Thu Mar 13, 2003 11:47 am

I usually watch the items and snipe at the end. I don't have a program so I also do it myself with multiple windows open. But there are times that I will bid on the auction in the beginning and snipe at the end. There are times I don't even get to snipe because someone with a 1 feedback has risen the price so high that I don't even bid. Well at least I don't pay over and beyond what I am willing to pay.

Mr. Yac · Post by **Mr. Yac** » Thu Mar 13, 2003 11:50 am

i usualy bid right away, but only a small amount to test things out, then i'll put my max closer to the end of the auction, i also always bid with odd numbers like 30.89 instead of just 30 dollars....heh i've won auctions by as little as 4 cents before.....sure it must piss the other person off but whatever lets me win cheaper is fine by me

Wolfette · Post by **Wolfette** » Thu Mar 13, 2003 12:50 pm

I think my best win on ebay was when I bid with 1 second left, and won by .01 ;) You *know* that has to piss off the second bidder. ^^;;;;; Ahh well! That was back before I had the sniper tool I use now ... err, actually it's not a program I have on my computer, it's an online service I use. ;) It bids as close as 3 seconds from the end, but I usually set mine for 5, just to be safe.

glorff · Post by **glorff** » Thu Mar 13, 2003 12:52 pm

If you see my name on an auction, you can bet that you better be willing to pay what it is worth to beat me. I will put in my real maximum right away and let everyone have a go at it. In live auctions it is called preemptive bidding, and it works pretty well. If I lose the auction, it is because I didn't want it badly enough or missguessed the value.I almost never lament the loss of a cel to someone else after the initial pissed off moments.

I usually watch for last minute values (I usually have 25-30 items on watch) and bid.

Anime-Beta TNG

Question about bidding practices

How do you bid on auctions?

Question about bidding practices