Thread: Why Do People Bid on Ebay Auctions Days Before They End?

If I was to sell stuff I would make the auction last until the last bid was 30 minutes old. I would rather sell something to someone that bid 3 days ago than for 1 cent more to a last second sniper......

+1 like dinnermint

i used to get alerts and watch-n-wait until an auction is ready to end than place a 5-second bid. now the moment i see something i already know how high ill go so i set my price and if i win i win. if i dont i dont. time left in the auction doesnt matter. i get occasional 'oh hey, look at that, i forgot i even bid on that razor and won' messages.

I see nothing wrong with sniping. The way its set up you are forced into it. It also depends on the item. If there is a Wade Butcher FBU and the current bid is $50, you know its not going to sell for that price. In this case I will bid $150 with a few days left just to feel out who has what in it. If I am outbid I will wait and go in with my best price at the end. I also always look at the bidders experience. A bidder with 3 transactions is likely to drive the price way up. Its always fun though.

Originally Posted by 32t

If I was to sell stuff I would make the auction last until the last bid was 30 minutes old. I would rather sell something to someone that bid 3 days ago than for 1 cent more to a last second sniper......

What would you do end the auction?

Originally Posted by Hacker7

What would you do end the auction?

I think that you mean present ebay auctions.....

As I said IF I would sell I wouldn't use that format.

I would happily leave an auction active for 2 years if every 29 minutes and 59 seconds one party was trying to see if the other was asleep.

Thanks guys-I learned a lot about the finer points of Ebay bidding from this simple question, things I hadn't thought of because I don't buy or sell on it all that often-maybe a few times a year either way.

I now see why some bid early (though it still annoys me when people bid on MY razor that I just have to have!). Thanks again! Aaron

The auction starts and ends in the last 3 seconds - period.

I will place a "marker" bid on something I'm interested in, and very occasionally drop in to see where the auto bids are and maybe drive that up to get rid of the auto's, but the last bid is the one that counts, and if it's a razor I want, last bid is the max I'm willing to pay, have lost occasionally, but usually that strategy has worked.

Of course the key is to find items that are under the radar, and you're only going against one or two others at most, when there are multiple bidders, there can be a blood bath, and I'm more willing lately to let those slide unless it's something extraordinary.

My two cents.... :-)

Originally Posted by joamo

I use a sniping app.
I place one bid I'm comfortable with for the item, set it for t-3 seconds and find out if I won when E-bay notifies me that I had the high bid.

What app do you use?

I think timing of the auction has a lot to do with it too. It seems to me that an auction ending on, say, a Sunday evening when everyone is in bed playing on their devices (and bidding on stuff) increases the competition. I've gotten better results bidding on items that might end, for example, on a Tuesday afternoon.

I don't have concrete numbers to back this up (though I'm sure Ebay does!); it's just another theory I have.

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

I think timing of the auction has a lot to do with it too. It seems to me that an auction ending on, say, a Sunday evening when everyone is in bed playing on their devices (and bidding on stuff) increases the competition. I've gotten better results bidding on items that might end, for example, on a Tuesday afternoon.

I don't have concrete numbers to back this up (though I'm sure Ebay does!); it's just another theory I have.

That is the truth. Sunday early evening bring the best prices. The off hours during the week are prime buying hours. Most items I list end Sunday between 4 and 7pm. I have sold 99% of the items I list the first time. Also pictures and description mean a lot too. There is a science to everything.