Thread: Help with ebay!!

Originally Posted by epd

Im sure you know this already, but on the off chance you dont (at some point this was a revelation for me) you only pay a couple dollars more then the last guy bid, so just bid 300, and keep your fingers crossed the last guy only bid 75. Guaranted win lol.

This strategy might go badly wrong if more than one bidder in any given auction uses it.

Also, am I right in thinking that you only pay a bit more if you're using the let-ebay-bid-for-you thing, and you only get the chance to set that going if you've already made a bid? Your first bid is 'flat rate', and if you want to hike the price by 225 you can? (It seems to be this way on ebay.co.uk, I assume it's the same everywhere.)

The bid you see is not necessarily the current max, lets say:
I bid 25$
You bid 100$ (the bid reads 26ish)
Next guy bids 200$ (bid reads 101ish)
ect.

Hope I understood the question correctly.

Oh yes, you're right. It's a bit different to how I thought it works. Cheers.

(Now I hope someone outbids me on the chunk o junk I bid on to test it out!)

Originally Posted by epd

Im sure you know this already, but on the off chance you dont (at some point this was a revelation for me) you only pay a couple dollars more then the last guy bid, so just bid 300, and keep your fingers crossed the last guy only bid 75. Guaranted win lol.

Well...you are right on with this. I do it too...in fact I just won an escher that I couldn't live without and the razor went up 130 bucks in the last 12 seconds. Maby I just plan to live longer than second place

Originally Posted by animalwithin

I hate ebay, can't stand it. And yet part of me loves it for what it offers. That said, I've lost countless bids where I've submitted the highest bid with less than 5 seconds left and I still lose. So I need some help. There is a beautiful razor that I DO NOT want to lose this time!! When it comes down to the final seconds, what do I do? Just bid $100 or something? Is there some kind of strategy I'm missing out on? Sounds like a stupid question but its frustrating losing a whole bunch of stuff over and over lol.

+1 to what everyone else has said about setting a maximum number you are willing to pay for an item. However, just a word of advice from someone who has set a max number too high... don't bid high on an item if you think ANY price is good and you just have to have the item. I've kicked myself for doing that in the past, because a similar item is listed at a lower price point and looks better. Be patient and bid only the amount you want to spend. I saw a W&B Hollow Ground 8/8 "chopper" taken for only $55 just a few months back. Whatever the reason (maybe planetary alignment?) it went for that low, it was a very fine razor... I know... because I won the auction! That same blade easily goes for $300. I would never had bid $300 and I can tell you that I lost many, many, auctions for similar straights. This one I won. Patience is key.

FWIW

many times i have bid my max(the most i would pay ever) and lost and than thought if only i bid just a bit higher,after all what's the difference in one or two dollar's maybe i would have won,reading what a just wrote and it's sounds a lot like a gambling or drinking problem so be careful out there?cheers

This is great stuff guys, thanks!! I guess it simply is just a matter of bidding higher and lots of patience haha. Although bidding $300 and only paying what the last guy bid is still confusing to me. So I can bid $300, but if the second place guy last bid $100, I only pay $100?

+1 to what all have said.

I look at it like this, I'll bid whatever I think it's worth to me. A lot of the time I throw the total bid out there around mid-auction and let it ride. If I get shot down, I grin and keep my money.

Occasionally, I'll wait until the last 5 seconds and throw one in. I still only bid what I'm willing to pay and NEVER throw out a big number just to guarantee a win. I figure if it was meant for me to have it, I'll win it and if somebody thinks more of it than I do financially, then they ought to have it.

Yes, I am NOT a fan of auto "snipe" programs, but they serve a purpose I guess if for nothing else than to piss me off sometimes..

Originally Posted by animalwithin

This is great stuff guys, thanks!! I guess it simply is just a matter of bidding higher and lots of patience haha. Although bidding $300 and only paying what the last guy bid is still confusing to me. So I can bid $300, but if the second place guy last bid $100, I only pay $100?

There are certain increments depending on how much the auction is up to, but if the top bid id $100 and you bid $300 at the end, you will win the auction at $105, if nobody else bids.

Originally Posted by Martin103

There are certain increments depending on how much the auction is up to, but if the top bid id $100 and you bid $300 at the end, you will win the auction at $105, if nobody else bids.

Ahh I see, thanks!