Help with ebay!!

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.

Why do you hate Ebay? Ebay LOOOOOVES you! Bid higher! ;)

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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.

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Either manually or with a sniping service (I use eSnipe) enter a bid that is the highest amount you are willing to pay within the last 10 seconds or so. That's really all you can do. If you loose, someone wanted it more and/or could afford to pay more. That's the way life works. . .

Use a sniping service,Bidnapper works for me,is a no brainer.

this is how i dealt with ebay. i'll watch an item, and i'll have a set/max number in my head i'm willing to bid on. the last 7 sec before the item bid is up i'll put my number in if i win great if i dont then some one out bided me and im fine with that because i put my top bid in anything over that it wasnt worth it to me well thats my rationale !

Bid as much as you are willing to pay, at the end of the day you either won, or someone else had more money to throw at it. Thats really the bottom line. The snipe bidders don't always get it any cheaper.

You want it? Bid like it.

Just bid the maximum amount you would be willing to pay for it. That way, you know you gave it your best shot.

The only advantage to a snipe is that you have not actually bid until the last seconds, and most allow you to retract the snipe up until the last 6 minutes. so you have a bit more flexibility in your strategy... - HOWEVER- In the end it still comes down to the deepest pockets after the item :(

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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.

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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.

What they say about bidding the max you are willing to spend is true. The thing I do is to try and put myself mentally in the place after I have won the item for whatever I though my max was and try to decide if I will have buyers remorse or not. In other words, let's say you put 250$ max bid on that razor your eying and won it for that. Now are you telling yourself 'whew, glad I bid that much' or 'you lunkhead, that razor was only worth 100 bucks no matter what everyone else said...'? After watching the bay for sometime myself I can tell you 2 things without question; there's always another 'can't miss' deal on the horizon and, probably should've checked the classifieds on this site first. There may be some once in a lifetime items pass through the bay from time to time, but likely not on my salary, anyway....

beware the auction panic virus...

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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.

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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!)

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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.

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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:D

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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.

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+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..:rofl2:

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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?

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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.

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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.

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Ahh I see, thanks!

I think that anyone who invests in any market, real estate, Wall Street, commodities or collectables should read this book.

Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, by Charles Mackay

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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?

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just remember if you put in a 300 dollar bid and some other guy bids 290 well that means you win and youll have to pay
290ish. so make sure you have the max bid money on hand. one other piece of advice is bid in the last few seconds not at the start or middle of the auction, starting a bidding war only helps the seller try to help keep the price down lol at lease to the end

eleblu05 said it nicely.

You can get smoked like a cheap cigar doing that. ;)

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Originally Posted by deadrift

beware the auction panic virus...

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Is there a cure for this virus?? I believe I have it. The virus, that is, not the cure. (:

I typically throw in a bid on powersnipe.com as high as I can stomach if its something I REALLY want, and start looking for some razors to sell to offset the financial loss.

Just bid the amount you feel is equal to market value. If you don't have any reference for market value, then you shouldn't be bidding at all. I'd never, ever put in a snipe for OVER the amount the merchandise is valued at. Why would you want something so bad that you're willing to pay MORE than it's worth? There will always be another one of whatever it is. ALWAYS. Now that being said, sometimes you're gonna be surprised at what the market bears. Maybe many times. But in the end, if you followed this tactic, you never paid too much, and you never have to regret winning something. Never be disappointed about not winning an item. It's just stuff. And barely any of it was only made once.