NOW I remember....

[Govmnt_Lacky]

... why I hate to use Ebay.

Went against my usual rules and went to bid on an Ebay item only to get "sniped" in the last 30 seconds  REALLY wish they would ban the use of sniping programs. Takes all the fun out of bidding. (and being the "winning" bidder)

Oh well, at least I was able to drive the price up for the winner 

[gordo]

Ha!  Forgot how much I hate the 'Bay...

[WonkoTheSane]

I tend to only get Buy It Now things. I have manually sniped things though, it was kind of always that way tbh.

[jessenator]

I had one particularly bad experience as a seller and vowed to never sell again. It's no longer a place to get a deal, find a lost treasure, or divest something that might do well in auction.

It's a marketplace. The seller protections aren't meant for anyone who doesn't have an inventory of the same crap item.

I've found that some non auction things can be found where you can't anywhere else. Mostly stuff like soviet era components from Ukraine or elsewhere. That kind of stuff. Occasionally I'm find a better deal on something small than I would in Bezosland.

Haven't bid on anything since probably 2005 or so.

[Willybomb]

If it's not "Buy it now" at a reasonable price, I'll stick the maximum in that I'm happy to pay as my bid in and forget about it.  Sometimes it works (really well, under my max), sometimes it doesn't.  90% of my ebay purchases aren't essential for anything so I'm not super fussed.

[Govmnt_Lacky]

If it's not "Buy it now" at a reasonable price, I'll stick the maximum in that I'm happy to pay as my bid in and forget about it.  Sometimes it works (really well, under my max), sometimes it doesn't.  90% of my ebay purchases aren't essential for anything so I'm not super fussed.

I operate the same way. I just hate it when you end up losing the auction and then see in the bid history that the winner placed 17 bids in the last 20 seconds!

[pickdropper]

If it's not "Buy it now" at a reasonable price, I'll stick the maximum in that I'm happy to pay as my bid in and forget about it.  Sometimes it works (really well, under my max), sometimes it doesn't.  90% of my ebay purchases aren't essential for anything so I'm not super fussed.

I operate the same way. I just hate it when you end up losing the auction and then see in the bid history that the winner placed 17 bids in the last 20 seconds!

It can do that without a sniping program.  I tend to put in last minute bids with my max dollar so I don't keep going back and upping my offer in an attempt to win.  eBay will automatically rebid on my behalf until I hit that max or win.  It can easily generate 17 bids in 20 seconds if there is one other person bidding.  It's just the way eBay's software works.  FWIW, I've never used a sniping program.

[Govmnt_Lacky]

It can do that without a sniping program.  I tend to put in last minute bids with my max dollar so I don't keep going back and upping my offer in an attempt to win.  eBay will automatically rebid on my behalf until I hit that max or win.  It can easily generate 17 bids in 20 seconds if there is one other person bidding.  It's just the way eBay's software works.  FWIW, I've never used a sniping program.

As far as I remember, eBay's "max bid" software does not wait until the closing seconds to out-bid someone. For example, lets say someone places a max bid of $100 on an item and they are the current high bidder at $65. When another bidder bids or sets their own max bid of $90, the eBay model will run up and out-bid in favor of the original $100 bidder (like up to $91) to maintain their stance as the current high bidder. It does this immediately. It does not wait until the last seconds of an auction and does not let the second bidder get into the "highest bidder" position until the closing seconds and THEN start to outbid. Sniping programs do this.

[Aentons]

It can do that without a sniping program.  I tend to put in last minute bids with my max dollar so I don't keep going back and upping my offer in an attempt to win.  eBay will automatically rebid on my behalf until I hit that max or win.  It can easily generate 17 bids in 20 seconds if there is one other person bidding.  It's just the way eBay's software works.  FWIW, I've never used a sniping program.

As far as I remember, eBay's "max bid" software does not wait until the closing seconds to out-bid someone. For example, lets say someone places a max bid of $100 on an item and they are the current high bidder at $65. When another bidder bids or sets their own max bid of $90, the eBay model will run up and out-bid in favor of the original $100 bidder (like up to $91) to maintain their stance as the current high bidder. It does this immediately. It does not wait until the last seconds of an auction and does not let the second bidder get into the "highest bidder" position until the closing seconds and THEN start to outbid. Sniping programs do this.

What he's saying is that you eagerly wait to click the button till the last second with  your max bid entered in the box. Thats how I've always done it. You have to enter what you are willing to pay. You won't get a second chance.

[jimilee]

Subsequently, if you don't win, you bump up the other guys bid at the last second.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Govmnt_Lacky]

What he's saying is that you eagerly wait to click the button till the last second with  your max bid entered in the box. Thats how I've always done it. You have to enter what you are willing to pay. You won't get a second chance.

Ahhh... Got it now!

Do a lot of people really do that? If you know your maximum bid, why wait until the very last second to enter it?  Why not just place a bid with your max and be done with it (like I do)? Weird!

[pickdropper]

What he's saying is that you eagerly wait to click the button till the last second with  your max bid entered in the box. Thats how I've always done it. You have to enter what you are willing to pay. You won't get a second chance.

Ahhh... Got it now!

Do a lot of people really do that? If you know your maximum bid, why wait until the very last second to enter it?  Why not just place a bid with your max and be done with it (like I do)? Weird!

There's no nefarious reason for it, but I think a lot of folks do it.

In my case, I don't want to start a bidding war early because it leads to emotional "I have to win this" bidding where folks tend to bid higher than they otherwise would (I'm not immune to this either).  I'd rather pre-determine what my max price is and put it in right at the end as it's generally the most effective way of getting it at the lowest price without leaving time for a bidding war.  I probably lose more auctions that way, but it prevents me from getting caught up in the moment.  Twice this week, I bid on some old vacuum tubes and I would've paid more than the final amount that somebody won then for, but I bid more conservatively so I didn't win.  It happens.