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Daughter #1 wants an item that's on Ebay. Normally I'd buy the item new but its no longer available.
Looking at the listing it started at 99p on Sunday with 3 bidders but is now up to £63.20. There are 6 days left. There doesn't appear to be a reserve price. The seller is a dealer and I would say that a fair price would be in the £4/500 range. Have now set up an Ebay account and got a limit on what I want to spend.
What's the best strategy?
Do I put my maximum bid in and let it go up to meet it? or wait until 30 seconds before the listing finishes and stick a bid in for 1p over the highest bid?
Thanks
Looking at the listing it started at 99p on Sunday with 3 bidders but is now up to £63.20. There are 6 days left. There doesn't appear to be a reserve price. The seller is a dealer and I would say that a fair price would be in the £4/500 range. Have now set up an Ebay account and got a limit on what I want to spend.
What's the best strategy?
Do I put my maximum bid in and let it go up to meet it? or wait until 30 seconds before the listing finishes and stick a bid in for 1p over the highest bid?
Thanks
In reply to Indy:
Use an Ebay sniper program like Gixen. Decide on the maximum you'll pay and enter that and then wait and see. Putting bids in at the last minute is the most unreliable way of getting something you really want.
Use an Ebay sniper program like Gixen. Decide on the maximum you'll pay and enter that and then wait and see. Putting bids in at the last minute is the most unreliable way of getting something you really want.
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In reply to Indy:
If you put your max bid in too soon other people will just outbid you.
If you bid 1p more at the last minute other people will be doing the same.
Best strategy is to decide your absolute maximum and bid this in the last 10 seconds. (or use a sniper program to do this for you)
Other people will be doing the same, so if their "maximum" is bigger than yours they will still win but at least they won't know how much you are bidding till it's too late.
If you put your max bid in too soon other people will just outbid you.
If you bid 1p more at the last minute other people will be doing the same.
Best strategy is to decide your absolute maximum and bid this in the last 10 seconds. (or use a sniper program to do this for you)
Other people will be doing the same, so if their "maximum" is bigger than yours they will still win but at least they won't know how much you are bidding till it's too late.
Post edited at 08:32
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In reply to Ron Rees Davies:
The is an idea that bidding too soon will see you outbid. But that only works if the other bidders wouldn't do that anyway. It depends on the type of auction.
eBay is really only useful for either bargains or rarities. You don't get bargains in auctions where lots of people want it. If the auction started at 99p with no reserve it can't be anything with intrinsic value. I would keep and eye out for similar auctions.
Sometimes it's worth a cheeky e-mail to the seller offering to buy it now. If not, wait until the day it ends and go in with your full offer. The way e-bay works is that you will only go into the lead if the existing leader hasn't set a higher target. Early bids on an item are probably testing the water when there are multiple options out there.
The is an idea that bidding too soon will see you outbid. But that only works if the other bidders wouldn't do that anyway. It depends on the type of auction.
eBay is really only useful for either bargains or rarities. You don't get bargains in auctions where lots of people want it. If the auction started at 99p with no reserve it can't be anything with intrinsic value. I would keep and eye out for similar auctions.
Sometimes it's worth a cheeky e-mail to the seller offering to buy it now. If not, wait until the day it ends and go in with your full offer. The way e-bay works is that you will only go into the lead if the existing leader hasn't set a higher target. Early bids on an item are probably testing the water when there are multiple options out there.
In reply to Indy:
I am a simpleton when it comes to eBay. At the end of the day, you have a top price you are prepared to pay and if someone else will pay more, then that is their problem. Personally I wait until a few hours before the auction ends and then enter my top price and leave it at that.
I am a simpleton when it comes to eBay. At the end of the day, you have a top price you are prepared to pay and if someone else will pay more, then that is their problem. Personally I wait until a few hours before the auction ends and then enter my top price and leave it at that.
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In reply to Indy:
First you need to decide the absolute maximum you are prepared to pay for it. You say you think a "fair price" would be £400-£500 - if it went to someone else for £550 would you wish you had bid a bit more (given that is no longer available new)..? If so adjust your price accordingly.
Once you have decided, you need to bid this amount as late as possible. Ideally I would do it manually a few seconds before the closing time. If you're not going to be around you could use an automated bidding service but personally I'm not too keen on giving them my password so would just do it as late as I can and take the risk.
Of course, if everyone just bid the maximum they were prepared to pay to start with there would be no need for this but the reality is that people do get excited by prices going up and bid more than they would have done otherwise. The other reason is that if you bid early you're committed for the whole week - you might find something better / cheaper comes up in the meantime.
First you need to decide the absolute maximum you are prepared to pay for it. You say you think a "fair price" would be £400-£500 - if it went to someone else for £550 would you wish you had bid a bit more (given that is no longer available new)..? If so adjust your price accordingly.
Once you have decided, you need to bid this amount as late as possible. Ideally I would do it manually a few seconds before the closing time. If you're not going to be around you could use an automated bidding service but personally I'm not too keen on giving them my password so would just do it as late as I can and take the risk.
Of course, if everyone just bid the maximum they were prepared to pay to start with there would be no need for this but the reality is that people do get excited by prices going up and bid more than they would have done otherwise. The other reason is that if you bid early you're committed for the whole week - you might find something better / cheaper comes up in the meantime.
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In reply to Ron Rees Davies:
This, but go for a non-round number. If you think £500 is a good price then maybe go 506.74 or something. Bidding 1p more than the maximum won't work as ebay automatically bids up to a maximum a buyer has put in an that isn't displayed to other buyers.
> Best strategy is to decide your absolute maximum and bid this in the last 10 seconds. (or use a sniper program to do this for you)
> Other people will be doing the same, so if their "maximum" is bigger than yours they will still win but at least they won't know how much you are bidding till it's too late.
This, but go for a non-round number. If you think £500 is a good price then maybe go 506.74 or something. Bidding 1p more than the maximum won't work as ebay automatically bids up to a maximum a buyer has put in an that isn't displayed to other buyers.
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In reply to Indy:
Click the "completed listings" option in the left menu to see what price range other items have gone for and bid accordingly.
I'd always bid as late as possible, but a friend of mine puts in his maximum bid and if he wins it, he wins it - if not, someone else wanted it more.
Don't get suckered into paying over the odds. Unless it's something really rare or you need it in a hurry (I've done this a couple of times to replace a broken item and when I needed something last minute), there will be another one to bid on that you might get for less - for example, I put in a bid of about £50 on an item earlier this year, which finally went for nearly £60. A few weeks later, I won an auction on an identical item for £31.
The corollary is I got out bid by about £1 on another item recently at £52 - equivalents are now going for over £100, but that might be due to the recent weather, as it was an outdoors "toy".
Don't forget to factor in postage costs - these can vary wildly. Bigger items with local collect only can sometimes go for lower costs if people don't want to drive miles for them.
Click the "completed listings" option in the left menu to see what price range other items have gone for and bid accordingly.
I'd always bid as late as possible, but a friend of mine puts in his maximum bid and if he wins it, he wins it - if not, someone else wanted it more.
Don't get suckered into paying over the odds. Unless it's something really rare or you need it in a hurry (I've done this a couple of times to replace a broken item and when I needed something last minute), there will be another one to bid on that you might get for less - for example, I put in a bid of about £50 on an item earlier this year, which finally went for nearly £60. A few weeks later, I won an auction on an identical item for £31.
The corollary is I got out bid by about £1 on another item recently at £52 - equivalents are now going for over £100, but that might be due to the recent weather, as it was an outdoors "toy".
Don't forget to factor in postage costs - these can vary wildly. Bigger items with local collect only can sometimes go for lower costs if people don't want to drive miles for them.
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In reply to Indy:
As someone who uses eBay very infrequently, I go for the simple route and opt for setting the max amount and enter it well before the end time. If I lose, so be it. I started this way having learnt from in person auctions where I got stung from the bidding fever. Never had regrets with this. The advantage as I see it is little time spent, if your max is equal to another, the first one entered wins.
If it is something that I really do want even at a premium for whatever reason, I set two limits, the first I enter as my very good offer price and if this is beaten within a few hours of the end time, I then get the opportunity to decide whether I am really, really prepared to pay a premium price and if so to go back and enter my absolute maximum then. If I still lose, I feel sorry for the winner as in my view they have paid a lot for the item.
I don't understand the sniper type programs. Surely if anyone has an eBay automated bid set higher, they just repeat higher and higher bids till the time runs out? If the original max bid remains higher than any one set with a sniper program then they win regardless don't they? Am I missing something; everyone must have a max offer even with sniper programs? Maybe someone who knows can enlighten me?
As someone who uses eBay very infrequently, I go for the simple route and opt for setting the max amount and enter it well before the end time. If I lose, so be it. I started this way having learnt from in person auctions where I got stung from the bidding fever. Never had regrets with this. The advantage as I see it is little time spent, if your max is equal to another, the first one entered wins.
If it is something that I really do want even at a premium for whatever reason, I set two limits, the first I enter as my very good offer price and if this is beaten within a few hours of the end time, I then get the opportunity to decide whether I am really, really prepared to pay a premium price and if so to go back and enter my absolute maximum then. If I still lose, I feel sorry for the winner as in my view they have paid a lot for the item.
I don't understand the sniper type programs. Surely if anyone has an eBay automated bid set higher, they just repeat higher and higher bids till the time runs out? If the original max bid remains higher than any one set with a sniper program then they win regardless don't they? Am I missing something; everyone must have a max offer even with sniper programs? Maybe someone who knows can enlighten me?
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In reply to Climbing Pieman:
I think it's the 'human' factor. If someone wants an item and there doesn't seem to be much interest then they dont tend to not think about their maximum bid too much, and err on the low side, a 'bargain' price. If something looks popular and they still want it they might think what the item is really worth to them, as opposed to alternative buying methods, and may up their maximum. That's a theory, I know, but items that get lots of early bids do seem to go for higher prices. The theory is based on how I've bid a t times.
The other thing is some buyers will get their mate to bid the item up, (or just use another id), if it looks like someone is interested.
> I don't understand the sniper type programs. Surely if anyone has an eBay automated bid set higher, they just repeat higher and higher bids till the time runs out? If the original max bid remains higher than any one set with a sniper program then they win regardless don't they? Am I missing something; everyone must have a max offer even with sniper programs? Maybe someone who knows can enlighten me?
I think it's the 'human' factor. If someone wants an item and there doesn't seem to be much interest then they dont tend to not think about their maximum bid too much, and err on the low side, a 'bargain' price. If something looks popular and they still want it they might think what the item is really worth to them, as opposed to alternative buying methods, and may up their maximum. That's a theory, I know, but items that get lots of early bids do seem to go for higher prices. The theory is based on how I've bid a t times.
The other thing is some buyers will get their mate to bid the item up, (or just use another id), if it looks like someone is interested.
Post edited at 11:35
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In reply to Mike Stretford:
The human factor can be illogical ! I sold two identical technical tops in separate listings but at the same time. The only difference was one had been used and the other was new. Both were bought by the same buyer but the used one cost him more. More folk bid on the used one than the new one?
The use of bidders just to push the price up is one thing to look out for if you can - this has happened for as long as auctions have been going I would guess. I can see that a sniper program may help you then by keeping your bidding till near the end of auction.
Of course if you can't be at a PC for the end, then sniper programs come into their own. Also, with thinking about it, for low interest listings where you want to bid but not draw attention to the item by placing a bid to early they could be used. That said if there are other secret lurkers using sniping programs then you have probably less chance of winning as time will run out for those programs unless they are set to bid at your max with their first bid?
The human factor can be illogical ! I sold two identical technical tops in separate listings but at the same time. The only difference was one had been used and the other was new. Both were bought by the same buyer but the used one cost him more. More folk bid on the used one than the new one?
The use of bidders just to push the price up is one thing to look out for if you can - this has happened for as long as auctions have been going I would guess. I can see that a sniper program may help you then by keeping your bidding till near the end of auction.
Of course if you can't be at a PC for the end, then sniper programs come into their own. Also, with thinking about it, for low interest listings where you want to bid but not draw attention to the item by placing a bid to early they could be used. That said if there are other secret lurkers using sniping programs then you have probably less chance of winning as time will run out for those programs unless they are set to bid at your max with their first bid?
With items where there are a lot, and quite frequently they end with no one bidding, I watch a load, wait until they've ended and then contact one of the sellers who failed to sell theirs and offer them a buy it now if they relist. Quite often you get a bargain.
In reply to Climbing Pieman:
The down side to this is that you may be outbid by someone else who has been caught up in a "bidding fever" and ends up paying over the odds. I have been slightly bemused to see the price of a second hand microphone bid up beyond the price of a (readily available) new one.
Yes, that's right. What you're missing is that sniping removes that 'human factor' by not leaving time for people to up their maximum out of sheer competitiveness. In an ideal world, where everyone coolly worked out their proper maximum price, bid that and then left it alone sniping would make absolutely no difference. (Indeed, sometimes it doesn't.)
To the OP:
Do snipe. I use lotsnipe, which is an online service rather than something you run on your own computer: http://lotsnipe.auctionstealer.com/home.cfm
> As someone who uses eBay very infrequently, I go for the simple route and opt for setting the max amount and enter it well before the end time. If I lose, so be it. I started this way having learnt from in person auctions where I got stung from the bidding fever.
The down side to this is that you may be outbid by someone else who has been caught up in a "bidding fever" and ends up paying over the odds. I have been slightly bemused to see the price of a second hand microphone bid up beyond the price of a (readily available) new one.
> I don't understand the sniper type programs. Surely if anyone has an eBay automated bid set higher, they just repeat higher and higher bids till the time runs out? If the original max bid remains higher than any one set with a sniper program then they win regardless don't they?
Yes, that's right. What you're missing is that sniping removes that 'human factor' by not leaving time for people to up their maximum out of sheer competitiveness. In an ideal world, where everyone coolly worked out their proper maximum price, bid that and then left it alone sniping would make absolutely no difference. (Indeed, sometimes it doesn't.)
To the OP:
Do snipe. I use lotsnipe, which is an online service rather than something you run on your own computer: http://lotsnipe.auctionstealer.com/home.cfm
In reply to Philip:
Sometimes you can take a bit of a shortcut there, by ticking the "completed listings" box in the search criteria and looking for auctions that have already ended without a sale. (Saves having to watch things and wait for the auctions to end.)
Sometimes you can take a bit of a shortcut there, by ticking the "completed listings" box in the search criteria and looking for auctions that have already ended without a sale. (Saves having to watch things and wait for the auctions to end.)
In reply to Indy:
Came to my own conclusion a while back that Ebay auctions weren't worth the hassle.
Lost a few stitched up auctions for Shimano bike stuff.
Pissed of at the time ,but once the dust had settled ,and I realised It would be cheaper ,and less hassle to buy new, I never went back.
Came to my own conclusion a while back that Ebay auctions weren't worth the hassle.
Lost a few stitched up auctions for Shimano bike stuff.
Pissed of at the time ,but once the dust had settled ,and I realised It would be cheaper ,and less hassle to buy new, I never went back.
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In reply to andymac:
Guess we all have different experiences - I definately think the auctions are worth the hassle. Last one I won I got brand new - still in the box - anasazi blancos for 38 quid including delivery. Also recently got brand new pair of boreal aces for 35 quid - try getting those new in a shop!
Edit - by brand new aces I meant unworn - they were about 20 years old (obviously).
> Came to my own conclusion a while back that Ebay auctions weren't worth the hassle.
Guess we all have different experiences - I definately think the auctions are worth the hassle. Last one I won I got brand new - still in the box - anasazi blancos for 38 quid including delivery. Also recently got brand new pair of boreal aces for 35 quid - try getting those new in a shop!
Edit - by brand new aces I meant unworn - they were about 20 years old (obviously).
Post edited at 19:00
In reply to deepsoup:
Thanks for that.
Overall I'm happy to be outbid if I've hit my max price either by a sniping program or a human with bidding fever .
Thanks for that.
Overall I'm happy to be outbid if I've hit my max price either by a sniping program or a human with bidding fever .
In reply to Indy:
I put the maximum I want to pay ten seconds before the end seems to work for me,also don't just put £500 in put £502.79 for something like that it will work in you favour.hope this helps.
I put the maximum I want to pay ten seconds before the end seems to work for me,also don't just put £500 in put £502.79 for something like that it will work in you favour.hope this helps.
In reply to Wsdconst:
O.K thanks all..... didn't realise that you could check-out previous auctions. It's really funny that some items are being sold for within 10% of RRP yet others barely make 20% of it.
Will put my max bid in to Ebay10 minutes before the end and see what happens.
As I said I've signed up for a PayPal account do I need to link a Credit Card to get full protection or can I just pay PayPal with my CC?
Cheers
O.K thanks all..... didn't realise that you could check-out previous auctions. It's really funny that some items are being sold for within 10% of RRP yet others barely make 20% of it.
Will put my max bid in to Ebay10 minutes before the end and see what happens.
As I said I've signed up for a PayPal account do I need to link a Credit Card to get full protection or can I just pay PayPal with my CC?
Cheers
In reply to Indy:
If you mean full protection as in Section 75, you don't get it at all* by using PayPal no matter how you pay into PayPal.
PayPal is an intermediary and breaks the joint liability of the CC company.
Edit: * normally. You can go to court and challenge this under certain circumstances I believe. Or your CC company may just accept some of your rights after a long debate.
If you pay the dealer direct out with eBay you should retain all your S75 protection.
> As I said I've signed up for a PayPal account do I need to link a Credit Card to get full protection or can I just pay PayPal with my CC?
If you mean full protection as in Section 75, you don't get it at all* by using PayPal no matter how you pay into PayPal.
PayPal is an intermediary and breaks the joint liability of the CC company.
Edit: * normally. You can go to court and challenge this under certain circumstances I believe. Or your CC company may just accept some of your rights after a long debate.
If you pay the dealer direct out with eBay you should retain all your S75 protection.
Post edited at 09:09
In reply to Climbing Pieman:
Also worth bearing in mind that Section 75 protection requires the transaction to be for £100 or more (up to a limit of £30,000). So for purchases under £100 PayPal's own protection can be more worthwhile, given that it applies to any online purchase (ie via a web site), not just eBay. For that reason I prefer to use PayPal for online purchases if the retailer offers it and the transaction is under £100.
The point of sniping services is that they only submit your maximum bid at the last minute - I usually set my snipes to place my bid 10-15 seconds before the auction closes (ten minutes, as the OP mentions, leaves far too much time to get outbid IMO). I've never missed the close of the auction by doing that - AIUI eBay actually extends the auction closing time slightly if there are a lot of bids in the last few seconds. The sniping service I use will tell me if my snipe is outbid before it's due, so I can raise my bid if I want to. Nonetheless, it does mean that my maximum bid is not 'exposed' to other bidders until it's basically too late for them to react, so I don't get outbid by people getting carried away with the desire to "win" rather than paying a reasonable price.
I also use eBay a lot for buy it now transactions with eBay retailers. For small items eg USB cables and other tech bits and bobs it's usually cheaper than Amazon (especially now that their free p&p transaction limits have been raised again) and you get buyer protection by using PayPal which Amazon doesn't offer. One thing to beware of is Chinese sellers: the stuff can take weeks to arrive, and is a pain to return if it does turn out to be faulty or not as described. However, it is easy enough to filter eBay search results to just items located in the UK (although some sellers use a fulfilment agent in the UK to get round this, which can still make getting a resolution for problem items a bit of a hassle). It's worth being aware that a number of Amazon Marketplace retailers are also based in the Far East (one way to spot them is by unusually long expected delivery times) so the problem isn't by any means confined to eBay.
Also worth bearing in mind that Section 75 protection requires the transaction to be for £100 or more (up to a limit of £30,000). So for purchases under £100 PayPal's own protection can be more worthwhile, given that it applies to any online purchase (ie via a web site), not just eBay. For that reason I prefer to use PayPal for online purchases if the retailer offers it and the transaction is under £100.
The point of sniping services is that they only submit your maximum bid at the last minute - I usually set my snipes to place my bid 10-15 seconds before the auction closes (ten minutes, as the OP mentions, leaves far too much time to get outbid IMO). I've never missed the close of the auction by doing that - AIUI eBay actually extends the auction closing time slightly if there are a lot of bids in the last few seconds. The sniping service I use will tell me if my snipe is outbid before it's due, so I can raise my bid if I want to. Nonetheless, it does mean that my maximum bid is not 'exposed' to other bidders until it's basically too late for them to react, so I don't get outbid by people getting carried away with the desire to "win" rather than paying a reasonable price.
I also use eBay a lot for buy it now transactions with eBay retailers. For small items eg USB cables and other tech bits and bobs it's usually cheaper than Amazon (especially now that their free p&p transaction limits have been raised again) and you get buyer protection by using PayPal which Amazon doesn't offer. One thing to beware of is Chinese sellers: the stuff can take weeks to arrive, and is a pain to return if it does turn out to be faulty or not as described. However, it is easy enough to filter eBay search results to just items located in the UK (although some sellers use a fulfilment agent in the UK to get round this, which can still make getting a resolution for problem items a bit of a hassle). It's worth being aware that a number of Amazon Marketplace retailers are also based in the Far East (one way to spot them is by unusually long expected delivery times) so the problem isn't by any means confined to eBay.
Post edited at 10:25
In reply to Martin W:
Thanks for info.
Re S75, the OP was talking about £500 or so, hence why I mentioned CC payment direct with seller.
I am assuming OP knows about PayPal's own protection - I interpreted his question as relating to to S75 as otherwise no relevance to how he pays PayPal.
I've heard lots of anecdotal evidence of problems trying to claim from PayPal for transactions through eBay esp when they were one and the same as eBay. I think they are now separate companies: this may have changed things. You pays your money, you take your choice of which is best for you!
Thanks for info.
Re S75, the OP was talking about £500 or so, hence why I mentioned CC payment direct with seller.
I am assuming OP knows about PayPal's own protection - I interpreted his question as relating to to S75 as otherwise no relevance to how he pays PayPal.
I've heard lots of anecdotal evidence of problems trying to claim from PayPal for transactions through eBay esp when they were one and the same as eBay. I think they are now separate companies: this may have changed things. You pays your money, you take your choice of which is best for you!
In reply to Climbing Pieman:
Conversely, a brief trawl online will turn up lots of sellers complaining that eBay/PayPal are too quick to side with buyers, even when they are obviously trying it on (eg returning a different, damaged item and cliaming it was "not as described"). Basically, for any product or service it's easy to find people who have had problems and who are all too happy to complain about it online. You'll find far fewer people who report positive experiences unprompted.
Personally, I have yet to experience any problems getting refunds from PayPal, both for eBay and non-eBay transactions.
> I've heard lots of anecdotal evidence of problems trying to claim from PayPal for transactions through eBay
Conversely, a brief trawl online will turn up lots of sellers complaining that eBay/PayPal are too quick to side with buyers, even when they are obviously trying it on (eg returning a different, damaged item and cliaming it was "not as described"). Basically, for any product or service it's easy to find people who have had problems and who are all too happy to complain about it online. You'll find far fewer people who report positive experiences unprompted.
Personally, I have yet to experience any problems getting refunds from PayPal, both for eBay and non-eBay transactions.
In reply to Indy:
Well got the item for just over £500 which seems like a fair price. Paid with PayPal.
Am on phone at the moment but have a couple of questions when I'm back at home.
Well got the item for just over £500 which seems like a fair price. Paid with PayPal.
Am on phone at the moment but have a couple of questions when I'm back at home.
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