ebay bidders are nuts!


oplholik

oplholik

Member
Yeah, I know it's been discussed here a lot, but what the heck, it's a rainy day here in So. Cal. and I'm tired of being in the house, so I'll sit here and b****h a little. I have been watching for either a 125 or a 190 watt Lionel transformer and had my eye on a 125 watt ending around 7 pm this evening. Checked on it this morning and it was at about $30.00 + $11.70 shipping. I just checked on it again, it is now up to $51.00 with about 8 hours to go. What's wrong with these people??? Don't they realize they are just costing themselves more money than necessary by bidding up early? If it stayed at this price I might bite, as it's a nice one, but with 8 hours to go, it will end really ridiculous. Jeez. I need to go do something else, like try to get an Atlas loco to quiet down. See ya.
 
alot of times its the seller running up the bid. or people just put in there max bid and if they louse.. oh well... but I know what you mean. I watched a old athearn BB switcher get run up to $50 last week...idiots!!!!
 
Personally I've never understood why people wait to the last minute to bid. Just put in your highest offer on the item when you find it and be done. It's kind of how the system is designed to work.
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I've got to agree with you what some people pay on EBay is nuts. Maybe I'm too simplistic but what I do is decide what an item is worth to me, subtract the shipping cost and then I enter my maximum bid. If I get it great if not it exceeded what it was worth to me. You don't "win" an auction you pay for a product just like any other store. It isn't a game. I never cease to be amazed what people pay on EBay, and that's why after a year and a half of just buying I'm going to start selling my excess equipment and those "projects" I'll never finish after the first of the year. Someone else can experiance the joy of ownership.:D
 
lmackattack said:
alot of times its the seller running up the bid. or people just put in there max bid and if they louse.. oh well... but I know what you mean. I watched a old athearn BB switcher get run up to $50 last week...idiots!!!!
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That's nothing, there a shop 60mi from me in a Podunk town, the guys is selling bb switchers for $119 because he believes the price should reflect off athearns current rtr web price
 
I have quite a few Athearn Blue Box locomotives and I like them but you have to face the reality that unless someone has done a custom paint job or exceptional detailing or DCC they are worth about $20.00 to $25.00. You can get them at any train show for that or less if you really look. Always check box lots, sometimes there is a "gem" in with the junk.
 
Or, they are new to the hobby, like me! I just learned from this thread that I paid too much for a BB GP-9. I mean, it was my road name, I live in a very rural area with no train shows anywhere nearby, and I have wanted this loco for a while...But now I feel a little silly. I was the only one who bid on this item.
Maybe people see an item they really want, and are willing topay a little more?
Maybe $10 is a lot to some and not to others?
 
tomustang said:
To outbid someone
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So they bid specifically to beat the current bid, not to what they're willing to pay? Are they not aware that it automatically adjusts their bid to the lowest winning increment? Or maybe I'm the one that has it wrong.

Lets say the starting bid is $1, and bidding goes in increments of $1. And the item is worth $80 to me. I bid $80, but the 'current bid' should still show $1 with my name on it. When someone else comes along and bids on the item, lets say $50, it looks at the current maximum bid (my $80) and adjusts the current bid to the next highest (other person's $50) plus the increment ($1). So the new current bid would be mine at $51.

If that's not how it works then I apologize, but I'm pretty sure that's how it works. And if that is how it works then there is no reason to wait to the last minute. Bid what it's worth to you and forget about it. If you get outbid and decide it's worth more, fine bid again. But why didn't you just bid that much in the first place? Maybe you should think about that. You set a maximum bid and now you're adding to it. Are you going to regret bidding more when you win at a higher bid than you were originally comfortable with?

The whole bid sniping at the last minute just seems really stupid to me.
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LoudMusic said:
So they bid specifically to beat the current bid, not to what they're willing to pay? Are they not aware that it automatically adjusts their bid to the lowest winning increment? Or maybe I'm the one that has it wrong.

Lets say the starting bid is $1, and bidding goes in increments of $1. And the item is worth $80 to me. I bid $80, but the 'current bid' should still show $1 with my name on it. When someone else comes along and bids on the item, lets say $50, it looks at the current maximum bid (my $80) and adjusts the current bid to the next highest (other person's $50) plus the increment ($1). So the new current bid would be mine at $51.

If that's not how it works then I apologize, but I'm pretty sure that's how it works. And if that is how it works then there is no reason to wait to the last minute. Bid what it's worth to you and forget about it. If you get outbid and decide it's worth more, fine bid again. But why didn't you just bid that much in the first place? Maybe you should think about that. You set a maximum bid and now you're adding to it. Are you going to regret bidding more when you win at a higher bid than you were originally comfortable with?

The whole bid sniping at the last minute just seems really stupid to me.
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But by waiting to bid at the last minute, people are masking how high they really want to go. For example, in the example you just gave, the guy that had the highest bid of $50 might see that it's gone up to $51, and decide that the extra $1 is worth it to him and increase his max bid. Let's say it's worth $81 to him, and so he eventually increases his max bid to $81. He wins the auction and you don't get anything (even though it sold for only $1 more than you were willing to pay for it).

Now, in the example above, if you waited until the very last minute to enter your max bid, the highest bid would show as $51 (your bid) with less than one minute left in the auction. Now maybe the $50 guy is in the bathroom or at work or sleeping, and since there's just one minute for him to notice that he's not the highest bid anymore, he misses it and you wing the item for $30 less than you were willing to pay for it! Even if the guy is paying attention, he only has one (maybe two at the most) chances to increase his max bid in that last minute to match and exceed your bid. If he trys $60 and then $75, he runs out of time and never exceeds your $80. You still win, for less than $80.
 
Its all a guessing game. when ever I see 2 people running up a bid I just wait to the end and see where its at a few mins before it ends. If its still withing reason I put my max bid with 5 secs left and cross my fingers. I see no reason to "show my cards" 3 days out. All that does is put you in a bidding war with 2 other people. Most times putting in a early bid just runs the bid up and it just costs you more? Also you have to consider that its possible that the seller gits sneaky and runs his own bid up to make more off you. The only time I put in a early bid is if I know I will not be home to see the auction end..when this is the case I put in my highest amount and check when I get home
 
I guess my point is, why are you increasing your maximum bid? It was a maximum bid. Maximum - the highest - no higher. Then you went and made it higher. Why didn't you just put that number in there the first time? If someone out bids you by $1 and you're willing to bid $2 more just to get ahead of them why didn't you put that in the first time?

"This is worth $50 to me. But if someone out bids me I'll try $52. But I'm not going to enter $52 until someone out bids me."

Ebay does that for you if you put $52 in the first time.

And what if $52 doesn't get it? Are you willing to go $54? What about $60? Why not just start the whole thing with $60? Oh, because you're only willing to do $50. But you already went to $52.

Is it worth more to you because you discovered it was worth more to someone else? You'll get the same information by starting with the higher bid and winning at a higher number.

Do you delight in the knowledge someone else thought they were getting a 'prize' and you 'stole' it away from them? Well you're just a meanie.

Decide what something is worth to you, place your bid, and see what happens. If someone out bids you by $1 then it's worth more to them than it is to you. What could possibly make it suddenly worth $2 more than it was when you made your first bid?
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LoudMusic said:
I guess my point is, why are you increasing your maximum bid? It was a maximum bid. Maximum - the highest - no higher. Then you went and made it higher. Why didn't you just put that number in there the first time? If someone out bids you by $1 and you're willing to bid $2 more just to get ahead of them why didn't you put that in the first time?

"This is worth $50 to me. But if someone out bids me I'll try $52. But I'm not going to enter $52 until someone out bids me."

Ebay does that for you if you put $52 in the first time.

And what if $52 doesn't get it? Are you willing to go $54? What about $60? Why not just start the whole thing with $60? Oh, because you're only willing to do $50. But you already went to $52.

Is it worth more to you because you discovered it was worth more to someone else? You'll get the same information by starting with the higher bid and winning at a higher number.

Do you delight in the knowledge someone else thought they were getting a 'prize' and you 'stole' it away from them? Well you're just a meanie.

Decide what something is worth to you, place your bid, and see what happens. If someone out bids you by $1 then it's worth more to them than it is to you. What could possibly make it suddenly worth $2 more than it was when you made your first bid?
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Yeah, in the perfect world, where I have some sort of method of precisely calculating something's perceived value to ME, I could do that. But, in the real world, who out there is willing to pay $80 for but not $81? I won't know how much the most I'll pay for something until I see exactly how high I need to go. And it will be different in different situations. So the bidder has to know what his/her real limits are and bid within those. If my max bid on something was $4, then I probably wouldn't go much more than a couple of bucks over that given the option. But if my max bid is $250, yeah, I might be OK with going $5 - $10 over that (depending on what it's really worth and a ton of other factors).

And, you ingnored the scenario I laid out where you ended up paying $30 less than your $80 max bid by "sneaking" in at the last minute. Maybe some might not consider that "fair", but, hey, that's how the eBay game is played.
 
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malibu43 said:
Yeah, in the perfect world, where I have some sort of method of precisely calculating something's perceived value to ME, I could do that. But, in the real world, who out there is willing to pay $80 for but not $81? I won't know how much the most I'll pay for something until I see exactly how high I need to go. And it will be different in different situations. So the bidder has to know what his/her real limits are and bid within those. If my max bid on something was $4, then I probably wouldn't go much more than a couple of bucks over that given the option. But if my max bid is $250, yeah, I might be OK with going $5 - $10 over that (depending on what it's really worth and a ton of other factors).

And, you ingnored the scenario I laid out where you ended up paying $30 less than your $80 max bid by "sneaking" in at the last minute. Maybe some might not consider that "fair", but, hey, that's how the eBay game is played.
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So you're banking on other bidders bidding the way you do, and just doing it better (later?) than they do?

Why do people ever intentionally bid lower than they're willing to pay at an early stage? If you're willing to pay $80 for something why bid $30 five days out?
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LoudMusic said:
So you're banking on other bidders bidding the way you do, and just doing it better (later?) than they do?
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Well, what do I have to lose? I guess I'm taking away the "convenience" factor of entering my max bid ahead of time, and I'm forcing myself to sit at the computer and wait until the last second. What if someone does it better than I do? I lose, just like I would have if I'd entered my max bid several days earlier.


LoudMusic said:
Why do people ever intentionally bid lower than they're willing to pay at an early stage? If you're willing to pay $80 for something why bid $30 five days out?
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I can't answer that. I would agree that that strategy doesn't make any sense. All you're doing is letting people know you're interested which doesn't help anything. And then you'd still have to come back later and raise your max bid.
 
LoudMusic said:
Why do people ever intentionally bid lower than they're willing to pay at an early stage? If you're willing to pay $80 for something why bid $30 five days out?
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You can get different alerts in your email if you've bid on it rather than just watching an item...
 
LoudMusic said:
Personally I've never understood why people wait to the last minute to bid. Just put in your highest offer on the item when you find it and be done. It's kind of how the system is designed to work.
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I TOTALLY agree. I put my bid in what I'm willing to pay and walk away. Why sit on it and watch and watch and watch. But not only that, ebay buyers are out of touch. I go to train shows and buy say a blue box Athearn tank car not put together for 5 bucks. I see them SELL on ebay for 7 bucks PLUS 5 bucks shipping (12 total). Amazing.
 
LoudMusic said:
Do you delight in the knowledge someone else thought they were getting a 'prize' and you 'stole' it away from them? Well you're just a meanie.
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Meanie? What are we, 8 years old? You get what you pay for, and if you're not willing to pay for it, then you're not getting it. Simple as that.

The reason why I don't put in my max bid (unless I definitely know that I will be away from the computer) for the same reasons as being at a live auction. You don't want to let other people know how far you're willing to go.

Say the item is currently $1.

SCENARIO 1:

I am willing to pay up to $80, but I will bid $5 to start (so that I can use the 1-click bid feature later).

Soon, I get outbid. The current bid is now $6. I don't know what the ratio of "Set and forget it-ers" are compared to snipers, but I would guess about 50/50. Some people may come along and put in their initial bid or bid it up to what they are willing to pay. Lets say the bid is now at $20 but the high bidder is willing to pay up to $75. Now, I come along at the last second and bid $80 and win it at $76. I get a deal.

SCENARIO 2:

I am willing to pay up to $80, but I will bid $5 to start (so that I can use the 1-click bid feature later).

Soon, I get outbid. The current bid is now $6. Some people aren't sure whether they want the item yet so they hold off on bidding. Sometimes they hold off and forget. A few other people bid and the high bid is now $10 with the high bidder's maximum at $30 because he's not too sure right now. At the last second, I come in and enter $80 to snipe. If I am faster and/or enter a higher bid than other snipers, then I may be able to snipe it for $31 and get a really good discount.

SCENARIO 3:

If I entered $80, and someone else decided to put their max as well, and their max bid is lower than mine, they will see the "you got outbid" screen. Some people either don't give up or really want the item so they will bid again and again. Then, when I see that I got outbid, I may reconsider how much I want the item and then bid again. Then, before you know it, a bidding war breaks out, and the item ends at $200.

I have been through all 3 scenarios. Do what you think is best.
 
if you think its nuts for a model train, check out some old railroad slides and photo's. I like to grab some from the area I live in. There were 5 old slides on ebay of the New York Central in Weehawkin,NJ back in the 60's. Now today, this place is all rich county with high end condo's, stores. Not one trace of what used to be there. Price was $.99 opening bid, no reserve. It ended with all 5 slides selling for over $90 each.
 
I have to agree with LM and AllenB. If I see an item on there I would like to have, I put in my max bid and walk away. If I win it, fine, if I don't, then I just wait a week or two, and more often as not, another of the exact same item shows up and I put my max on it. Then its almost a guaranteed win.

Given what I bid on the majority of the time, even when I do get sniped, I am still winning about 9 out of 10 items I bid on.
 
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