ebay bidders are nuts!

[Cjcrescent]

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.

Then in that case, you really have no idea what something is worth to you. I know exactly what something is worth to me, and I do not bid any higher. Period. What you are saying here is, not that something is worth x amount and no more, but that something is worth x amount until you get outbid. Then you want it no matter what. A perfect world has nothing to do with it.

 

[LoudMusic]

You can get different alerts in your email if you've bid on it rather than just watching an item...

Why not just bid $80 at the beginning?

I just asked my wife about this and, not so surprising to me, she agrees with my perspective. She brings an interesting thought to this conversation.

For some people, the interactive incremental bidding is a game. They get a rush from watching the bids and bidding in small steps.
________
MAINE MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

 

[ChevelleSSguy]

All I know is it amazes me what people will pay for intermodal containers on Ebay. I dont know what is with these people to bid and pay the kind of money for containers. There must be crack packed into those little things from some of these sellers or something.

 

[bobwrgt]

First off i never bid on anything without checking the closed auctions to see what the current market price is. Then i check the other online dealers to see what they are asking. Many times i see auction bids higher then you can get an item for on Buy It Now or from a dealer over the internet. I guess those bidders are just lazy.
Sellers also don't do their homework, alot of listings are at full retail price, while the same item is listed at 60% off or more.
Sometimes i have to bid early if i think i won't be around when an auction ends. I have bid on many items in Europe that end in the middle of the night. Today it is a global market. Those items with high prices may be going to Europe.
Over the years i have sold many antique items on ebay at some very high prices only to discover the buyer was having the item replaced by their insurance company because of a fire or flood.
I get 2% cash bonus from paypal, 2% cash back on my credit card, and save 10% on sales tax, plus if it is local i can pick-up with no shipping. All advantages. This January i will have $47.00 in Ebay bucks to spend.
I might add on some purchaes i have won several engines that sell for $150.00 or more for less that a $35.00 bid.
Over 550 purchases and not a one gone wrong or bad.

Bob

 

[stang_crazy]

The SIMPLE answer is people wait till the last minute of bidding to try & get it cheaper then what they are hoping to get it for.

In most cases if I were to bid 3 days before end and the other guy wait till the last minute ive got a better chance of getting out bid and or losing the item at a cheaper price.

plain & simple, never quite understood why alot off ppl don't understand that.

Example when your at an acutaly auction and something goes up do ya just start bellerin out bids or do ya wait a small bit to see what it even does.... I chose the 2nd choice.

Mike

 

[botangles]

ebay fever

I've seen certain companies on ebay with bidding items and " buy it now " items. Say 30 to 40 pages of products. The products keep revolving, so if you don't win the bid you can buy it now. But the first 10 or 15 pages are bidding pages and later pages buy it now. Amazingly some buyers aren't looking past the first few pages and bidding higher ( sometimes much higher ) than the buy it now price, plus shipping. Must put a smile on the owners face when he gets 20 to 30% more than he's asking.

 

[Lee Anderson]

Is there times when you wonder if the supplier's friends are bidding for him to raise the bid? What's to stop them?

 

[malibu43]

Then in that case, you really have no idea what something is worth to you. I know exactly what something is worth to me, and I do not bid any higher. Period. What you are saying here is, not that something is worth x amount and no more, but that something is worth x amount until you get outbid. Then you want it no matter what. A perfect world has nothing to do with it.

Let's agree to disagree on this one...

 

[tankist]

perhaps the person was misinformed or had wrong perception of items value. in either case it is an auction and high bidder (for whatever reason) wins. informed or not, mistaken or not.

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.

very simple to understand actually - i do not only want to win, but i want to do so at the lowest price possible. to accomplish this i bid late, reducing ammount of "curiosity" bids that needlessly up my bid.

Is there times when you wonder if the supplier's friends are bidding for him to raise the bid? What's to stop them?

ebay regulations. if you sell more often then occasionally you will need quite a few shill bidders. running database query on items bid but not sold by same buyer from same seller is not that hard.

but, yes, there are such times when you wonder. with that since no proof available to you you can do only that - wonder. innocent until proven guilty and since you (and me) have no technical way to prove - innocent indefinelty

 

[ChevelleSSguy]

A lot of these ebay sellers know a lot more then what they may get credit for. And not in a good way (IMO that is). A lot of them are sneaky and will buy things off Walthers Bargain Bin or any of the other similiar website bargain bins then re-list them on Ebay at full retail price. So you really have to pay attention to the prices and see whats on sale and what stuff sells for before risking on ebay. A lot of vendors are very sneaky at this. I have yet to find a brand newly available item on Ebay that rivals any price you could find from any online hobby shop. Unless of course that ebayer happens to be the online hobby shop you order from.

 

[LoudMusic]

... buy things off Walthers Bargain Bin or any of the other similiar website bargain bins then re-list them on Ebay at full retail price ...

That is a really time consuming way to make a few bucks.
________
Tasya4u

 

[diburning]

May be time consuming, but they do make quite a bit considering how Walthers puts the stuff at half off.

A lot of these ebay sellers know a lot more then what they may get credit for. And not in a good way (IMO that is). A lot of them are sneaky and will buy things off Walthers Bargain Bin or any of the other similiar website bargain bins then re-list them on Ebay at full retail price. So you really have to pay attention to the prices and see whats on sale and what stuff sells for before risking on ebay. A lot of vendors are very sneaky at this. I have yet to find a brand newly available item on Ebay that rivals any price you could find from any online hobby shop. Unless of course that ebayer happens to be the online hobby shop you order from.

I laugh when I see Athearn tank cars on Ebay for $30, when I get them at the LHS for $12 (half off plus a 20% discount). And these are the newly tooled Athearn RTR tank cars with etched metal walkways, metal pipings, metal grabs, plenty of weight, and metal wheels on metal axles.

 

[oplholik]

Well, I got my transformer, a 125 watt for what I think was a decent price. I sniped it. With 5 seconds to go, I put in my max bid, as it hadn't been reached yet, & hit the confirm button. Did this get it for me? I'll never know for %100 sure, but I believe so. At least on this item, the bidding hadn't gotten so crazy early, and priced me out from I wanted to pay. ....And the arguements for the best way carries on....

 

[catt]

When I see something on Ebay that I would like to have the first thing I do is check the shipping cost.If that is reasonable I will then decide how much I am willing to pay including shipping.I then bid accordingly.

If I end up the new owner,yay me.If I don't then I will wait for the next one.

 

[Espeefan]

You guys have to remember the #1 rule of e-Bay bidding:

No matter what it is, there will eventually be another one. And another and another and another. Getting caught up in the last minute frenzy is what the seller and e-Bay want you to do. That's why you get those inflammatory messages: "Don't let it get away!" I put in my max bid, and don't look until after the auction closes. I miss some items, but eventually, I get what I want, at the price I'm willing to pay. Also: Buy in the summer, sell in the winter.

 

[Espeefan]

You are implying that YOU have an opinion on what YOU think the buyer is willing to pay? Perhaps the buyer has a strong desire to purchase an item for a collection, sentimental value or some other reason, which you are not privy to?

I bid in the dying seconds for most of my items. Many item I buy for my collections to complete sets, or just for sentimental value. And I win 99% of the time. I do know what I want to pay for my items. In fact I have two limits. A theoretically limit: A price I'd prefer not to go beyond. And a practical limit: normally double the price.

I earn good money and if I want to spend it on new cars, home theatre equipment, swimming pools or rail models at prices other don't agree upon, then that's my business.

This whole attitude from people who think bidders on EBay are somehow throwing the money away at the expense of common sense is shallow.

Yes, there are come buyers who buy on impulse, and may not do their homework in regards to prices, but why is that anyone else's business?

EBay is a great tool for picking up hard-to-come-by items. I have had some wonderful service from US sellers recently; fast efficient, courteous, great communications. I wouldn't spend my spare time driving to a LHS these days, all my buying is over the net.

Whoa dude...I don't think anyone was judging anyone here, and we sure don't care how you spend your hard earned money. That's entirely your business. In fact if you routinely set a limit of twice the price, I've got a basement full of model railroad stuff I'll be happy to sell you

I think the thread started as an attempt to understand bidding patterns and how they effect those of us trying to get the best deal possible. The thing that can be frustrating to some e-Bay users is the lack of a pattern. The same item can bring a premium one week, and get no bids the next. You pays your money and you takes your chances...if you're a seller. If you're a buyer, you decide how high you want to go. As you've noticed, we all do that a little differently.

 

[tooter]

I enjoy using ebay because it's an excellent source for old discontinued stuff, and there's no hobby stores anywhere near me.

It's basically free market Capitalism where you choose to assume risk.

 

[diburning]

OK, I ADMIT IT! I'M NUTS!!!

I bought an engine last night for $97.26 shipping included. I bid it up from $75 (the seller had a reserve which I found out was $90) to $92.74 (I wanted to pay $100 max for this engine) but since I was the highest bidder when I got to $90 and entered $92.74 afterwards, my proxybid was $92.74. No one tried to outbid me and I won it for $90 + $7.26 shipping.

The engine normally costs more than $120 on ebay, and my LHS surprisingly has it for $115. I was trying to get one for under $100. Regardless of the method used, it worked! (Sometimes I snipe, sometimes I proxybid)

 

[galaxy]

These, mentioned here, are just some of the reasons I don't shop on ebay.
After reading all that is posted here, I still don't think I get how some people do it. I jsut don't get some things.

I peruse for amusement rather than shopping. I will look at bidding history adn see the same guy out bid himself or bid himself up on a item 2 or 3 or more times. Why anyone would bid against them selves is beyond me, unless it is to get it higher so "no one else will want it"??!!
I also don't get how an item can be bid at say $25 and in the last 10 minutes someone steps in and bids $75! seems to me inthe last 10 minutes $30 woulda done it! Now, I understand that may be their top dollar they are willing to pay, but why pay more than you have to.

I don't get that when I see it on TV auctions. I will see a bidder refuse to bid at $50 for a table but once biding does start, will end up biding it up to $150 and paying for it. They Mighta Coulda possibly had it for $50 if no one else was interested when bidding started. But I guess it's because merely the fact that someone wants it. "I want it more than you do!" steps in to play.

I don't get the "Buy it now" permanent price" that is higher for the same brand new product that is available at othe online etailers for far cheaper that people will step in and buy.

For some it is like gambling..It's the thrill of the win..THAT I do get. They are addicted.

I also don't get why people will complain about online etailers Shipping and Handling costs, yet will pay $19.99 in costs to an ebay seller for a $6 item.

I don;t get how some people know ebay's fees and what nots are high, yet will pay it anyway when they could get it online elsewhere.

I get that some items are out of production and may only be found on ebay, but still...I would have a price and if I can't get it for that, I won't have it is all.

Maybe since I don't get so much of the idiosyncracies of ebay buying and selling, I am better off not playing the game.
________
FERRARI FXX

 

[diburning]

I peruse for amusement rather than shopping. I will look at bidding history adn see the same guy out bid himself or bid himself up on a item 2 or 3 or more times. Why anyone would bid against them selves is beyond me, unless it is to get it higher so "no one else will want it"??!!

This is how people set and forget it. For example, If the bid on the item is $20, and the person bids $21, but decides to put in the max bid they would pay afterwards, maybe $50 for example, the bid would still be $21, but the bidding history will say that he bid against himself. Also, if someone else decides to bid $30, it will say that the person bid against himself up to $28, the second person bids $29, then the first person is out on top at $30.

I also don't get how an item can be bid at say $25 and in the last 10 minutes someone steps in and bids $75! seems to me inthe last 10 minutes $30 woulda done it! Now, I understand that may be their top dollar they are willing to pay, but why pay more than you have to.

That's sniping. The bid may say $25, but the high bidder may have entered $74 as the max price they would pay. If the second person comes in and bids $100, it would bid it $1 more than the last person's max bid.

I don't get that when I see it on TV auctions. I will see a bidder refuse to bid at $50 for a table but once biding does start, will end up biding it up to $150 and paying for it. They Mighta Coulda possibly had it for $50 if no one else was interested when bidding started. But I guess it's because merely the fact that someone wants it. "I want it more than you do!" steps in to play.

Human nature

I don't get the "Buy it now" permanent price" that is higher for the same brand new product that is available at othe online etailers for far cheaper that people will step in and buy.

Some people look to ebay because of their so called buyer protection. Some people also don't shop elsewhere because it's not a "popular" etailer.