Bidding at Ebay

P

Palacio

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I often hunt for used and new tools at ebay ( carbide endmills, Inspection gauges, tool holders...specially vintage and hard to find ) and from time to time I get to win at auctions. Recently I have won a slightly used Interapid Dial indicator for only $75 shipped. I was so happy because a new unit would usually cost US$250.


But sometimes I have noticed that there are lots of bidders who would bid and not think what the actual market value of the item they are bidding. Very often they would end up paying more. Recently, there was one auction for a used kurt vise that was sold for US$375 + $65shipping. I find it hilarious because you could buy a brand new unit of the same kind from ENCO for US$409 shipped.

So guys if you will be bidding stuffs at ebay. I would highly recommend that you do some research first and then decide on your maximum bid.
Also, when placing a bid do it on the last 30 to 45 sec. before closing and your chances of winning are much higher..... Cheers :)
 
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I have noticed that too, on just about anything,
I have seen alot of items go for way over their value. I dont know if is it that people are not checking other stores or if they just figure they are getting a deal because its on ebay.
 
Alot of the time, if you watch the item that is 30-40% over cost, you will see it be re-listed. I think a lot of crooked sellers haunt Ebay, use several friends or other accounts to keep bumping the bid. Ebay is an Evil Place...be afraid......lol I still buy from Ebay all the time....Like the OP said...just know your market value or the best online deal you have found. Try and score it for less...if not...keep looking!

Chris
 
But sometimes I have noticed that there are lots of bidders who would bid and not think what the actual market value of the item they are bidding. Very often they would end up paying more.

I wish those people would bid on my items :D. They never seem to be around when I have something up for auction.cool 1
 
Larry,

You are so correct.....LOl I have sold 2 items/blades on Ebay.....Full of fail the rest of the time...plus there fees, so sometimes you lose out. Its a great buyers market there though....LOL

But sometimes I have noticed that there are lots of bidders who would bid and not think what the actual market value of the item they are bidding. Very often they would end up paying more.

I wish those people would bid on my items :D. They never seem to be around when I have something up for auction.cool 1
 
Typical auctions, years ago I would go to auctions a lot, bought a lot of my trucks and tools at auction, even some guns. Now days, at least around here if you buy a gun at an auction I can just about guarantee you gave too much and it's common to see people give more for used tools than they can buy them new.
 
If you are going to bid on auctions use www.esnipe.com. It is a bidding service that you post what the maximum you are willing to pay for the item. Esnipe then bids in the last 5 seconds. You do not get caught up in the bidding fever, you can forget about it, go to bed and wake up and have an e-mail telling you that you either won or didn't.
 
OR , you can just set your MAX bid on E-Bay and it will do the bidding for you as well. If someone bids higher than your Max bid the last second , you going to loose anyway.
I was recently bidding on benchtop power supply. I kept raising my bid every couple of seconds , to no avail. Evidently his max bid was higher than I attempted to go. I lost :(
After that I found another one and just set my max bid and let Flea-Bay do the rest , I actually won for $60 less than my Max bid was set at. Saved about $100 from buying a new one.
 
The problem with using Ebay's Max bid is that you are tipping off other bidders (or potential bidders) that you are interested in the item. You are also asking for a price war as they incrementally raise the bid (just as Mr. Oliver above did).

They ONLY way to bid is to snipe. I have used AuctionSniper for a number of years and have never been beat (except in the case of a higher bid, of course--there is no way to win if you've been outbid, so make SURE you put in your maximum acceptable bid). I have AuctionSniper put my bid in within the last 3 seconds of the auction. It will ONLY bid high enough to win, often by a few pennies.

AuctionSniper works great and they give you 3 free snipes to try the service (and absolutely no obligation to buy more at all). Click here to give it a try: http://www.auctionsniper.com/?how=info@ifixpcs.biz
 
yes that´s true .best is to use a sniper software... for example Auctionsentry

works for me

" I would highly recommend that you do some research first and then decide on your maximum bid." 2thumbs

AL
 
I used to use sniping software. Like everyone else I've been beaten at the last seconds and grumbled about the snipers.

Then I relaxed. I bid late-ish with a max bid. If someone beats that bid it doesn't matter what they used to beat it. They were willing to pay more for the item than I was. Fair enough (even though I frequently wish that no one else would want the thing so I could just pick it up for $.99 :)).

The whole point of bidding in auctions is to get something you want for a good price; not to "win" the auction at any cost.
 
eBay is not the only place to keep your head up. I have seen folks ask more for used knives on other forums than I can buy them cheaper for new on eBay or just on-line.

Seeing a new FS/FT with no watchers can get the blood flowing, but if I take a step back and do a quick Google search and quick eBay search, more often than not, I will find the item cheaper (remember the dreaded shipping & Handling too!). I have failed at that a few times, with someone sliding in past me, but it was always an impulse purchase, not something I was looking for, had to have, and already knew the value of!

I do a Google search on anything on eBay before I bid on it too.
 
The problem with using Ebay's Max bid is that you are tipping off other bidders (or potential bidders) that you are interested in the item. You are also asking for a price war as they incrementally raise the bid (just as Mr. Oliver above did).

They ONLY way to bid is to snipe. I have used AuctionSniper for a number of years and have never been beat (except in the case of a higher bid, of course--there is no way to win if you've been outbid, so make SURE you put in your maximum acceptable bid). I have AuctionSniper put my bid in within the last 3 seconds of the auction. It will ONLY bid high enough to win, often by a few pennies.

AuctionSniper works great and they give you 3 free snipes to try the service (and absolutely no obligation to buy more at all). Click here to give it a try: http://www.auctionsniper.com/?how=info@ifixpcs.biz

For example, in auctions of antiques, there may be
bidders who are dealers/experts and who are better able to identify high value antiques. These
well informed bidders (who may be identifiable because of their frequent participation) may
wish to bid late because other bidders will recognize that their bid is a signal that the object is
unusually valuable.
In the 240 eBay-auctions, 89 have bids in the last minute and 29 in the
last ten seconds.
http://www.cepr.org/meets/wkcn/6/683/papers/ockenfels1.pdf
http://kuznets.fas.harvard.edu/~aroth/papers/equilibrium.geb.pdf
 
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