|
Author
|
Topic: Ebay - how to win an auction?
|
snelson
TUG VolunteerPosts: 6520
From: Belly-View, WA. Owner: Embassy Poipu (floating); Winners Circle (Week 52), Raintree Vacation Club; Club Regina
Registered: DEC 2000
|
posted 10-25-2001 16:53
 
quote:
Originally posted by BL:
Marina:... I've really only done it a half dozen times or so and have only been successful once - and that was without the use of a sniping program. Bev
Bev - I remember! You outsniped me on that Carlsbad Week. 'Course, I was sniping you, myself.  ------------------
Steve Nelson
**
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?
- W.H. Davies
|
KHolleger
TUG MemberPosts: 2799
From: Pennsylvania
Registered: DEC 2000
|
posted 10-25-2001 20:08
I just won an auction earlier tonight using esnipe. I wouldn't have won without it. I had my eye on this timeshare and my husband and I discussed what we were willing to bid. I calmly put in my highest bid amount earlier in the day. While the auction was getting nearer to closing, I watched it while chatting online with another tugger. With less than a minute to go in the auction, my computer was disconnected! There were seven bids in that final minute. By the time I got back online, the bidding was over and I had won! Good ol' esnipe had placed a bid for me into eBay's proxy server ten seconds before the bidding ended. Then eBay took it from there and bid only enough for me to win and didn't have to go up to my max amount. I recommend it!------------------
Kathy Holleger [This message has been edited by KHolleger (edited 10-25-2001).]
|
SDH
TUG MemberPosts: 288
From: Highland Village, Texas
Registered: DEC 2000
|
posted 10-26-2001 11:11
In answer to Cat's question about people e-mailing after the auction: I was bidding on some pretty popular and actively sought and hard to win items, where some of the bidders (kids bidding with their parents' accounts) were very impatient and really needed the item quickly. I usually said that I (or my children) really wanted the item, too, and I'm sorry they didn't get their bid in, but that is the rules and ebay monitors those rules. I've yet to have someone offer to pay me part of the difference (which might be an incentive to let the item go if a lot of items are available to bid on) between my bid price and the sellers' price and get a three-way agreement with the seller. I have also had some very eager people try to go to the seller (as a seller in once case) and try to convince the seller to reneg on the buyer. That didn't work (although I heard of a number of complaints of that problem a couple of years ago on ebay) because the buyer would raise a stink with ebay and most legitimate sellers don't want negative reviews. Interesting discussion. It sounds like there is some agreement that one does not want to put in the maximum proxy bid until the last minute (to avoid a premature bidding war) but might want to load the maximum proxy bid in a sniping program and have the sniping program enter the proxy bid within the last minute of bidding and ensure that the bid gets in on time. That makes more sense to me than purely sniping without a proxy bid. [This message has been edited by SDH (edited 10-26-2001).]
|
Cat
Moderator
TUG VolunteerPosts: 3260
From: Now in sunny Florida!
Registered: DEC 2000
|
posted 10-26-2001 12:26
Very interesting, SDH! Perhaps you could agree to sell the item to the impatient buyers for a little profit?You have the essence of sniping. It really IS a mix of last-minute action and proxy bidding. However, the proxy part of it only comes into play when you are using a sniping program. To do this manually would take too much time, and there might not be time for your proxy bid to out-fire a competitor who was already on the board, if you had to enter it manually. Sniping software really does offer the best of both worlds - proxy bidding with the element of last-second surprise. ------------------
--Cat
baricat@yahoo.com
|
marion10
TUG MemberPosts: 1135
From: River Forest, IL and Dikhololo and Seapointer, SA
Registered: DEC 2000
|
posted 10-26-2001 15:05
I only buy old postcards and stuff on ebay, but I'be be really mad if I were the high bidder and and the seller reneged and sold to someone who emailed after the auction.
|
toolman
TUG MemberPosts: 45
From: Hagerstown, MD USA
Registered: FEB 2001
|
posted 10-29-2001 12:25
quote:
Originally posted by Cat:
It really IS a mix of last-minute action and proxy bidding. However, the proxy part of it only comes into play when you are using a sniping program. To do this manually would take too much time, and there might not be time for your proxy bid to out-fire a competitor who was already on the board, if you had to enter it manually. Sniping software really does offer the best of both worlds - proxy bidding with the element of last-second surprise.
I beg to differ somewhat. I have used sniping techniques both manually and with software. I place my manual bids about 30 seconds from closing and have had no problems getting them into the ebay computer. It has nothing to do with beating someone else already on the board. You are not required to beat anyone in the time sense. Just get your bid in and it will win if it is the highest bid when the auction closes (and is at least one bid increment above the current bid). aaw
|
jme
TUG MemberPosts: 588
From: Augusta, Georgia, USA; OWNER: Marriott Grande Ocean(3 weeks) and Marriott Barony Beach Club(2 weeks)
Registered: DEC 2000
|
posted 10-30-2001 23:25
Another approach would be to contact the seller either before the close of the auction ( if you see that the reserve has not been met yet) OR contact the seller after the auction if the reserve was not met, and just negotiate. I would do this by submitting an email to the seller during the auction to contact you privately, and list your email address, and listen for a response. You could even suggest a phone call. I only do the "antiques" part of ebay, but I have bought many items without going thru the auction.... some sellers will not stop an auction prior to its close, while other sellers will. ***My favorite way to win an auction (and ,imho, the best way for anyone) would be to submit my highest offer 30 seconds before the end of the auction, always!!! This way, if someone else sees your last-minute bid and tries to counter it, your proxy bid kicks in an increase only by the next increment, and so that person has no chance to act that quickly again within 15 + seconds, and you most likely will win. Not always, BUT you gave it your best shot, and you bid the maximum you would have paid...that's all you can do. Most of the time, your maximum never is reached, because the proxy bidder only goes past the next highest bid, and sometimes you win with a bid that is well short of your maximum. Now I will say that ebay is far more addicting than TUG, especially after one wins his/her first auction. I've probably bought at least 20-25 things thru ebay,from $5 to $5000, and I look every day. Good luck, jme------------------
Marriott Grande Ocean (3 weeks)
Marriott Barony Beach Club(2 weeks)
|
BL
Moderator
TUG VolunteerPosts: 3103
From: B.C. Canada
Registered: DEC 2000
|
posted 10-30-2001 23:33
I'm really just asking a question and not trying to stir the pot, but isn't there some sort of ebay policy or rule against contacting a seller and asking them to stop an auction to sell to you? I'd think ebay loses commission and might not be too happy if someone reported a case of this to them. I've been tempted to do it, and I've had people do it to me when I was auctioning on ebay. But I thought it's against the rules. Am I mistaken? Bev
|
toolman
TUG MemberPosts: 45
From: Hagerstown, MD USA
Registered: FEB 2001
|
posted 10-31-2001 11:22
quote:
Originally posted by BL:
I'm really just asking a question and not trying to stir the pot, but isn't there some sort of ebay policy or rule against contacting a seller and asking them to stop an auction to sell to you?
Yes there is. If eBay had proof that you ended an auction early and sold the item to someone, they might suspend or cancel your registration. But proving that was your motive for cancelling the auction would be difficult. I know these kind of off-line sales happen at times because people talk openly about doing it.
|
Timeshare Users Group Bulletin Boards
