Ebay

[anorexicpillow]

Hey all, im new to ebay and ive noticed that everytime that i bid i get out bid as soon as i confirm the bid, is there some way that these people set their accounts to automatically out bid the highest bidder. If so how do i get past this i am wanting this knife but i cant get any where if this guy has it set to automatically out bid me....wheres the fun in that thanks in advance byee

[Ted]

Hi anorexicpillow, it works a bit different.

For example, an item is on sale with a starting bid of $10

I bid a maximum of $50, the current price will then be $11 (were assuming the bid increment is $1)
note, you will not see my maximum bid of $50, only that I bid $11

Sometime later, you see the item and bid a maximum of $30, the current price will then immediatly go to $31 and I'm still the high bidder. (my maximum was $50 remember).

If you then will bid $60, you will be the high bidder with $51. ($1 over my maximum bid). If I were then to bid $55, the price would go to $56, with you still as the high bidder.

It's called 'proxy' bidding. Look in the help of Ebay for a thorough explanation.

Hope this helps a 'bid'

Edit: to summarize, if you're getting outbid all the time, someone already place a higher bid then yours, which means he's willing to pay more for the item then you did. That's the idea of an auction. If you want the item, bid higher. There are tricks to increase your chance of wining an auction, but in the end, the person who was willing to pay the most and has put in the highest bid will win, it's as simple as that.

[anorexicpillow]

thank you ted your so very helpful

[The Deacon]

Good explaination Ted. I would just add that the most "sensible" way to use eBay, although it can sometimes be incovenient because of the time a given auction ends, is to put the auction you are interested in on your "Watch List" when you first spot it. Then figure out EXACTLY how much the item is worth to you and make a note of that somewhere. Then WAIT until there are just a few minutes left, and, if the current bid showing is not higher than you considered the item to be worth, bid that amount, then WAIT TILL THERE IS ONLY ABOUT 5 SECONDS LEFT before hitting CONFIRM. One of two things will happen, either you will "win" at a price you considered acceptable, or you will lose to someone willing to pay more than you feel the item is worth. Very often you not only "win", but will pay considerably less than you bid. You still may be beaten by a high early proxy (as Ted explained) or by another sniper who thinks the item is worth more than you do, but you reduce the chances of someone seeing your bid and outbidding you to nearly zero.

[Ted]

Paul, my method is pretty close to that. It's slightly different in the last minute however. PM me if you're interested - it's not that big-a-deal but I'm not gonna post it here. (it does not involve sniping software)
But as you also described, I see no use in bidding in an auction when it still has hours or even days to go. It for sure will kill your chances of getting a bargain. The only exception I think is when you're a well known collector, and want to scare away the competition. I've seen plenty of auctions where I thought, hey, that's cool, and then noticed the usual suspects already in the bidding list, meaning there would be no chance for me to get it for a reasonable price.

[The Deacon]

The only exception I think is when you're a well known collector, and want to scare away the competition.

Tried that a couple times, did not work, so perhaps I'm only one of those "a legend in his own mind" cases. :D On the other hand, must admit that, once or twice when I was away from the computer for a few days, I saved myself a lot of surfing through eBay pages by viewing what a couple "well known low-ballers" had on their watch lists.

[Senate]

few days, I saved myself a lot of surfing through eBay pages by viewing what a couple "well known low-ballers" had on their watch lists.

Am I understanding you right? you can view other people whatch lists on eBay? :confused:

[The Deacon]

Am I understanding you right? you can view other people whatch lists on eBay? :confused:

No Alex, I screwed that up, should have said "bid lists" not "watch lists". Chalk it up to a brain fart. You can't see anyones watch list, but, as I'm sure you already know, you CAN plug in their eBay user name and see everything they are bidding on, and everything they have won or lost for a period of time.

[smcfalls13]

Proxy bidding drives me crazy. Its a great tool to use, and I use it too, but I can get pretty nosy. If its something I really want, I want to know exactly how high someone is willing to pay, and I usually end up bidding higher and higher until I finally outbid them, than before I realize it I've paid twice the price I was willing to pay, just to satisfy my curiosity.

I think Deacon's way might be safer for the wallet. Just my opinion though. :cool:

[Senate]

No Alex, I screwed that up, should have said "bid lists" not "watch lists". Chalk it up to a brain fart. You can't see anyones watch list, but, as I'm sure you already know, you CAN plug in their eBay user name and see everything they are bidding on, and everything they have won or lost for a period of time.

I'm relieved Paul! :D
and no I didn't know you could see items users are currently bidding on.. I won't use that, I'm already buying too many Spydies :rolleyes:

[anorexicpillow]

oh wow, i really like this ebay thing now that i understand :D

[Civilian]

Sniping progams can be scary too:
Winning Bid: US $76.00
Auction Ended: 26Jul05 - 3:08:44 pm
Buffer (requested/actual): 5 / 6
Your Maximum Bid: US $8,200.00
Your Bid Placed: 26Jul05 - 3:08:38 pm
Quantity (available/wanted) 1 / 1
I thought I bid 82.00 but you can see I forgot the Decimal. Glad no one else did the same! I guess I wasn't going to get outbid. LMAO

[The Deacon]

Sniping progams can be scary too:
Winning Bid: US $76.00
Auction Ended: 26Jul05 - 3:08:44 pm
Buffer (requested/actual): 5 / 6
Your Maximum Bid: US $8,200.00
Your Bid Placed: 26Jul05 - 3:08:38 pm
Quantity (available/wanted) 1 / 1
I thought I bid 82.00 but you can see I forgot the Decimal. Glad no one else did the same! I guess I wasn't going to get outbid. LMAO

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

That could have been a nuclear disaster! I've keyed in a comma instead of a period a couple times, but luckily always caught it on the CONFIRM screen.

Have never used sniping software, done all mine manually. Figure it keeps me from bidding too many acutions, since I can only snipe while I'm at home.

Yep Alex, just go to the Advanced Search screen, select Search by Bidder from the menu on the left side, then type in someone's eBay user name.