[justanormalgirl]

Originally Posted by mikeod

Of course the flip side to this can be strange, too. I was looking at an LED TV in an auction. They had been going for about $900+ and I put in a bid of $850 and went to bed. I went to the site the next morning expecting to see the "Sorry" email and got the "Congratulations!" one. My dear wife heard me say "Oh ****" and asked what the problem was. I gulped and told her WE won a TV.

Oh yah...I've heard that "Oh ****" myself!

[angiefox10]

Originally Posted by mikeod

Of course the flip side to this can be strange, too. I was looking at an LED TV in an auction. They had been going for about $900+ and I put in a bid of $850 and went to bed. I went to the site the next morning expecting to see the "Sorry" email and got the "Congratulations!" one. My dear wife heard me say "Oh ****" and asked what the problem was. I gulped and told her WE won a TV.

Or bid more on an item then you expected to and sweating bullets till someone outbids you... you hope!

My husband put a manual on ebay. You could buy it for $25.00 on Amazon. Two bidders got in a bidding war and it went for over $100.00. We were laughing. You can just picture each one at their computer thinking....

I'll show them!!! That book is MINE!!!

[lovsthosebigdogs]

[QUOTE=justanormalgirl;454165]I do wait until the last day and, if possible, I don't get ready to bid until the last minute...then, at the right time hit the confirm bid button. QUOTE]

I once waited for a coffee table with sculpted sightsounds for legs that I was DESPERATE to win but at the last 2 minutes as I was ready to bid again my power went out. I was sure I had lost, but when the power returned hours later I found I had indeed won. What a shock! Also another time an antique copy of a dog book that had come on ebay several times and always gone hundred over what I would pay for it came up for a bid that ended on Christmas day. I put in a very low bid of only $50 and to my shock no one else bid on it. I won that book for my initial bid of $50 when in the past I had bid up to $500 and still lost it. Sometimes things do work in your favor so there is no telling on ebay. Who knows, maybe all the people who wanted it already had it. Or maybe they were all busy having Christmas celebrations. Whatever, I got it for a song. Ebay works both ways, ya never know.

[justanormalgirl]

Ebay works both ways, ya never know.

Oh, I know and there are a few tricks I've learned along the way too like...search for misspelled words ie: minature=miniature etc...

I have also learned that not everyone who lists on ebay knows what they have. So, after searching for the crystal butter dish that matches my stem ware and found it for $105.00 I simply searched for 'glass butter dish' and found it for $22.00

Now, if I could just find those darned martini glasses.......at a reasonable price of course........

[Pturner]

Haven't bought much on ebay; but I have a question. Why does it even make sense to put in a bid before the last few seconds? Why not set an alarm, say on your smartphone, for a minute or two before bidding ends and then, if you're not home, use an ebay app last closed to open on the item's page, to place a bid?

Would that work?

[justanormalgirl]

Originally Posted by Pturner

Haven't bought much on ebay; but I have a question. Why does it even make sense to put in a bid before the last few seconds? Why not set an alarm, say on your smartphone, for a minute or two before bidding ends and then, if you're not home, use an ebay app last closed to open on the item's page, to place a bid?

Would that work?

Possibly but I don't have a smart phone...I'm usually home to bid on the items I want.

[Pturner]

Originally Posted by justanormalgirl

Possibly but I don't have a smart phone...I'm usually home to bid on the items I want.

Then, it should work. Not sure what the benefit is of bidding ahead of the closing as it would only tend to drive up the price. However, I'm not an experienced eBayer, so someone please weigh in if there is are downsides to my theory.

[CaptJohn]

Originally Posted by Pturner

Then, it should work. Not sure what the benefit is of bidding ahead of the closing as it would only tend to drive up the price. However, I'm not an experienced eBayer, so someone please weigh in if there is are downsides to my theory.

I've been on ebay since 1997. There is no right or wrong way. You can tell from the previous posts that actually every strategy works but the problem is that each auction is different in that there are different personalities bidding and it's just a random thing as to which method works best. That's the fun (or frustration) of it.

[aljetmet]

A couple of days ago a bidder purchased a sealed safe. Cost him about $250 delivered.

Heard two different stories how he had it opened but it really doesn't matter.

Safe had $26,000 cash in it.

Uhderstand the seller wants some of the booty.

I say you sold as is and sorry fella.

By the way, the buyer happens to live in a neighboring town of mine so it's been on radio here.

What do you think?

I thought I was the only one who placed a bid and then realized I goofed and hope to be out bid...

[bluedog103]

Originally Posted by Pturner

Then, it should work. Not sure what the benefit is of bidding ahead of the closing as it would only tend to drive up the price. However, I'm not an experienced eBayer, so someone please weigh in if there is are downsides to my theory.

It makes no sense to bid early, just hoping nobody will outbid you. They will.
I decide how much I want to pay for an item and then usually add an unusual amount to my bid, i.e. if I want to pay a maximum of around $5.00 I'll bid perhaps $5.11 or $5.27. That eliminates all those who bid in even numbers.
Most importantly, I bid in the last seconds of an auction, usually 5-7 seconds before the end, depending on the time of day and the popularity of the item. There are programs which help you accomplish this and will notify if you have been outbid so you can adjust your maximum if you like.
Don't worry about the ethics of being a sniper. It's not a sporting event, the idea is to be successful in your bidding. I rarely lose an auction except to another sniper who outbids me in the last few seconds. If rookies get into a bidding war and drive the price higher than I want to go, I let it go.
My way is all business, never emotional.