Ebay Bidding

[Wes Davis]

re: sport trac seats for sale by Me,9/26/2005 18:03 ET



Reserves should be posted in your description of the item. Reserve prices are of no consequence to the bidders as the item will not sell no matter what unless the reserve is met. A reserves only function is to protect the seller from not letting the item go for an unreasonably low amount. The only reason there even is a reserve option is because it is illegal for the seller to place a bid on their own item to set the lowest accepted price. This is called schill bidding. I have been doing a lot of studying of Ebay policies and rules lately as I myself placed a very low bid on an expensive item and won and the seller renigued(sp) on me.

re: sport trac seats for sale by K,9/26/2005 18:39 ET



Can I buy just the front seats?

re: sport trac seats for sale by xrugger9,9/26/2005 21:44 ET



I have never really seen the price of the reserve posted, I have seen low reserve posted

re: sport trac seats for sale by Daniel B.,9/27/2005 00:39 ET



I'll have to agree with Wes's statement on Ebay policy and what the point of a reserve price is.



My two cents- Daniel

re: sport trac seats for sale by kosborne,9/27/2005 01:37 ET



Sorry to disagree Wes & Daniel...



The reserve price should not appear in the description. If a seller wants to reveal it that's his business but it would defeat his/her purpose. The reserve price is set to stimulate bidding while not leaving the seller in a position to have to sell at a price below what he/she feels is fair. The reserve price is of consequence to the bidder...if his/her maximum bid exceeds the reserve price, he/she is automatically proxy bid to the reserve price.



Here is some information from eBay from the seller side:



A reserve price is a tool sellers can use to stimulate bidding on their auction-style item while reserving the right not to sell below a price they have in mind.



Many sellers have found that too high a starting price discourages interest in their item, while an attractively low starting price makes them vulnerable to selling at an unsatisfactorily low price. A reserve price helps with this.



How does it work?



A reserve price is the lowest price at which you are willing to sell your item. If a bidder does not meet that price, you're not obligated to sell your item. You set your reserve price, as well as a starting price, when you list your item.



The reserve price is not disclosed to bidders, but they will be told that your auction has a reserve price and whether or not the reserve has been met.



Here is some information from the buyer's side:



Some auctions have a reserve price, a hidden minimum price, on their item.



How it works:

A reserve price is the minimum price a seller is willing to accept for the item.



As a buyer, you are not shown the reserve price, only whether or not the reserve has been met.



The seller is not obligated to sell the item if the reserve price is not met.



The winning bidder must meet or exceed the reserve price and have the highest bid.



When you're bidding in a Reserve Price Auction, bid as usual, entering the maximum amount you're willing to pay for the item. Watch the label next to the current price to see whether the reserve price has been met. Until you see that the reserve price has been met, there have been no successful bids in the auction. Once the reserve has been met, the item will sell to the highest bidder when the auction closes.



If your maximum bid is the first to meet or exceed the reserve price, the effective bid displayed will automatically be raised to the reserve price.









Message was edited by kosborne on 9/27/2005 at 01:38 ET





re: sport trac seats for sale by Me,9/27/2005 02:28 ET



Thanks Kosborne but here is my

 

[Wes Davis]

Thought I would start this as a new topic so as not to screw with the original seats for sale post.

 

[Travis Munday]

Um.....you must've never been to a real auction house or know how to actually bid on stuff. You don't bid your maximum price first off, unless that price is either very close to the current bid, or is a lot higher then the current bid. Why limit yourself to just one bid? That's just poor strategy. You bid the minimum amount up and hope no one out bids you....that's how you get deals. If you bid your maximum all the time, and only one time, you'll not win much. Have a reasonable limit on how much you want to bid, but bid the minimum amount. If the bid goes above and beyond your reasonable limit, then you've got to ask yourself how bad you want the item and bid, or don't bid, accordingly. You can try to just trump all other bidders by bidding a significant amount above the minimum to discourage others from bidding....when the minimum bid jumps up 25% or so, people tend to shy away. Occasionaly you'll find another bidder who wants the item as badly as you do and will match you bid for bid, no matter how much you go above the called bid. eBay can be a great place to do business, but all these "rules" that people have are sometimes just ridiculous and inane.

 

[Wes Davis]

Tiger, you don't understand Ebays bidding process. Ebay uses a system called proxy bidding and it can be very difficult to understand until you get used to it and have tried it several times. I will try to give an example of how it works. I have searched and found a 6.0L Cadillac engine on Ebay for my ST. The current bid is $100.00. I decide after factoring in shipping and taxes that I would be willing to pay $500.00 and no more so I place my bid of $500.00. Ebay will automaticaly increase the current winning bid amount by a preset limit in this case probably $5.00. I am now the winning bidder at $105.00. It is not my bid of $500.00 that is winning, that is simply the amount I am willing to spend (bid) if necessary. Now another bidder bids $200.00 and I am out bid. This will kick in my proxy bid and Ebay will automaticaly increase my bid to $205.00 ($5.00 increase being the preset amount by the seller) once again making me the winning bidder. This will go on and on until the auction ends and I have won or until someone out bids my maximum I am willing to spend (bid) $500.00. So you see you are still bidding the lowest amounts to keep yourself winning and when the auction ends you will have bid the lowest amount possible to win the auction. It is the same as you are talking about above at a live auction except Ebay does it for you and Ebay does it better. If you simply bid one time your maximum amount you are willing to pay Ebay takes care of the rest and if you win the auction you always pay the lowest amount possible. I know it is confusing but I hope this example sheds some light on proxy bidding.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Me, no not I, but Me, is right.



The best way to approach proxy bidding is to just think what the maximum possible price you are willing to pay, total (including s&h) to get the item, then bid that maximum (less s&h).



Now, with that said, that is the unemotional, least time investment way to bid on eBay. It "used" to be that you could snipe bids (bid at the last few seconds of an auction that is currently at a bid price lower than your bid), but having that work these days is very difficult. In the old days (2, 3 years ago and more) it was more of a buyers market on eBay. And, sometimes an item would near its auction end at a very low price. A savy buyer could then snap up the item with a well entered snipe bid, during the last few seconds, and not give any of the other bidders time to counter.



Now it is more of a sellers market, with items actually reaching if not exceeding their MSRP and retail prices, and doing so often hours if not days before auction end. And, for those that aren't at that price point yet, you can usually rest assured that the current high bidder has placed a proxy bid at that MSRP level, but hasn't been pushed up that high yet with counter-bids. Sniping became so commonplace a few years ago that there was software out there that allowed people to "schedule" snipe bids so they could be away from their computer and still snipe.



There are people out there that seem to like to "bid up" auctions as a pasttime. They find an auction, see it has several days left, know the MSRP of an item, then bid somewhere between the current high bid and the MSRP, just to see if they can get the item for a good price. It's fair, but somewhat annoying, and it happens in real auctions too. Sometimes the push bidder gets stuck with something they really don't want, but I think that is rare these days on eBay as most everything is selling near MSRP.



Oh, and I am guilty of push bidding. I do it on used computer systems at least once a week hoping to pickup a bargain.



TJR

 

[LaRue Medlin]

what I hate to see is omeone that puts something up on auction at a price that is more than msrp. Example,, a set of 2004 locksmith books (I have) went on sale 5$ MORE than the publisher is selling the 2005 version. AND HE SOLD THEM for that price.

 

[TomT]

Like WC Fields said, "there's a sucker born every minute", and I think that's especially true on ebay. I see people bidding on used items for more that I can get the same one new for. Can't complain, I'm selling an two year old item right this minute that I paid $30 after rebate and the bidding is now at $36 and 3 hours still left.

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Although the explanation of the Proxy Bidding is correct, I will ONLY do that if I will not be available at the end of the auction.



Why,,,, because it always drive the price up.



If I bid 200 because that is what I am willing to pay and there is 5 days left, the next person that bids is told they have been out bid and must bid 12.00 (for example). They will either raise their bid or walk away.



Where as if I bid $200 with less than minute left than I will more than likely get the item for much less money as I will not be bidding against an already established Proxy Bid.



So even if I am willing to pay $200 for it. I'll put the bid in with less than a minute. Why people bid LONG before the auction is over is beyond my comprehension. They are only raising the price for them selves even if they win the auction.



Good for the seller, not the bidder...

 

[Fred]

Agree with Coastiejoe.



I only bid prior to 30 seconds before the auction ends if I know I'm not going to be available at the auctions end. I determine the most that I would be happy to pay, and snipe. If I get it, good, if not fine, I didn't want to pay that much for it anyway. I know someone else could snipe for the same $ as me and beat me by 1 second, oh well. Serves me right for still having dial-up!

 

[Wes Davis]

Dial-up!!! Fred, is your last name Flintstone? :lol:

 

[Fred]

:lol::lol::lol:YABBA DABBA DOO!!!!!:lol::lol::lol:

 

[Wes Davis]

LOL We have a celebrity in the group.

 

[Tom Schindler]

Some people look at proxy bidding as a challenge. You place you bid, dang...outbid, place another, still outbid, and again, again, agin until they beat you. If you would have just waited to snipe the item, odds are, you would have gotten it cheaper.



I snipe auctions with 1 second left.





Tom

 

[Fer Echegaray]

Ebay Bids Submitted in Seconds Before EOA

Includes all bids submitted in the last 10 day



1 0%

2 0.359%

3 6.018%

4 39.163%

5 40.013%

6 8.693%

7+ 5.74%

Late 0.014%

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Yeah, I still snipe, but I rarely win auctions anymore.



As I said, sniping used to work. But now, there are so many sellers, and many just want the item and are willing to pay near or at MSRP, and they enter their full bids early. So, even if you try to snipe, chances are you will be outbid.



That's why a lot of people just put in their full amount early, because they recognize that a bunch of other people have already done the same, and sniping won't buy them anything; so they just enter their max bid and see if they have a shot, and if not move on to the next auction of the same item.



TJR

 

[Michelle Widell]

Whenever I use a reserve, I always put the price I set the reserve at in the auction details. The only reason I use reserves is when I set a "Buy It Now" price (say, $100). I'd start the auction at $9, set the reserve for $75, and that keeps the Buy It Now option open for awhile - that way, the first bid doesn't cancel out the Buy It Now, and it gives others more time to bid on it and perhaps use the Buy It Now. It works quite well, and I'm refunded the listing fee for the reserve once it's met.



In my example, if someone knows that the reserve is $75, they can buy the dang thing NOW for $100, and the item has 5 bids and is at $50, most times someone will get eager and buy it since it's had activity.



If I don't think I can get what I want for it, I won't list it. What's the point...

 

[LB]

Well put Michelle.

 

[V Ro]

well if you look at it, you can get those seats "buy it now" for $112.50 a piece for the set or bid and try to get it cheaper



not bad compared to if you had to buy them from a dealer.



It would probably cost you atleast $500 just for one seat alone

so bid what you think it is worth and let the proxy take care of it, like you said



even if you just want the front seats alone it is still worth the price and put the back seats on your porch or sell them again