Wow!!!

[I Love Film]

There is no sense or logic to bidding anything before the last few seconds.

In effect, all you are doing by bidding early is driving the price up in numerous ways and "bidding against yourself". You are not "locking in" anything, this is a delusion.

Sniping is the only intelligent strategy for the eBay auction model. It is almost comical to watch two inexperienced bidders trying to "stay on top" with dozens of tiny incremental bids.

PS: It's "first dibs", not "first dips".

Theoretically I would expect if you have a desirable item with a value up in the skies like a Nikon I, a desperate collector would lock in a bid for lets say 30k$ when he/she knows that market price would be somewhere around 20k$, and the first person to lock in that high price in the first day would have first dips. Theoretically because almost always there's a new bidder at the last 15 seconds. But this auction would be fun to watch.

 

[splitimageview]

Theoretically I would expect if you have a desirable item with a value up in the skies like a Nikon I, a desperate collector would lock in a bid for lets say 30k$ when he/she knows that market price would be somewhere around 20k$, and the first person to lock in that high price in the first day would have first dips. Theoretically because almost always there's a new bidder at the last 15 seconds. But this auction would be fun to watch.

I'm not really following this 'theory.' 🙂

If someone actually bid $30k early on, expecting to eventually pay $20k, they might be surprised at the ultimate price if people bid it up right at the end with auction fever. I have seen it happen...I've sold a few items for 2x the going rate just because someone had a high bid in place, and the other person kept increasing their bid like crazy...

It's nuts. At the same time my auction was getting 2x the going rate, there were other equivalent items on 'buy it now' for half the price...

A savvy bidder will put in say $22k at the last second, and hope to win it at $20k, for example, but knowing there is some risk it could be as high as $22k, or they might not win it at all if someone already has a higher bid in place, or someone else snipes at the end.

 

[I Love Film]

It's nuts. At the same time my auction was getting 2x the going rate, there were other equivalent items on 'buy it now' for half the price...

It really is bizarre, but that's what happens almost all the time on eBay.

There will be some mint, beautiful item at a reasonable "buy-it-now" which will go unsold for months.

But an identical item, in crummy condition, will go for twice the price of the "buy-it-now" item because people have been drawn into the auction frenzy.

I've often tried to figure it out, but I really don't know what really motivates people.

 

[sp9107sp]

some sellers will end items if they are not at a certain price, this can only be done if there is more then 12 hours left in the auction, the seller can cancel all bids and not sell the item, many seller do this to save the reserve fees that ebay charges,

 

[splitimageview]

That is true, although most of the action is in the last few minutes, so most likely the value at 12 hours bears no relation to the final auction price.

Soon, ebay will charge fees for ending auctions early...

 

[DanOnRoute66]

I'm not really following this 'theory.' 🙂

If someone actually bid $30k early on, expecting to eventually pay $20k, they might be surprised at the ultimate price if people bid it up right at the end with auction fever. I have seen it happen...I've sold a few items for 2x the going rate just because someone had a high bid in place, and the other person kept increasing their bid like crazy...

It's nuts. At the same time my auction was getting 2x the going rate, there were other equivalent items on 'buy it now' for half the price...

A savvy bidder will put in say $22k at the last second, and hope to win it at $20k, for example, but knowing there is some risk it could be as high as $22k, or they might not win it at all if someone already has a higher bid in place, or someone else snipes at the end.

Exactly right. It's the same reason people will continue to flock to the most crowded restaurant on the block. They see the herd and assume, "This must be the best place to eat."

 

[dufffader]

PS: It's "first dibs", not "first dips".

Got it! :angel:

 

[S.H.]

(...)

It's nuts. At the same time my auction was getting 2x the going rate, there were other equivalent items on 'buy it now' for half the price...
(...)

I saw that myself. Two years ago I bought (BIN, more or less market price) a Biotar 75 in Exakta mount while another parallel auction for an identical one went higher.

 

[hollandphotos]

This is why I always list no reserve auction that start at a penny.

 

[sp9107sp]

609599

609599

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...sspagename=STRK:MEWAX:IT&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

sold for $8,100
GBP 5,211.00

 

[thompsonks]

It's interesting that in the earlier auction (referenced above), there were only three bids. The current one perhaps proves the point that starting with a lower reserve ends with higher bids.

(The current one, with 15 bids, is already in the $8K range.)

 

[DanOnRoute66]

There is no sense or logic to bidding anything before the last few seconds.

In effect, all you are doing by bidding early is driving the price up in numerous ways and "bidding against yourself". You are not "locking in" anything, this is a delusion.

Sniping is the only intelligent strategy for the eBay auction model. It is almost comical to watch two inexperienced bidders trying to "stay on top" with dozens of tiny incremental bids.

PS: It's "first dibs", not "first dips".

Why not put in your maximum bid hours, or even days, before the close? I do this and find that, more often than not, bidders will "nibble," see the price for something beyond a few bucks and get discouraged.

 

[VinceC]

I'm also not really understanding the requirement to wait until the last minutes to seriously bid. Obviously, that's a good strategy for those who savor the sport. But other strategies are just as effective for obtaining collectible items. For the most part, I study an item, spend a long time deciding how much I would pay for it -- not what I hope to get if for, but the maximum I would ever pay. Then I place that as my maximum bid and pretty much ignore it until the auction has ended. I've gotten some nice items for good prices that way, and I've been outbid on some nice items by someone who wanted it more.

 

[grantb]

The purpose of sniping is to pay the lowest possible price by discouraging the snowball effect of bids from shills and "nibblers", or those who only feel safe bidding when others are vying for the same item. Remember you only pay slightly more than the last high bid. You will still enter your maximum, but you will not leave time for others to drive up the price having been encouraged by the higher bid count.

 

[DanOnRoute66]

The purpose of sniping is to pay the lowest possible price by discouraging the snowball effect of bids from shills and "nibblers", or those who only feel safe bidding when others are vying for the same item. Remember you only pay slightly more than the last high bid. You will still enter your maximum, but you will not leave time for others to drive up the price having been encouraged by the higher bid count.

Sorry, I still don't understand how "sniping" works better than regular bidding. If I put my first and only bid at $10,000 the price of the item will only go to the next increment above the current high bid. For example, if my bid puts the price at $100, and the next bidder enters $150, my bid automatically will go to the next increment above $150 -- not to $10,000.

 

[grantb]

Sorry, I still don't understand how "sniping" works better than regular bidding. If I put my first and only bid at $10,000 the price of the item will only go to the next increment above the current high bid. For example, if my bid puts the price at $100, and the next bidder enters $150, my bid automatically will go to the next increment above $150 -- not to $10,000.

Yes but if you give the lowballers six days to nickel and dime the price up, back and forth in $25 increments, you will still be the high bidder but they will keep on bidding and you will pay a higher price in the end. In the mean time, the bid count has increased and attracted the attention of those who will only bid when others are bidding. If nobody puts in an early high bid, it's game over and the high bidding lowballer waits to get outbid or maybe win a windfall.

Many bidders do not enter their maximum, but prefer to go back and forth, continuously outbidding the high bidder by small increments. By bidding early, you only encourage them and pay higher prices.

Something else to consider is that there are bidders who will not bid close to what an item is worth, but are curious to see how high they can drive the price. Sometimes these people are the sellers. Not all bidders are in it to win it.

 

[splitimageview]

Sniping doesn't always work, but it is one method that can help keep the price down.
The last thing I want to do is announce to the world that I'm interested in an item; bidding at the last minute ensures this.

Imagine if suddenly all bidders decided to forgo bids for 6 days 23 hours 59 minutes and 56 seconds. 🙂

 

[VinceC]

The above explanations do make sense, as far as waiting toward the end of the auction to drive up a price, rather than giving others lots of time to test your upper limit.

As far as auctions with a time clock, I'm reminded of a TV special I saw some years ago of farmers wholesale auctions in the Netherlands. Don't know if they still do this, but it used to work like this: The price was displayed on a round dial like a clock and started at zero. The farmers sat at a table and each had a push button that would stop the clock and light up a light. The price clock started at zero and slowly began turning to add value. The first farmer to push the "sell" button stopped the clock and sold his goods at that price. Incentive to sell low to ensure a sale vs waiting longer for more money but risk being undersold.

 

[NickTrop]

10 grand. Insane.

 

[nikon_sam]

$12,875 with 1 3/4 hours left...you still have time to bid...me...I'm happy just watching...