eBay is weird

[Truckstop]

So, I'm selling some stuff on eBay at the moment and it got me to thinking.

I have something worth about £200 on £3.04 at the moment. Which means that someone has actually made a bid of £3.03. So someone's made a realistic bid of say £100 (I dunno, whatever) and the next highest bid is £3.03.

Why bother? Do people honestly believe they'll win it? Or is there just loads of people out there that just bid on everything just for the perverse satisfaction of losing everytime?

I don't understand! Whenever I've bid on something on eBay I've made a realistic offer (ie, as much as I think the item's worth) and left it at that. I don't think to myself "hmmm, a solid bid of 2p will win me this item."

Weird.

Truckstop

[Mr. Foxen]

Not unknown to win something at a lowball opening bid. Generally because ebay have screwed the seller by hiding their listing, or a dozen people go 'oooh, I was gonna bid last minute but forgot'. Weather seems a massive deal, nothing big of mine sold this time round, and what did sell went to Australia.

[BetaFunk]

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1369175142' post='2086009']
So, I'm selling some stuff on eBay at the moment and it got me to thinking.

I have something worth about £200 on £3.04 at the moment. Which means that someone has actually made a bid of £3.03. So someone's made a realistic bid of say £100 (I dunno, whatever) and the next highest bid is £3.03.

Why bother? Do people honestly believe they'll win it? Or is there just loads of people out there that just bid on everything just for the perverse satisfaction of losing everytime?

I don't understand! Whenever I've bid on something on eBay I've made a realistic offer (ie, as much as I think the item's worth) and left it at that. I don't think to myself "hmmm, a solid bid of 2p will win me this item."

Weird.

Truckstop
[/quote]
I know a dealer that puts in hundreds of low bids on items and ends up getting more than a few bargains which he then sells on. I bid on a a book a few years ago for £100 which i didn't win. The next one that came up a few months later i bid £120 and still was outbid. About six months later i bid £120 and won it for £7.50. It's simply all down to who wants to bid for it and sometimes you get a bargain.

[AngelLaHash]

i do tend to tag them with a low bid, but i guess i could get the Bidding software to do my max in one go
any way the bidding dont start till the last 20seconds the amount of times no one has bidded right till the last min
and then i get out bidding

[megallica]

You said it, there are a weird lot on ebay who will ask loads of questions regarding an item and then forget to bid.
Short attention span or something?
Or my personal favourite are the people that wait until your listing ends without a bid and then hit you with a lowball offer.
Before I knew how to block bids from certain countries I would delete their bids and then they would send me aggressive messages in pigeon english, which was actually quite amusing.

[geoffbyrne]

I've 1300 stars in Ebay, so I've done a bit of trading.

On more than one occasion, circumstances have led to my missing an item which didn't sell. I have emailed the seller & made a decent, non-insulting offer & have got the item.

Otherwise I use software to make my bid at only 5 secs to go. I win 7 times out of 10.

The other thing I try & do is to get something at a low price. I'm looking for a SATA 2Tb drive at the moment & I'm not willing to pay more than £50 for it. So I catalogue & watch all the suitable models & use the software to bid for it. I'll get one eventually.

G.

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='AngelLaHash' timestamp='1369176001' post='2086038']
i do tend to tag them with a low bid, but i guess i could get the Bidding software to do my max in one go
[/quote]

Ebay already does that, it doesn't put your max on until necessary, only goes as high as it needs to go to beat the next highest bid. The small bid to start is to lock the listing from being edited while you make up your mind.

[uncle psychosis]

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1369175142' post='2086009']
So, I'm selling some stuff on eBay at the moment and it got me to thinking.

I have something worth about £200 on £3.04 at the moment. Which means that someone has actually made a bid of £3.03. So someone's made a realistic bid of say £100 (I dunno, whatever) and the next highest bid is £3.03.

Why bother? Do people honestly believe they'll win it? Or is there just loads of people out there that just bid on everything just for the perverse satisfaction of losing everytime?

I don't understand! Whenever I've bid on something on eBay I've made a realistic offer (ie, as much as I think the item's worth) and left it at that. I don't think to myself "hmmm, a solid bid of 2p will win me this item."

Weird.

Truckstop
[/quote]

People place small bids as a reminder to themselves to bid again more seriously later.

Also, I'm sure at one point---and it may still be the case---that once an item received bids its "buy it now" disappeared (if it had one). So people would bid so that others couldn't snatch it away!

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1369178510' post='2086079']
Also, I'm sure at one point---and it may still be the case---that once an item received bids its "buy it now" disappeared (if it had one). So people would bid so that others couldn't snatch it away!
[/quote]

As long as it beats any reserve. Seems that people also bid because they are stupid, because I've seen bids on items that have a buy it now the same as opening bid.

[uncle psychosis]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1369179493' post='2086091']
As long as it beats any reserve. Seems that people also bid because they are stupid, because I've seen bids on items that have a buy it now the same as opening bid.
[/quote]

Well, some people on it are just stupid. I once sold a second hand Bad Monkey overdrive for £32 delivered, at the time you could get a brand spanking new one from a shop for £35 delivered. Muppets. Not that I was complaining!

[Geek99]

I cannot understand the dumb people who watch a fixed price item until it ends.

On another note, I am having trouble with an eBay troll who bids on items, wins them and never pays. Her feedback text is AWFUL but percentage still 100% of course, eBay do nothing despite multiple sellers reporting her

User hollygrassby if you would like to avoid her.

[steve-bbb]

ive had seasoned felabyers recommend using maximum bid system but make the figure and odd amount of pence as there could be a possibility that someone will make the exact same bid as yourself if you set the figure as a nice whole round number

[Dandelion]

Yup. I Never bid whole numbers, even numbers or anything ending in a 5.

[Zenitram]

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1369209417' post='2086194']
I cannot understand the dumb people who watch a fixed price item until it ends.
[/quote]

I will put a watch on a fixed-price item so that it gets sent to my list of items that I'm thinking about buying, so everything's in one place. That's all.

[BILL POSTERS]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1369179493' post='2086091']
As long as it beats any reserve. Seems that people also bid because they are stupid, because I've seen bids on items that have a buy it now the same as opening bid.
[/quote]

Doesnt the buy it now have to be at least 40% more than the start price ?

There is a point in making low bids, a guy near me won a mint Carlsbro Bass Combo for 99p, nobody else had bid on. Ok its not worth a fortune, but still cheap, I sold a tatty similar one for £150 a few months before. I'm sure people do it and hope to 'steal' the item so they can re list it later.

[Geek99]

Yes - if the seller is silly enough to fail to put a reserve on, or to list it to finish at 3:32am then that's their loss. You can't blame the bidder for winning fairly, or relisting the item more sensibly and making a profit

Edited May 22, 2013 by Geek99

[timmo]

I looked at a DVD of guitar playing years ago.The item was bidded up to £18 with a few hours to go. I scrolled down the page and it had the same thing for buy it now at !4.99 from the same seller. I bought it at the buy it now price. I really think some people treat it as a game and get an adrenaline rush when they win

Edited May 22, 2013 by timmo

[fumps]

I was once bidding for a DJ mixer, I put a bid in for £70 which was more than fair, it ended up selling for £120.
you could but it from turnkey £135 delivered brand new......?!?
I stopped bidding for items after that.

[Geek99]

[quote name='timmo' timestamp='1369214561' post='2086278']
I looked at a DVD of guitar playing years ago.The item was bidded up to £18 with a few hours to go. I scrolled down the page and it had the same thing for buy it now at !4.99 from the same seller. I bought it at the buy it now price. I really think some people treat it as a game and get an adrenaline rush when they win
[/quote]
They do, but see my post above

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1369214113' post='2086266']
Yes - if the seller is silly enough to fail to put a reserve on, or to list it to finish at 3:32am then that's their loss. You can't blame the bidder for winning fairly, or relisting the item more sensibly and making a profit
[/quote]

Starting the item at the right price is what they need to do. Since you can set opening bid, a reserve is basically utterly pointless except as a way to pay ebay a bit more money. I list my items to finish at stupid o'clock because I'd rather deal with people who can put in an honest bid, or deal off ebay, and if people insist on playing silly games to try and give me less money, they do it whilst half asleep, studies show people take bigger risks that way: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/why-tired-gamblers-are-the-biggest-winners-ndash-and-losers-2236204.html

[bonzodog]

I think unless you have software or are a real expert you rarely get a bargain. I have bought several items from ebay and sold a few and I cant really say I've ever had a real bargain either way. Like previous posters I have seen products go for pretty much the new price from a shop. I think ebay is becoming too sophisticated to bag a bargain unless you fall lucky. I still look at the local newspaper adds and you can get some real bargains there. Best deal I have had for a long time was buying an amp off here

[Dave Vader]

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1369209417' post='2086194']
I cannot understand the dumb people who watch a fixed price item until it ends.
[/quote]

Bookmarking things you might want but cannot afford at the moment, if it is still there when you can, they link to the relisted item. I do it all the time, and am not dumb, just poor.

[Geek99]

Totally disagree - bargains are entirely findable

[Zenitram]

Yeah, it's bargaintastic out there. And Gumtree is just as good if you're patient (living in London helps, I expect).

[BetaFunk]

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1369209417' post='2086194']
On another note, I am having trouble with an eBay troll who bids on items, wins them and never pays. Her feedback text is AWFUL but percentage still 100% of course, eBay do nothing despite multiple sellers reporting her
[/quote]
You can block any bidder.