Best strategy - eBay auction

[Reynard]

I kinda get that but...
We used to feequent boot sales fot years and the times I've heard someone indignantly complaining...
"Hang on, I sold you that 1/2 hour ago, you're now selling it for 4x the price"

Tbf, I've had it done to me but my attitude is...
I sold it happily for the price I got...its now someone else's to do with as they please.

True, but then the stuff just sits there, unsold, at an unrealistic price until the seller gets fed up.

Or in the case of a Kordes & Lichtenfels locket... The original listing had a "best offer" so I put in a reasonable offer of two and a half times the scrap value. The offer was declined, but the locket was then sold for the same amount to someone else. A couple of weeks later, it then turned up for sale at a hefty mark up. And then it just sat there. And sat there. And eventually, the seller started dropping the price because it was just sitting there unsold. Eventually, a year and a half later, I bought the locket - for much the same amount as I offered to the original seller in the first place.

 

[steveindenmark]

I put my maximum bid in early on. If you leave it to the last second, you end up with a bidding frenzy and end up paying what your maximum bid would have been.

 

[Illaveago]

What I've noticed is if you see something which has been bid on and is at the starting price but has something like 3 bids it means that the bidder has several bids in reserve .
It's what I have done .

 

[PeteXXX]

As an infrequent user of eBay, I decided that the best option for something I really really wanted was to leave it until the last minute to put a bid in..
It was going well until I pulled the trigger and the warning popped up saying 'You need to be logged in to perform this action'.

Suffice it to say, I didn't win it 😔

 

[Jameshow]

Most of the above although I don't use a sniping tool. That means occasionally I miss items but that's life.

I bid £x.86 on items as it's above the standard £1/50p increments.

Also, if I'm not around to bid in the final 20 seconds, like today on a pair of wheels, I'll stick two bids in: one at the start price/ just above the rest and another which is my maximum. That tells other bidders that I've definitely gone above just the start/current price, which should (hopefully) put them off. It did with the carbon wheelset I bought; two bids 3 hours' before auction end and a new £600 pair of wheels were mine for £265 delivered.

Right that's it I'm bidding £x.90 now!

 

[Hicky]

I’ve bought a number of “expensive” items….car/bike etc. for these I’ve bunged on the max price I will pay and left it. Looked the following day and hoped for the best. I must stress this is only with things I’m keen on but if I miss out then no worries, something else usually comes up….I try not to last min bid as you often end up paying more than I’m happy with.

The time of the auction end matters too if you wanna grab a bargain.

 

[gbb]

Reading the above just shows, lots of people have different strategies and I suspect none are wrong, each has its merits and potential downfalls. I would wager if you adhered to each /all of those strategies over a period, each one would win / lose ...equally'ish.
It's a lottery on the day.

 

[All uphill]

Reading the above just shows, lots of people have different strategies and I suspect none are wrong, each has its merits and potential downfalls. I would wager if you adhered to each /all of those strategies over a period, each one would win / lose ...equally'ish.
It's a lottery on the day.

I suspect you are right especially for popular items.

I guess there will be a few bargains where items are poorly listed or the market is small, and some that will achieve high prices when buyers see the auction as a competition rather than a purchase.

My item now has loads of watchers so I'm not hopeful of a bargain. I know my maximum and that is what I will bid.

 

[Aravis]

I believe there is an optimal strategy. Bid once, bid as late as possible, and consider carefully the art of choosing a maximum bid.

If you do this, you're effectively playing as though the sale is a sealed bid, time-limited auction, the starting price being the "offers over" figure. It's self-evident that in such an bid auction you bid your true maximum, not what you're hoping to get the item for, and that you don't show your hand early. By bidding at the very last moment you give yourself a huge advantage over many of your opponents.

Identifying your maximum bid is a complex art, heavily influenced by your own subjective thinking which often has little to do with the perceived market value. I remember once bidding on a pretty item of jewellery which due to a particular feature was worth far more to me than it was likely to be for most people. I could judge what I thought it would go for, but on this occasion I bid far in excess of this amount. I got it for less than I expected, but had I been pushed to my maximum I would still have been happy. Had I been outbid would I have been disappointed or pleased that I hadn't placed my bid higher? That is usually the hardest call to make in advance.

Much of the time I regard bidding on eBay as a form of entertainment.

 

[swee'pea99]

I believe there is an optimal strategy. Bid once, bid as late as possible

However you do it. I use a sniper.

As for 'the art of choosing a maximum bid', I can't see any art involved. Decide what it's worth to you, and that's your bid. You might win it for less, you might get out-bid. So it goes.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

As an infrequent user of eBay, I decided that the best option for something I really really wanted was to leave it until the last minute to put a bid in..
It was going well until I pulled the trigger and the warning popped up saying 'You need to be logged in to perform this action'.

Suffice it to say, I didn't win it 😔

Yeeeesss, it does help! 😆

 

[PeteXXX]

Yeeeesss, it does help! 😆

It would have in this case 😔 😂

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Each auction is different. Like I've said, I'll sometimes try and get an idea of what the other bidders are doing by nudging it slightly (small amounts so nobody sees you as a threat), but then there are other times when I'll just sit and wait until the end... And then there are others where you are probably going to be the only bidder, or one of a handful.
You bid accordingly to the situation and is all part of the fun.

I tend to buy collectables and niche things, so the market is quite small anyway. Also, I don't normally see the point is buying things that I can get in the shops and I can see before I actually buy.

I've just learned to make a low bid and a highest bid, so that if you are lucky, you'll get something for your lower bid, but with the highest bid, you get the other bidders (if there are any) to work up to you. Don't bid what you are not prepared to pay, simples (although you might have a 'reserve highest bid' if it is something you really really want).
If they then bid more, hey ho.

Snipers just aren't Cricket @swee'pea99 old chap 😆

 

[slowmotion]

I put my maximum bid in early on. If you leave it to the last second, you end up with a bidding frenzy and end up paying what your maximum bid would have been.

If you place your only bid in the last five seconds, there's no time for a "frenzied" bidder to react.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

If you place your only bid in the last five seconds, there's no time for a "frenzied" bidder to react.

Yes the last second stuff is more down to luck than skill, I will admit 😆