Post #103961 by Kono on Sat, Jul 24, 2004 9:48 PM

On 2004-07-24 02:18, bigbrotiki wrote: so I decided to put in ONE high bid (527.-) and leave it at that, win or loose.

That's exactly what you should do. Just do it as late as you can!

*On 2004-07-24 02:18, bigbrotiki wrote:*I am tempted to continue now (isn't that how e-by works :) )

This is the crux of it. Bid what you consider an appropriate amount and bid late so that you (and more importantly, your competitors) do not have time to be tempted to spend more than you originally felt was an appropriate bid.

On 2004-07-24 02:18, bigbrotiki wrote:
If my calculations are right the deal closes on Monday morning at 7:00 am my time, yet what chance do I really have against a sniping program...professional dealers like the good folks from Cruz certainly have one, don't you, guys?

THE most important factor is the bid amount. Period. If you bid $650 with five hours left and mexa-tiki bids $600 with a sniping service you still win. In fact, mexa-tiki using a sniper service would work in your favor as he would not have time to see that he lost and then reconsider (as you are now doing) and rebid with a higher amount. I'll repeat: The most important factor, * uber alles*, in winning an ebay auction is the amount you bid. Don't forget this. Forget about sniping programs as being magical tools to win auctions.

The secondary factor is bidding as late as possible to prevent competitors from reacting to your bid and then changing their bid. Look at this auction. docbaseball made a bid that he thought was appropriate. That's what he wanted to spend. mexa-cruz, Big Bro and sh-boom bid the price up considerably. Two days later, docbaseball says "Holy shit!" Maybe he looked at your feedback and saw that you wrote a book. Now he's thinking "This guy know his stuff, it must be worth a lot of money! I'm going to double my bid!" Or maybe he just doesn't understand the concept of a silent auction. You don't try and "inch" the bid up slowly to get it for as little as possible, as this does not work on ebay. You bid your maximum amount and be done with it! BUT you want to bid as late as possible to foil those who do not understand the dynamics of the process and like to bid and then up their bid again and again and again ad nauseam. Those folk tend to bid emotionally and not rationally. The sellers LOVE THEM and the seasoned buyers don't love them. :lol:

Summary: (1) Bid your MAX amount, whatever it is. (2) Bid as LATE as you can manage (people have to sleep and go to work etc). (3) Don't worry about sniper programs, they are essentially meaningless and harmless if you bid your MAX amount; either the other bidder was willing to spend more than you or not! If a sniper beat you it's because he spent more than you were willing to. Period.

Another word on "sniper" programs:
Sniper programs DO NOT feel out your highest bid and raise it by a nickel! This is an illusion created by the ebay system. Sniper programs submit your bid (whatever it is) and submit it at the last possible second. That's all! When you win an auction, you may have been "sniped" several times but you do not know it because the sniper bid was lower than your's and thus does not show up on the bid history.

Don't worry about sniping! In fact, if you have logistical problems with the time that an auction ends (like you should be sound asleep for work the next day) then maybe you should enlist a sniper service yourself to deliver your bid. I've never used one so I don't know how reliable they are, but the concept is sound.