Word of advice to fellow eBay bidders....

[wally426ci]

First time I've vented in a while, but I was just getting frustrated reading work emails since I've been off for 3 weeks.

If you are going to bid on something, wait until the last day. Bidding the first day an item goes on with 6 days remaining simply drives up the price, it does not garauntee that you will win the item.

I am so sick of checking out a new item to see a bid on the first day.

Sorry, not trying to offend, just a word of advice.

[Cageman]

Hello, this shouldnt be news to anyone.
Im a sniper

[motomatt383]

Sniper, i never looked at it like that!! but that's how its done!

matt

[etsweptster]

When I see something I want, I bid the max I am willing to pay. I don't always have time to try to remember to come back and bid on it later. Either I get it or I don't. Most times I end up getting it for less than my max bid was anyway. Plus, if it's a reserve auction, I know instantly whether or not I have bid enough to meet the reserve. I have lost out on too many items in the last 5 seconds of the auction to try to play the sniper game...although I do respect all the snipers out there! Having sold tons of stuff on Ebay, I don't see any difference in what I get for stuff whether it has bids on the first day or not...usually get around what I expect for it.

[wally426ci]

They have sites for Sniping...... thats what I do...

[mopardwh]

I agree with etsweptster. More than often bids end when I'm not available. I almost NEVER have time to babyset an auction. I usually don't bid the maximum I will pay at first though. I do try to put in a reasonable amount just to get my foot in the door so to speak, and try to gauge the reserve. I've done auctions all different ways, and when it comes down to it your only gonna pay what you're willing to pay.

I remember like 5 or 6 years ago I kept bidding on an auction against the same person, and they sent me a message that said "stop bidding against me, you're just running up the bid". When really, they were doing the same thing.

Another thing is, when I bought the Roadrunner the auction ended for several hundred less than my max bid but then it showed I had to pay the max bid. Does this only happen with cars/trucks?

But to be honest Wally, I've gotten better deals by putting in a bid and never checking it again than I have by sniping.

[wally426ci]

I suppose I was just griping anyway..... damn work!! Looks like I need another week off.

[etsweptster]

I don't know if they recently changed the policy, but a couple of years ago my buddy won a superbird for about $4000 less than he had put in for his final bid. That sucks if you have to pay your max amount, the whole idea is that it's an auction...you only have to outbid the next highest bidder! I'm going to have to do some research now...dang it!

[etsweptster]

Here's what I found on the Ebay website:

"About eBay’s bidding system
eBay Motors bidding system is the same as that of eBay. We’ll automatically bid on your behalf up to your maximum bid amount. eBay’s bidding system is based on increments. A bid increment is the amount by which we automatically raise your bid each time another bidder outbids you. However, we won’t go higher than your maximum amount. You'll get an email confirming your bids.

At the end of the listing, you'll receive another email indicating whether you've won the vehicle, and an explanation of the next steps."

It doesn't specifically say that they WON'T automatically charge you your max bid, but it's worded like they shouldn't. I may have some questions for Ebay if they charged you more than just the next highest bid amount above the closest bidder to you.

[Russ]

It depends on what the item is and how much I want it, for me. If I see an item and it's "I wouldn't mind having that" I will place a bid for the maximum I'd pay for it even if the aucton has five or six days to go and just see what happens . If it's something that I really want I will try to wait until the last minute and bid in the last few seconds. You have to be really lucky to beat those "snipe" programs that way though. I think they can get a bid in within the last second or two.

[CSS-Registry]

do you need a hug wally?

i usually bid my max amount. if someone wants it worse than me then they are going to have to PAY for it.

i recently tried to buy a vintage suspension fork for my old Marin ATB and the dood bidding against me was looking for a deal - it started out at .99. i bid $120. he incremented it up 2 and 3 dollars until it took him a couple days to nad up and juice out a $20 when he out finally out bid me..

:)

Ben

[wally426ci]

do you need a hug wally?

Ben

I feel a little better today!

[moparbob71]

Wally, I'm on my way over to give you your hug So here's scenario- Joe Blow has a set of NOS chrome 3 hole mirrors. If I see them I will........................
1. Sure as hell won't tell anyone
2.Will research( Google) what they are worth/ go for
3.Wait for the last 2-3 minutes then bid my absolute max- if I lose by 5 bucks oh well

Now if it is something I absolutely need for the truck and don't want to get into it with the brethren I will humbly request that ya'll let it slide.Which actuallly happened here when I first got indoctrinated. Don't know who helped me out but I got it for what I needed- thanks again.

As a side note- I won't sell on ebay because of all the rules they came up with to protect buyer from getting ripped off. In the old days crooks would take your money and not send anything. Now the crooks send you money, you send them the part, and then they complain that you ripped them off. They get their money back and keep the part. I would rather throw the stuff in the dumpster.

Don't get me started on Craigslist....................

[wally426ci]

I would do the same steps as you Bob.

I sell sometimes, but I usually offer stuff up to forum members if I wind up with extra. Usually car not truck parts b/c I don't have much extra truck stuff.

[richierich]

my friend has software to bid one cent over bid made i need to ask him what it is so i can tell you. luve my truck

[MountainMoparRobin]

I have yet to buy anything off ebay. everything their I can find somewhere else and you don't have an auction

[johnnylemonpudding]

I've started putting my max. bid in on the first day. I got tired of watching items thinking I would snipe it, missed the auction end, and no one bid on it!!!! I wonder sometimes if an immediate bid doesn't deter some bidders. They may perceive you as quite serious and figure they have no chance.

[tinbasher]

save your money, it looks like the whole show is going off the rails. if you think things were bad last year, just wait 'till next year.

[PwrWgnDrvr]

When I see something I want, I bid the max I am willing to pay. I don't always have time to try to remember to come back and bid on it later. Either I get it or I don't. Most times I end up getting it for less than my max bid was anyway. Plus, if it's a reserve auction, I know instantly whether or not I have bid enough to meet the reserve. I have lost out on too many items in the last 5 seconds of the auction to try to play the sniper game...although I do respect all the snipers out there! Having sold tons of stuff on Ebay, I don't see any difference in what I get for stuff whether it has bids on the first day or not...usually get around what I expect for it.

Bidders before the last minutes of an auction are a seller's best friend and a buyer's agony.
If u bid early, u are a fool and here is why.

Ive been an ebay sniper for 10 yrs and have over 2500 feedbacks from BUYING.
If someone bids early, and I outbid them early, then they have time to reconsider their "max" which simply drives the price higher if it is something I want. That is how a "bidding war" starts. GREAT for the seller!
However, if they bid their "max" and I snipe in the last 5 seconds, they have no time to "up" their max. Saves the winner money.

So go ahead and bid early. I will see you've bid and I will bid it up incrementally until I get it to your max, then I will stop and leave u there.
When u come back and raise your max, and I will bid u up again. Sellers love that, I call it "supporting the fair market value" and in the end u pay a damn lot more.

If I should happen to outbid u by a couple bucks, I can pretty much be sure u will show up and reclaim the lead. Cool, now Im off the hook to buy it. But, I now know what your max was, and often u reveal your bid strategy if I study the bid history. Now I know u will bid 25, 50, 75, or 31, 41, 51, etc so it is easy for me to come back and put u right back to your max.

Another way that sniping will save u money happened this week on an item I am waiting to snipe. It was listed at $149, but so far there are NO bids. So the seller lowered the price to $99, thinking there is no interest. Cool, just saved me $50! I am sure it will end with me as the only bidder, but if I had bid early, it would not have been lowered.

So there's your free lesson on successful ebay bidding. Use it however u like.

[wally426ci]

well put!

And lets not post any links to any active truck parts on eBay until the auction is over since we're all here for these trucks.....