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Quote:

Originally Posted by jayshum (Post 2526319)

Similarly, I'd be surprised if switching to an extended bidding format will really impact prices negatively. For all the people who say they won't bid any more or will bid less, there will be many others who will bid more and higher because they have the chance to keep bidding to win something they really want. That's the psychology of an auction that leads people to pay more than they were planning in the first place.

That’s the way I see it. In time, some people will decide to bid in fewer if any eBay auctions that use this extended time format. But some of the people who do bid will end up bidding more than they would under the current format. The impact on final prices? It could go either way and I’m not sure we’ll know for sure unless there is an obvious change one way or the other for prices for comparable items before and after the new system is implemented.

A lot of people value and appreciate the hard closings of eBay auctions. This system has been in place for 30 years and has made them ungodly amounts of money. As others have noted, yes, they'd be changing this in an effort to make more money for their sellers, but the bottom line is always to make more money for themselves. They are doing just fine without being even more greedy. We're all their customers, whether we're buying or selling.

There is something great about seeing "Item ends at 10:02 a.m. on July 8" and knowing that at any time after 10:02:01, I can hop on there and be given a definitive answer if I have won or lost an auction. After that time, I can move on with other matters in my life.

As to auction house end times:

In my younger days, I might stay awake until stupid o'clock following along, or going to bed at a normal hour, but losing sleep, wondering if I had won anything and not being able to sleep as a result. Frankly, as gentle a version as it may be, these late hours are an unwelcome form of torture on the part of auction houses, especially when a hard close could give everyone who puts food on their table and pays for their children's educations a better night's rest. Not to mention, the auction house staff could also turn in at a decent hour! But, follow the money. Always the money.

Fine, keep your 15 minute rule, but finalize everything by 10:00 p.m. EST. Done. Finished. Customers/consignors can know what they bought or sold and can get ready for the coming day. This is fair to both coasts and those in the middle. Practically everybody has a smart phone so they can view and bid wherever, whenever. 7:00 p.m. on the west coast is good enough. If it isn't, then fine, how about 8:00? Not a nanosecond later. Nobody seems to be doing this, why? What are the reasons for these super late closings, again? Can't we move past this, please? Oh yeah, I guess we can't. They wouldn't want to miss out on the late night overbidding of all the Joe Imbibers out there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss (Post 2526283)

Agreed. You can still put in your max or snipe bid and, if higher than the next increment, you will be autobid to the next increment. Here is a real life example of why/how it could work and be good:

Last night I wanted to win a Willie mays “the catch” ticket. With one minute left, it was at $5100. I put in my “snipe” max bid of $6559 with 4 seconds left. Turns out I was outbid by one increment by another sniper at $6659. However, given the chance, I likely would have bid another one or two times, but I was not given the option; the auction just ends.

So, the snipes work their way into out, establishing a high bid for extended bidding and then people can go back at it, in two minute increments, after that. Nothing but good for sellers. As a buyer, those wanting to get a deal from the auction ending absolutely may be harmed, but those buyers like me last night will be happy to be given another opportunity

One last thing- the customer is the seller, not the buyer. The job of an auction house is to maximize the price the seller gets. Fact. People always complain about changes that benefit the AH, who make a commission off the sale, or benefit sellers, but the seller is exactly who the AH is working for, not the buyers.

THIS ^^^

If ebay's analytics says this benefits sellers without alienating enough buyers they will roll it out for good. As a seller I love it (two buyers who really want it duking it out in 2 min increments - yummy). As a buyer hoping to steal it cheap with a snipe, I hate it. :-)

I assume that they have a legion of econ and psych phds who determined that this will net them more money. I'll trust their judgment on this.

This probably doesn't change optimal bidding strategy though. If the thing is worth $X to you put in a snipe for $X (don't bid early - no use in giving free information to other bidders) and forget about it. Yes, someone can top you in extended bidding, but that shouldn't change your strategy. If bidding goes above $X you're better off not buying it than you would be buying it. If it would have sold for $(X - Y) under the old system and now sells for $(X - Z) for Z < Y, then you're paying more under this system than the old one, but as long as you don't watch the auction and get suckered into bidding above $X you're still getting the item for less than (or equal to) what it's worth to you. Which means that it's still rational to place your bids.

I have bought and sold a lot on eBay over the years. I think I signed up the year after it started up. It used to be that eBay's stated policy on bidding was, place a bid with time remaining up to what you are comfortable paying for the item. If someone outbids or snipes you, oh well. Better luck next time. I have won some, lost some. That's just the nature of the game. Any more, and for the last few years, I only look for buy-it-nows in order to not get into any of this...no sniping, no outbid, none of it. Makes for a much more pleasant eBay experience, for me. Your mileage may vary.