[Archive]

Posted By: Eric Brehm

One thing I've seen lately on eBay is that, on high demand items, the bidding that takes place through the course of the auction is largely irrelevant, because serious bidders don't show their hand until the last few seconds of the auction, either manually or with a snipe program. For sellers, there is no guarantee this will happen late in the auction, so I guess I can understand them entertaining offers early on -- but I still wish they would either set a fixed price or run a normal auction, so everyone knows what to expect. As a buyer, I've had to adjust my strategy, and I generally don't put in my best max bid until near the end.