Ebay listing...a word to the wise.

[JustinD]

Tonight on "the 'bay", there are eight listings I am interested in from the same seller of cards all set to end at the exact same time.

Does this not drive other people insane as well?

I understand that people want their listings to end at a great time for availability. Prime time Sunday night is a perfect time, that most can be there to place a last minute bid...unless you end them all at the same stupid time, lol.

I do not "charge" my collection under any circumstances. Any new acquisitions are determined solely by my discretionary income for the time. Thus I cannot now set up a snipe for all of these items as some are more important as others and I will set a max bid for them. The silly thing is, if this seller had just set the end time 3-5 minutes apart I would be a bidder on all of them. As they progress I can subtract the winning amount from my budget and go to the next. As it sits, I can only now set a max bid on 2 or 3 thinking that there is the unlikely possibility they will all end at my max.

This is the logical reasoning behind the gavel extensions AH's use, and also why bidding gets high as people get bumped on other lots and then pool their money toward 1 or 2 lots at the end of the night. With ebay, bidders do the same thing on a much faster time frame as the end time is concrete. You can really max your sales by letting the public budget their wins. I would think this seller (who by their feedback and current listings is a volume seller) is losing quite a bit of money weekly.

A word to the wise, you are losing money using this practice people. Yes, you are smart not ending your auction at 5 am on a Wednesday, but change your end times so someone can buy more than one of your items!

Sorry guys, just venting.

[bobbyw8469]

I know when I consigned with Probstein, he ended all my items at the exact same time. I wouldn't have done that myself, but that is what he did.

[JustinD]

Originally Posted by bobbyw8469

I know when I consigned with Probstein, he ended all my items at the exact same time. I wouldn't have done that myself, but that is what he did.

Aargh, That would have bugged me as a consigner.

I am not talking about probstein, but he is a big user of the "everything ends at 8 pm" button. It has limited my bidding with him as well before.

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

Originally Posted by JustinD

Tonight on "the 'bay", there are eight listings I am interested in from the same seller of cards all set to end at the exact same time.

Does this not drive other people insane as well?

I understand that people want their listings to end at a great time for availability. Prime time Sunday night is a perfect time, that most can be there to place a last minute bid...unless you end them all at the same stupid time, lol.

I do not "charge" my collection under any circumstances. Any new acquisitions are determined solely by my discretionary income for the time. Thus I cannot now set up a snipe for all of these items as some are more important as others and I will set a max bid for them. The silly thing is, if this seller had just set the end time 3-5 minutes apart I would be a bidder on all of them. As they progress I can subtract the winning amount from my budget and go to the next. As it sits, I can only now set a max bid on 2 or 3 thinking that there is the unlikely possibility they will all end at my max.

This is the logical reasoning behind the gavel extensions AH's use, and also why bidding gets high as people get bumped on other lots and then pool their money toward 1 or 2 lots at the end of the night. With ebay, bidders do the same thing on a much faster time frame as the end time is concrete. You can really max your sales by letting the public budget their wins. I would think this seller (who by their feedback and current listings is a volume seller) is losing quite a bit of money weekly.

A word to the wise, you are losing money using this practice people. Yes, you are smart not ending your auction at 5 am on a Wednesday, but change your end times so someone can buy more than one of your items!

Sorry guys, just venting.

Out of curiosity, what do you collect?

[JustinD]

Originally Posted by vintagebaseballcardguy

Out of curiosity, what do you collect?

Well I don't want to call attention to the auctions tonight, so I will roundabout that answer.

I did have a very large post-war collection and a sub-collection of rare topps tests. I had to liquidate most everything due to health issues and finding myself on disability for a couple years.

Now back to work and feeling great, I have started to rebuild and also caught the pre-war bug. My second collection has a decidedly different look. The cards in question are all from a early set I am attempting to assemble.

This second time around is a total blast as my son is 14 and even though I tried like crazy at a younger age to get him started it has just been the past 2 years since he really caught the bug. We now try to locate some show within a 3 hour drive at least twice a month and have fun snooping through the boxes. It has been a great way to bond into his teens and I have even come to terms with him only wanting to collect basketball cards.

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

Understood, good luck!

[quinnsryche]

Here's a novel suggestion, put in your max bids on all the items and see what you win when they end. What I don't understand is people refusing to put in a bid until 2 seconds before the auction ends. If I see something I want, I bid on it when I see it. I put in the maximum amount I feel comfortable with and then wait for the auction to end. If I win, great, if I lose, oh well I bid what I thought it was worth. I don't understand what is so difficult about grasping this concept. I end all my auctions at the same time because I have a JOB other than ebay and don't particularly want to spend every other waking moment running auctions.
Hope that helps.

[nolemmings]

Originally Posted by quinnsryche

Here's a novel suggestion, put in your max bids on all the items and see what you win when they end. What I don't understand is people refusing to put in a bid until 2 seconds before the auction ends. If I see something I want, I bid on it when I see it. I put in the maximum amount I feel comfortable with and then wait for the auction to end. If I win, great, if I lose, oh well I bid what I thought it was worth. I don't understand what is so difficult about grasping this concept. I end all my auctions at the same time because I have a JOB other than ebay and don't particularly want to spend every other waking moment running auctions.
Hope that helps.

The problem is you want to win something but can't afford to win everything. Putting in your max bids and crossing your fingers leaves you with a chance of getting shut out or being overdrawn at the bank. I agree that ending all auctions at the same time instead of just a minute or two (or more) apart leaves money on the table.

[Republicaninmass]

I even worry about ending them the same WEEK! I always try a few minutes apart, but it is a pain to upload each one instead of being lazy and uploading all at once with one click

[JustinD]

Originally Posted by quinnsryche

Here's a novel suggestion, put in your max bids on all the items and see what you win when they end. What I don't understand is people refusing to put in a bid until 2 seconds before the auction ends. If I see something I want, I bid on it when I see it. I put in the maximum amount I feel comfortable with and then wait for the auction to end. If I win, great, if I lose, oh well I bid what I thought it was worth. I don't understand what is so difficult about grasping this concept. I end all my auctions at the same time because I have a JOB other than ebay and don't particularly want to spend every other waking moment running auctions.
Hope that helps.

I do basically the same thing, but use a sniper service so I do not unnecessarily waste money in a bidding war or lose the item to someone who just bids increments till they pass me. Using your method also leads unscrupulous sellers to shill bid to bring their sale prices up.

To explain, let's say a buyer has 400 to spend and is interested in 4 items that end at the same time. He is willing to max bid 200 on 2 but wins them at 100 each, he now left 200 on the table. If he did not bid on the other 2 and they sell for less than what the buyer had left did the seller just not lose there?

[Joshchisox08]

Originally Posted by nolemmings

The problem is you want to win something but can't afford to win everything. Putting in your max bids and crossing your fingers leaves you with a chance of getting shut out or being overdrawn at the bank. I agree that ending all auctions at the same time instead of just a minute or two (or more) apart leaves money on the table.

Thanks Todd that's why I BID WITH 2 SECONDS LEFT.

I can't stand the people who do multiple bids before the auction is even close to ending it makes no sense to me.

[sycks22]

I just consigned some items and one of the most expensive items ended on Thursday night at 1AM EST, great spot for everyone to bid

[steve B]

I often bid in the last few seconds for the same reasons already mentioned, budget, sometimes it keeps the price down etc.

Except if the item is a fairly common thing I usually place a lowish bid and let it go.

Sometimes I bid late because the items are so uncommon I can't even find a comparable item. A couple weeks ago there were some really uncommon covers I was interested in for my stamp collection. (Envelopes with stamps and postal markings if someone doesn't know the term. )

I got blown away on the first couple, lost by a bit on the next couple and went pretty high winning the last one. I was really glad to get it, it's the only known pair of that stamp on cover, and one of only 28 covers with that stamp at all. (Not counting maybe 2-3 where it's mixed with even less common ones. )
And it's from a famous collection. Not usually a big deal to card guys but a bigger deal in stamps. The best part is that there's apparently been no recorded public sales since the Ackerman collection was sold off in the 1930's

First collectible I've ever charged. And only because I knew I'd never get another chance at it.

If I'd bid early on all of them all the bids would have probably ended up being really low bids and I've have gotten none of them.

Better still one that I think is rather special slid under the radar or got lost in the bunch of better stuff and I was the only bidder.

Maybe someday I'll have the budget to place solid bids on a bunch of stuff, but till then I have to pick and choose.

Steve B

[CW]

Originally Posted by quinnsryche

Here's a novel suggestion, put in your max bids on all the items and see what you win when they end. What I don't understand is people refusing to put in a bid until 2 seconds before the auction ends. If I see something I want, I bid on it when I see it. I put in the maximum amount I feel comfortable with and then wait for the auction to end. If I win, great, if I lose, oh well I bid what I thought it was worth. I don't understand what is so difficult about grasping this concept. I end all my auctions at the same time because I have a JOB other than ebay and don't particularly want to spend every other waking moment running auctions.
Hope that helps.

Did you even read the OP? He is collecting on a budget and if he's targeting, for example, four items from a seller he may only be able to afford to win 2 at market values. When the seller ends all four auctions at the same time, the OP has to pick and choose which two items he can afford to bid on, leaving the other 2 items without his bids because he cannot afford to bid on all 4.

If the auctions' ending times were staggered just 5 min. apart, the OP could then bid on each item separately. If he didn't win the first, or the second, he could still attempt to bid aggressively on the remaining two because he would then know the funds were available. By ending the auctions all at exactly the same time, the OP is forced to limit his bidding on 2 items because that's all he can afford to win. Many of us are in the same boat (ie. collecting on a budget).

And while we appreciate the fact that you have a JOB, it wouldn't hurt or waste much time to simply stagger your auction endings 5 minutes apart. All your auctions will still end on the same evening, and the next day you can simply accept all your payments and get your items ready to ship.

I'm also amazed that it's 2015 and some people still don't understand the simple concept of sniping an auction. With eBay's system, it's the best option for winning items at the lowest possible price. By placing your top bid early you are merely exposing your hand. It also allows someone to simply top your bid, then retract the bid which exposes your high bid for all to see.

[JustinD]

Follow up on the eight auctions I was interested in -

Had to pick the three I wanted most and place 100 dollar bids on what I thought was the best of the lot. Was second bidder on two and won one at 56 bucks. The remaining lesser stars I needed for my set but did not bid on based on the seller forcing my hand, and having to pick what I could afford to win based on his listing everything at the same time all sold at less than 60 each. I would have been a bidder on all of them had I known that I lost two. He left 250 dollars on the table and would have had higher sales on his auctions.

Not the awesomest business practice.