Ebay bidding strategy... is there a good one?

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Posted By: rand

i have always be amused, amazed, and disappointed with the prices people pay on ebay. i'm amused when the bidder always ups his bid when outbid instead of waiting till the close of the auction. i'm amazed when i see people buying "BIN" cards from ebay stores and pay stupid prices. I'm disappointed when some buyers just bid rediculous prices for cards that i collect and when i go to sell the same card i can't get 1/2 of the previous selling price.

none the less, what is the best tactic...

1. place your initial bid when you first see the card at your max price

2. place a small bid to keep track of it and be there for the final seconds to place your real bid

3. place your max bid with a snipe

4. don't bid till the last 20 seconds so other ebayers will not know who's in the mix (if you don't have a snipe program, like me)

even with the hidden identities you can still figure out who's in the game

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

Anymore (and for some time), sniping is the only realistic way to go. There are free sniping services out there. I believe Trae (a fellow poster) offers one of them.

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Posted By: Alan U

"I'm disappointed when some buyers just bid rediculous prices for cards that i collect and when i go to sell the same card i can't get 1/2 of the previous selling price"

IMHO the ocassional ridiculous price is caused by just 2-3 bidders really wanting the same card, so when the same card comes up again there is one less bidder willing to pay the ridiculous price.

Sniping is probably the way to go nowadays. I use gavelsnipe.com and it's free.

-Alan

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Posted By: Mark

Sniping normally costs you the least in the long-run, and also tends to yield the most winning bids. Early bids rarely hold up on popular/rare/desirable items.

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Posted By: Fred C

The best bidding strategy is to bid more than the other bidders. That usually does the trick....

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Posted By: Al

IMO, the only way to bid cards is to snipe. If I see a card I want I put it in my eBay watch list. Then I let a day or so pass to make sure I really want the card. Emotion can make you put in crazy stuff. Should I forget to go back to my watch list, I get an email reminding me that the card is getting close to the end of the auction. I do a bit of research, then decide my top price I'm willing to pay for the card. I put in a snipe and forget it. If I win, I win, if not, there will be another day. The only exception to the above is if I've waited say a year or more for that "very rare" card...then I push my bid up substantially, but not too crazy.

Additonally, sniping allows you to go about your business and not sit patiently watching the second hand on your watch to place a bid. The key is to not put in such a high bid that you actually get bumped up by another bidder which causes you a stinger of a price.

As for BINs, you are correct, those prices are insane. As an example, you can search eBay for 55T PSA 8s, the bulk of those BINs are now on their 3rd 29 day cycle, but the seller has not (that I could see) lowered prices to encourage sales. These are BINs/make offer, but I think he is still very high on the majority of his offerings. I need some of his cards to upgrade my set, but his prices are so high, that any "make offer" I would make may well be considered an insult.

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Posted By: Mark

I like to snipe -- but sometimes when I want something a lot I wonder if the seller will become discouraged if no one is actually bidding and will accept someone's offer to end the auction.

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Posted By: Bob

That's a very good point Mark. I often think the same thing. It doesn't hurt to email the seller to let him know you have a snipe bid in and inquire if he will let the auction run its course or sell early.
I usually put an early bid in and then set my sniper. Every once in a while I will bid early and often to try and drive away the competition but that doesn't always work.
It's all a crap shoot. One of the earlier posts above was dead on when it said it was all a matter of who wanted a card. An example is that there are 4-5 collectors trying to complete the 1911 Zeenut set. One of the tougher cards is the Rapps card. I bought one on ebay with a BIN, another guy purchased one in the 19th Century auction, a third guy got one in a swap and suddenly when a pretty nice SGC 30 one showed up last night the winner got it for less than 1/3 of what the others sold for within the last month. It's all a matter of timing and competition...

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Posted By: Steve

It is best to snipe, however many items are sold before the auction ends
so at the same time put a small bid on it or at least watch it.

If a seller sees some watchers he may not end the auction early and sell offline.


Steve

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Posted By: Mike

I'm I the only person who doesn't know what a snipe is ? Or are there others who are to afraid to ask ? I've been buying ans selling on ebay since Feb, 1999 and I don't know what you are talking about. Please let me know what a snipe is. Thanks. I just always bid in the last 8 seconds timing it with my watch. Is there another way ?

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Posted By: dan mckee

Snipe is my vote Rand. Stops a lot of shill bidding by sellers. Pop has been buying coins lately and has been leaving ceiling bids. Then is wondering why he always wins at his limit or close to it. I explained what was going on and he was shocked that people were doing that. I sad dad, it is no different than the auctioneers back in the 1970s bouncing bids off of the walls.

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Posted By: rand

hey dan and all, i used to have alot of money 3 years ago and bought a plenty. today, i am struggling like alot of folks, lost my house, ect, ect, and started a new business that keeps a roof over our head. i love to place my bid in the last seconds of an auction because of the thrill of seeing if i won. collecting for me now is more of a mental get-away then trying to have the best card/set. it has been terrific therapy for a very tough year. i think there is an excitement, small rush if you will, to watch the auction tick down and slam in my bid to see how close to the end i can get it and if i win the card. my point of not doing a snipe is simply money. i dont want to commit to a card if another shows up i want more. i have to pick and choose my battles very wisely. i also feel the win is more personal since i am limited on what i can buy.

dan, live auctions are still the same today, ghost bidders, most people are overwhelmed by the experience and dont see how the auctioneers smoke and mirrors.

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Posted By: Jim VB

Mike (inside),



You asked a legit question that seemed to get lost. Sniping is bidding at the last few seconds of an auction. What you do (bidding in the last 8 seconds) is sniping. But you're doing it manually. There are several services that will do it for you. Some charge a fee. Some are free. You enter the auction info into your account with the service and they do the bidding. There are advantages and disadvantages to using them. (But the advantages are way stronger. )


Advantages-

1. You can bid on multiple items, even if the auctions are closing close to the same time. (A big advantage to set builders. Often you'll see 10-15 cards closing in short sequence.)

2. You don't have to be sitting by the computer waiting for every auction to close. Enter it whenever you want.


Disadvantages-

1. Once in a while, the snipe service is not able to enter the snipe. I have "missed" on 6 out of about 1000 snipes over the last 2 years. If you really need a card, you can do it manually as well as with the service. Ebay will not have you bid yourself up. Or you can use two services to enter bids. Again, you can't bid yourself up.

2. You can not change a snipe within a certain period before the auction ends. (I use Gavelsnipe.com. Their limit is 5 minutes before.)

3. You will have to trust the company with your ebay id and password.


I'm sure some guys will add more advantages and disadvantages.

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Posted By: Bob

Rand- my point of not doing a snipe is simply money. i dont want to commit to a card if another shows up i want more.>>

It is very easy to set a snipe and then cancel it if another card pops up you want more. esnipe.com lets you cancel right up until a couple of minutes before the auction ends. I have used esnipe and had one snipe not placed in 4 years. They are very reliable but if there is a "must have" card out there, I will manually place a substantial bid with 8 seconds left even though I know my snipe is going off at 5.

tbob