People who bid on Ebay are morons!

[Curryman123]

What gets me is the people who bid on stuff when there's like 6 days left, and then other people get into bid wars with them... when there's a whole week left. You just know it's their friends bidding the stuff up.

This is what I was getting at. There is a new high bidder, and all the sudden some new punk bids and raises the price more than it needed to be.

[Clessy]

I agree bidding before the last second is stupid. Everyone says "oh its not because I only wanted to pay x amount" But, when someone bids days before the bid end it gives people time to think. If they where only out bid by a dollar and where firm at 20 most of the time when they've got days to think about it they know they will go to 22. This goes back and forth until it gets out of a persons comfort zone. Also the winners are normally people who bid at the last second. I've won everything i've ever bid on and never bid a insane amount.

[QuickSciFi]

You guys all have very fine points to share, but sometimes there are other factors. I can't say I speak for everyone who does these things, so these are just items from my bidding habits:

1. If I see something like a DC or PS1 game for $5.99 with free S&H, and the seller is listing it as Brand New and an availability of 10, then there's no need to wait until the last minute. I've placed .99 to $9.99 bids on items like these at 5-22 days in advance from the end day. Why? Because it's items like these that I, for one, always forget to follow through in my Watch list and end-up loosing upon a great opportunity. So why wait?

2. As for noticing a drastic increase in the bid amount in the early stages, I concur with those who've already mentioned that the best way to win a bid is to go in with your intended max bid. The way you do it is by bidding at the lowest amount available, then re-bidding (increasing your max bid) to, say, $40. That's $40 you're willing to spend on this game at the end of the bid cycle. I know this irritates the hell out of bid scavengers, but to be honest, as an eBay seller, I can tell you that no seller in his/her right mind will want his/her items to go for $0.99 at Free S&H. So keep in mind that this is a multifaceted business model and you are very much competing, on the buyer's side, with, guess what, other buyers.

3. Not to sound harsh, but if I must, to call other buyers who end-up winning these items "morons" is sore-looser talk, imo.

[doomguy]

I like to bid nothing until the last few seconds, the time has to be low enough so they cannot put in a higher bid fast enough.

[Devil N]

Occasionally, I bid early on an item -but never more than the starting price- as a sort of statement of intent. Also, to ensure I will be notified about any status updates on the item, and maybe win it automatically if nobody else bids. But other than that, it's always the last 20 seconds or so that matter. Just set a maximum price for yourself and make that bid as late as possible.

It can also help to make your maximum price an unpredictable figure; so no nicely rounded off prices like 5 or 10, but rather things like 7.80 or 12.30. Most people will make predictable bids, and I've managed to outfox people a few times by correctly guessing their maximum bid, going over it with a weird price and then watch time run out as others try and make bids that almost-but-not-quite match my maximum bid.

In any case, you should always be careful not to get carried away and ending up bidding more than you're willing to spend. Having a solid maximum price in your head beforehand prevents that, and it also makes it easier to accept it when someone else bids higher and you lose the auction.

[omp]

Another thing it could be is oversea's bidder's. I buy a lot from oversea's (America, UK etc) as it sometimes can be cheaper for me, especially when our dollar was strong.

Now I have to bid early as say the item goes off at 7pm American time, it might be 2am here. Typically at that time, I would be snuggled up in bed. Because of this, I have to bid early or miss out. The early bird gets the worm or some such nonsense.

[Da_Shocker]

You guys actually still bid on actual games lol? Just about all of the games that I want happen to be BIN and the prices are already jackedup 20-40 dollars over the regular bidding price. I can't even find a copy of Astra Superstars w/o having to resort to BIN. When I first started using ebay in 99 it was so addicting to buy shit and get in bidding wars with people. Then I learned how to snipe and that was fun but yeah these assholes that use a friend to jackup the price can go to hell (even though I am guilty of doing that maybe once or twice. )

[Thunderblaze16]

Wait, is snipe bidding, like bidding on the last 5 seconds right?

[Da_Shocker]

Wait, is snipe bidding, like bidding on the last 5 seconds right?

Yes there is a program out that does it automatically but you have to pay to get the 5 second service.

[Kollision]

I agree bidding before the last second is stupid.

Call me the stupidest guy in this forum then.
I won several gems and rarities by doing this, and I see nothing wrong with it.

And I sometimes win by cents.
You know when someone bids $55? I win with $55,02. It feels so good when this happens. hahahaha

[Da_Shocker]

Call me the stupidest guy in this forum then.
I won several gems and rarities by doing this, and I see nothing wrong with it.

And I sometimes win by cents.
You know when someone bids $55? I win with $55,02. It feels so good when this happens. hahahaha

LOL I just got last week by a fucker who hit me at last minute. I knew damn well I should've bid higher.

[Assman]

I bid with weird cent amounts too. I can't say I've had it work out as awesomely as some of you, but I haven't been buying stuff on Ebay for all that long either.

I'm also completely over the sniping thing. I did it at first, but now, fuck it, I have better things to do than sit here and watch the clock tick down on an auction. Not much better things, but still. I just make my max bid some time during the last day and move on with my life. If I win, cool; if not, oh well.

[Da_Shocker]

http://www.auctionstealer.com/home.cfm

[Smii]

I only bother to "snipe" any more if there's something I really want. I don't have the time / will anymore. Mostly I just bid the max I'd pay when I see a thing, or just use BINs.

[QuickSciFi]

Gotta do what you gotta do. All is fair game in love and bidding wars.