[discoman]

I noticed many of you found treasure on ebay lately, and I am ready to spend some cash

. I have browsed ebay for a few days, but never bid on anything, beside got D-25s from 'buy it now' on X'mas. Is there a way to know the 'reserve'? Why some sellers set a reserve, when they can set a higher 'First bid' instead? I always heard other bidders said they got beaten in the last second, how? If you use the proxy bidding, ebay said it won't happen.

Also, is there a way to browse 'ended auction'? So I can have an idea how much the 'far' price is. When the auction ended, the bid history reveal each bid amount, why someone bid few time in a row?

 

[DeanA]

Quote:

Originally posted by discoman I noticed many of you found treasure on ebay lately, and I am ready to spend some cash . I have browsed ebay for a few days, but never bid on anything, beside got D-25s from 'buy it now' on X'mas. Is there a way to know the 'reserve'? Why some sellers set a reserve, when they can set a higher 'First bid' instead? I always heard other bidders said they got beaten in the last second, how? If you use the proxy bidding, ebay said it won't happen. Also, is there a way to browse 'ended auction'? So I can have an idea how much the 'far' price is. When the auction ended, the bid history reveal each bid amount, why someone bid few time in a row?

The Reserve is the minimum amount the seller will accept for the item. If the "First Bid" is too high, you run the risk of scaring away potential bidders. And that can be bad. Once you get people started in the bidding process, anything can happen. But they have to bid at least once first.

If your proxy bid is not high enough, you will most likely get beat at the last second for a popular item. To avoid most snippers, you need a good cushion between the current bid amount and your maximum, or proxy, bid amount.

The search window does have an option to allow searching completed auctions. Also, the search results window will have an option to repeat the search on completed items.

A person with multiple bids is trying to "nickle and dime" his way past the current high bid instead of putting in their maximum bid right away. Everyone has their own way of bidding for items on eBay.

 

[pawwh98]

Quote:

Originally posted by discoman I noticed many of you found treasure on ebay lately, and I am ready to spend some cash . I have browsed ebay for a few days, but never bid on anything, beside got D-25s from 'buy it now' on X'mas. Is there a way to know the 'reserve'? Why some sellers set a reserve, when they can set a higher 'First bid' instead?

Reserve is something really stupid, I'm glad that this option is not available in Germany. Let's say the auction starts with 1$ and reserve is 100$. Now likely bidders will be lured to the auction with the low bidding limit, but everyone who doesn't want to bid the 100$ 'real starting bid' has wasted his time. So the bidders are disadvantaged, while the seller doesn't really gain anything since people who don't want to spend the 100$ will drop out anyway.
Quote:

I always heard other bidders said they got beaten in the last second, how? If you use the proxy bidding, ebay said it won't happen.

It's a rather common practise that people place their bids in the last minutes or seconds of an auction, so that the previous high bidder doesn't have time to respond to their bids. Otherwise he might consider increasing his proxy bid in response.

Quote:

Also, is there a way to browse 'ended auction'? So I can have an idea how much the 'far' price is.

Yes, here you can browse closed auctions:
http://pages.ebay.com/search/items/s...completed.html

When the auction ended, the bid history reveal each bid amount, why someone bid few time in a row?

[/QUOTE

This is because of proxy bids. Let's say there is no bid on an auction and 1$ minimum bid. I'm 'pawwh98' and place a proxy bid of 100$. Then 'big$pender' enters and places a bid of 50$. Since my proxy bid is higher, I will be the high bidder with 50$ Then he bids 120 and is the new high bidder with 100,50$. The bid history will look like this:

pawwh98 1.00$
pawwh98 50.00$
big$pender 100.50$

 

[RMSzero]

Ebay is nice because you can decide how much you want to pay for an item, bid that, and they will do all the haggling for you. If you win, you'll win with less than your max bid. If not, at least you know that the item sold for more than you were willing to spend on it.

This is better than normal auctions where people get carried away and bid more than they intend to.

Reserve is set high because people usually don't follow those rules. I limit myself to my first max bid -- I never increase my bid. Just because someone else has lots of money to throw around doesn't make the item worth more all of a sudden.

 

[zowie]

Originally posted by pawwh98


Reserve is something really stupid, I'm glad that this option is not available in Germany. Let's say the auction starts with 1$ and reserve is 100$. Now likely bidders will be lured to the auction with the low bidding limit, but everyone who doesn't want to bid the 100$ 'real starting bid' has wasted his time.

Although not the only way to go, reserves are not "stupid." They are a traditional part of non-electronic auctions, and were not invented by ebay. If you set the opening bid very low with a reserve, then you balance having the market set the value of the item while protecting the seller against the risk that interested people will not see the auction, etc. Telling people the "real starting bid" would defeat the former purpose.

Furthermore, it is well know that once people get started bidding they will often drive the price higher than they would have otherwise paid in a non-competitive environment That's one of the main purposes of using an auction method to sell something. Starting the bidding at the list price would impede that dynamic.

And if you end up "wasting your time," well, you knew the rules going in and didn't have to play, and it's not all that much time to have wasted (and no money).

 

[rickcr42]

my early days at ebay,lost by one freakin dollar !
1 minute left , thought it was mine and
[size=medium]NOT[/size]
So now I decide ahead of time how high I am willing to go , stand by that decision but open up multiple windows as the bid nears the end-each in increments of 5.00 for a high ticket item , 1.00 for leser bids.
Keep refreshing the page every 30 seconds to see is the high bidder and then pick the window that gets you there.

As for the reserve , with no reserve you MUST sell to the highest bidder,even if the item is worth 500.00 but the high bid is 0.50 !
With a reserve you have the option of not selling and/or relisting

 

[pawwh98]

Quote:

Originally posted by rickcr42 As for the reserve , with no reserve you MUST sell to the highest bidder,even if the item is worth 500.00 but the high bid is 0.50 ! With a reserve you have the option of not selling and/or relisting

Not every auction has to open with 0.50$. What's wrong with increasing the minimum bid?

I think auctions should be fair, and I consider it fair to tell the bidder what he really has to offer to actually be able to win the auction.

Setting a low minimum has
a) the advantage to attract bidders
b) the disadvantage of a possible low end price

With the reserve, the seller wants to have the advantage without taking the risk, while putting the customer at disadvantage by denying him information. Very childish, IMO.

 

[DeanA]

Quote:

Originally posted by pawwh98 With the reserve, the bidder wants to have the advantage without taking the risk

Sounds like a typical business model. I'm not aware of too many legitimate businesses with the intent of losing money, or even breaking even.

 

[rickcr42]

So ,I decide to let one of my "bar mirrors" go , set no reserve,and let a $100.00 item
go to the first retard to bid a buck fifty ?
NOT
I will set a reserve of say 75.00 and if there are no takers withdraw my offering

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Quote:

Originally posted by rickcr42 So ,I decide to let one of my "bar mirrors" go , set no reserve,and let a $100.00 item go to the first retard to bid a buck fifty ? NOT I will set a reserve of say 75.00 and if there are no takers withdraw my offering

I think the question is, why don't you just list with an opening bid of US$75?

 

[zowie]

Quote:

Originally posted by Dusty Chalk I think the question is, why don't you just list with an opening bid of US$75?

Because there are people who would not be willing to come out and bid $75, but might be willing to bid past $75 if they had started out lower and were driven up by competing bidders.

 

[DeanA]

Quote:

Originally posted by zowie Because there are people who would not be willing to come out and bid $75, but might be willing to bid past $75 if they had started out lower and were driven up by competing bidders.

This is so true. I'm always amazed how many people get caught up in the bidding process and end up bidding more than the product is worth. If the opening bid is too high, the same bidders will probably skip that auction and look for a similar item with a lower opening bid in hopes of getting the item at a bargain price.

 

[jbannow]

As has been said before, Put in the highest amount you are willing to pay and leave the auction alone. Don't get sucked into the bidding wars ... you'll end up overpaying.

- Jeff

 

[rickcr42]

always set an amount in mind that you are willing to pay.
Maybe bump it up by 1.00 to 5.00 but no more.The same item WILL show up again.
Hell , I lost a bid for something I really wanted by $2 !
I was at work and coud not play , but even so would only have gone $10 more
Know the value of what you are bidding on
Know the value of what you are selling
Know when to step away