Silly Ebaying

[StrokerBoy]

Last year I give myself a little fright!, I came home from a wedding (had a bit to drink) thought it would be a good idea to go on eBay! Anyway next morning looked at my emails and "congratulations you won"! Can't remember bidding on anything but I had and it was a metallic edition Subaru brat the thing was my highest bid was £1,500 omg imagine!

Ah, that'll be why I didn't win that then, my max bid was considerably lower.

[volvotech]

Well, if you folks would stop out bidding me, I'd be getting more cars.

I'm going to assume it's you all I'm bidding against, anyways.

[berman]

Man I remember those bigtraks now, no kid I knew had one but I remember the ads and the brochures. Best we got was a Merlin (which I see has been rereleased) and and hand me down Astrowars and me visiting my mate all the time to play pong on his atari 2600.

I did have The Flex and an Animal trucks though so can't be greedy

I also had this random battery operated Bigfoot truck where the axles pivoted in the centre of the chassis and you could pull them down to make the truck appear bigger...

*Goes back to searching ebay to pay more for less*

[Nitomor]

I'm just looking at the "Big Trak" 80's toy in Wooder's photo

I was going to mention this but couldn't for the life of me remember what it was called. A fried of mine had one and it had a little control pad to programme where you wanted it to go. I remember the ads had the kid taking a drink or something to his dad who was watching tv from memory lol!

[volvotech]

Lately it seems I've been losing quite a few potentially good deals to bidders using snipe apps. So I haven't been able to regret any bids as of late.

[Wooders28]

Snipe apps? Didn't know about those.

How different are they to normal sniping?

Missed out on few,planning on waiting until the final seconds,only to find the seller ended the auction early,or no longer for sale etc.

[njmlondon]

Snipe apps? Didn't know about those.

How different are they to normal sniping?

Missed out on few,planning on waiting until the final seconds,only to find the seller ended the auction early,or no longer for sale etc.

They are the same as a manual snipe. It is just a computer program that puts a bid in for you at the last second. There are several out there and some apps too that do the job.

Never been sure whether sniping really works or not. Everything ends up selling for the price that the second highest bidder is willing to go to +1. I sometimes think we are all trying to be too clever with timing.

[StrokerBoy]

Never seen the point of sniping. Bid what you're prepared to pay, when you see it for sale, then just wait. Either you win it or you don't.

[Yonez]

I guess the theory of sniping is that it will hide your interest in an item and stop bidding wars because everyone bids at the same time; If you put in your max bid early, someone with a higher bid may be enticed to put in a higher bid. If lot's of people bid, some people will believe it's worth more and raise higher than their initial max.

[Wooders28]

Never seen the point of sniping. Bid what you're prepared to pay, when you see it for sale, then just wait. Either you win it or you don't.

One of the reasons is,you can get things cheaper.I have had a moaning email after an auction ended telling me I was being unfair, they would have outbid me etc etc.

Another reason,and the main one for me,is that you get one chance to put a bid in for what you think it's worth and don't get caught in a bidding war.

Didn't know you could gets apps though(to be fair there's apps for everything!),maybe worth it for overseas bidding,saves setting an alarm clock for 3am!

[Nobbi1977]

I have two thoughts. If i see something I would have but do not "want" I lob a bid on with an amount that I would be gutted if it went for less than. If someone is willing to pay more I am happy for them.

For something I "want" I tend to snipe with a fair price.

[emory70]

I don't bid until the end.

My buddy had bought a 2000 Z28 without his wife knowing. Hid it at his uncle's house. After they split (6 months later), I was talking to her one day and mentioned the car. She still hadn't known about his $13,000 secret. Sorry bro!

[volvotech]

Arguments can be made either way.

I placed a bid on an item. I was the only bidder for 6 days. I got outbid in the final second of the auction. I was so sure it was mine, in the final minutes that I didn't raise my bid since there'd been a week of nothing. I have to admit I was a bit peeved. I'd bid on it early on thinking others would too and I would raise my bid towards the end, but I never got the chance.

[Novastar]

Yeah I make sure to put in a final bid in the last seconds even if no one else has bid at all just in case. This worked really well when I was building my Star Wars figure collection as there was lots of sniping particularly over the rare stuff. Never lost one so far - fingers crossed

[Wooders28]

As a seller,I find it nerve racking,with 10 secs to go,40+ watchers and no bids!

Then finishes with 10+ bids and makes more than you expected.

One thing that does bug me as a seller,is the one minute to go,email questions!

[njmlondon]

I have two thoughts. If i see something I would have but do not "want" I lob a bid on with an amount that I would be gutted if it went for less than. If someone is willing to pay more I am happy for them.

For something I "want" I tend to snipe with a fair price.

I like this as a strategy. May have to give it a go.

Yeah I make sure to put in a final bid in the last seconds even if no one else has bid at all just in case. This worked really well when I was building my Star Wars figure collection as there was lots of sniping particularly over the rare stuff. Never lost one so far - fingers crossed

I always love the way we "win" or "lose" auctions when all that winning means is that we were the biggest mug willing to spend the most!

[StrokerBoy]

Another reason,and the main one for me,is that you get one chance to put a bid in for what you think it's worth and don't get caught in a bidding war.

My non-sniping achieves exactly that.

[Wooders28]

My non-sniping achieves exactly that.

Your 'outbid' will power is stronger than mine! lol

The only bidding war I got really sucked in on,was for a 1:1 part, which after 11 years on ebay,I had never seen listed before.Turned out I know the guy I was bidding against,then tells me 'if i knew it was you'!!! Typical.

[GregM]

Do you know that feeling when your heart is throbbing like mad in the last seconds of an auction? At least mine does pretty hard when I bid on something I really want to get my hands on.

[lee1980]

I used to bid a lot on one US store, at time when dollar was really low to pound. and this store always had all sorts, I got 3 OS engines, cheap, one lay down type, one four stroke, and a red head one. 2 are un-used.

At time was really in to RC bikes and got a Nouva foar cheap, though i was emailed by US citizens because id out bid them, price was to high for them but for me it was still well cheap! and no customs.

[edeneen]

I bought off e-bay once, an Optima in "mint" condition. when I got it the metal frame has all bent and tweaked. I never buy any RC now unless I can physically look it over first.

[Yonez]

Bad luck edeneen. I've bought lots from ebay and it's definitely less than 1 in 20 that is a disappointment.

I only buy from 99+ rated sellers with good descriptions and picutres though.

[Indetrucks]

There is a "Blackfoot" advertised for $115 plus shipping and I put an offer in they countered, I countered they countered higher than the original. No body needs a good clean. It's a wt01 not a vintage I don't know what they are thinking so I only bid now on what I need. Which Isn't much.

Haha!

I do that when people low-ball me. I counter higher than the original cost.

[NWarty]

I got into a bidding war several years ago over a toy that I had as a child. It was mint in box and I spent nearly 12 years bidding and losing over them. 12...years...They were/are very rare. Got wrapped up in bidding war for the toy and it became emotional at that point. Then I had a hunch the other bidder had a bid bot. At the last few seconds, I threw out a ridiculous bid (I could cover it even though I would have lost my shorts) and drove the price up over 300% of what the last one sold for.

I lost and the other person was paying a stupid amount of money for that toy. And boy, was I upset. My only consolation was making them pay through the nose for it as I'm sure they were probably an antiques dealer or speculator.

Fast forward a year later and I won and paid 1/3 of that price for a pristine, NIB example yay me luckily my winning bid put the prices back to normal

[Yonez]

A bidding bot with no limit that continuously rebids is just about the opposite of a sniper app and a clear indication of why a sniper app is a good idea.