I've only ordered one thing from eBay and that was years ago. I didn't even bid on it. They had a "Buy It Now" option.

The item I want went on auction yesterday for $50. It had no bids, so I bid $50. Today, someone bid $51. Is this how it works or what? The bidding ends on Friday. I wanted to bid $55, but my husband said to let it ride until Thursday or Friday.

I really want this item. It's in mint condition. If I bought it new, it would cost at least $250. It's an item that I don't mind if it's old or used....sort of an antique heirloom type thing. There's obviously no big demand for the item, and I feel I can get it if I play my cards right.

Any tips on how to succesfully win an eBay bid?

I'm only 13 and you're an adult, so my opinion may not matter.

But if it ends Thursday or Friday, I think you should wait to bid then close to the ending, then you might not end up paying so much, BUT sience it has a buy it now price (so high), I don't know what to say.....

Good luck though :wave:

Of course, with the way eBay bidding is supposed to work, you don't necessarily have to wait to outbid your nearest competitor

When you enter in your bid, enter in the max amount you're willing to pay. When eBay accepts your bid, it will only go as high, following minimum increments, as it has to to beat the other bid. The remainder of the difference is held in memory, and if someone then outbids you're bid, eBay auto-bids for you, up to your maximum

I'm only 13 and you're an adult, so my opinion may not matter.

But if it ends Thursday or Friday, I think you should wait to bid then close to the ending, then you might not end up paying so much, BUT sience it has a buy it now price (so high), I don't know what to say.....

Good luck though :wave:
Of course your opinion matters to me. :)

The item I'm bidding on doesn't have a Buy It Now option. I wish it did. I'd pay at least $80 for it.

Of course, with the way eBay bidding is supposed to work, you don't necessarily have to wait to outbid your nearest competitor

When you enter in your bid, enter in the max amount you're willing to pay. When eBay accepts your bid, it will only go as high, following minimum increments, as it has to to beat the other bid. The remainder of the difference is held in memory, and if someone then outbids you're bid, eBay auto-bids for you, up to your maximum
Do you think I should enter $80 into that secret bid thing? The seller won't know?

Of course your opinion matters to me. :)


:D

Janice, hold off until it nears the end of the auction. Let the other person think they have it. Because by bidding NOW, others will see that the item has been bid on, so everyones going to take the bid very competitivly (ugh total brain fart there, sp), and keep jacking up the price so they have it. Put the item under your WATCH ITEMS and just keep an eye on it for now. When it gets toward the end, put in the most you would pay for it ($80, $85, whatever) and just hope for the best. Good luck!

Janice, hold off until it nears the end of the auction. Let the other person think they have it. Because by bidding NOW, others will see that the item has been bid on, so everyones going to take the bid very competitivly (ugh total brain fart there, sp), and keep jacking up the price so they have it. Put the item under your WATCH ITEMS and just keep an eye on it for now. When it gets toward the end, put in the most you would pay for it ($80, $85, whatever) and just hope for the best. Good luck!

I agree, that's also what my Dad told me when I use to bid all the time on ebay.

Do you think I should enter $80 into that secret bid thing? The seller won't know?
Yes. Do what Seth suggested; put in the absolute maximum amount you would be willing to pay for it. Then if someone does bid over you, then you will at least know that they paid too much. You also won't have to sit there waiting for the end of the auction and have to worry about putting in your bid.
Another reason for putting in your max amount is that some people who may be bidding on it in small increments will probably give up after they put in bid after bid to try to be the top bidder.
If you wait until the last minute and put in a smaller bid(called sniping) to try to win it that way then if the other bidder(s) have a higher maximum bid than your small bids you may not have time to rebid enough to be the higher bidder, so your best bet is to just put in the highest amount you are willing to pay in the first place.

And no, the seller doesn't know how much you put in as your maximum bid.

Thanks everyone, but of course I'm confused. If I put a bid in now for $80 (it's at $51 now), will it show up as $80? Is there a special place to put in a secret maximum bid? I thought I saw a field for that yesterday, but I can't find it now. :confused:

C'mon Janice, fess up, you're buying Yankees stuff aren't you?

;)

C'mon Janice, fess up, you're buying Yankees stuff aren't you?

;)
Bagged! And Mets, Jets, Giants, Rangers, Islanders, Sabres, Nicks....just can't get enough!! :lol:

Thanks everyone, but of course I'm confused. If I put a bid in now for $80 (it's at $51 now), will it show up as $80? Is there a special place to put in a secret maximum bid? I thought I saw a field for that yesterday, but I can't find it now. :confused:
You just put it where it says: Your Maximum Bid, at the bottom of the page.

No, it won't show up as $80(unless the other bidder just happened to stop his bidding at $79 or something). It will show up as the next increment($52 or $53) or just over whatever the highest bid is at the time.
Have I just confused you more? Clear as mud? :D

You just put it where it says: Your Maximum Bid, at the bottom of the page.

No, it won't show up as $80(unless the other bidder just happened to stop his bidding at $79 or something). It will show up as the next increment($52 or $53) or just over whatever the highest bid is at the time.
Have I just confused you more? Clear as mud? :D
No, it's clear now. I just put in a bid of $60, and I'm now the highest bidder. It says the highest bidder is $56.55. That confuses me, but that's an easy thing to do, lol.

Is there any way that it can state that I'm the highest bidder and still lose the bid?

Well you should always bid within the last 5 minutes of an auction, thats what my dad always does and 99.9% of the time, he wins it. When you bid at the very start of the auction and somebody else comes in, it just raises the price of the item.

Well you should always bid within the last 5 minutes of an auction, thats what my dad always does and 99.9% of the time, he wins it. When you bid at the very start of the auction and somebody else comes in, it just raises the price of the item.

:nod:

That's what my Dad usually does too.

No, it's clear now. I just put in a bid of $60, and I'm now the highest bidder. It says the highest bidder is $56.55. That confuses me, but that's an easy thing to do, lol.

Is there any way that it can state that I'm the highest bidder and still lose the bid?
Janice, I'll probably confuse you by telling you this but oh well :lol:

You can still lose the bid, the other bidder could come in, and bid above your $80 max bid.

Make sure that you watch the auction during the closing minutes to make sure the other guy doesn't come in.

Good luck!

You people know I'm going to be a pain all week about this. This is when the bidding ends. I don't know Army time, and I'm on the East Coast. When exactly does this stupid bid end? I had better win it. :lol:


Ends Apr-08-05 14:03:23 PDT

April 8 2005, at 2.03 (23 seconds)

This is interesting stuff cuz there have been a couple of times I've wanted to bit but wasn't sure how to go about it without getting scr*wed in the end. My brother-in-law buys stuff all the time and my husband bought a receiver once.
I might try to check with another buddy for you too Janice as he's been selling a lot of stuff himself. But that secret bid dealie sounds interesting! I wonder if you can retract it should the item be much less (because I imagine you're stuff with paying that should the auction end with low bids). Yeah, I would say definitely check at the last minute too. I've often wondered if the seller could also us another pc to bid against people to up the price (if they did it in just small increments it might really payoff for the seller).

BID AT THE LAST SECOND. I recommend when there's about 1-1½ min left so you'll have time to confirm it and enter a higher bid if it isn't as high as the other person's. and when that happens, bid as much as you can right away. when it says you're the highest bidder, refresh the page constantly to look out for anyone that outbids you, and outbid them as fast as you can if they do. that's my stategy. i've never lost an auction that way.

and also, don't bid at all in the meantime. you wouldn't want to make the price go higher.

You people know I'm going to be a pain all week about this. This is when the bidding ends. I don't know Army time, and I'm on the East Coast. When exactly does this stupid bid end? I had better win it. :lol:


Ends Apr-08-05 14:03:23 PDT
on the page of the auction, towards the top it shows how much time is remaining (ie 1 day 14 hours). when there's less than an hour left it shows how many seconds there are.

Janice, If you really want this item don't put anymore bids in right now. Do what the others tell you and bid 4 or 5 minutes before the auction ends and you will most likely get it. That is how I've gotten most of my stuff off E-Bay. If the auction doesn't end until friday and you keep bidding on the item so soon, all you are going to do is keep raising the price and will end up paying more at the end. Hope yopu understand what I'm saying and Good Luck :)

BID AT THE LAST SECOND.

Ahhh, a fellow AUCTION SNIPER. :D

April 8 2005, at 2.03 (23 seconds)


Could you please be a little more exact than that Superstar??!! :lol:

BID AT THE LAST SECOND. I recommend when there's about 1-1½ min left so you'll have time to confirm it and enter a higher bid if it isn't as high as the other person's. and when that happens, bid as much as you can right away. when it says you're the highest bidder, refresh the page constantly to look out for anyone that outbids you, and outbid them as fast as you can if they do. that's my stategy. i've never lost an auction that way.

and also, don't bid at all in the meantime. you wouldn't want to make the price go higher.


Geez - you're deadly!! Wouldn't want to be the sucker bidding against you!! :lol:

I'm actually a little confused, surprise, surprise. Some people are suggesting that I bid high now while others are advising me to wait and see.

I'm holding everyone who gives me bum advice personally responsible if I lose this auction. :lol:

Can a seller ever decide to close the auction early? Is that ever done or allowed?

Geez - you're deadly!! Wouldn't want to be the sucker bidding against you!! :lol:
I'll say. I thought about asking her to take over my bidding for me. Here, take my user name and password. Just win the auction for me. :lol:

I don't blame ya!! Send in the Green Berets!!! :lol:

Can a seller ever decide to close the auction early? Is that ever done or allowed?

Yes, as are bid retractions, but eBay has tightened the rope on the restrictions for those services recently do to increased concerns for fraud, ect. Do it too many times & they will start looking into your account.

Yes, as are bid retractions, but eBay has tightened the rope on the restrictions for those services recently do to increased concerns for fraud, ect. Do it too many times & they will start looking into your account.


Yeah, I wondered about that happening. It would also make waiting to bid until the last minute very risky. I would imagine the seller would have to give a very good reason for pulling an item early.
At least Janice's seller also has 100% satisfaction rate.

Wait until the last five minutes and bid your maximum. You'll still have time to bid again if that isn't enough. Bidding early only jacks the price up when others see that someone else is definitely interested too.

Janice, I'll probably confuse you by telling you this but oh well :lol:

You can still lose the bid, the other bidder could come in, and bid above your $80 max bid.

Make sure that you watch the auction during the closing minutes to make sure the other guy doesn't come in.

Good luck!
Thanks for all your help Superstar. :)

Ahhh, a fellow AUCTION SNIPER. :D


www.auctionsniper.com (http://www.auctionsniper.com)

Greatest thing ever. And the first three snipes or so are free. :D

BID AT THE LAST SECOND. I recommend when there's about 1-1½ min left so you'll have time to confirm it and enter a higher bid if it isn't as high as the other person's. and when that happens, bid as much as you can right away. when it says you're the highest bidder, refresh the page constantly to look out for anyone that outbids you, and outbid them as fast as you can if they do. that's my stategy. i've never lost an auction that way.

and also, don't bid at all in the meantime. you wouldn't want to make the price go higher.
:nod: That's exactly what I do.

Wait until the last five minutes and bid your maximum. You'll still have time to bid again if that isn't enough. Bidding early only jacks the price up when others see that someone else is definitely interested too.
Looks like I taught you a few things!

Cool Janice - your last bid is still holding. Let's hope there's not much interest in it!

You could be really scrambling at the end if all these "snipers" are holding off too though! :D

Thanks for all your help Superstar. :)
No problem at all :)

One thing to realize...you have to be ruthless on ebay. Basically because if you don't do it to them, they'll do it to you.

I'll say. I thought about asking her to take over my bidding for me. Here, take my user name and password. Just win the auction for me. :lol:
my brother makes me do that for him whenever he bids on something. :lol:

I WANT THIS ITEM!!!

I WANT THIS ITEM!!!

Go for it...be ruthless! :cheer:

I WANT THIS ITEM!!!
Relax Janice, or you're never going to make it to Friday. :stressed: :explode: :lol:


And remember... uh,...the force will be with you, always. ;)

I lost the auction. :( The item was a Hummel figurine. My best friend collects them, and it was a birthday present for her. It started off at $50. I bid up to $150, but the clock ran out. It sold for $152.50, but it could have been really higher for all I know.

Oh well, it was fun. Here's the Hummel. It's called, "Happy Birthday". It's 50 years old. Perfect condition.

Retail, it sells for $280, but the vintage models are nicer and more detailed than the newer ones.

I lost the auction. :( The item was a Hummel figurine. My best friend collects them, and it was a birthday present for her. It started off at $50. I bid up to $150, but the clock ran out. It went for $152.50, but it could have been really higher for all I know.

Oh well, it was fun. Here's the Hummel. It's called, "Happy Birthday". It's 50 years old. Perfect condition.

Retail, it sells for $280, but the vintage models are nicer and more detailed than the newer ones.
Aww that sucks. :( I bet if you look again though on ebay youll find another one!

Aww that sucks. :( I bet if you look again though on ebay youll find another one!
Thanks Crystal. :) There were four other ones, but this was the only one in mint condition. It had pictures from all angles. The other ones had flaws that the sellers disclosed in the listings. My friend's birthday isn't until September, so I still have time.

Thanks Crystal. :) There were four other ones, but this was the only one in mint condition. It had pictures from all angles. The other ones had flaws that the sellers disclosed in the listings. My friend's birthday isn't until September, so I still have time.
Well thats good that you have a lot of time. Who knows, maybe youll get even a better deal! :D

That's a beautiful Hummel figurine, Janice...they are way off my price range so all I do is look but don't touch :(..

Boo Team :(


You'll get 'em next time Janice!!! Less screens, more chuzpah!

I lost the auction. :( The item was a Hummel figurine. My best friend collects them, and it was a birthday present for her. It started off at $50. I bid up to $150, but the clock ran out. It went for $152.50, but it could have been really higher for all I know.

Oh well, it was fun. Here's the Hummel. It's called, "Happy Birthday". It's 50 years old. Perfect condition.

Retail, it sells for $280, but the vintage models are nicer and more detailed than the newer ones.
that sucks. :(

i bought some two dollar bills on ebay today. that article someone posted today is the second case i've heard of someone being declined spending a 2 dollar bill so im going to try to spend one to someone who thinks it's a counterfeit or something and calls the police and i can laugh at them and tell them they shouldn't be working as a cashier if they don't know anything about money. :whistle:

I lost the auction. :( The item was a Hummel figurine. My best friend collects them, and it was a birthday present for her. It started off at $50. I bid up to $150, but the clock ran out. It sold for $152.50, but it could have been really higher for all I know.

Oh well, it was fun. Here's the Hummel. It's called, "Happy Birthday". It's 50 years old. Perfect condition.

Retail, it sells for $280, but the vintage models are nicer and more detailed than the newer ones.

my mom has that, and about 70 other hummels. i should seriously sell them she'll never notice

my mom has that, and about 70 other hummels. i should seriously sell them she'll never notice
Name your price. ;)

i swear i feel like i live in a show room sometimes. theres 2 more cases, and this is only half of the one. its a sickeness.

Wow, nice! My friend's collection is extensive, but your mother has a Hummel store on her hands.

Wow, nice! My friend's collection is extensive, but your mother has a Hummel store on her hands.
i dont get it at all. i buy her one for her birthday every year cause she likes them. she says i'll understand when she dies and we still have them, b/c half of hers were her mothers. but i think its just a waste of money.

i dont get it at all. i buy her one for her birthday every year cause she likes them. she says i'll understand when she dies and we still have them, b/c half of hers were her mothers. but i think its just a waste of money.
No, it's not a waste of money. Hummels kept in good condition will appreciate over time. :dollar: :dollar:cha-ching! ;)

that sucks. :(

i bought some two dollar bills on ebay today. that article someone posted today is the second case i've heard of someone being declined spending a 2 dollar bill so im going to try to spend one to someone who thinks it's a counterfeit or something and calls the police and i can laugh at them and tell them they shouldn't be working as a cashier if they don't know anything about money. :whistle:

:lol: Sweet.