eBay Question

[Janice]

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?

[G-Force Glockstar]

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

[Chelsea]

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

[Janice]

Originally Posted by Ruthie Lang

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

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.

[Janice]

Originally Posted by Seth

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?

[G-Force Glockstar]

Originally Posted by Janice

Of course your opinion matters to me.

[¤I Love Clay Aiken¤]

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!

[G-Force Glockstar]

Originally Posted by ¤I Love Clay Aiken¤

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.

[Sterling Holobyte]

Originally Posted by Janice

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.

[Janice]

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.

[TJL]

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

[Janice]

Originally Posted by TJL

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!!

[Sterling Holobyte]

Originally Posted by Janice

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.

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?

[Janice]

Originally Posted by Sterling Holobyte

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?

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?

[Superstar]

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.