Ticking down. Anybody want to strategize me for eBay? I absolutely HATE games

[UTUSN]

I detest playing crap. So, the only thing I've ever done on eBay was to buy a very few trinkets FOR SALE, *not* bidding.

Anyway, the minutes are ticking down and I don't care. I can pay 50 cents more and launch into a bidding game or pay twenty bucks more at the original source.

I suspect the seller got their pal to up the price in an unethical way. Who cares.


I'll get back in ten minutes whether I won or lost. Or whether the seller lost ten dollars. I hate games.

[UTUSN]

1. Neh. They kicked up the price 6 bucks. I'll pay more and send them a snarky e-mail. n/t

[NYC_SKP]

2. I usually set a time and let the seconds count down.

With a bid entered in the window for the absolute highest price I will pay.

By hitting the "enter bid" button about 3 seconds before the auction ends, my bid will get in before anyone has a chance to outbid me.

If someone has preset a higher bid than mine, I will lose to them.

But if they haven't, I will win the auction for a price based on one increment higher than the highest preset bid.

That's how I beat the bidding war.

[UTUSN]

3. Well, it's over and I lost, but who cares. I sent the nasty e-mail

telling them I'm paying 20 bucks more. Just for kicks.


On Edit: My keyboard keys stick. It's not always my brain.

[Major Nikon]

4. Try Gixen

http://www.gixen.com/index.php

I've been using Gixen for years. It's a free ebay sniping service. It does exactly what you're describing, but it's all automated. Another nice feature it has is contingency group bidding. Let's say there's several auctions on ebay for the exact same item. You can set them all up as a group and enter your maximum bid. As soon as you win the first one, it cancels all the other bids in the group. This is very handy.

[NYC_SKP]

5. OMG how smart is that?!!!

Very cool, thanks!

[Major Nikon]

6. Here's some tips

For most things on ebay, there will be multiple sellers selling the same item so there's really no point in getting caught up in the auction. If you don't win the first one, move on to the next.

The best advice I can give is to use a sniping service as I detailed in post #4. Set your maximum bid and forget about it. It places your bid automatically in the final seconds and you will either win or you won't. You can come back hours after the auction has closed to see how it went. No more waiting for the last few minutes of the auction and getting into bidding wars. It's kind of funny because sometimes you will see 2 or 3 people getting into a bidding war, only for all of them to lose in the last seconds to your winning bid. I'm sure it pisses them off, but that is the nature of ebay or any auctions for that matter.

[UTUSN]

7. Not to kick the thread but to thank you for the tip.

I usually just go elsewhere for the trinket, have hardly ever engaged in bidding.