give me your best ebay tips on bidding - please!

I am bidding on an item that closes in 2 days. I want it really bad and of course at a bargain price. What is your best tip for getting that winning bid? Is there some secret that I don't know about? Do I sneak in there at the last minute and make a bid? I am a rookie at this ebay stuff. Thanks! Lisa

Lisa when I bid I bid the maximum that i want to pay!
You can always be ready to rebid in another window-I use to keep 2windows open one to watch the time tick away and one ready to bid-all the way to the last enter--and wait-its the last 2 minutes that are when people bid-20second bids are killers!
*my best advise i the maxi-bid that you want o pay-then ebay will automatically bid for you up to that amount
GOOD LUCK GIRL!!!

Lisa,

I bid differently for different items. It depends on how badly I want them. If I would like to have them, but am not going to be horribly disappointed if I don't get it, then I bid my maximum and whatever happens is fine with me. If it's something unusual or rare (like the flatware pattern Bethany by Pfaltzgraff), then I'll not bid a dime until just before the auction closes. I don't want to tip my hand to anyone else.

If it's a highly prized item, bidding can get furious in the last few minutes/seconds. You have to stay right on top of it.

I sell and buy quite a bit on ebay (over 200 feedbacks), so I've done it for awhile. Be sure to check the feedback of the person selling the item. You don't want to bid on something by someone unscrupulous.

right on Carla.......and use the "watch this item" feature, and it will remind you where it is at all times...

"eyes"

thanks gals, my thoughts on the max. bidding thing is this: If I bid a max. then in a way I am opening up a can of worms because the other bidder will bid higher. I was thinking of sneaking in at the last minute and maybe have a chance. It is only myself and another person bidding on it. I put in the first bid, the other put in 4. (I mean, how many folks want a old rusty butter churn) There are so many others on there..why do they want the one I want..giggle

I sell and buy on Ebay too. My feedback is almost 400 now. I agree with Smiln32, some items I will bid on right away and bid the highest I want to go and others I will just sit and wait until the last couple of minutes and then bid on it. It seems that sometimes people will bid just because it has another bid and they try to outdo you. Makes no sense :)
during the last 10 minutes, I hit the refresh button constantly to see if my bid is still the winning bid all the way to the end. Notmartha has a great idea by keeping two windows open (never thought of that)

Oh, always check the feedback of someone, you don't want to get burned. Also, check the forms of payment they accept and what their shipping costs are. If they don't have it listed, send them an e-mail before you bid. Some shipping charges are outrageous. I paid $8 once for a memory card for my computer. It was still cheap even with the shipping but in the end, it only cost that person 57cents to mail it. Very upsetting.

This message was edited Tuesday, Feb 26th 12:27 PM

I wait to the last possible moment and my bid amount is the highest that I want to p[ay for the item.

Lisa I thought it was the butter churn you wanted to bid for. For your sake I hope you get it. Go Lisa!!!!

thanks lousia! I hope I get it too..it sure will be put to good use.

Phew!! Shoe calls me Weezy and now you are calling me a louse.....lololol!!!

If the item is still a day or two from ending, I always put in a bid smaller than what I am willing to pay for the item, just to test the water. If someone outbids me, then I just wait and see if anyone else bids. Then, when the auction is about to end, I put in another bid and keep hitting refresh and bidding more if needed. I always hold on to the hope that if it's just me and one other person, the other person will forget to be there at the end if there's not been a lot of bidding activity on the item. I think people who bid like I do are called snipers! LOL!

And all the information above about making sure to check ot the seller's feedback and checking on the shipping charges first is very important.

I bid on quite a few auctions, but don't win all that many. I'm not one to bid real high, and if you do a search on ebay, you might find that there's a whole string of others just like the one you want that will end later. If I lose an auction, I always check to see if there's more coming up that I can try to get cheaper.

thanks JoanJ, uhmmm...louisa....do you need to clean your glasses Queen Mum? *giggling* I didn't call you louse :-)

Lisa
I have a churn.....no bids necessary.
Bud

my gosh Bud!!!!! That is the nicest thing...wow...I am at a lost for words (for once). How nice...wow...Thank you, Thank you, Thank you...But I would really like to pay you for it :)

Send me your address

mare see buttercups...you got mail

Oh, Lisa, I wish you luck on ebay. I am probably the worst bidder known to man. I am also the worst poker player, so good luck to you. I bidded an item on ebay, and lucky me, the seller emailed me to tell me that she never intended to sell the bidded item for that amount and she would be willing to sell me the item for the amount she charged in her store. She had a gift shop and I was buying Arthur Court fish stuff for my dd. I think that was very nice of her, and it is like she said, it is only worth what it is worth, Needless to say, I bought more stuff from her, but not on ebay but through her web site. I think you probably need to know your prices and what you intend to pay for something, cause obviously I did not know the price, and somebody else also did not, cause they were bidding against me. Also, she gave me a break on my shipping , which by the way can really vary. Good luck. Roz

Lisa... Some people use a SNIPE program that can be set to bid within 2-5 seconds of closing. Somehow, it can be programmed to know what the current bids are, and what you are willing to bid, without anything showing up on ebay until it's too late.

Frankly, I think it's all a crap shoot, whether you are a Buyer or a Seller... the run of the dice, or luck, if you will. (And, I too, sell on ebay, but pretty new at it, and selling on half.com for 1 year + now.)

Hmm...I've never heard of the snipe program. I always have to sit there and do it myself. LOL! I think I like it better that way though. Then I know for sure what I'm doing. Now I know why someone can come in at the very last second and outbid me. I'll have to research that some.

GREAT Job BUD and Lisa!!! smiling here!

and always check sellers other auctions to see if they have the same thing coming up later. I was just checking out some seeds and the bid got to be more than I wanted. Checked her other auctions and she had the same thing for 'buy it now' at less than what the first auction was.

Hey Lisa I think everyone won this bid!!! You get a churn (great job Bud) and we all get extra tips on bidding!!!!!!
sue

I agree Sue, Isn't that Bud something else! I am still on cloud nine this a.m.! Whatta guy!

I have to tell you guys this...

I have some hostas up for sale on ebay (under the name smiln). I bought them at Walmart in a 4 pack for $3.97. I'm selling them 2 at a time.

The first auction went for $4.99 (then I sold the other 2 in the package to the same person for another $5.00) . I have 2 more going for $16.50 right now. I just put up another 2 with a starting bid of $4.99.

Anyone can do this. Half of what I sell is bought from a store, the other half comes from stuff we already own and don't want and from yard sales. If you sell, just make sure you build in enough "pad" to cover all of your own expenses (ebay isn't free and paypal isn't free, etc).

Good tip, smilin'... I hadn't thought about making good retail purchases to re-sell!

...and you are right about fees. By my calculations, something that sells for $10, with 2 photos (using ebay's own iPix) in the listing and nothing else fancy like bold or Reserve, with listing fees, Final Value Fee and a payment by credit card costs an average of 19.75% in total fees. (The biggest percentage comes from accepting credit cards, BTW.) Then there's your time to package and take to the post office... I think as the selling price goes up, the fees come down a bit, but I expect they never total less than 15% overall if you check them out carefully, and are taking credit cards.

I have started using c2it (Citibank) for credit card and electronic check payments because it's free all around. I suppose once Citibank gets a good market share, they will charge, but that will take awhile. (Maybe I can get enough referrals to pay my gas to the Round-Up, LOL!)

Another tip: You may have seen ebay's new Seller Assistant Program? Where someone wants to sell something and doesn't know how or want to take the time, and you get a fee for doing it for them? Well, I have started to do something like that here in my town, mostly through friends, but may advertise if I can make enough to be worthwhile. (Listing, tracking and shipping is so time-consuming!) Right now I am going through a small lot of some junk, books and collector plates for a friend who just put his mother in assisted living. Nothing big like furniture, but things small enough to ship. A lot stuff we didn't think would sell went to charity, but there may be enough left to be worth it... and he travels for a living so didn't have time to mess with it. I'll get 50% after expenses, and the merchandise didn't cost me anything.

I wish I was as smart as ya'll...I hardly know how to get on ebay...much less bid with some sense!! Jo

Smiln, I checked your ebay auctions and one of your Sharmon Hostas sold for $16.50 + shipping. That's amazing! Wish I had thought of doing that.

GrannyLois,

You still can. I don't mind the competition. :)

Bump. Good thread! :)