Ebay Auction Question:

[GazzaS]

I've made my second bid on EBay ever.  My first was outbid by a mile while I was in work.  Anyway...  my second bid is for the starting price.  Is there some reserve price that allows the seller to withdraw the item if it's not reached?

[Bill_S]

It's been a while since I've actually made a bid - I usually go for the "Buy It Now" items. It used to be that if there was a reserve price, ebay would tell you if it hadn't been met yet.

[GazzaS]

Thanks Bill.  I got a notice in my email that my bid was still in the lead.  Once day left....

[Bill_S]

8 minutes ago, GazzaS said:

Thanks Bill.  I got a notice in my email that my bid was still in the lead.  Once day left....

Good luck, Gaz. Having played the bidding game a number of years ago, watch out for snipers (people that swoop in with mere seconds remaining and outbid you). The only way you can combat sniping is to bid again - at the maximum you are willing to pay for an item. You bid will only increase if someone else bids. Just pray that their bid is less than your maximum. I've been bitten a few times by snipers.

[GazzaS]

Thanks for the advice Bill.  I'd better check the listing again to see when it expires.  

[HubertB]

The answer to your first question is yes, there can be a reserve price set by the seller, but the buyers don’t know about it.

Some people make it a game to bid in the last minute. To avoid this trap, I always do as Bill said: I enter a bid with MY maximum possible price. The Ebay system will increment the last bid (in your case the first one) by a fixed amount. IIRC the increment is determined by the starting bid price, usually for kits, by 50 cents, then by $ 1 above a certain threshold. The system will keep incrementing the bids against the « last-minute snipers » up to your maximum bid. And, btw, for two identical amounts, the earliest one will win, this being judged by the time your bid was submitted.

Some bidding wars end up being just pissing contests between alpha-males, to the point of nonsense. To set YOUR maximum possible price look for similar items with a « Buy It Now » price. Entering your bid with your maximum price is the best way to avoid the temptation of this courtyard last-minute brawls  

One last tip : people tend to bid in round numbers, or with multiple of 5 for the decimals (like $ 10.55). Making your maximum bid with an extra cent can sometimes yield a win (like 25.01, or 30.66)

 

HTH

Hubert

[GazzaS]

Nice tips, Hubert!  Thank you!

[1to1scale]

I agree, I recently won a great deal on a Trumpeter SU-25. Here is what I did.

1. I researched the off eBay selling prices and found that the cheapest I could buy it for was $130 + $16 shipping, this was an exceptionally good price for online as they were about $30 less than anyone else on eBay or retailer. Don’t forget to factor in taxes and shipping.

2. I found a couple different eBay auctions on two that were at The $50 point, so I made my plan of attack. One ended at 4:00 on Saturday and the other on Sunday. So I set a bid on the Saturday one, I figured the best I could buy it for was $146, so I figured for the auction, I would be willing to pay $125 shipped price. The auction was at $57 currently. Shipping was $18, so I put in my bid of $125-18=$107. I used the proxy bidder system built within eBay, so as soon as I put in bid of $107, it shot up to $76 as me being the high bidder. This meant that the previous bidders only bid up to $75, the system automatically set my bid as $1 above the highest bid. 

3. As the week went along, my bid stayed steady, then I was unable to watch the end Saturday. When I checked back, the item was sold to another bidder for $129, as this was what I could buy one online for, I was not sad.
 

I now turned my attention to the other one ending Sunday, it was still at $50, so I did the exact same bid and my bid shot up to $62, as I input my maximum, I left it alone. Sunday I logged in to check on it 5 min before the end of the auction and I saw my bid had gone up to $87, someone put in 4 bids a few hours ago, but must have got discouraged by my instant higher bids. I expected to have it go higher, so I left it alone and watched, knowing I was comfortable with. I ended up with it for $105, far less than I was prepared to pay, so what did I do? Yup, you guessed it, bought loads of AM for it! 

4. One final note, ask yourself what is it REALLY worth to you when setting the maximum bid. About a year ago, I was bidding on a Hobbycraft A-36 Apache, but gave up at $105. Now, later, I have not seen one for sale again, and may never get another chance. So in hindsight, I would have paid double. 

[JohnB]

I've been checking out the ebay listings for 1/48 B-24D's. I was surprised to find that nearly all the listings start at a inflated price ($36.00 to over $100.00 with varying amounts quoted for shipping). If the kit is listed at a "reasonable" price then the shipping quoted is inflated. Those listers must think the kit(s) are really rare and in high demand. (I had posted a "looking for" on a Facebook sell and trade site which I will not name with the stipulation that offers not be at "inflated ebay prices". All I got was some snarky comments which really pissed me off. I deleted the post and bailed out of that group. Thin skinned maybe but I just will not stand for that kind of crap.)

Right now I have sent a offer for a "D" to a lister so we shall see how that goes.

I have to admit, I have been a "victim" of sniping and that really aggravates. And I have also been the "sniper"! Two can play at that game but it has been a long time since I've done that. 

Sorry for the "rant" but now I feel better! LOL

 

 

[GrahamF@Iconicair]

I'm an old hand at this, some people just don't 'get' how if you bid early all you are doing is raising the price for the eventual end sale price.

If you really want it just think what your absolute max price would be then bid in the last 10 seconds, You have the best chance then, If you do that any earlier it's like showing your hand in poker and is utterly pointless.

The theory if you bid high early you put people off is utter hogwash, you're just burning up the value of your bid, remember it's a world wide web and somebody out there probably has more money than you or is more stupid than you. All they need to do is bid a few pennys more.

I've done this buying CNC machines and it usually works, if you are bidding a lot higher at the end and also [ because I have a good idea of it's usual selling price] it doesn't give them time to think about raising their bid.

Graham

 

 

[GazzaS]

heh...  I've been outbid with 13 hours to go.  I wonder how many people have second accounts under different names that they use to influence more bids?

Anyway...  I don't want it that badly after looking at a couple build threads.  Seems it was a 2008 rebox of a 1972 kit.

[JohnB]

13 minutes ago, GrahamF@Iconicair said:

I'm an old hand at this, some people just don't 'get' how if you bid early all you are doing is raising the price for the eventual end sale price.

If you really want it just think what your absolute max price would be then bid in the last 10 seconds, You have the best chance then, If you do that any earlier it's like showing your hand in poker and is utterly pointless.

The theory if you bid high early you put people off is utter hogwash, you're just burning up the value of your bid, remember it's a world wide web and somebody out there probably has more money than you or is more stupid than you. All they need to do is bid a few pennys more.

I've done this buying CNC machines and it usually works, if you are bidding a lot higher at the end and also [ because I have a good idea of it's usual selling price] it doesn't give them time to think about raising their bid.

Graham

 

 

One of the first things I do is check how much time is left for bidding. If it's over a day or so I'll just keep a eye on it and bid when it's closer to closing. Otherwise you are wasting your time.

[HubertB]

44 minutes ago, GrahamF@Iconicair said:

I'm an old hand at this, some people just don't 'get' how if you bid early all you are doing is raising the price for the eventual end sale price.

If you really want it just think what your absolute max price would be then bid in the last 10 seconds, You have the best chance then, If you do that any earlier it's like showing your hand in poker and is utterly pointless.

The theory if you bid high early you put people off is utter hogwash, you're just burning up the value of your bid, remember it's a world wide web and somebody out there probably has more money than you or is more stupid than you. All they need to do is bid a few pennys more.

I've done this buying CNC machines and it usually works, if you are bidding a lot higher at the end and also [ because I have a good idea of it's usual selling price] it doesn't give them time to think about raising their bid.

Graham

 

 

 

29 minutes ago, JohnB said:

One of the first things I do is check how much time is left for bidding. If it's over a day or so I'll just keep a eye on it and bid when it's closer to closing. Otherwise you are wasting your time.

I have to disagree with you, guys. Even if you enter a high amount early in the process, you are not « showing your hand » , as the bids that will appear will not be your maximum price, but the ones a few cents above competitor’s bids. Your maximum amount will only be reached if competitors are getting near it ...

And if you are outbid, even a few days before the auction’s end, so be it. You were not ready to pay a higher price anyway, just like Gazzas pointed out for the auction he was following ...

Just my  (anyone wants to propose   ...  ? )

Hubert

[[CAT]CplSlade]

I've been an ebay member for 21 years. Set the max bid you are willing to pay either early or late; it doesn't really matter. If you get outbid, you get outbid. No one can see your max bid as Hubert said and it only really puts people off if the max they are willing to pay is reached before they hit your max bid. Waiting until the last minute to try and snipe only puts you in a sweaty competition with others potentially looking to snipe it as well.

The only way to guarantee a win is to post a crazy high bid that only a deep pocket dude could outdo, but you'll just end up paying too much every time doing that. Unless the item you want is rare/hard to find just only ever bid the max you'll pay. If you miss that one, another auction will come along.

[Bomber_County]

I hate snipers to but the max bid is the best way to go. I rarely bid on anything these days as funds are short and some people are stupid enough to get into a bidding war........each to their own.........

[Jeff]

I have noticed there are a lot more " Buy it Now" than there used to be... and I ALWAYS ask the seller about shipping, and usually I can get a better deal, because most use the generic Ebay shipping form, and that can be VERY high.... and most of the time, it is the shipping costs that put me off....  no sale if I have to BUY the ship or airplane that is getting the item to me as well as the item..............

[1to1scale]

On 8/7/2020 at 4:05 PM, GazzaS said:

heh...  I've been outbid with 13 hours to go.  I wonder how many people have second accounts under different names that they use to influence more bids?

Anyway...  I don't want it that badly after looking at a couple build threads.  Seems it was a 2008 rebox of a 1972 kit.

Shill bidding is a dangerous game if you are a seller, pros will ever do it because it will get you an instant lifetime ban from selling. Usually, it’s the “once in a while” seller that does this. It can be hard to track if they have a friend do it that lives elsewhere. They usually start an auction for $1.00 to have the lowest auction fees, then get nervous When it does not get any good bids and have someone, like a friend, throw in their “reserve” bid.
 

What I don’t like is when people take advantage of the proxy bid system and put on bids to bring yours up, I believed i had this happen To me before.

[Bill_S]

I got so tired of the sniping that I resorted (long ago) to sniping myself - especially if it was something rare that I REALLY wanted (read Scratchbuilders REX conversion). I would watch the auction with Bob Seeger's "Come to Papa" playing in the background.

 

These days, it's Buy It Now for me. I don't care for playing the game - I have too many started kits to waste my time at the computer (except for LSM!).

[harv]

I dont bid anymore. Go for the buy it now or a set point. Things you must check out is shipping and what country its shipped from....harv

[biggtim]

Like it or hate it, I am an avid sniper, though I prefer to "buy it now" when the option is available. I don't get into bidding wars, though. I just log in and place my max bid 30 to 60 seconds before closing, and let it ride.

I personally really like the ones with "make an offer" on them. You can get some decent deals that way.

Tim

[SapperSix]

On 8/7/2020 at 9:11 AM, JohnB said:

I've been checking out the ebay listings for 1/48 B-24D's. I was surprised to find that nearly all the listings start at a inflated price ($36.00 to over $100.00 with varying amounts quoted for shipping). If the kit is listed at a "reasonable" price then the shipping quoted is inflated. Those listers must think the kit(s) are really rare and in high demand. (I had posted a "looking for" on a Facebook sell and trade site which I will not name with the stipulation that offers not be at "inflated ebay prices". All I got was some snarky comments which really pissed me off. I deleted the post and bailed out of that group. Thin skinned maybe but I just will not stand for that kind of crap.)

Right now I have sent a offer for a "D" to a lister so we shall see how that goes.

I have to admit, I have been a "victim" of sniping and that really aggravates. And I have also been the "sniper"! Two can play at that game but it has been a long time since I've done that. 

Sorry for the "rant" but now I feel better! LOL

 

 

I have a "D" for you John.  Pay for shipping and its yours.....

[JohnB]

1 hour ago, SapperSix said:

I have a "D" for you John.  Pay for shipping and its yours.....

Send me a PM.