Ebay reform

[whojamfan]

I used to purchase all kinds of cool gear on Ebay, but time after time, I'd get out bid by someone not even involved in the auction 2 seconds before it closes. I think Ebay should not allow bidders who are not currently involved on the item, to be able to bid on it during its last 2 minutes. This would give the people who have been involved all along a chance to actually be in an auction, rather than have some sniper snake you out of it 2 seconds before the auction closes. Those involved can hash it out in the last 2 minutes, and let the highest bidder win. That, in my opinion, is what an auction is, and of course my Emails to them have all gone unanswered. Both the buyers and sellers would benefit from this, as last minute bidding wars could bring bigger prices, and buyers could get great deals on items they get outbid on by a couple of bucks(or even cents)by these last second snipers.

Consequently, the only things I will ever buy on Ebay now are BIN items, but frankly, I don't go there nearly as much as I used to, being so disappointed and all.

I know a lot(if not all)of the members here have either used or browsed Ebay, and am wondering what you think.

[cheyenne]

+1

Amen.

[ricardo_vicente]

I understand the frustration you may feel at being outbid late on but I can't agree that there is an unfair advantage to be gained by bidding at a specific time.

I personally have found bidding at the last minute/second the best solution for me because it prevents me from getting into a bidding war.
I decide how much I am willing to pay and bid that amount. If someone else bids more or already has left a bid for more, I have no time to bid again and don't get caught up in the heat of the moment and bid more than I'm willing to pay.

Surely the same applies if you bid early and immediately bid how much you are prepared to pay for the item. If someone outbids you in the last seconds of the auction, it's because they are willing to pay more than you are.

If you bid the most, you win the item.

[kenposurf]

From a buyers standpoint it's good to get the bids going early in the hope of an ego war breaking out...from a buyers position, it's better to wait until the last 5 seconds to bid...as a bidder this is not a bad thing at all as bidding wars drive up the price...it's the way the game is played..

[kiramdear]

I agree, Mike, people should have to establish their interest in the items in some fashion before the last minute.

[paologregorio]

I usually watch an item but don't bid until the last day, and even then usually only within the last hour or less, in an to keep bidding war prices down. I haven't bid on anything lately though.

[wj350]

This comes up from time to time, and the responses always fall into two camps. From my perspective, bidding in the closing seconds is just smart shopping--bidding and counter-bidding through the life of the auction just amounts to practice bleeding (though I agree, as a seller, it's exactly what you want to see happen).

It really doesn't matter who bids in the closing seconds or how close to the end they bid--unless you're bidding at the exact minimum bid amount each time it goes up, potential buyers are usually posting with a max bad, which is exactly what the final seconds bidders are doing; if a bidder's max bid isn't sufficient to win the item at the end of the auction, all it means is the item simply sold for more than it was worth to them. Because a bidder wasn't willing to bid what the item eventually sold for, doesn't mean someone else did something wrong--the losing bidder simply got outbid.

As far as establishing interest, heck, I usually have about 15-20 items I might be watching. Most often I don't buy at all-- but it doesn't mean I'm not interested.

Personally, I very rarely do anything on Ebay outside of BINs these days.

[opticnerve]

I understand the frustration you may feel at being outbid late on but I can't agree that there is an unfair advantage to be gained by bidding at a specific time.

I personally have found bidding at the last minute/second the best solution for me because it prevents me from getting into a bidding war.
I decide how much I am willing to pay and bid that amount. If someone else bids more or already has left a bid for more, I have no time to bid again and don't get caught up in the heat of the moment and bid more than I'm willing to pay.

Surely the same applies if you bid early and immediately bid how much you are prepared to pay for the item. If someone outbids you in the last seconds of the auction, it's because they are willing to pay more than you are.

If you bid the most, you win the item.

+1

[cjj]

I got tired of being outbid by snipers too, so I started doing it myself. Since ebay allows it, what the heck. Of course, having gone to many "real" auctions, this sort of thing happens there too. Bidding will be going along between 2 or 3 bidders and suddenly someone new will jump in at the last minute. It's not quite the same, but it tends to disrupt people's train of thought enough to often end the auction right there. It works really well when, at a farm equipment auction, my wife suddenly jumps in with a bid. Those guys often just don't know what to think about a woman bidding on equipment. We've gotten some real good deals that way.

Anyway, as for ebay, I don't think they care about what people like, etc. They are there to make money, period. I figure as long as they allow sniping, I'm gonna do it too...

[rictified]

I'm surprised no one has posted this yet but try auctionsniper.com. It's very very cheap and bids for you, you set the amount you want to bid (your reserve as on ebay) and when you want it to bid for you. For ex. I usually set it at 5 seconds left so I'm one of those guys you hate . I set the thing, go to work or whatever and come back and find out if I've won or lost. This keeps the prices lower and prevents bidding wars as someone else mentioned. It also bids in increments as ebay itself makes you so your bid (if you win) will only come out at the next increment., it will not bid if your reserve has been passed. I used to wonder how these people were bidding at the very last second and winning things from me. Now i know, I've won a lot of neat things and have saved a lot of money in the process.

[rictified]

I agree, Mike, people should have to establish their interest in the items in some fashion before the last minute.

The only problem with that is that it drives the prices up which are already ridiculous on ebay. Good for sellers but not for buyers.

[gregga41]

The only problem i see in making an early bid on an item, is that i find increasingly that the seller has organized "dummy" bidders. They bid only to work out how much your maximum is. Easy to spot, as their feedback is usually very low, and they bid in increments of $1 - $5 until they reach your max. If you win the auction, you'll find you've had to pay your maximum.
Ebay don't give a stuff, as their commission is "final sale price" based.

[rictified]

The only problem i see in making an early bid on an item, is that i find increasingly that the seller has organized "dummy" bidders. They bid only to work out how much your maximum is. Easy to spot, as their feedback is usually very low, and they bid in increments of $1 - $5 until they reach your max. If you win the auction, you'll find you've had to pay your maximum.
Ebay don't give a stuff, as their commission is "final sale price" based.

Yeah, they're called "shill" bidders and are supposed to be against the rules but you really need to push ebay to catch this sort of thing, another good reason to use auctionsniper. I may snipe soemthing later this week, I'll let you know if I win, probably not as I don't really want to spend the kind of money this partiular item has been going for lately.

[cjj]

I haven't checked out auctionsniper, but it sounds pretty much like esnipe, which is what I use. In a perfect world, sniping wouldn't be necessary. But it does limit the bidding wars, etc. It also limits your ability to go change your maximum bid (to a small extent), but it works just fine when you decide what you want to pay and are fine if you don't get it. I've bought numerous items that I'm sure would have cost more if I had bid the "normal" way, allowing others (including the shills) to out bid me.

Another thing that really bugs me about ebay is all the new stuff that gets put out for "bidding" by various stores, etc. In "the old days" of ebay, it was mostly individuals selling stuff, but once various commercial enterprises got involved, it made it a bit more difficult to find "deals" when there's so much new stuff thrown out there with the others. I think there should be a separate category, or at least a search option, to let you find stuff from individuals as opposed to commercial sellers....

[marc61]

It's an auction. Until it ends, anyone with an eligible account, who can abide by the seller's and Ebay's terms should be allowed to bid.