TOPIC: Ok, who just outbid me on fleabay?

Tried to buy a really nice set of 60-65 glastron chrome emblems for my fireflite and was outbid. You did well whoever bought them! Have fun!

saw them, didn't win them either.

You've got to learn to snipe

Same thing just happened to me with a Jervis bow light and flagstaff...super pissed

Was't me. But when I bid my highest bid is only what I am willing to go. I guess it depends on how bad you want it. Timing is great too. I won an auction for a $650 Bosch Hammer drill once shrink wrapped new in box for $175.00 because it ended on labor day. I keep things like that in mind when I bid also. I got a bunch of good deals that way.

Robert-lorigan,

Ebay bidding/sales is sometimes "WIERD". = Recently with 10 seconds to go I was "the high bidder" on an item for 48.oo. - I was somewhat surprised to discover that I wasn't the winner, as the item sold for 97.oo.
(Turns out that there was, based on bidding history afterward, over a dozen bids in the last 10 seconds.)

yours, satx

SATX, that's someone using a service like Auction Sniper. Doesn't bid until the very end. You can set it for the last few seconds of the auction. Sort of a way to not "show your hand" until the very end. Has some other features too, regarding your max bid. I don't always use it, but if an item is important to me I'll put it in there and pay no attention until the auction ends. I used to get really angry at snipers but sometimes it does help to outbid and win.

(And no, it wasn't me that grabbed the emblems or bow light)

Snipping is legal and I use it a lot. I put the price that I want to buy something for and forget about it. If I do not get it then that is the way the ball bounces.

I tired of the bidders the will raise the bids dollar by dollar till the break your bid. Bid what they want to pay for the item; for Ebay will not take the whole bid less it is needed to beat the other bids.

I moat of the time will not bid on an item if I know that someone in the group is wanting it. I have a list I keep of the ones that have bid up items that I bid on first.

On the Hornet built by Yellow Jacket Boats I bought I found it less than 20 min after it was posted (thanks to the search that engine that I have on my phone). I bid and then a day later it was posted on one of the groups. I wrote that I was the bidder. Well another member bid it up so I then went to a snipe bid. I won it however it was only me and him that bid on it.

HE later wrote that I had to stay up late to out bid his bid in the last few sec of the auction.

The best thing about snipping is that if I want to pull a bid I can and do not have to give a reason for doing so. I have don that many times because I bid on something because I like it however really did not need it. Later someone that I know want it. I pull my bid as not to be bidding the item up on them

Normspeed,

Personally, as a licensed auctioneer & "active buyer" on ebay, I find "sniping" to be unethical, though not unlawful. - For starters, it allows a seller (or a family member) to bid on their own items to raise the bid at the last minute to get the price that the seller desires.

Also, ebay (imVho) should go back to the "old system", where bidders KNEW that "there was no funny business going on", by publically disclosing who the bidders are by "ebay identity". = IF a person is HONEST, they aren't worried if their "screen-name" is known by others.

just my OPINION, satx

In reading this thread just mention a few comments.. To a computer 10 seconds is like 10 minutes..they react in partial seconds.
..As a buyer ,just decide the max $$ willing to spend on a hobby item. If the bidding goes higher on the 2nd day of a week listing, just act surprized at the response... Snipe service is very handy, when items close after 10pm at night ,,, or now in thunderstorm season, can not depend on losing electricity each evening..
Lastly if a desired boat is listed , one needs to look at the "BUY IT NOW " price.. if it is what the buyer can afford, just go ahead & close everyone else out on the 1st or 2nd day. . If you re-sell a year later, just raise your selling / asking price. IMO

The ebay item id given is invalid, no result has been sentA seller (or a family member)does not need a snipping service to bid up an item. they can (and most likely do) will bid it up during the auction. WHY SNIPE UP A BID IN THE LAST FEW SEC OF THE AUCTION if you are the seller or their kin...you may get stuck with the item. Bid it up days before the auction ends.

On line bidding is nothing like a live auction. There is no way to snipe a live auction, and beside if I shout out $400.00 for something at a live auction then that is where the bidding is at that point, where on a on line auction if the item is at $159.00 and I bid $400.00 however the person that had 159.00 had bid $200.00 my bid will have to go to $202.50 to beat him. It does not take the bid price to $400 till someone bids 400.01.

However if the bid was sitting right between $395.01 to $400.00 someone would have to bid $5.00 higher to take the bid.

At a live auction here in the state of TX unless stated in at beginning of the auction or in the forms one signs when signing in if someone bids a price I can bid 10¢ higher and the auction Co has to take the bid. Livestock it goes down to 5¢ because most of the time they are bidding per lb.

Meaning a plane that was repo by the bank is at $8,500.00 I shouted out 8,500.50; They had to take the bid. however the other guy misunderstood what I said and the auctioneer was saying, and let it go. Later he called me a few choice words.....but I had the plane


Ebay bid increments
Current price Bid increment

$ 0.01 - $ 0.99 $ 0.05

$ 1.00 - $ 4.99 $ 0.25

$ 5.00 - $ 24.99 $ 0.50

$ 25.00 - $ 99.99 $ 1.00

$ 100.00 - $ 249.99 $ 2.50

$ 250.00 - $ 499.99 $ 5.00

$ 500.00 - $ 999.99 $ 10.00

$ 1000.00 - $ 2499.99 $ 25.00

$ 2500.00 - $ 4999.99 $ 50.00

$ 5000.00 and up $ 100.00

very good post....when I'm selling something I just love it when 2 or more bidders check in every day and increase their bid....I've sold several items that I would have been glad to have $10 for go for over $100....in a timed auction like ebay, the auction doesn't really start until the last minute

TallTexan,

Sellers do not HAVE to "snipe" low bids BUT my "informal research" shows that several sellers DO engage in that nefarious practice to keep from selling an item for considerably less than the price that they wanted.- It costs less to pay the commission than to let a 100.oo item sell for 40.oo.

I've "caught" one particuliar ebay seller of tools & auto supplies (NOT his real "screen-name, btw) "buying" all 18 of his items: It's NOT difficult to figure out that "Joe S. Jones" is "JSJ123", when all of his "below market price items" suddenly sell, at the end of the auction, to "JSJ123".)

MOST larger "on-line auctions" have a "15 minute rule" to PREVENT sniping and to (as well as they can) to STOP "self-purchases".

yours, satx

A 15 min rule does not stop snipping. You can set a bid to be places 15min 5 sec before the end of the auction.

In the case where only people that have bid it the time before the countdown time of 15 min you can place a bid 15 min and X # of sec and then have a snipe bid 1 sec before the auction ends.

for the last 2 + years the name on a bidder on Ebay has been hidden. On one auction I may be w**t and the # of feedback I have, and on another I may be r**j and the # of feedback I have. to check this you have to log on using a friends computer and at his IP address

Beside if the person has the same IP address as the seller they cannot bid on a Item.

The only way I have seen a way around this is using a phone to log on with another account for many of the phones has a difference IP address most every time you log on

Why list something take a chance of it selling for less then what you want.

I for one do not like reserved prices, and many time will not bid for so many times it is a wast of time. I think they should start the bidding at the price that the seller wants for the item and no hidden reserve.

If no one bids on the item then the seller should lower his price and start the bidding again

Something I learn
Set a price. If it does not sell try at the same price again. Then I have raised the price and it may or may not sell. If not I raise the price again...most of the time it will then sell, for those that really want it will bid scare that I will keep on raising the price in stead of lowering it.

Grandpa taught me that on selling breading stock. Buy it now for the price will go up. Upkeep and storage cost money

Here is an auction I am bidding on. Not really needing the item but would be nice to have not really needing it I am not going to snipe bid it and use a snipe bid that will cost me anywhere from 10¢ to 25¢

I am 2***n498

r***R60 dollar the bid up till he beat me. Now he has to start all over for I made a big jump in my bid

Member Id: 2***n498 US $20.50 Jun-23-14 17:42:22 PDT

Member Id: r***r60 US $20.00 Jun-23-14 11:47:17 PDT

Member Id: r***r60 US $18.00 Jun-23-14 11:47:03 PDT

Member Id: 2***n498 US $17.76 Jun-20-14 05:58:17 PDT

Member Id: r***r60 US $17.00 Jun-23-14 11:46:59 PDT

Member Id: r***r60 US $16.00 Jun-23-14 11:46:03 PDT

Starting Price US $15.00 Jun-17-14 12:02:30 PDT

TallTexan,

MORE LIKELY, "r***r60" put in an automatic bid up earlier, to a fixed amount.
(For example, right at this moment, I have an item on ebay that is at 99 cents & I have a bid in for 60.68, so if you bid against me & look at the bidding, as you did above you will see "J*****S" as the repeating bidder.)

yours, satx

satx78247 wrote "MORE LIKELY, "r***r60" put in an automatic bid up earlier, to a fixed amount." end quote

Nope
r***r60 bid after I started the biding. Today at 11:46:08 he bid $16.00 and was not high enough so at 11:46:59 he bid $17.00. Still not high enough so at 11:47:03 he did out bid my bid of $17.76 with a bid of $18.00.However it was not enough to beat me out. He had to beat my bid by 50¢ so that means he would have to had bid a min of $18.26.

Then at 11:47:17 he padded his bid a bit by raising his bid to $20.00 making a whopping jump of $2.00.

At 17:22:42 I made one bid that was quite a bit higher then what he padded his bid for so you did not see the many steps of bidding

If you bid and it is below what the high bidder has bid it will eat your whole bid and tell you that you have been out bid. it will not bid and rebid in 56 (or what ever it took him to rebid)sec increments

Now let see if he is going to dollar by dollar it up again

On your auction if I bid $55.00 the bidding will jump to $56.00 and I will get a note that I was out bid. If I bid to $60.65 The bidding would jump to $60.68 and I would still get a note that I was out bid. However seeing the the amount did not jump to $61.65 but to $60.68 I now know your bid. I have to break it by $1.00

If I just found the Item you are bidding on and bid $65.00 you would see the price jump to $61.68 in one step......not $65.00 for someone to beat my bid out they would have to bid $65.01 or more in one bid for once they hit between $64.00 and $64.99 they have to beat me by a full dollar

I use a snipe tool regularly and see nothing unethical about it. I am just putting my highest bid in at the last 10 seconds. I don't always win but I find it handy so I can set it and forget it.

If you know or suspect that someone is bidding up an item you can report it to ebay and they supposedly will investigate. They can see if a seller is bidding on their own item with a different id by looking at the ip address the bid came from.

Nothing is perfect but snipe is just a tool and a handy one at that!

Seems like a simple solution add 10 seconds to the clock for each bid within the last 5 mintues fair no sniping no computer assist and the sellers happy. If you want it you have to be there watching!

kensikora,

FYI, I've reported 2 people to ebay "management" for doing precisely that & BOTH are still on the site and still doing the same thing. = I have to presume that "management" just didn't care, as a seller bidding on his own items still gets ebay a commission.

As to it being unethical or not, as my GF used to say, "that's what makes horse races". - In any event, I'm through.

yours, satx

Never assume that you are the only bidder, even if no other have posted. I've used Esnipe for years and I bid very aggressively on things I "must" have. Even at that - many times I don't win the item. A sellers dream is to have at least 2 competing bidders using conventional means to escalate a price. Great for seller, foolish for the bidder. Just keep in mind that there are people all over the globe looking for treasure on ebay, and it can be brutally competitive.

I once sold a set of tailights in as good as new condition for a 66 Galaxie 500 for $170.00 and that was many years ago. Also an old very used set of triple Y Hedman Headers for a late 50's -early sixties Ford Y Block for $150.00.