ebay virgin: how late should I leave it to bid?

[Mud]

I have just been outbid on what I thought was my max price but happy to increase it

a RL friend told me I shouldn't bid till the last 5 mins - is that right

I have the page open - when should I place my last bid to give me the best chance of winning?

[Gwenick]

a few minutes before the end.

It's a good idea to put an 'odd' price - such as £6.02 as the person may only have bid up to £6 IYKWIM

[Newbarnsleygirl]

Yeah thats usually the case.

If your going to be in when the bidding finishes I would leave it to the last few minutes.

[Mud]

so 3 minutes before the end??

[thedogmother]

Put in your max bid too (ie if you would be prepared to pay up to £15.00 for item, put in something like £15.63), e-bay will bid for you up to this amount.

[Mud]

they are asking me to put a bid at least £1 higher than last bid (but when I first bid it was only 50p higher) is that usual? does it mean anything?

[sparklymieow]

i have a fast connection and bid in the final minute, normally go for an odd amount, and keep refreshing... have won many autions like this, people must hate me....

[thedogmother]

even less than 3 minutes

[Newbarnsleygirl]

Well whoever has put the other bid in will have put a max bid in so if someone else bids (like you) E-bay will automatically put their bid up IYKWIM.

[Mud]

is there any benefit in not putting my maximum possible bid in at this stage ie 3 mins before the end? Like if they're sitting there doing the same thing would I have more chance on winning?

there are about 38 mins left in the auction and I haven't re-bid yet, don't know if my heart can take it

[Newbarnsleygirl]

Keep putting bids in until your winning and just keep your eyes fixed for the next 38 mins!

[Mud]

I have broadband if that makes a difference

so what minute of the bid should I show my hand

[Newbarnsleygirl]

Are you winning atm?

If not you need to be and just keep refreshing the page to make sure your still winning.

[Chandra]

What I do is to add the item to your watched items list but don't bid until the very end. If you see more than 4-5 previous bids you can assume that there should be someone else bidding at the last minute against you. So I check that the connection is fast and wait until the last minute (I have been named as the higher bidder a minute before the end of the auction and still somebody else got the item).

When you bid at the very last minute include the absolute highst that you will pay as there's no chance you can submit another bid. That doesn't mean that you will end up paying the full amount that you submited but maybe a few pence over your competitor's last bid).

[Mud]

no have lost at the moment - why do I need to be the current winner if I'm waiting till the end

thanks btw this is keeping me from doing something stupid like showing my hand too early

(game of poker later anyone - I'm the one who can't bluff )

[Mud]

28 mins left now

[Mud]

highest bid at mo is £23, I am thinking of putting my maximum in at £35 plus some pence - do ya think i have a chance?

[Mud]

seems quite a leap doesn' tit?

[Newbarnsleygirl]

Right if your gonna strike at the end make sure you leave a couple of minutes because if the other bidder has put a max bid in and it's a few pounds higher you could be spending your time putting bids in to win iyswim.

[Newbarnsleygirl]

Hope its good whatever your bidding for.

[Mud]

but I don't want to go beyond the £36 cos the postage is quite a lot and I don't think it'd be worth it tbh so I just whack that in as the max and if other bidder outbids I step away right? right?

[Chandra]

I bid for an espresso maker a couple of weeks ago, it was at 70 pounds 5 minutes before the end. I entered 136 which was my absolute maximum (machine was almost 300 pounds new) at the last minute. I won it for 126.... and then returned it a week later because it was faulty

[Newbarnsleygirl]

If your happy at that then yeah do that.

[Mud]

no I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT

I don't like losing

[Newbarnsleygirl]

Thats the thing with E-bay not only are you buying your playing a game. It can do bad things to your finances!

Put in a higher bid then if your happy to spend more.

[Mud]

arrgghhh gettingn close