Why do Ebay buyers prefer free postage?

[tectonicplates]

Really, I just don't get it. Bearing in mind that I'm just a personal seller getting rid of a few odds and ends, mainly worn clothes - the sort of stuff that people wouldn't really be returning anyway.

If there's an item that's £7 plus £3 postage, and someone else is selling the same item for £10 with free postage, the £10 one will always sell first. Why? Surely it costs the same in total?

I sell everything with free postage now because I know people prefer it, but I've upped my prices accordingly so that I make the same amount in the end. Actually it's reduced a lot of worry for me because it means I can just estimate the cost and not worry about being accused of overcharging, but that's really besides the point.

I guess it's just a fluke that I win so many auctions (manual bidding only in last 10 seconds) while watching the seeming sniper go up in steady increments rather than immediately bid their real max.

It always goes up in increments to the maximum - it won't bid the maximum straight away.

Do most people really think that way
It's not a conscious thought process.

I guess you're right, Toomany. Just seems odd to watch, why go up in increments & not immediately leap to their bid which is 2nd highest bid. The later I leave my last minute manual bid, the less I pay, I find.

For me it depends on how likely I am to want to return the item. If I’m buying clothes from an eBay shop (not usually a one off seller) and I know I might want to return them if they don’t fit, if I bought a £10 item with free post, i’d get a £10 refund. If I bought a £7 item with £3 post i’d get a £7 refund, as most sellers only refund postage if the item was faulty.

And then there's the shite about not bidding until the last second even though it's the highest bid that wins not the latest.

I do this to hide the fact that there’s interest in the item. So if there’s one person bidding on an item I want, I’ll hold off until the last second. Then that person is maybe more relaxed if they think no one else is interested. So they’re less likely to be monitoring the last seconds of the auction, and therefore less likely to see I’m winning and increase their maximum bid. That’s my theory anyway.

Regarding "sniping", whenever you bid you give information about how much you think the item is worth. The bidding system on eBay shows everyone the price that's slightly more than the second-highest bidder. Other bidders may increase how much they think the item is worth in response to this information.

By sniping you deny others the opportunity to act on the information. I don't think it really increases the chance of you winning, but it decreases the price the winner is likely to pay.

if sheila bid 9.20 last tuesday but at present it is sitting at £8.30 and bill bids a max of £9 with 1 minute to go sheilas bid immediately jumps to 9.20 so now bill has time to enter 9.40 and win; however if sheila had set a snipe at 9.20 with 5 seconds to go when bill bids with a minute to go he would be showing as the highest bidder at £8.50 so when sheilas bid at 9.20 was displayed with 5 seconds to go he no longer has time to enter 9.40 so sheila wins

Despite buying odd things from eBay since around 2004 until this weekend I've never sold. 2 items sold but neither bidder has paid the money. Is that common?