Need quick replies please, Ebay question

[hdidt]

Posted here as bid is ending in an hour..

I have never used ebay before so not really sure how it all works, I have been reading up on bidding and wanted to check I have this right in my head before I do this.

I have seen something I would like to get my daughter for xmas, Without giving too much away she collects memorabilia of a certain tv show and this is a very rare item that she has been looking for for years. No option to buy it now so will have to bid.

What I am not clear on is the actual bidding side of it, Say I have a price in my head that is the maximum I am willing to pay for it, going to say £500 just as an example, Do I bid £500 straight away or a lower amount and keep making it higher? Also, is it better to leave it until near the end to bid or bid now?

Do not bid anything yet. Wait till the last 10 seconds and put the absolute maximum you are willing to pay. You may not end up paying anything like that much but it's annoying if it sells for e.g. £505 and you would have been willing to pay that much

What is it???

There are clearly two schools of thought on this! Personally I use snipers to avoid getting into a bidding war.

I just put my max bid on and walk away and do something else.

Good luck!

I think there sounds like there’s a lot of interest. I would use an 3rd party sniper service (where they automatically bid for you at the last few seconds). A last minute manual bid can’t out do them.
The benefit of doing last minute is that it an lull others into a sense of security and not give them a chance to consider upping their maximum bid

I’ve used Gixen before successfully and it’s free. Just go to their website and put in the item number

Definitely wait until almost the close of the auction, but not within the last 10-30 secs. All it takes is your internet to be slow for that 10sec and you've missed out. Go in the last couple of minutes for sure, but not the dying seconds.

And yes to thinking what the absolute maximum would be if someone else was prepared to pay eg. £500 (remembering your won’t necessarily end up paying that).
And make it an unusual amount eg £503.76 instead of £500

I am selling something just now and I am hoping for a flurry just before the end. We shall see!

Don't do what I did a few weeks ago and put your highest bid on three identical items thinking you won't win anyway of them, only to then win all 3 and have to pay for all of them 😄 good luck, I hope you get it

@sapnupuas

What is it???

No,don't say what it is!

Anyone can read this, you don't want people knowing what you're after.

Make your biggest bid at 8 seconds before the whole thing ends.

So if it's on £200 at 8 seconds to go bid £500.

Good idea to practice on an auction on something else ending before as well. I also would wait until the last seconds before putting in absolute max price + 3.26 or something random in case someone has matching top

Yes don’t post on here if you want to win it

I always leave it till the last 12 seconds then go in with my maximum amount. Any earlier than that and the other bidder has time to outbid you.

Only wait until the last 5-10 seconds if you have a high spec device that will refresh the page with your bid in time.

I’ve worked out I need to put the bid in in the last 12 seconds on my phone, and I need to have refreshed the page a couple of times before that.

Those of you who use snipe software - what happens if two people use a snipe to place the same bid? Who gets the item?

The earlier you bid, the more people will be tempted to start a bidding war and drive the price up, sometimes beyond the actual value. I decide what is the maximum I’m willing to pay and place that bid with about 20s to go.

What’s snipe???? Op fingers crossed you get it!

I use Gixen. It's a free automatic bid site that places my bid for me 6 seconds before the end of the auction. I just put in the max I'm prepared to pay and forget about it.

Bidding early just tends to push the price up.

@FamilyOfAliens whichever bid is received first by the eBay server will win. Could be microseconds.

Just bid the maximum amount you’re prepared to pay.

If you want a rare item at a bargain price that just isn’t going to happen.

Chances are if it’s rare and collectible the Seller has already got his friend or cousin to bid it up high anyway. It’s called shill bidding and it’s been happening since 2002, ebay have never really disabled it, despite it being frowned on.

If you're going to be around as the end of auction then your best bet is to wait till the last 10 seconds and bid slightly over the highest you want to pay: so 40? Bid £41:27.
If you really want it be prepared to be flexible. If something I want is at 40 in the last 10 seconds I ask myself of I want it enough to pay an extra 20. If I do then I bid 61.26. usually it means I win the the auction at 43 or something, but if the thing is popular I can end up paying more.

Bidding once in the final few seconds works best. Just a reminder that you add your bid then you click ‘review bid’ and you need to confirm it before it is actually placed. So you need to allow a few seconds for that

Do expect a flurry of activity at the end. Good luck

Think this has been mentioned but I would bid to the max you’d pay EG £500 but I would personally bid it to £506 (plus pence maybe 47p if you can) as you are more likely to win if somebody else also has a max of £500. Makes it slightly higher and a unique that may win you the bid by a few £ or pence

Hope you win! 🤞🏻

I meant after!

Did you win?