Bidding online to buy something

[Colourfulpens]

I have an honest question everyone.

When you bid for an item on eBay (or wherever else) why do you make bids like 3-4 days before the bidding ends or even a day before or even an hour before?

This will only result in higher and higher bids that will increase the amount the item will be sold.

In my mind, a wise bidder should stay silent until 10sec before the item expires and then bid for it.

Can you please explain to me what are you all thinking about it and if I am unreasonable?

YABU - Bidding shouldn’t be at the last minute

YANBU - If you want to get it as cheap as you can bidding should not happen until seconds before the item expires

I agree. If you have a maximum bid in your mind of £10 (for example) why would you play your cards too soon, and have someone else bid you up to the maximum? If you wait until the last minute, this hypothetical person who also wants the item might feel comfortable bidding £5 (having no need to go higher, as no one else has bid) and you can swoop in and win. I can never understand the argument for “your maximum is your maximum no matter how far in advance you bid”

Because I may not always be available at the time of the end of auction? I've done both tbh but also have missed out on stuff because I forgot the auction was ending, still makes me sad for some(as I would have paid over what maximum bid it went for)

Sometimes I will stick a small bid on to gauge interest. I’ve been caught out before absolutely loving an item only to have it snatched away. I’d rather know in advance not to get my hopes too high so I’ll sometimes stick a bit on. If it stays quiet then I will then hover and bid up with seconds to spare. However, if I bid and it then ends up with a couple of bidders pushing the price up I unwatch and walk away. It just saves me getting my hopes up or getting too carried away as the item ends. I been guilty of going too high in the last minute too and regretting spending too much.

Newbie mistake?

YABU because until a bid is made the item can be removed from sale or revised with no penalty. Sometimes I’ll bid so it can’t be withdrawn.

It depends on the item and how likely you are to forget when the auction ends.

If no one else is likely to bid I would agree but have missed out on items I would have bid on because I forgot about it and have had items withdrawn that I intended to bid on.

And if it’s an item you know others will want and is sought after (so price less of an issue than scarcity) then I would much rather get in early and put in a high bid to scare others off.

@zusjeBecause I may not always be available at the time of the end of auction? I've done both tbh but also have missed out on stuff because I forgot the auction was ending, still makes me sad for some(as I would have paid over what maximum bid it went for) - there are snipe tools you can use so you don't actually have to be present for the auction end - just enter the maximum you want to pay and the bidding is done for you

As a seller, it helps if somebody has put a bid in early because it shows that there is interest in my item. As a buyer, I sometimes bid early if I particularly want an item and I don't want to run the risk of the seller pulling the auction early due to no bids.
Even though you can watch an item, as an experienced seller, I know that watchers don't necessarily turn into buyers, so, if there is something I want to purchase, I'll always put a bid in early (especially if the starting price is low) so that the seller knows there is interest in the item and won't pull it from auction. Sellers now have to pay a certain amount if they pull an item that already has bids on it, so it makes it more likely the item will still be available if it's got a bid on it.

Fair point regarding seller pulling an item from auction.

However, when there is already a bid there from someone else, then why people don’t bid the last second and keep increasing the price stupidly days before an item expires?

I really don’t get it!

They're using it as they're supposed to. It's those who try to bid as late as possible who aren't doing it right.

It's the highest bid that wins, not the latest, and the system makes it that the winner pays the price of the next highest bid plus one increment, whatever time they bid, although if two people bid the same amount, the earliest bid wins.

Whenever you bid, you only win if no-one else bids any higher than you. Most items do find their market price, so if you underbid late in the hope that no-one else will bid, you'll often find yourself outbid, because someone else is prepared to pay more for the item.

It's rare that anyone wins due to being the only winner, and it's likely you'll have to bid on multiple items until you find that you can win one for a low price with no competition. By then you might wish that you'd have saved yourself the hassle and just bid a little more in the first place.

Mainly because I can't be bothered faffing about at the last minute, and I am not overly bothered whether I win or not. For example, I buy children's wetsuits when I spot them, often several sizes too big, for future use because they're the sort of thing they wear a few times and then grow out of. I don't need it then, but if I see one I stick a bid on, don't want to pay more than the max I put it in anyway, and then don't have to think about it until I am notified of the outcome. Takes up much less headspace.

I put in my first bid and also my final bid and eBay automatically bids for me if someone else bids higher than my initial bid. I assumed most people were like me!

Sometimes, I'll put an extra bid in before the end of the auction to kind of try to scare other buyers off! It doesn't always work, but, when it does, I can end up with some really good deals.
Also, don't you think that sellers deserve to make as much money as they can for their items? I work hard on my listings - harder than many I'd say, in that I type out full track listings for music items etc, why shouldn't I hope to receive as much as possible for my items? I prefer it (obviously) when people bid early on!