Hep me decide how to bid for this dress for DD

[KatyMac]

it's here

She thinks it's wonderful & with a bit of altering she will actually wear it a fair bit (she is a competitive ballroom dancer & if it was shortened with less underskirt it would be wonderful)

So it's her money, she is 13, any top tips?

Decide a final price before you bid and don't go over that, even if it goes to a final second bidding frenzy.

It could be that the price you have in mind doesn't match the reserve she's set anyway, which will be over £50.

Or you could just contact the buyer and offer a price outside of ebay (as it's pick up anyway) - if she accepts then she doesn't have to pay ebay charges.

It's not a specific dance dress though, so if this is what your daughter needs it for then it won't have the 'give' it needs.

I know - it should be OK for Ballroom tho', probably not for latin

But the ballroom/latin dresses are so bare & so expensive that we look for things that can be altered

Ah, yes that makes sense. Too long for latin anyway.

Hope you get it :)

I wish there was a cheap way to source & buy dance dresses on-line

Is there anyone on Etsy or in your local area that can make them for you?

You will have to get friendly with somebody in a local 6thform or college that does courses where people could make them.

My mantra with ebay is bid once, bid late (last 20 or 30 seconds) and bid as high as you are genuinely prepared to pay. There is absolutely no point in bidding early as then you just get people bidding up in little increments to see how far it will go.

It usually works for me, unless whatever it is really is worth a lot more than I am prepared to pay for it.

I have explained to DD that it is probably very expensive, but we will have to wait & see

Bidding late was my thought too

It's difficult to get them made as the time involved is very high

But there are people who genuinely like sewing (I don't understand it) and would relish the chance of making something beautiful from beautiful fabrics. There must be some here on Mumsnet.

/no advice, but I really love the dress. :)

I do as exexpat says, but also get in touch with the buyer & see what the reserve price is, afaik there's no rule that says they can't tell you. Then at least you can decide if you're prepared to pay that much. It's a pretty dress.

Bid as late as you can i.e with 8 seconds to go and bid your highest.

Or use a snipe site.

'snipe site.'

What's that?

The reserve is £100

So it's a non-starter

Thanks everyone; now I get to explain to DD

It didn't sell

Message the seller and offer what your daughter is prepared to pay - you might be lucky!

She hasn't got anything like that amount

DD saw "99p" & got excited bless