OK, i've bought some "buy it now" stuff in the past, but actual "bidding" on stuff is a bit confusing to me. yesterday i was quite convinced I had won an item (there was 10 minutes to go), but got an email to say i didn't win, then 2 hours later an email telling me I was outbid. i cant sit in front of the flippin computer all day, Shouldn't I be notified of a better bid before the actual item is sold? Does my head in, looking at faster ways to get emailed like "skype" or something but i've enough crap on my pc already .

 

Is this normal, do I need to keep logging on to ebay within the final few minutes to be sure?

 

i've just found a similar item and don't wan't to be caught out again. I'm not naive, I know it's an auction, just looking for a few tips, cheers

There are settings on ebay, that can automatically outbid you, down to the last few seconds. ;)

There are settings on ebay, that can automatically outbid you, down to the last few seconds. ;)

 

Who's settings? Like a "virtual" bidder to hike the price up? I've never sold anything on ebay , maybe that's my problem, I don't know the tricks!

There is one very simple rule for ebay auctions.

Just bid what YOU want to pay for the item.

go strait in with that price.

the automatic bidding will only take what it needs from your bid up to your maximum. So for an item starting at ..... say £99.

If you are prepared to buy the item for .... say £200 then place a bid for £200 and walk away. If nobody else bids at all then you win it at £99. If someone else bids anything up to £200 then you still win. If someone else bids MORE than £200 then you dont get the item. But thats OK cos you didnt want to pay any more for it anyway.

Thats it really. Dont bother with any advanced stuff etc .

The basic rule which is never broken is ..."the highest bidder wins". If you enter the maximum bid you are prepared to pay strait away then you dont need to look again till after its all finished.

When you look after its finished there are only two possibilities. 1. You have won at a price you were happy with, or even a bargain price on occasion. :nana2:

2. You have not won the item cos some other silly sod paid more than it was worth for it. :rofl:

There is one very simple rule for ebay auctions.

Just bid what YOU want to pay for the item.

go strait in with that price.

the automatic bidding will only take what it needs from your bid up to your maximum. So for an item starting at ..... say £99.

If you are prepared to buy the item for .... say £200 then place a bid for £200 and walk away. If nobody else bids at all then you win it at £99. If someone else bids anything up to £200 then you still win. If someone else bids MORE than £200 then you dont get the item. But thats OK cos you didnt want to pay any more for it anyway.

Thats it really. Dont bother with any advanced stuff etc .

The basic rule which is never broken is ..."the highest bidder wins". If you enter the maximum bid you are prepared to pay strait away then you dont need to look again till after its all finished.

When you look after its finished there are only two possibilities. 1. You have won at a price you were happy with, or even a bargain price on occasion. :nana2:

2. You have not won the item cos some other silly sod paid more than it was worth for it. :rofl:

 

 

although this is very sound advice from the old master.... There are tools out there that can help you.

 

Once you commit to making a bid, someone has a target to beat, this is frustrating when someone comes in with only 30 seconds to go and out bids you so you have no time to respond. hence you lose the auction in the dying seconds.

 

I use AuctionSnipe which leaves it 'till the very last seconds (usually 5 seconds before the auction ends) then uses the auto bid up to your maxmum bid. Since it's in the last 5 seconds of the auction - there is never a chance of premeturely inflating the bid.

 

Then by also using the good advice of Master Pete of setting your self a maximum bid - you will never get stung.

 

just my 2c's worth

early bidding pushes the price up. If you want a bargain set in your mind you highest price and stick to it. Launch the bid in the last 10 seconds or so of the auction. If you aren't around at the time use a sniping tool like just snipe (see above Post ^^^). That way you can get things for less. Also look for bargains ending at odd times of the day like sunday mornings when nobody else is about. Again a sniping tool can be used for winning auctions at absolute bargain prices at these times.

Some VERY helpful advice there from all of you. Thankyou :)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290189812713&ssPageName=ADME:B:BCA:GB:1123

 

So what would you do here? 21 bids, I bid £201 about 2 hours ago, so this seems a popular item. I haven't done the maximum bid as Pete said, although i want to.

go here, new is only £299 look in the second hand section also, the guy is a synth genius has biggest synth collection in the uk, he can source them cheaper than buying off ebay also, and youget a warrantee and guarantee

 

http://www.aues21.dsl.pipex.com//synthkeyboards.htm

Ive got some advice. go shop around and dont use ebay.

Wait till the last 45 seconds then bit the maximum you'd pay.

 

Bid earlier and they can use a second account to increase your bid in small increments then retract the last one when they actually outbid you.

'bid' not 'bit'

^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Yep I always do that, place my bid in the last last seconds! Has backfired a couple of times mind when the bloody PC has frozen or something lol

^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Yep I always do that, place my bid in the last last seconds! Has backfired a couple of times mind when the bloody PC has frozen or something lol

 

use auction snipe and that will never happen to you again

Having bought and sold tons of stuff on ebay, I'd recommend for occasional use (bidding that is) an auction sniper. I use bidnapper or hammersnipe which automatically bid for you 3 or 4 seconds before the end of the auction and will only bid the highest price needed to secure the item. You simply put the highest price you want to pay and the website does the rest. No sitting waiting. Your computer doesn't even need to be on. Some sites will even send you a text or email when the auction has gone beyond your maximum bid. I believe the sites are better than the software versions which mean you need to leave your computer on.

Bidburglar is another late way of stealing the bidding

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290189812713&ssPageName=ADME:B:BCA:GB:1123

 

So what would you do here? 21 bids, I bid £201 about 2 hours ago, so this seems a popular item. I haven't done the maximum bid as Pete said, although i want to.

 

I find this a bit strange as, when I clicked on your link, the item in question had a 'buy-it-now' price of £185? :confused:

Why would you bid an auction price of £201 when you could have bought it immediately for £185?

 

I realise the auction for this item has now ended and it shows '0' bids, not the 21+ that I would have expected to see.

cheers for the help folks ;) To be honest i think ebay is a major pain in the ass. I bought the item I posted up about on a deal i did with the seller, paid for it, came back 3 hours later to find a string of emails from the guy telling me my address wasn't right, I left him short postage money, i was wasting his time etc. etc. so he sent my money back telling me he didn't have time to waste this close to xmas :rant: (reckon he must have got a better offer)

 

absolute *****x. I never waste time, if I want something i pay for it and don't mess people about.

 

@artdav, think you have a point!

As I mentioned already i usually only go for the "buy it now" option, think i'll stick with that in the future

I find this a bit strange as, when I clicked on your link, the item in question had a 'buy-it-now' price of £185? :confused:

.

That wasn't there before ;) bet he's sorry now!

greedy fooker. i wonder if I should email him back and point out his auction has ended and there was no buyer even though i had sent him £250 which he sent back to me :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: