Ebay frustrations

[chefdoug]

I can't take it anymore!! >:(Is it impossible to win an auction anymore? I have been sniped one too many times, so I tried a little payback and I still got nailed with seconds left by $.05, I didn't even know you can place a bid that low. I was about to land a 22" 2002 Paiste Ride for $170, and now I got nuttin'. I am not the most experience Ebayer but is there a trick to winning these things?

[Louis Russell]

Well, I get the same problem sometimes.  My theory is I first check out the seller, then research the item, and then I decide what I would pay for the item.  That is my one and only bid.  If someone wants to pay more that is fine because I have already decided what I want to pay.  Don't worry, life is too short.  

[agogobil]

Well, I get the same problem sometimes.  My theory is I first check out the seller, then research the item, and then I decide what I would pay for the item.  That is my one and only bid.  If someone wants to pay more that is fine because I have already decided what I want to pay.  Don't worry, life is too short.  

EXACTLY.  Bid your best and be happy with it.  I wound up getting a much better deal on an auction a week after a "snipe";  I was also contacted by the seller on another auction after the winner bailed,  so yaneverknow ...  

[Todd Norris]

Agreed.  You have to set an upper limit and just stick to it.  There's always somebody who will bid it up in the final minute.  If you're not careful you'll bid way more than you really intended to.  

Patience young Jedi, patience!  

If I really want an item, I don't bid until the final minute, then throw in my best bid and hope for the best.  I don't like to tip off an item that doesn't have much action on it.  If it has a lot of action, then I go ahead and throw my best bid in whenever.  I've also lucked out on a few "buy it now's" where I feel the price is below what the bidding should reach based on similar sales.  

I just lost an auction on a cymbal a few days ago, but I just had to stick to my guns on my limit.  There's none of that model available right now so I just have to wait it out.  I've seen them before and it will appear again...

[Danno]

I agree with everyone's advice so far. Here's my personal strategy --

Never buy from anyone with less than 98% positive feedback.

E-mail the seller a question before you bid, even if you have to make one up. If the e-mail you get back is anything less than friendly and helpful (or if you don't get any response at all), don't bid.

Read the seller's feedback, especially any negatives.

Go to "Advanced Search" on eBay and type in "2002 paiste ride", then check the box marked "Completed listings only" and hit Search, and you'll get a listing of every 2002 Paiste ride that sold in the last two weeks and how much it sold for.

Figure out your maximum bid, and then wait until 45 seconds before the auction's end to bid. For a nearly-new item like that 22" ride, be prepared to spend about 65% of its Musician's Friend price ($190 in this case, since a new one is $290) if you really want it. If your top bid is $175, you're gonna have to be patient.

Friday evenings and weekday mornings are the best times to win something, when everyone's either out on the town or at work.

Also, do a very basic search by going to eBay's site map, then clicking Musical Instruments, then Cymbals. You'll see every cymbal on eBay INCLUDING misspelled listings like Pieste and Cymbol -- other bidders searching keywords like 'Paiste' or 'ride cymbal' won't ever see these listings, so you'll have a much better shot at winning these items because regular searches don't turn them up.

I just did an eBay search in Musical Instruments for the word "cymbol" and got 9 listings back. Mostly for "cymbol stand", but you never know what treasure you'll find. And most of those "cymbol stands" have one or no bids on them because hardly anyone can find the listings, so you could snag them cheap.

[Stewart Manley]

Lots of good avice from Danno and others. The only thing I would modify is this:

Figure out your maximum bid, and then wait until 45 seconds before the auction's end to bid.

If you really, really want something (and you've done all your research, and are within the bid cap you've decided on) then 45 seconds is not late enough. Here's what I do.

Open the listing in a browser window with a couple of minutes to go. From there hit Ctr+N to open a new browser window, which will also have the listing in it. Resize the windows so they sit side-by-side. In the right-hand window, hit the "Place Bid >" button. Enter your maximum bid, and press the "Continue >" button. You'll then be at the "Confirm bid" step. Click in the left hand window to get the focus back into it, but leave your mouse pointer hovering over the "Confirm" button in the right hand window. Now press F5 repeatedly to refresh the left hand window. Depending on the responsiveness (how busy eBay is, how fast your connection is, etc) you now leave things as late as possible. I can get it down to less than 15 sec from the end of listing. Once you're there, stab the mouse button to confirm the bid in the right hand window (this is why you leave the mouse pointer hovering over the confirm button in that window).

This has the advantage that you don't leave yourself enough time to over-bid, thus completely removing that temptation.

And the reason for the odd amounts like $0.05 is this: assume the current bid is, say, $40 and eBay is asking for bid increments of $5 (it has an algorithm for this based on the current price). Let's say you decide you will bid up to $50 for the item. It may well be that the current high bidder also set an upper limit of $50, in whch case he will win because he bid that first. By making your top bid $50.05 you can mitigate that risk.

You can, of course, do all that I've described in software.  http://www.bidnapper.com]Bidnapper , for example, allows you to set all this up in advance and it will take care of all the details - useful for listings that finish when you're not in front of the computer. But you'd have to pay for the service.

Finally, when you're doing your research and setting your upper limit, don't forget to take shipping into account. If you could drive ten minutes to a store and get something for $100, there's little point in thinking you have a bargain with a top bid of $90 if the shipping is more than $10.

[David Crigger]

Myself - Since I started using ESnipe, I have no desire to ever bid conventionally again.

The seller in an Ebay auction enjoys such a great advantage over the buyer - the buyer doesn't get to examine the item, the buyer must pay first - added to the "let's see who can win" bidding frenzy mentality that seems to take over people in any "open" auction.

E-Snipe allows me to make my bid - basically part of a "secret bid" style auction without out also having to hover around my computer at all hours.

Also it keeps me from getting sucked into the bidding frenzy bit myself.

Esnipe costs 1% of the auction with a min. of $.25 and max. of $10.00. And for me has been worth every penny.

1. I find an item I want and I decide the absolute highest I'm willing to pay - this has got to be the REAL amount - not some "Well I might have gone $50 more". The number that if you lose, you'll be able to go - "fine, any more than that would be stupid, I'll just wait for the next one to show up"

2. I then place the bid with E-Snipe - which holds it till 6 sec. before the close - and I either win or lose. Done.

Besides the convenience, the beautiful thing about this compared to just a single proxy bid placed days earlier - is that other buyers aren't able to use your bid to stew over for days - going "hmm, maybe $20 more....hmm, maybe another $50 more".

Sorry but it is not my resposibility as a potential buyer to help goad other potential buyers into thinking something is worth any given amount.

Finally, the getting beat by some small amount thing - because of the nature of proxy bids - if you are the second highest bidder, you will always lose by some small amount. But that doesn't tell you anything about the height of the winner's proxy bid.

Similar to poker, the only way to see how high his bid goes is to put more and more money on the table - an action that sellers are always dreaming about and hoping for.

David

[drummer1202]

I have to admit it, I'm a sniper. (it wasn't me with the ride though - in case you were wondering) I never bid on anything if it has more than 1 minute to go.  I usually win.  The only exception I make to that is with large items that are pick-up only, like furniture.  You have far less compitition with those items.


The way someone outbids you for less than the increment allowed is the 2 people's max bids are seperated by less than 1 bid increment.  Let's say you bid $100 on something as your max. Bidding is at $95 and you are winning with one minute left.  Now I want to bid.  I have to bid at least $96.  I enter a bid for $100.02 with seconds to go - and your up that dirty creek!  All for $0.02!!!  If you had only known!!  

I look at how much the item has sold for in the past and ballpark a number around my maximum that I like - never an even number.  $123.89 or $45.87, never $50.00.   Many people place bids of $50.00 or $100.02.  And if someone places the same bid as you only earlier - you lose.

Bidding early only helps sellers.  I don't do it.  Sorry sellers.  Put a reserve or a min. start and you are covered when selling.

And huge tip about checking for wrong spelling / miscatagorized items!  I've gotten $400.00 items for like $100 from people that just didn't know what they had and therefore didn't list it properly.


8) Don't hate the player - Hate the game!  8)

[felix]

yep, ebaying has changed quite a bit.  I'm more into selling now.  I'm always surprised to see no bids, no bids, no bids and the next day something sold for an unbelievable amount (I'm getting rid of a bunch of electronic and drum gear).  Then *poof* it used to be all money orders, now with this paypal deal I have a little ebay account I'm building faster than I expected.  Kinda fun.

[Bart Elliott]

Just a reminder .... FELIX ... and other VIP Members ... if you are selling music gear on eBay, be sure that you send me your eBay username so I can add you to our  http://www.drummercafe.com/main/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=16]Drummer Cafe eBay Portal . VIP Members have access to this feature, which will display your "eBay for sale" items here at the Drummer Cafe ... as long as they are music related.

[smoggrocks]

my first and only time on ebay, i felt like i was in vegas. and i am really bad at gambling, so i just clicked 'buy it now' coz the price was good, and that was that. i really don't have the time or desire to keep checking in.

i'm amazed some of you have developed such advanced tactics for getting around the auction sitch.

and cheffy d., don't feel too bad: after purchasing my akg bass drum mic on ebay, which arrived quickly and in perfect condition... i lost it. have searched high and low, in and out, and nothing's come up. i think in my work-induced stupor, i put the box near the trash and inadvertently threw it out. i'm really hoping it'll show up underneath something, but for now the sitch looks grim.

[drummer1202]

8) Don't hate the player - Hate the game!  8)

MAN!!! I lost one... And I'm ticked off.  But I carry the satisfaction of knowing that other person is going to have to pay over $40 instead of $5.  The seller should thank me.

>:( hating the game, my friend, hating the game

[felix]

Ok I have a few more auctions coming up.

[Vintage Ludwig]

My tactics are simple.  First, if its something I want I will pay strict attention to the auction.  I also place a rediculous bid-and if its something I absolutely want-I could care less how much I end up paying.  Works every time..........22" pAisTe ride for 170?  If its a 70s ride I would have bid $218.01-  If it was a 24", and was clean w/ no issues and black logos intact-I would have bid easily 300-400.  It just depends how bad you want something.  I have no prob. paying too much, and I dont care-as long as I get it-Im most happy when I get what I want-I have followed that throughout my life, and it works-

[Rick]

...I have no prob. paying too much, and I dont care-as long as I get it-Im most happy when I get what I want-I have followed that throughout my life, and it works-

If you have the money...

The problem with ebay is when you see something at a really low price and bid on it, you have the mindset that your getting a great deal. Then as the days go buy, the price goes up, but you still feal like it's a good deal.  You just have to stop the bids when it gets too close to retail price. It's easy to let your adrenalin take over because you can't let that "good deal" pass you by. Usually at that point, it's not such a good deal anymore.

I was looking to buy one of those cheapo Dell PC's for my son. Dell sells 'em for around $399 w/ free shipping. Their all over ebay starting at $.99. By the time the auctions end, their going for sometimes over $500, plus shipping. Unbelievable.

[chefdoug]

All good advice, and I usually do alot of what is said here. I just needed to vent. I go in thinking that if I don't get a really good deal(plus factoring in shipping) then it's not worth it. It's just kinda aggrevating when folks who are doing it conventionally have no chance because of a sniping program.  Case in point, I have been watching Pork Pie big black snares and they all wind up costing more than what I just paid for one at Guitar Center. I almost had one for $140, I was the only bidder, and some guy out bids me with 30 seconds left and it goes up to $190. With shipping, that comes to almost the $230 I paid for a new one at GC.

[Jon E]

[size=3
]Man, I just landed a 22" 2002 Paiste Ride for $170.05!!  

It is SO sweet.  Awesome!!  Ebay rules!![/size]
j/k chef.

I feel your pain though.  I've been sniped a few times too.

[chefdoug]

I KNEW IT!!! :o ;D