Sniped On EBay - How'd they do that?

Mark Vinbury · Post by **Mark Vinbury** » 6 Mar 2006 7:10 pm

Keith how does that work if two people are doing the same routine? That is throwing in a high bid at the last few seconds.
The bidding is at $400 you drop in at $800 and someone else does the same thing only they went to $775.Now your paying $776 for a $400 item.Am I missing somthing?

Post by **Joey Ace** » 6 Mar 2006 7:50 pm

Mark, you described exactly how it works.

The only thing that might be different is the "bid increment".
In your example it was $1. The seller can specify a different "Bid Increment".

If I'm selling that $400 item, I'm happy.

If someone was willing to pay $800 for it, but got it for only $776 they should be happy too.[This message was edited by Joey Ace on 06 March 2006 at 07:57 PM.]

Mark Vinbury · Post by **Mark Vinbury** » 7 Mar 2006 3:31 am

I guess the upshot of it is you have to be willing to pay your high bid and not just use it as a way to win by a few bucks.
You can put that high bid in any time. No need to wait till the last few seconds.

Keith Cordell · Post by **Keith Cordell** » 7 Mar 2006 4:55 am

No Mark, I wouldn't put a bid of $800 on a $400 item. The reason I wait is if you bid high early someone can go $1 over to get the item, whereas if I wait til the last few seconds they don't have time to put in a last second bid; it's human nature to try and get by cheap, but it's also human nature to want to win and sometimes hurt yourself to do it. Bidding wars that we've seen on some items are a good example of what I mean. Guys let their emotions run aaway with them and they end up spending WAY more on a piece than makes sense. $2000 D8 Stringmasters come to mind, or the $1000 maverick we saw last year that never got paid for. I avoid all that by waiting. If it goes higher than I am willing to pay, I just wait for another one- one great thing about Ebay, there is ALWAYS another one coming, eventually.

Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 7 Mar 2006 6:13 am

If someone was willing to pay $800 for it, but got it for only $776 they should be happy too.

The secret is, to not bid more than you are willing to pay. If you bid $800 as a feint, but get stuck with it, you've played your hand. Trouble is, it's not a poker game.