Bidding on Ebay to Lose

[easysurfer]

I just set up a snipe bid on Ebay but hope I don't win .

I don't intend to win and an eventual bidder will more than likely pass me up, but the item is just too good of a steal (at current bid price) to not bid on .

 

[ziggy29]

I know the feeling, and it's also why after a few years you wonder where all the "stuff" came from. That's when the old rule of getting rid of something every time you pick up something new makes sense.

 

[breger1]

Good luck in not winning?

 

[Walt34]

I did that once but did hope I'd win the auction. It was for a camera strobe light, a $200 minimum bid. Similar lights normally went in the $300 range and several auctions were in progress for the identical item. Strangely, no one picked up on "my" auction and I won the bid! Go figure, but I was happy, the seller was happy, so good deal all around.

Stuff happens, sometimes it's good stuff.

 

[easysurfer]

Good luck in not winning?

Thanks for the bad luck wish .

 

[ziggy29]

Thanks for the bad luck wish .

For what it's worth, I've done this, too. I rationalized it thusly: If I didn't even bid, I'd later regret passing on the chance. If I put in a low ball bid and lost, at least I know I tried.

 

[easysurfer]

Okay, I'll give a bit more detail. I'm snipe bidding on a point and shoot camera (out several years ago), highly rated, awesome zoom. I thought about bidding to win but after some researching, I really want another camera (more features, but at this time too expensive for my blood).

Yet at the same time, if somehow others stop bidding on the camera I really don't need or want, too good of a deal to pass up.

As, I said, my prediction is I'd get outbid anyhow. Will know before bedtime tonight.

 

[easysurfer]

For what it's worth, I've done this, too. I rationalized it thusly: If I didn't even bid, I'd later regret passing on the chance. If I put in a low ball bid and lost, at least I know I tried.

I feel your past conflicted experience .

 

[COcheesehead]

If there is something I want and I don't want to wait out the bidding process, as long as there are no other bids, I ask the seller if they have a buy it now price. Sometimes they do, sometimes they want the auction to play out. I have had times where I have made an offer and the seller says no, only to have them relist it multiple times. The price is what the market is willing to pay, not what people think it should be.

 

[easysurfer]

If there is something I want and I don't want to wait out the bidding process, as long as there are no other bids, I ask the seller if they have a buy it now price. Sometimes they do, sometimes they want the auction to play out. I have had times where I have made an offer and the seller says no, only to have them relist it multiple times. The price is what the market is willing to pay, not what people think it should be.

I've had success buying things on ebay with a "make offer" option. Some sellers are happy to make a sale and take the item off their hands rather than having to take the time to relist if no one bids or bids don't match the offer.

 

[easysurfer]

Good news! I didn't win the auction. The winner outbid me by about $7.50.

At least I tried .