Buying from Ebay

[CaliKid]

I used to do a lot of Ebay buying, when most stuff was auctioned off, and I used Justsnipe. It was free and very easy to use. Now, most stuff is buy it now. Also, many sellers will accept lower offers even if they don't have the make an offer tab. Just shoot them a pm and ask. Good luck.

 

[RobbieB]

I just use the max bid. I put in the max I want to pay and that is that. Lots of times I get outbid and I could care less. They must want it more than I do.

 

[walkinwood]

I just use the max bid. I put in the max I want to pay and that is that. Lots of times I get outbid and I could care less. They must want it more than I do.

that's what I do too. Determine the max I'm willing to pay and let ebay do the "sniping" for me. From what I've read, ebay's max bid beats sniping software.

ie, if I want to bid a max of $100, the only way I lose is if someone is willing to bid $100.01 or more. Am I mistaken?

 

[hesperus]

Sorry to disagree, but this is a recipe for paying too much or, worse, for losing the item unnecessarily.

The reason is people's psychology: The current top bidder may have bid exactly what you see on the screen. If you go in with a bid that tops his, he will be tempted to outbid you. He may bid many times, increasing his bid $1 each time until he finds your highest bid and tops it or he gives up. If, instead, you had not shown your cards until snipe time, it is impossible for him to do this.

+1 Exactly.
You don't show your hand until it's almost too late for other bidders to respond. If I really want something, I know upfront what I'm willing to pay and wait until the last 30 seconds or so of the auction (since I'm retired, I usually can be present) then snipe a bid with like 7-10 seconds remaining. I have occasionally been outsniped, but not very often using this tactic. I'll have to look at the JBidwatcher that oldshooter mentioned.

 

[Senator]

that's what I do too. Determine the max I'm willing to pay and let ebay do the "sniping" for me. From what I've read, ebay's max bid beats sniping software.

ie, if I want to bid a max of $100, the only way I lose is if someone is willing to bid $100.01 or more. Am I mistaken?

That is true. Even if there is a $5 bid increment limit. A 0.01 over will beat you if it is the max.

 

[Souschef]

I love eBay! I just bought a voltage regulator for a 1941 switch engine.
After my DW passed away, I sold her collection of Swarovski on eBay, as I had no use for them or anyone to give them to.
I have bought any number of items for my present DW there, including cosmetics, and any other thing she wanted.

 

[CaliKid]

that's what I do too. Determine the max I'm willing to pay and let ebay do the "sniping" for me. From what I've read, ebay's max bid beats sniping software.

ie, if I want to bid a max of $100, the only way I lose is if someone is willing to bid $100.01 or more. Am I mistaken?

The problem is a lot of people manually bid so by putting in your bid early you are bidding up the price as people see what you are bidding. When you snipe, with 3 seconds left, there is much less chance of a casual manual bidder bidding. Only people watching the auction. You can set your snipes in justsnipe and it works exactly the same as if bidding in Ebay but you don't show your hand. For higher dollar things not sniping it silly as you are, on average, going to throw away some money. If money doesn't matter then don't bother with the snip service as it does take a few seconds to copy the Ebay auction number into the snipe service.

 

[DrRoy]

I don't use software, but if I buy something on Ebay I always snipe manually. Why give the other person time to think about bidding more?

 

[brucethebroker]

I don't like buying from small-time sellers I dont know so I don't use eBay.

I'm really careful vetting all online sellers.

No risk for buyers on ebay. I have been selling for 10 years. ebay nearly always rules in favor of buyers in disputes, unless seller can prove fraud on part of buyer. Paypal has the same policy. Pay with a credit card and you are wearing a belt plus suspenders...

 

[brucethebroker]

Rarely used strategy is to find non-auctions and send an offer to the seller even if it isn't a "best offer" listing. ebay used to frown on this, but no more. Many sellers need cash flow, and will accept a 20%-40% off price when things are slow. Works really well in Feb & March, and during summer vacation slow times-but, you never know when a seller wants quick cash. And ebay gives sellers a "counter offer" button to push when replying to your offer.

I receive a half dozen or so of these each month. I usually counter offer, but I always respond (my counters are about 10% off, BTW). And I am never offended unless someone offers me something ridiculous.

 

[Midpack]

I’ve manually sniped and won several times, usually bidding at less than 10 seconds for the end. I’ve lost too. But if someone is willing to pay more than I bid, I can’t expect to win just because I really wanted something. Someone else clearly wanted it more...

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

My most recent eBay buy was a warning chime for my old BMW -- the thing that sounds off if you've left your lights on. The chimes tend to die fairly often, but fortunately the part is common to many models and years. I got a used one for $7 w/free shipping. New, they're about $60.

Five years ago we bought a loaded 2007 Prius with 35K miles at auction for $15K (we were the only bidder). The seller was a Lexus dealer in northern Illinois. We still have the car, my DW's transport.

My only negative eBay experiences were a couple sellers who didn't get the price they had hoped for and refused to complete the sales. I let it slide. Both sellers were pretty clueless.

 

[travelover]

Rarely used strategy is to find non-auctions and send an offer to the seller even if it isn't a "best offer" listing. ebay used to frown on this, but no more. Many sellers need cash flow, and will accept a 20%-40% off price when things are slow. Works really well in Feb & March, and during summer vacation slow times-but, you never know when a seller wants quick cash. And ebay gives sellers a "counter offer" button to push when replying to your offer.

I receive a half dozen or so of these each month. I usually counter offer, but I always respond (my counters are about 10% off, BTW). And I am never offended unless someone offers me something ridiculous.

I've received these offers as a seller but ignored them thinking I'd get grief from eBay. What is the implication to the seller - do you pay commission on the original price?

 

[jollystomper]

I just put in into perspective. My life will not be any worse if I am outbid for something on eBay . So I will manually snipe, bidding at the end of an auction, but at for a price that I am willing to pay. I have done this less as there are many more "buy it now" sales at good prices for the things I am interested in.

 

[CRLLS]

Similar to asking a seller to lower his BIN price without a "Make Offer" button, a few years back I found a Chinese seller offering many Bluetooth module kits with cables to upgrade laptops. He did not list one for my model laptop. I sent him an inquiry. He did not have one but said wait for a week, he would make one. A week later he sent me a note that it was on eBay now. I got one with installation instructions and photos for my exact laptop.

So my recommendation is, if you can't find exactly what you are looking for, ask a seller who is selling similar items. It can't hurt.

 

[easysurfer]

I'm a convert and snipe bid using software.

Not 100% sure snipe bidding really offers an advantage of winning, but one thing snipe bidding does is force me to have a price I'm willing to pay then walk away. Otherwise, that isn't snipe bidding at all. Plus, there's been times I thought I wanted something, scheduled a snipe bid to bid near end of auction, then after thinking things over, really didn't want the item, so ended up cancelling the bid. No prob there since the bid was only scheduled but not placed yet.

 

[Amethyst]

I saw something I'd like - the bidding ended, and ebay says this item got zero bids. Would it be OK to PM the seller asking if I could buy the item at the reserve price?