P3D Re: Ebay bidding

[Ronald Beck <ronald-beck@xxxxxx>]

> > Personally, I don't always have the time to "sit" on an auction until
> > the last second.  So, I always hope my high bid is higher than a
> > sniper's.  Still, there's some good tips on this FAQ.
> 
> If the other guy is willing to bid higher, then he'll win sniping
> or not.  :-(
> 
> Mike K.

"Sniping" refers to the practice of bidding at the last minute in the
hopes of bumping off the high bid.

Thus, if there's a red button viewer, and I'm high bidder at $10.00, a
"sniper" will wait until the last minute of the auction and place a bid
in the hopes of gaining the advantage and winning the item.

Of course, the "sniper" doesn't know what my high bid was.  All he knows
is the current bid of $10.00.   It's possible that my maximum bid on
this item was $120.00, in which case, the "sniper" would have had to set
his "snipe" bid above that limit.  If the "sniper" bids $150.00, the
proxy bidding takes affect and a bid war instantly occurs until the item
reaches one increment above my $120.00 bid.

The key here is that between the time I first place my "maximum" bid and
the anticipation of actually having the item, I may have changed my mind
(or won the lottery) and would be willing to go even higher (say $200.00
for this example).  However, I would never have a chance to change my
maximum bid before the closing of the auction.  Even in live auctions,
I've been tempted to go a bit higher than my pre-arranged maximum amount
(ya know... the +/- 10% variance).  With eBay and sniping, there's no
chance to extend the auction beyond the closing time.

I guess the biggest tip here would be to always bid the maximum you'd be
willing to pay and be happy when you win and satisfied that someone
overpaid when you're overbid.

HTH,
Ron


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