eBay - last second bids..?

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John
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well my Canon A1 + 4 FD lenses didn't sell here...and my nephew returned them - bought a Canon 5D mkII or something.....:razz:

anyway decided to keep them - and the postman delivered a mint 135 FD today....:thumbs:....bought on eBay

here's the thing - been bidding on Canon specific hoods and some B+W UV filters

the bid price jumps in [sometimes] the last second...:shake:

I cannot open my "increase bid" button that fast in the closing moments - how do they do it..:thinking:

I dont necessarily want to - as I set my Max Bid price to suit my pocket - but how do they do it ??
 
I tend to open up the eBay page
Open another page with my prefered bid ready to press confirm bid
Open another tab with a higher bid again ready to press confirm bid

Last 10 seconds or so make my prefered bid, if it goes over there and I feel I want to, press the confirm bid on the higher bid.
 
As said above it's sniper software/web based bidding that makes the late bids.

You are best off waiting until very near the end, a couple on mins is fine. Trick is to enter you max bid & stick to it, you know there will be another hundred just round the corner :thumbs:

Mick
 
I tend to open up the eBay page
Open another page with my prefered bid ready to press confirm bid
Open another tab with a higher bid again ready to press confirm bid

Last 10 seconds or so make my prefered bid, if it goes over there and I feel I want to, press the confirm bid on the higher bid.

lost the logic there a bit...................:thinking:

say filter present bid £5
I am prepared to pay up to £9 - so put in max bid £9 and present bid jumps to say £5.50 so I am still covered up to £9
why would I have a 3rd screen "higher bid" if I am only prepared to spend £9
 
I've often wondered how it works, what happens if 6 bidders decide to use it for the same item?
 
. Trick is to enter you max bid & stick to it, you know there will be another hundred just round the corner Mick

very true ............just watched a Nikon 55-200 VR climb to £100 + pp

I believe a member just bought one from kerso new with warranty for £132 del...:cuckoo:
 
If it's something I really want and I'm online when the auction ends, I always have a second page open ready to submit my bid, usually within the last 5-10 seconds. I reckon I have an 80% success rate doing that. Sometimes I get caught out by someone bidding higher.
 
It is a shame that placing a bid does not move the closing time to 1 minute later. That way the item would really go for the best price but I tend to use it for buying now more than selling so I suppose that would cost me more. I have missed out twice recently where something has happened as I tried to place a bid in the last few seconds and missed something!!
 
Its a matter of timing, i collect Observer books and have bought loads on ebay. I watch until the auction goes to the last 10 secs then place a bid im prepared to pay. By the time it goes through there are usually 3-4 seconds left. If i loose out to a higher bidder that's fine as ive already decided how much i was prepared to pay,
 
very true ............just watched a Nikon 55-200 VR climb to £100 + pp

I believe a member just bought one from kerso new with warranty for £132 del...:cuckoo:

You can't account for fools though :shrug:

That's why I never bin anything, I sold a Tom Tom One original, with a broken SD card slot last year for £50. Advertised as not working :shrug:

Mick
 
If it's something I really want and I'm online when the auction ends, I always have a second page open ready to submit my bid, usually within the last 5-10 seconds. I reckon I have an 80% success rate doing that. Sometimes I get caught out by someone bidding higher.

not being rude here - but do I read this as you are prepared to top ANY price bid as you want it so much..?

see my filter example above - if I bid max £9 that's it - I wont pay £15 just to get it

again - not rude - just trying to get "under the skin" of the bidding system....:thumbs:
 
Yup auction snipers.

I put in my limit when I bid on an item, then don't worry about it. There's a bunch of lenses coming up over the next few days I've bid 2 quid on. Chances are I won't win any of them, some were outbid relatively quickly, but I've gotten some killer deals in the past as things have been skipped over by others. :)
 
very true ............just watched a Nikon 55-200 VR climb to £100 + pp

I believe a member just bought one from kerso new with warranty for £132 del...:cuckoo:

It amazes me too.... Also why out bid someone when you can get it for a BIN price thats actually cheaper than the bid you placed :shrug:

Someone done me a favour once and out bid me for some garden cushions - which I then got for £10.00 delivered and they ended up paying £13 + postage... It was the same seller who had them up for auction as well as a buy it now....

Some people need their heads exammined in my eyes....
 
not being rude here - but do I read this as you are prepared to top ANY price bid as you want it so much..?
No, what he means is, instead of bidding early and have others bumping it up, he's waiting until the last second to put in his bid price.
 
.......... but I've gotten some killer deals in the past as things have been skipped over by others. :)

been on eBay over the last few days and i think that's EXACTLY the fun of it for me..!

Hoya 52mm Red 25A at MicroGlobe is £20.24
just got one for £0.99 +pp......:D:
 
You might be unlucky though, filters notorious for being knocked-off and flogged on ebay. Test it before you really need to use it.

yes would never buy top grade stuff on eBay
just a few UV to act as protectors on my FD lens
and Red was just for a try on B&W film camera - for £0.99 is ok....

I have chosen Marumi DHG for my digital lenses
 
I only ever bid in the last 8 seconds. If it's still within my price range, I'll have one page open with the 'confirm bid' button ready to push, and another one keeping an eye on the auction as it ticks down. Sometimes my broadband connection has let me down, but usually my bid goes in with 3 seconds left, I've won tons of auctions this way.
 
yes would never buy top grade stuff on eBay
just a few UV to act as protectors on my FD lens
and Red was just for a try on B&W film camera - for £0.99 is ok....

I have chosen Marumi DHG for my digital lenses

I need to start picking up some filters for the film stuff. Well packed up my F80 for the NW meet tomorrow with a couple of Kodak BW400 films. Might as well use up my stock before I start developing my own next month :)
 
I need to start picking up some filters for the film stuff.

I believe the filters from my film days are ok [ orange, yellow, 81A etc]
but realize nowadays the top quality ones [Hoya etc] are suspect on eBay

however ordered some used UV from ffordes and they sent me B+W UV 010
well impressed with quality
currently bidding on ebay for about £10 +pp................not HRC coating
 
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I only ever bid in the last 8 seconds. If it's still within my price range, I'll have one page open with the 'confirm bid' button ready to push, and another one keeping an eye on the auction as it ticks down. Sometimes my broadband connection has let me down, but usually my bid goes in with 3 seconds left, I've won tons of auctions this way.

thanks - I'll try your strategy.............:thumbs:
 
The OP's bidding strategy (bidding low then raising bids) is proof that eBay users don't understand the bidding system and it is this that enables snipers to gain an advantage. For the record, I always use a sniping website to bid.

If you're upset by sniping, place your bid at the true maximum you are willing to pay at any point during the course of the auction. You are guaranteed to win if you have the maximum bid.
 
I only ever buy using auctionsnipe.

I don't see why this should annoy anybody, buyers or sellers. It simply means that people pay up to their true maximum bid and avoids all the daft people that keep bumping the price up. If you are a vendor and you have something people really want then you will still get the maximum because the bidders will push the price up in the last seconds.

It isn't any sort of skulduggery.
 
i tend to bid at 3 seconds to go, 2 pages up. one with the countdown and one with the confirm bid.
 
I really genuinely don't understand last minute bidders. I see "X" on eBay and I think "that is worth £50 to me" to I bid that and then come back and see if I won it. and as I am the first person to offer £50 if somebody else bids that I still get it, if they bid £51 simply they want it more than I do,

But the last minute bidders are daft, they don't want to be "beaten" I saw a daft situation lately where a Voigtlander 20mm was on at £300 or buy it now £350, No body bought it.

he then relised it at £250 or buy it no for £300, One person bid, when the actoin ended it sold for £354! Muppets

the No negative feed back is also causing a problem as I don't think people are paying the prices they are bidding,

Stuart
 
some people place a bid and will watch it to see if its worth upping the bid, if i can get in at the end before they react i save money, quite simple really.
 
I really genuinely don't understand last minute bidders. I see "X" on eBay and I think "that is worth £50 to me" to I bid that and then come back and see if I won it. and as I am the first person to offer £50 if somebody else bids that I still get it, if they bid £51 simply they want it more than I do,

Stuart

that's how sniping works too.
 
I really genuinely don't understand last minute bidders. I see "X" on eBay and I think "that is worth £50 to me" to I bid that and then come back and see if I won it. and as I am the first person to offer £50 if somebody else bids that I still get it, if they bid £51 simply they want it more than I do

So you bid £50 a day before the auction's over, you outbid the current max bid of £10, he gets an email, he comes back, bids £15, then £25, then £40, then in the last few seconds a couple more people bid, it gets up to £48 and you win, grats.

OR...

I wait until 10 seconds before the auction's up, the bidding's still at £10 as I haven't placed my bid yet. Everybody sees the maximum bid is £10, they bid £20-25, I bid £50, I get it for £26.

That's why last minute bidders. It prevents the price being driven up early.
 
So you bid £50 a day before the auction's over, you outbid the current max bid of £10, he gets an email, he comes back, bids £15, then £25, then £40, then in the last few seconds a couple more people bid, it gets up to £48 and you win, grats.

OR...

I wait until 10 seconds before the auction's up, the bidding's still at £10 as I haven't placed my bid yet. Everybody sees the maximum bid is £10, they bid £20-25, I bid £50, I get it for £26.

That's why last minute bidders. It prevents the price being driven up early.

So of the other people bidding, none of them decide the item is worth £40 to them in the second instance, but they do in the first? Or that people need to see someone willing to pay more before they will actually bid their maximum?
 
So of the other people bidding, none of them decide the item is worth £40 to them in the second instance, but they do in the first? Or that people need to see someone willing to pay more before they will actually bid their maximum?

More or less :)

If you put your bid in too early, there's allways some twolly that comes along and starts bidding in 50p incriiments untill they reach your limit. By last minute bidding you negate them.

I've watched a couple of people days before the auction ends, outbidding each other by a few pennies never reallly getting near the value of the item, why come in and join in their stupidity, they'll only nibble away at your bid increasing it.

Wait untill the last seconds and bid the true value of the item and you'll get it much cheaper. Pre bidding is excellent for the seller, but sheer idiocy from a buyer.
 
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