Buying Tips (1 Viewer)

[glossman]

*
Thanks very much for the information on Auction Sniper.

Until this thread, I had not heard of it.

Raymond.

 

[VIRIATO]

Thanks very much indeed, I have just won an auction using this service, I would have had to be up at about 3 AM if I wanted to snipe without this (because of time differences)!

Thanks again,
Paulo

 

[VIRIATO]

When first starting to bid on ebay several years ago I often found myself caught in bidding battles.
By placing a bid early it lead to a counterbid by another ebayer and then I bid again 'cause I wanted to make sure to get the "one and only" item . the price spiraled up with being outbid/raise/outbid/raise ...
However, too much money was spent unnecessary.
There are two things that I learnt after a while.
First there are hardly any "one and only" items. Most items you will see again and again.
Second, by using auctionsniper I prevent from getting second thoughts and raise again. I determine the maximum amount of what I want to spend and that gets placed a few seconds before auction ending.
If I didn't win it, then maybe next time.
I love auctionsniper. Saved me a lot of money.
Of course, this does not apply to the very disciplined collectors, but I'm not one of them

Couldn't agree more, especially with the last paragraph. Last night was the first time I used it though, and successfully. This thread prompted me to use it, and the thread timing couldn't have been better!

Regards,
Paulo

 

[Phantom Warrior]

When first starting to bid on ebay several years ago I often found myself caught in bidding battles.
By placing a bid early it lead to a counterbid by another ebayer and then I bid again 'cause I wanted to make sure to get the "one and only" item . the price spiraled up with being outbid/raise/outbid/raise ...
However, too much money was spent unnecessary.
There are two things that I learnt after a while.
First there are hardly any "one and only" items. Most items you will see again and again.
Second, by using auctionsniper I prevent from getting second thoughts and raise again. I determine the maximum amount of what I want to spend and that gets placed a few seconds before auction ending.
If I didn't win it, then maybe next time.
I love auctionsniper. Saved me a lot of money.
Of course, this does not apply to the very disciplined collectors, but I'm not one of them

Wow. I could have written your post about me. It didn't take long to figure that the important bids were going to be in the last few minutes. So I didn't force the price up early. But I did have second thoughts and overpaid for items that were later available for less money. But I stopped doing that and started using the strategy you do a few years ago. I was still able to get the pieces I wanted, but at lower prices. The key is that, except for a very few rare items, they do show up over and over again.

Terry

 

[jazzeum]

Couldn't agree more with the prior two posts except that the auction doesn't take place in the last "minutes" of an auction but usually in the last thirty seconds. I can't tell you how many times I've been outbid in the last five seconds. Another thing to note is that while it's annoying to be outbid at the end, life goes on and though I really wanted something I found that I could live without it.

Another reason I also try to avoid bidding until the end is that if you bid on something early, you feel "invested" in the auction whereas if you don't bid until the end or not at all, you don't have that feeling.

Here's another tip: if you want to find out who is the winner of an auction, just throw in a bid. When the auction is over and you go to advanced search, plug in the seller's name, it will show you who the winner was.

 

[OzDigger]

Couldn't agree more, especially with the last paragraph. Last night was the first time I used it though, and successfully. This thread prompted me to use it, and the thread timing couldn't have been better!

Regards,
Paulo

Paulo, I'm pleased you got some benefit from the thread. I used to bid early in auctions and sometimes got involved in bidding wars which more often than not caused me to bid too high purely to beat the other guy. Sometimes I used to wait up late at night to bid, now I just lock in my Maximum bid with AuctionSniper and let it do the work for me.

 

[OzDigger]

I noticed a recent post about buying from overseas and thought it would be worth starting a thread providing tips for buying King & Country etc.

For several years my most valuable collecting ally has been Auctionsniper.com.

"Auction Sniper is an eBay sniper that automates the process of placing your eBay bid in the closing seconds of any eBay bidding auction, dramatically increasing your chance of winning. We keep it simple: you tell us what you want to win, and we snipe eBay for you. Best of all, Auction Sniper is free to try. After winning your first auction with our help, you’ll never eBay bid the same way again."

After your free trial, and only if you want to continue, you are charged 1% of the purchase price for each successful auction. You read it correctly, if you don't win the auction, it doesn't cost you anything. The monthly fee based on 1% of your successful auctions for that month is very reasonable imo. For example if your successful bids for that month totaled say $500, you only pay Auctionsniper $5, a real bargain

Auction sniper is very handy for placing last second automatic bids on auctions in other countries/time zones, but I even use Auctionsniper to bid on local eBay auctions as more than once I have forgot to place a bid on an item I intended to buy

Any other 'auctions snipers' out there, or tips you can post.

I thought it worth bumping this thread for the benefit of new members.

 

[Mitch]

Now the secrets out of the bag everyone will be bidding in the last few seconds!!!!
Mitch

 

[glossman]

Now the secrets out of the bag everyone will be bidding in the last few seconds!!!!
Mitch

Actually, it is an open secret.

Most seasoned eBayers bid in the last 60 seconds, be it by either manual or auto.

Cheers, Raymond.

 

[Mitch]

See you learn something new everyday. I do not use auctions and e-bay so, I don't know much about it. The only auction per se I have used was K&C UK when they ran them
Mitch

 

[OzDigger]

See you learn something new everyday. I do not use auctions and e-bay so, I don't know much about it. The only auction per se I have used was K&C UK when they ran them
Mitch

Mitch, with auctionsniper and similar auto bid websites you can pre-arrange to bid in the last few seconds of an auction. The result will be the same of course in that the highest bidder will still win, but it does save a lot of time and effort.

 

[Mitch]

Ozdigger...

Cheers I may give it a look but, I think I may be opening pandora's box if I was to start on auctions!!!
Mitch

 

[OzDigger]

Ozdigger...

Cheers I may give it a look but, I think I may be opening pandora's box if I was to start on auctions!!!
Mitch

As most K & C and similar auctions are in the US, and I live in another timezone, I could never have acquired what I have without auctionsniper. I am also getting back into selling on ebay so the more that use it the better

 

[VIRIATO]

As most K & C and similar auctions are in the US, and I live in another timezone, I could never have acquired what I have without auctionsniper. I am also getting back into selling on ebay so the more that use it the better

Being in a different timezone is also an important factor to me. I won't have to be awake in the wee wee hours to place a final bid...


Paulo

 

[OzDigger]

Being in a different timezone is also an important factor to me. I won't have to be awake in the wee wee hours to place a final bid...


Paulo

It's the most important factor to me in Australia Paulo