Unusual Bidder (1 Viewer)

Denver

Sergeant
Joined
Mar 27, 2010
Messages
662
Greetings Gentleman
I have a question for more experienced EBay sellers.
I have two auctions going.
#1 Has two bidders. One of them has made seven bids for that auction.
He bid 3 times when the auction began without an opponent. The other guy bid once.
#2 Also has two bidders. That same guy has made five bids. The other bidder bid once.

It is the same bidder in both auctions.
How unusual is that style bidding ?
Thank you
Denver
 
I don't know if this will help you...

but on the auction with 7 bids...

click on the blue link..."7 bids"...

it will open another page...

click on "show automatic bids"...

some bids are hidden unless you choose to view them...

some people will use a "maximium bid" format...offered on Ebay...which is designed to automatically increase their entry bid in the event they are outbid...

also...

some people use a "snipe service" to automatically increase their bid in the event they are outbid...
 
Hi Mike
This guy has made seven individual bids.
I guess each bids increases from the previous bid.

My worry is that others bidders could be discouraged.
Denver
 
Denver...

if his bids have increased in escalating increminents...someone is probably bidding against him...did you look at the "show automatic bids" link?

can you post a link of the auction please...I would like to look at it...
 
Even when there are no other bids, it's a tactic designed to discourage other bidders, as you surmised. However, if someone else wants the item, that isn't likely to deter them. It wouldn't deter me as the multiple bidder could have upped his bid by a dollar each time.

In the situation where somebody opened the bidding with a high amount, you may have a second bidder just bidding a little, not wanting to bid too much but then gets caught up in the "fever," although he still follows his strategy of a few dollars at a time.

Brad
 
hey Denver...

that is interesting...hahaha...

I have never seen that before...


Member Id: n***n( 86) US $62.88 Apr-09-14 19:11:53 PDT
Member Id: n***n( 86) US $62.88 Apr-09-14 04:26:12 PDT
Member Id: n***n( 86) US $62.88 Apr-08-14 19:40:55 PDT
Member Id: n***n( 86) US $62.88 Apr-08-14 19:24:58 PDT
Member Id: n***n( 86) US $62.88 Apr-07-14 20:03:22 PDT
Member Id: d***d( 5 ) US $61.88 Apr-08-14 20:01:44 PDT
Member Id: n***n( 86) US $59.99 Apr-07-14 20:01:27 PDT
Member Id d***d( 5 ) US $50.95 Apr-08-14 20:01:44 PDT
Member Id: n***n( 86) US $49.95 Apr-07-14 20:00:45 PDT
Member Id n***n( 86 ) US $49.95 Apr-07-14 20:00:45 PDT
Starting Price US $49.95 Apr-07-14 19:31:58 PDT


someone...with the coded name of d***d is bidding against him...

and n***n has automatically set his bid to a maximium that is higher than theirs...

it is automatically raising n***n's bid to beat him every time he bids...

but.....................

I don't understand why he has the last 5 bids of $62.88...unless it is some type of glitch in Ebay's software...
 
Mike
It looks like he is padding his previous bid each time.
Brad suggested that each pad could be as little as $1 or $2.
I have never seen anyone pad so many times consecutively.
A new bidder on the Alamo Mexican Figures has made a good
attempt to break the pattern.
Denver
 
I don't understand the "padding theory"...

his last 5 bids were the same...he didn't pad or add to...up...escalate...or boost his bid at all...

I think it's an Ebay glitch...

now I have a theory of my own...hahaha...

sometimes I have an item on Ebay with 2 bids on it...
when I look at who bid...
it's the same guy but with only one bid...not two...just one bid...
there are not two active bids even though it says there are 2 bids...
which makes me believe he is employing the "maximum bid" format and that his "all in" bid has not been posted yet and that is accounting for Ebay saying there is a second bid...

that's just my theory...

and this happens frequently...
 
Mike,

As the top bidder, when he pads his bids, the price will not change. So if he increases his bid from $62.88 to $70, then to $80, etc. his bid will still be (and show up as) $62.88 until someone bids.

Again, if I wanted that piece, what he's doing wouldn't scare me off in the slightest.

What some bidders do (I have never done it as I consider it unethical and it probably violates eBay rules) is bid some ridiculous price to see how high the $62.88 bidder has bid and then withdraw the bid, citing they entered the incorrect amount.

Brad
 
Brad...hahaha...I understand what "padding" is...

in this case...padding would be changing/increasing your unexposed maximum bid to outbid anyone else that bids...

the "unusual style of bidding" was the issue with Denver's question...

when a bid from the same guy goes from $62.88 to $62.88 to $62.88 to $62.88 to $62.88...that is not padding...the price never changed...

I'm trying hard to follow you...

how did you deduce that from the 5 bids in a row for the same amount...that the man has padded his bid?

that is probably a glitch in the Ebay software...
 
Brad is correct here.
If a bidder places a bid, say i.e. $50.00 and that shows him on the auction as the high bidder with $46.55. This is just an example.
He then decides, because he really wants that item, to place a bid of $60.00. His high bid will still show as $46.55
After thinking about, how he wants to make sure that he gets the auction, he decides to extend his bid to $80.00. With nobody else involved yet, the high bid still stays at $46.55, and on and on it goes ..........
Not a very common thing, but I saw it often enough.
Most bidders nowadays go with the so called "sniper bidding", using a software that allows them to place their bid a few seconds before auction ending.
There are 10-days auctions on ebay and you don't see any activity before the very end.
With that being said, I am positive that the bidding history shown, will not discourage any serious/experienced collector who's going for your items.
The last seconds of the auction will set the price.
Konrad
 
Mike,

Every time you bid you have to up it by the minimum increment, which might be $1 each time. I don't know if he's increasing his bid by a lot or a little but he's increasing it or padding it; I don't think what we call it is critical. The effect is to try to convince other bidders not to bid.
 
Mike,

Every time you bid you have to up it by the minimum increment, which might be $1 each time. I don't know if he's increasing his bid by a lot or a little but he's increasing it or padding it

Brad...I think you and me are talking about 2 totally different things...

Konrad...I understand "snipeing"...I have had an account with Action Sniper for years...
this man is not snipeing...at least not yet...snipeing is putting in an automated bid to be delivered at the closing of the auction...

Denver's question asked if the potential buyer that made 7 bids on the one item was unusual...

that is all I am addressing...
please look carefully at post #7...

this bidder made 5 bids in a row for $62.88...5 concurrent uninfluenced bids in a row...that is not padding...and that is certainly not snipeing...

these 5 bids were not re-raises...these 5 bids were not influenced by any other bid...they were 5 consecutive bids in a row for $62.88...all for $62.88...not padded...all for the same amount...

I think we are talking about two entirely different things here...

I'm trying to give him a valid explanation how a man made 5 concurrent bids for the same price...
 
Let me give a shot at an explanation here...

Say an auction starts at $5 and the first person bids. It would show their $5 bid. I then come in and bid $1 million. eBay would NOT show that I bid $1 million...it would show that I bid the minimum over the $5 bid. If the minimum increase is $1, it would show that I bid $6, because that is all that is needed to win me the auction. It only shows my maximum bid that would also win the auction.

So if person 1 comes back and bids $7, eBay would show their $7 bid along with a bid from me for $8, since my $1 million is still higher than his $7.

So following that...

Person 1 bids $5. It shows $5.
Person 2 Bids $6. It shows $6 (the maximum bid that would win the auction)
Person 2 gets nervous and bids $7 just in case. eBay still shows it as $6, since that remains the maximum bid that would win the auction.
This can happen several times, but the bid eBay shows is $6.

Make sense?
 
Mike,

Whatever you call it, he's raising his bid. When you are leading an auction, you can't bid the same amount in subsequent bids. eBay won't allow it. I should know as I've done it in a reserve auction when the seller set a high reserve. When I bid the second and third time, and I was the only bidder, the amount shown to those viewing the public didn't change but to me and eBay, I had upped the bid.

Pete nailed this. It couldn't be any clearer.

Brad
 
Mike,

Whatever you call it, he's raising his bid. When you are leading an auction, you can't bid the same amount in subsequent bids. eBay won't allow it. I should know as I've done it in a reserve auction when the seller set a high reserve. When I bid the second and third time, and I was the only bidder, the amount shown to those viewing the public didn't change but to me and eBay, I had upped the bid.

Pete nailed this. It couldn't be any clearer.

Brad

Brad...thanks...this is what I was saying way back in post #9...please re-read...nobody has ever confirmed this for me...it was just my theory as I had seen it happen so many times to me...
 
Mike,

Perhaps we were both guilty of not understanding each other, which Pete has now happily fixed.

Brad
 
Let me give a shot at an explanation here...

Say an auction starts at $5 and the first person bids. It would show their $5 bid. I then come in and bid $1 million. eBay would NOT show that I bid $1 million...it would show that I bid the minimum over the $5 bid. If the minimum increase is $1, it would show that I bid $6, because that is all that is needed to win me the auction. It only shows my maximum bid that would also win the auction.

So if person 1 comes back and bids $7, eBay would show their $7 bid along with a bid from me for $8, since my $1 million is still higher than his $7.

So following that...

Person 1 bids $5. It shows $5.
Person 2 Bids $6. It shows $6 (the maximum bid that would win the auction)
Person 2 gets nervous and bids $7 just in case. eBay still shows it as $6, since that remains the maximum bid that would win the auction.
This can happen several times, but the bid eBay shows is $6.

Make sense?

YODA couldn't have made it any clearer. "Understand I do now"
 
Let me give a shot at an explanation here...

Say an auction starts at $5 and the first person bids. It would show their $5 bid. I then come in and bid $1 million. eBay would NOT show that I bid $1 million...it would show that I bid the minimum over the $5 bid. If the minimum increase is $1, it would show that I bid $6, because that is all that is needed to win me the auction. It only shows my maximum bid that would also win the auction.

So if person 1 comes back and bids $7, eBay would show their $7 bid along with a bid from me for $8, since my $1 million is still higher than his $7.

So following that...

Person 1 bids $5. It shows $5.
Person 2 Bids $6. It shows $6 (the maximum bid that would win the auction)
Person 2 gets nervous and bids $7 just in case. eBay still shows it as $6, since that remains the maximum bid that would win the auction.
This can happen several times, but the bid eBay shows is $6.

Make sense?

It does, but I found myself reading it very slowly and, I must confess, moving my lips while I did it!
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top