Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge ebay bidding tools

I've got an item I want ending tomorrow at a time when I'll be on a plane. I'm quite prepared to pay a fair price but I know from experience that bidding hours before the auction ends isn't smart.

Has anybody used a delayed bidding tool that seemed simple enough for a new user to have confidence in it?

I'm not sure if this helps -

Quoted from:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/automatic-bidding.html


When you place a bid, you [can] enter the maximum amount you're willing to pay for the item. The seller and other bidders don’t know your maximum bid.

We’ll place bids on your behalf using the automatic bid increment amount, which is based on the current high bid. We'll bid only as much as necessary to make sure that you remain the high bidder, or to meet the reserve price, up to your maximum amount.

If another bidder places the same maximum bid or higher, we’ll notify you so you can place another bid. Your maximum bid is kept confidential until it is exceeded by another bidder.

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What appears on the ebay auction is your bid at only enough to stay on top, until you may be outbid. If you bid $200, and the auction closes at $150, you not only win, but you pay only the $150.

I have no knowledge of the other bidding tools. There are no bells & whistles or clicks & tricks to make ebay's automatic bidding work. You enter a bid as usual, but at the maximum you are willing to pay. The ebay software will only show your bid at just enough to stay on top of other bidders, unless you are outbid. In that case, the final price exceeded what you were willing to pay anyway.

I suppose the downside of this is a self defeating shill effect. Other bidders may see your instantaneous oneup-manship and wonder, "Who the H--- is this Bill fellow, who apparently lives on top of his computer 24/7?"

What is the item? If you posted it, maybe the members around here would be good enough not to bid against you. If you are bidding on the cylinders and pistons, however, I can't help you.

I wish you both would have started a bidding war
on the Nology coils I had listed last night...

This wont help you but a trick I use is to have 2 tabs open with the same item. 1st one I have the item running down on the clock. The 2nd tab is the one I bid with I go through and place a bid ( max I want to pay ) then all I have to do is click to confirm the bid. this saves time bidding at the last moment. I go back to the 1st tab watch and wait and see whats happening. Then with approx 10 secs to go .I switch tabs confirm my bid. Does'nt give anyone time to rebid. If its goes over the price I want to pay so be it. Stops me getting caught up in a war of bids .

NOW this is not for any uk ebayers atb geoff

Bucky had it right. In a nutshell, put in one bid for the max price you would be prepared to pay and then walk away. eBay will then bid on your behalf up to and including your max bid. If the bidding exceeds your max, you lose out, but if not then you will be the highest bidder and win. Simples!

I could be wrong, but (that never stopped me before)

I believe ebay instituted the incremental bidding in order to
thwart the excessive data traffic and resultant throughput slowdowns that the bid bots created.

I bid my max plus $5 at the last 30 seconds. Usually I'll have someone bid for me if I'm not gonna be around.

I hate when people bid early cause it drives up the price.

Auction Magic

http://www.merlinsoftware.com/auctionmagic/index.htm

This software will place your maximum bid 10 seconds before auction end. Sooner depending on internet speed. Mines at 5 seconds.

I believe it's a 15 day free trial, $20 to buy forever. Great software. for e-bay only

Hi Bill
One trick I always use is to put maximum bid in strange number of cents, not whole dollars. this keeps someone who is bidding against you guessing.

I call Bucky, and have him snipe it for me at the last second.

I determine how much I'm willing to pay but I don't enter it and walk away as that usually drives the price up. I place my max bid in the last 10 seconds. I win almost every time. I had to laugh the last time since I won by 53 cents.

OH! So that was YOU, was it Ian?!!!

(...and here I REALLY wanted that kickstart lever!!!)