refresh
Question
Bidding on eBay, auction ends tonight.......?
Last week I placed my bid on an 12-year-old (but famous) game in "Like New" condition and the images are real, not stock photos (I'm not revealing which one it is, until after I choose the correct answer). The auction ends tonight and I am the only one who has placed a bid ($14.99, it started at $9.99). This is my very first auction, so I don't know if I made a mistake. Then I read some "horror" stories from people bidding and getting outbid on the last 10 seconds of the auction. I wanted to buy the game since 2004, but couldn't because I moved and they don't sell the game any more, so I chose eBay. I really want the game and if I buy it new from eBay, I'll need to spend at least 40 dollars (four times the original auction price of $9.99). So how I do prevent being outbid on the last hour/minute/second? I'm going to be watching the time of the auction endings and eBay will email me if I get outbid, but how do I make sure I win? (I'm skeptical towards those "Sniping" programs) This is my plan: I'll open 2 windows of the page with the countdown (Bid history). One of them will be for refreshing until the end of the auction. The other window is to counter the "snipers" and quickly place a bid slightly higher than them (maybe one cent higher, I'm not sure, yet). My internet is not lighting fast, that's why I have two windows open. Is this a good idea???
5 months ago - 2 answers
Best Answer
Chosen by Asker
You'd be better bidding your maximum price early, plus one or two cents over the even dollar. If yours is the only bid so far, it will still show up as the current bid being $9.99. If you put in several bids, say 4 more, each just a little more than the previous one, with your highest bid last, any "sniper" would see that this bidder #1 had put in 5 bids even though the price still showed as $9.99. As there is no way for the "sniper" to find out how much you have bid, he is going to think bidder #1 has put in 5 bids, and must be really keen. Even if he himself put in bids, he would be discouraged by finding he was outbid by your highest offer every time. You don't need two windows. In the last 10 minutes or so, the page refreshes with every bid. It still needs two steps to place the bid and verify it. Two windows does not make it quicker. Decide how much this game is worth to you, and bid that amount plus a couple of cents more. If the bids go higher, it is more than you were willing to pay, so you have really lost nothing. There is no way to guarantee you will get it for the opening price, but I wish you the best of luck.
by bluebell
5 months ago
Asker's Rating: 
Other Answers
It's not a *terrible* idea... Just make sure your login doesn't time out...
by Steve- 5 months ago