Bidding wars? - on ebay

C&K*s Mommie wrote: Inspired by J-Rod's post about a gift for Stephy~

Do you ever get into bidding wars on ebay?
If so, do you chalk it up as a loss and walk away, or do you keep going until you win the item or time expires?

Ocassionally I get into bidding wars usually in the last minute of an auction, most recently this weekend, I wanted this lot of ornaments going for around $5 at that time of 2mins left in the auction. I have a limit that I set in my mind as to what I want to pay, but I usually go over that limit when I get into bidding wars. The final 5secs I walked away from the auction, and lost the lot.

Chris (my DH) is bad too about getting into bidding wars. He just has to sign out and walk away, otherwise he will keep going until time expires.

J-rod replied: hahahah sometimes i will try to win


but actually this gift...i signed up for a program that actually bids for me with under 5 seconds left.


i needed this gift.

C&K*s Mommie replied: tell me more, please. I am curious.

J-rod replied:
PM me your email addy.... ill send you a link through the service.....then you get 3 free snipes.

its a sniper service...you set your max price...and when you want it to bid....then it does it for you.

lisar replied: I never bid on the item. I will put it in my watching page and when there is less than a minute left on the auction I will throw in MY MAX bid. I will thow in the highest amount that I am willing to pay for the item. I win 90% of them. If not then whoever did win I just made them pay alot more. Thats how I do it.

KingMom replied: I have, I like to sell things too and love to watch how people bid at the last minute. Speaking of, I have 4 items selling today I better check on.

J-rod - I PM'd you and got the link, I'll have to give it a try. Thanks for sharing the sniper service.

J-rod replied:
no problem...it saved me a bunch im sure...i know if i woulda bid early he woulda countered and got into a war...but the sniper just snuck in and got it last second.

Calimama replied: I dont use Ebay. I dont have the patience to come back and check the bids and stuff.

CantWait replied: Well I don't shop EBay, but I remember when Robbie had his silent auction at cadets at the beginning of the year, it was very adictting and I felt like I had to get what I was bidding on, like I was winning a prize or something, totally forgetting I actually had to pay for this stuff

I did win a couple things which I sort of regret one purchase now, the other one I really love but no where to put it in the new house

I lost another thankfully.

MyLuvBugs replied: Yeah I've gotten into a couple bidding wars, but I usually calculate out the maximum I'm willing to spend on the item and don't go higher than that. I figure if I loose it....it just wasn't ment to be.

redchief replied: I always do my homework before bidding. I know the going price for an item I'm bidding on and I refuse to pay that much on Ebay. I usually knock 10% off the going rate and that's my highest bid. It amazes me how many people overbid just so they can say they "won." The only person who wins there is the seller.

J-rod replied:
youre right.... i wont buy something on ebay unless its a great deal.

but ill always sell on there for the reasons you mentioned

redchief replied: I wanted to add that I build shipping costs into final bids too. I usually ADD 10-20% to cover shipping and shop that way. Many Ebay sellers overcharge, by rote, for shipping and many stores and online shops charge no shipping when a purchase is over a certain amount.

In looking through Ebay offerings in October I found that people paid too much for a bid item almost 70% of the time.

J-rod replied:
same here


also what a lot of people are doing now is selling the item WAY cheap...then charging a ton for shipping...

example

item - $10
shipping - $40
actual shipping - $10

therefore they still making $40 off the item cause ebay charges fees for final cost....but not for shipping.

C&K*s Mommie replied: I definately figure the cost of shipping to my zip code into the max I want to pay. I am a cheapskate really, so I will keep looking if the item costs too much.The final cost of the ornaments was $8.50, plus $7 for shipping that was for 6 ornaments. At a store up the road, similiar ornaments are $10 for just one ornament. It would have been a steal to get the lot... I should have tried harder.

I also do my homework too, and if it is something that I truly want (or need like the ornaments) or know that it is a steal will I get into wars with others. Most of the time I keep on looking or go to Amazon to get it for a lower cost. I found what Chris has been wanting on ebay going for $30 more (not including shipping) than I could buy it for at Amazon brand new.

luvmykids replied: It depends on what it is and how bad I want it If something is an item I just can't possibly get any other way or is hard to come by on ebay I'll fight for it but otherwise I just chalk it up to being beat

msoulz replied: It's not the kill, it's the thrill of the chase.

Hey, that should be a song!!

My3LilMonkeys replied: I don't EVER go over my max amount....I watch the auction until there are about 2 min left, put in my max price and walk away until the auction is over. I win some, I lose some, but I never get in over my head.

lesliesmom replied: I just did this this past week. I was bidding on some oil lamps for DH (to replace the one I broke and then supplement - he really likes these). For a long time it sat and then jumped up a day before it was over. I probably should have let it go but I upped my max bid again. Ending up winning the items... got it for about 1/2 of what the rate would be of them new and that includes shipping.

I ALWAYS take shipping into account and will not bid if I think I'm getting taken on it. I also love the last-minute action site... e-bay. Items with less than an hour left and under 1.00.... have found some pretty good steals there.