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Post by Reptisaurus! on Apr 25, 2015 15:13:56 GMT -5
Console me.
So do you have to figure out the exact last second an item is available and then bid? How do all these people have THAT kind of free time that they know they're not going to be busy on May 3rd at 4:16 PM? They must lead very predictable, empty lives.
Although that doesn't make up for the fact that they keep beating me.
Also: Does the fact that I bid on an item substantially increase the cost of the item above average? Like, if I make a winning bid for 50 cents more what are the odds that the second place guy has bid another 20 bucks for it? I can figure out the average price of an item based on completed listings, but does the fact that I'm bidding on something mean that I can expect to pay way more than average? Or does the simple fact that everyone bids at the last minute* mean that bids never quite escalate to the point where people are willing to pay.
Does any of this make any sense? I might still be a LITTLE angry from being outbid.
* Because they have no friends, or job, or spiritual value as human beings. Just unlimited free time. At least this is my theory.
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Post by Hoosier X on Apr 25, 2015 15:47:43 GMT -5
Do you bid a lot?
When I was bidding a lot, I would get VERY FRUSTRATED with people showing up at the last minute and getting the items I really wanted.
What I started doing was putting low bids on books that looked interesting but I wasn't that devoted to getting. And that's how I got a Fine Demon #1 for $3. I didn't get the issues of Batman or Detective Comics that I wanted, but I got something interesting for WAAAAY below what it was worth.
I would also bid on a bunch of stuff from the same source that had auctions ending at roughly the same time when I knew I would be free and I could monitor the auctions. It could still get very frustrating, but I would get more of the items I wanted.
It helps if you're not too specific. I decided to finish my collection of 1980s Batman/Detective from that era when the continuity went directly from one title to the next every two weeks. (Roughly Batman #340 to #400 and Detective #510 to #570. I had collected it rather sporadically in the 1980s and I was missing about a third of the issues.) I didn't get most of them by bidding, I just bought them outright.
But one issue I was missing was #357, the first Jason Todd. As I didn't want to pay the outrageous price it was going for, I would bid on it ... and lose! I spent six months bidding on every copy I could find and trying to stay within my limit. I finally got one for a not-too-awful price.
You just have to stick with it, get a strategy and be flexible.
(I also wanted a beat-up - but not too beat-up - Detective Comics #332 (with the Joker), and I bid on that fro months and months. I didn't get one until I decided to pay a little more than I'd originally wanted ... and then I got one almost immediately.)
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Apr 25, 2015 16:08:02 GMT -5
I have a few times and ended up backfiring in me. If it doesn't have a "buy it now" option I don't bother. But in the early eBay days they didn't have that option. I moved on to other sources in between that time. When I decided to try eBay again they did have it. So in like my 15+ year membership I've probably had maybe 50 transactions.
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Apr 25, 2015 16:15:08 GMT -5
Do you bid a lot? When I was bidding a lot, I would get VERY FRUSTRATED with people showing up at the last minute and getting the items I really wanted. Yes! I hate them SO MUCH! I've bid on stuff 15-20 times in my life, maybe? It is frustrating. I'm a childless adult who lives alone with an only-full-time job, so I figure I have way above average amounts of free time to devote to trivial crap like bidding on comics. So how are these people beating me! Gah! I'm actually really good at finding stuff for cheap, negotiating with vendors, and e-bay is moving more and more towards by-it-now ONLY, which seems to favor me. It's just the auctions that I never win. I totally see your point, but it is not fun and is frustrating to not win. So maybe I should concentrate on other approaches. Awesome job on the Demon # 1, by the way. That is a great book! |
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Post by Randle-El on Apr 25, 2015 16:15:25 GMT -5
The practice of coming in at the last minute to bid on something is called "sniping". There are apps and websites that will let you do it automatically, so you don't have to sit up in the middle of the night hoping your fingers and Internet connection are fast enough. I've used them to win auctions, but sometimes I will still snipe manually if I happen to be online. If you're just looking to win, then it doesn't matter when you bid. So long as you're willing to bid above what anyone else is willing to pay, you'll get it. On the other hand, if you're looking to win and get a bargain, then sniping is the best, most strategic way to to do it.
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Apr 25, 2015 16:17:11 GMT -5
Ohh. I didn't know there was a way to do it automatically. I will decide if I care enough about winning auctions and then I will look into that if I do. This all makes a lot more sense to me now.  |
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Post by Crimebuster on Apr 25, 2015 16:23:06 GMT -5
I hate sniping. But there is a reason for it: Shilling. That's when the person running the auction has a second account where they bid up their own items. It's against the ebay rules, but lots of shady sellers do it anyway. For exam.le, lets say the current bid is $2. You decide you're willing to pay $15, so you enter a max bid of $15. The shill account would then put in fake bids to jack the price up to $15 so you pay the full amount rather than getting a deal.
This is why some buyers use sniper-bots, so they can get in a bid at the last second and prevent shillers from jacking the price up further.
Personally, I just decide what I am willing to pay and enter that amount; if I get it, fine, if not, I'll just keep trying on other auctions. But as much as I hate sniping, there is at least one legit reason to do it.
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Post by spoon on Apr 25, 2015 16:33:19 GMT -5
I hate sniping, because it gives a false impression of the demand. I may see an item that going for a couple bucks with only a day or so left. Why bid up to something like $7, when there are other copies that are around $3 or $4? Well, other people are just lying in wait to vulture in.
You can certainly win if you cast a wide net.
Part of the difficulty is that Ebay is known to pretty much everyone now. I assembled a big part of my Essential collection when the supply of the books on Ebay greatly exceeded the demand. I picked so many of them back then for well under $10, including shipping.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Apr 25, 2015 17:52:43 GMT -5
Buy it now is the way to go, and most vendors have that option.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 25, 2015 18:36:47 GMT -5
I haven't bought anything on Ebay in eons. But when I did, I decided what I was willing to pay, with shipping, bid and forgot about it. I'd either win or not. And honestly I didn't really care that much which. I was there for bargains. If it wasn't going to be a bargain It wasn't worth it.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2015 19:13:08 GMT -5
This is why I don't do auctions. I am such a bore.
I will only look at things with the "buy it now" option.
I cannot deal with auctions.
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Post by Farrar on Apr 25, 2015 19:20:55 GMT -5
The auctions suck. It was so frustrating, for the reasons several of you have described. I complained to eBay--yeah, I knew nothing would be done, but I wanted to vent. Now I just buy--I'm a sucker for old movie and theatre memorabilia and ephemera--if the price is right.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Apr 25, 2015 20:31:31 GMT -5
It's been so long since I even entered one at ebay that before reading this thread I had forgotten that they still did them.
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Post by Hoosier X on Apr 25, 2015 21:20:25 GMT -5
I almost quit bidding shortly after I started because I would get some of the items I bid low on that I didn't want so much but I would never get the items I really wanted.
But then I put a bid on Detective Comics #339 (VG/F) at about $12 and I got it for $8. It was a really good deal! (This issue has "The Living Beast-Bomb," a totally insane story about an evil gorilla who develops mind-powers and straps an atomic bomb to his chest and threatens to blow up Gotham for some reason. Art by Carmine Infantino. I had read it in a 1970s reprint (Super-Heroes Battle Super-Gorillas! Remember that one?) and I kind of wanted to have the original comic.
I think I also got some cool 1970s comics that I had put in low bids for on this occasion (a 100-page Giant Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes was among them) so I was pretty happy.
By then I knew a little more about bidding and if I had a week where I didn't get anything I would just bid again immediately the next week and so I worked the odds.
I bid on a couple of things a few weeks ago (first time in two years or more) and I didn't get anything. And I still want that Kamandi #59!
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Post by wildfire2099 on Apr 25, 2015 21:21:53 GMT -5
E-bay auctions are really simple, guys. See a lot you are interested in...say Conan #4. You're willing to pay $50 for it. You list a max bid of $50.
Wait. Wait some more... if you're really got your heart set on it, bit a little higher. If you get it, great. If not, they'll probably be another one tomorrow, so bid on that. Is it super frustrating when you bid $50 on something you want, and some one pops in with 1 second left and bids $51? Sure. But that's the way it goes. I'm happy I can get some good deals there sometimes that beat anywhere else.
The trick is not to be possessive... just because you bid on something doesn't make it yours. The fact they call it 'winning' is marketing to try to get people to overpay... no one wants to 'lose', right?
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