Bid Sniping

[WN9HJW]

Not a "rant" per se, but some rambling thoughts.

I've been selling a few odds and ends on eBay the past couple weeks. It's been about two years since the last time I used eBay. Things have changed. Not sure whether it's for the better or not. Well the fees are a lot higher than two years ago. That's not good obviously. But the bidding behavior has changed.

It used to be that you'd see people place bids on the items and over the course of the 5, 7, 10 days of the auction, the price would incrementally go up, some bidders would drop out, and someone would win, usually with a "reasonable" bid.

It seems to me now that there's a dramatic increase in the prevalence of "bid sniping" - the practice of waiting until the final few seconds of an auction then pounding in ridiculous bids like a machine gun. In fact in most of my auctions there's no activity at all until the final ten seconds then the bids go through the roof.

The exception being that when I put in a reasonable "Buy it Now" option, someone always bids the minimum bid, I assume to block anyone else from exercising the Buy it Now..

I don't get it. You can put in a maximum bid and let eBay generate bids for you up to that maximum. I always do a little research first and decide how much is the maximum I'd be willing to spend on an item, then put in that maximum bid and hope that it doesn't go over that. Maybe I'm missing something but what does it matter whether I put in that same bid on day one, or in the last ten seconds?

Now the emphasis seems to be on WINNING at all costs, regardless of the cost of the item. I actually sold an item yesterday for 10% MORE than the thing cost new even accounting for fees and shipping! And the starting bid I gave was about 75% LESS than the new price. Nothing happened until 10 seconds before close, then the bid indicator went bonkers.

If people want to bid that way, fine with me. Especially if I'm the seller and it makes me more money. But I just don't understand the rationale.

[WØTKX]

I don't either. However, if I sell any of my stuff, I will take advantage of it, unless I sell it here first.

I like your keys, but I'm really looking for a long armed "Swedish Pumper" style.

Have a really nice LTA GDO key, and it's similar to those Brit keys.

[NQ6U]

I saw this exact same behavior when I sold a bunch of stuff on eBay a few months ago. Like you said, it's good if you're a seller but I will no longer buy ham gear there. You can still find the occasional bargain in other categories--the XYL gets amazing deals on shoes and designer clothing, for instance--but when it comes to almost anything tech, forget it.

Thinking about it further, the people bidding on ham gear/electronics are predominantly men while the bidders on shoes and designer clothing are predominantly women. One has to suspect that this is not a coincidence.

[K7SGJ]

I don't either. However, if I sell any of my stuff, I will take advantage of it, unless I sell it here first.

I like your keys, but I'm really looking for a long armed "Swedish Pumper" style.

Have a really nice LTA GDO key, and it's similar to those Brit keys.

Yeah, I'm looking for a long armed Swedish Pumper, too, but not for the radio.

[WX7P]

Not a "rant" per se, but some rambling thoughts.

I've been selling a few odds and ends on eBay the past couple weeks. It's been about two years since the last time I used eBay. Things have changed. Not sure whether it's for the better or not. Well the fees are a lot higher than two years ago. That's not good obviously. But the bidding behavior has changed.

It used to be that you'd see people place bids on the items and over the course of the 5, 7, 10 days of the auction, the price would incrementally go up, some bidders would drop out, and someone would win, usually with a "reasonable" bid.

It seems to me now that there's a dramatic increase in the prevalence of "bid sniping" - the practice of waiting until the final few seconds of an auction then pounding in ridiculous bids like a machine gun. In fact in most of my auctions there's no activity at all until the final ten seconds then the bids go through the roof.

The exception being that when I put in a reasonable "Buy it Now" option, someone always bids the minimum bid, I assume to block anyone else from exercising the Buy it Now..

I don't get it. You can put in a maximum bid and let eBay generate bids for you up to that maximum. I always do a little research first and decide how much is the maximum I'd be willing to spend on an item, then put in that maximum bid and hope that it doesn't go over that. Maybe I'm missing something but what does it matter whether I put in that same bid on day one, or in the last ten seconds?

Now the emphasis seems to be on WINNING at all costs, regardless of the cost of the item. I actually sold an item yesterday for 10% MORE than the thing cost new even accounting for fees and shipping! And the starting bid I gave was about 75% LESS than the new price. Nothing happened until 10 seconds before close, then the bid indicator went bonkers.

If people want to bid that way, fine with me. Especially if I'm the seller and it makes me more money. But I just don't understand the rationale.

It's just like our society, it's all about the win.

Your approach about researching an item and putting in a bid is logical and rational. Human beings aren't logical and rational for the most part, especially on ebay.

If there is something I really want, I do the sniping end game instead of bidding early. It always seems that there is someone out there who will bump the bid just for the hell of it. That's why some prices get inflated. You also have to worry about shill bidders in that environment.

A little tip if you're going to sell a lot. Ebay now has this ranking system where they survey the buyers on your descriptions, promptness etc. If you fall below their standards, they will hold your paypal payment until three days AFTER the buyer receives the item before they release the money. You have no way to find out what the complaints were or explain anything. You are at the mercy of the sellers.

Buyers are king on ebay. They can lie cheat and steal and get away with it. Ebay was great for us in a rough period, but never again.

Hope this helps.

[WN9HJW]

A little tip if you're going to sell a lot. Ebay now has this ranking system where they survey the buyers on your descriptions, promptness etc. If you fall below their standards, they will hold your paypal payment until three days AFTER the buyer receives the item before they release the money.

I was wondering about that. I've sold about a dozen items the past week, and all of a sudden two transactions on Friday eBay told me they were not releasing the funds until July 30th. I shipped the things the same day but buyers had not even gotten the things yet of course so it can't be a buyer complaint. Something about "unusual seller activity". Well, yeah, I haven't sold anything in two years but so what? So I guess eBay feels that actually USING eBay is considered "unusual seller activity" ? ?

[suddenseer]

There are bid sniping smart phone apps. They seem to take it up to the final seconds.

[WX7P]

I was wondering about that. I've sold about a dozen items the past week, and all of a sudden two transactions on Friday eBay told me they were not releasing the funds until July 30th. I shipped the things the same day but buyers had not even gotten the things yet of course so it can't be a buyer complaint. Something about "unusual seller activity". Well, yeah, I haven't sold anything in two years but so what? So I guess eBay feels that actually USING eBay is considered "unusual seller activity" ? ?

Yep, it's because you HAVEN'T used ebay. It's a legal kiting scheme.

[NQ6U]

Yep, it's because you HAVEN'T used ebay. It's a legal kiting scheme.

Yup. eBay gets the use of your money for a few days interest-free. The bastids.

[WX7P]

Yup. eBay gets the use of your money for a few days interest-free. The bastids.

It's more than a few days, It can be up to a week. Actually it's longer than that. Paypal kites at least 2 days before the money hits your bank account.