2 May
2018
2 May
'18
9:50 a.m.
On May 2, 2018, at 8:58 AM, Cory Heisterkamp via
cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
On Wed, May 2, 2018 at 10:22 AM, Chuck Guzis via cctalk <
cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
Chuck makes a good point about the Make-Offer feature, and it should be
noted that sellers have this option available to them within the eBay
messenger system even if the button isn't present in the auction, so if you
have your eye on something and feel the price is too high (or your search
of completed auctions shows the item has been relisted several times with
no takers), there's no harm in sending the seller a message with a dollar
amount in mind. -C
YMMV. There is a type of system that I am interested in adding to my collection. An eBay
seller has a bunch in a number of BIN/Make Offer auctions over months. I asked an expert
on the systems his opinion on the auctions, including what he would offer. I offer 50%
more, but it was still 2/3rd the BIN price. They countered by taking a bit over 10% off. I
countered by splitting the difference but they didn?t go for it. The auction closed and I
looked at the auction history. I saw that the systems had previously been offered at a
price less than my split-the-difference offer. When they came back up for auction again, I
offered the split-the-difference price and noted that the lower price in a previous
?no-takers? auction run. They countered with a higher price than their counter to my
initial offer. They went unsold again and I waited for the next auction run. I offered the
split-the-difference price again and they countered even higher. I got the message and
have stopped bidding. That was a couple months ago and they still have sold any of those
systems.
alan
On
05/02/2018 08:06 AM, Eric Christopherson via cctalk wrote:
When you say you snipe with a bot, do you mean you use eBay's highest-bid
functionality to do it? Or do you use third-party software?
I've never been clear on how the built-in highest-bid functionality
works.
I often see things where the same person has
several consecutive bids,
which doesn't make any sense to me in the absence of other people's bids
in
between them.
When you submit a bit do eBay using the traditional method, your bid is
really a proxy bid--it's increased by specified increments until it's
outbid by another bidder. If you prevail, you win by the minimum
winning proxy bid.
For example, I was looking for a cheap HDMI cable. There were a few
available for a starting bid of $0.50. I submitted a bit for $1.00 and
won with a final price of $0.69.
Sniping simply reduced the amount of time that a competing bidder has to
submit a bid when he discovers that he's being outbid. There's nothing
unethical about it--auctions end at a specified time and you get your
bid in at the last possible moment.
There's software for this, but since I'm an original member of the
eSnipe service, I use them and haven't paid them a fee for years, since
bids under a certain amount aren't assessed for a commission. Later
subscribers don't have the same deal, I believe.
When I'm interested in something small, I'll submit a snipe bid for what
I'm willing to pay and then forget about it. If I win, great, if not,
no bother.
One thing that many eBay subscribers overlook is the "Make offer"
feature of some auctions. In my opinion, that's where the real gold can
be. If the BIN price looks too high and you really want an item, make
an offer. You never know--the seller just may be want to be rid of the
thing and will take any offer.
FWIW,
Chuck