The Rock Star is First
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Oh, Lordy, Howard Dean, a blast out of the past!
ReplyDeletepuddle (and others with experience)--I am contemplating buying something via eBay. If it is not for sale directly but only on auction, am I correct to suppose that one will do best to wait until just before the time is up to bid on it?
I can only tell you there are many people who bid at the very last minute. There is a term for them, but danged if I can remember what it is. I can only tell you what I did:
ReplyDeleteI would make one bid of the highest amount I'd be willing to pay for that item. Sometimes those last-second bidders would raise the price almost to my maximum because eBay automatically ups your bid if it was already higher than the most recent bid. Sometimes I'd lose because the last-minute bid would come so near the end there'd be no time to raise my bid even if I wanted to. Rather than re-bid by a dollar or so every time I got outbid (which a lot of bidders did), I just went for my upper limit all at once. That doesn't mean you'll have to pay the maximum, just a smidge over the next highest bid. I "won" almost every auction I entered.
My general practice is to put my bid in as late as possible (my record: four seconds before end of auction). (Called "sniping*. . . ) The sellers hate it: an early bid increases interest, and they get more bids, raising the price. I set up two windows: one to watch, and one to bid. I put my highest bid in the bid window, but don't submit. On the watch window, I watch the bidding (or lack of it). At the 30 second mark, I switch to the bidding window, and submit. Because I'm on dialup, I actually bid earlier than I would on broadband. And sometimes even that is too late. Ah, the vicissitudes of line speed.
ReplyDelete*Worst* possible thing you can do is put your bid in days early and get tackled by a couple of dollar bidder newbies. Other thing to realize is that MOST of the time, another item will be along soon. . . . DO NOT get attached to the item, or you'll do crazy things, lol!
And yep, sometimes the bidding gets so hot and heavy (nearly always between a pair of newbies) that it'll go right off the chart before you even place a bid.
Woke to rain, and cool. Not enough, but not nothing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the pointers. That's about the way I thought it was likely to work.
ReplyDeleteAnd, there's always Lucky Ducks Days, lol! Rick had been wanting a little Beswick Samuel Whiskers figurine for his daughter for a couple of years. They *average* about $60, and occasionally bid into the hundreds. He had his eye on one; another bidder asked if there wasn't a chip on the ear (close to invisible, really). Seller said Yes, there was a "rough space" there. Rick was the *only* bidder. He got it for $6. And in the event said you couldn't even feel a rough space. Happy camper. *I* paid $35 for the one I got him, and $22 for the "matching" Tom Kitten. . . .
ReplyDeleteI can't remember the word either, a term of opprobrium. Sis says there are even robo bidders which, for some reason best known to itself, ebay has not banned. Sis often loses to last minute bids, and she finds it extremely frustrating.
ReplyDeleteFor myself, I do what Susan does, put in my maximum bid at the outset. As she says, that doesn't necessarily mean you'll have to pay that much, but it's easier than constantly watching and bidding.
Sniper, that's it.
ReplyDeletePuddle, I wouldn't have thought such a thing of you! My goodness. You think you know a person...
A couple of times I've seen records whose asking price was so low it was embarrassing. I offered a still ridiculously low but decent price and got no argument from the sellers. 8)
ReplyDeleteA lot of the records I buy - thus far I've only bought records on ebay - are either only Buy It Now or are auctions with a Buy It Now option. Whenever possible, I go for Buy It Now. That's so much easier.
I was thinking Demetrius might want to weigh in here, but I had to laugh when I read puddle's description of her strategy--that's exactly what he does. Two windows--one of them with your decided bit already typed in, just waiting for the time to click "submit". For him the time is 10 seconds, but we're not on dial-up.
ReplyDeleteOh, and ya gotta be *logged in* already.
I always paid the sellers by check or M.O. I don't have a PayPal account. Don't want one. But so many sellers *only* accept PayPal that I just quit clicking on the site.
ReplyDeleteGoing to see HP7.23D tomorrow afternoon, then home with Patty for a while. Looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy!! (Seems likely.)
ReplyDeleteThanks.
ReplyDelete8-)
ReplyDeletelistener 2D bows to Catreona 3D ~ !!!
ReplyDeleteI am pretty tired but inside I feel happy, so it's more than bearable.
ReplyDeleteHad a really good day today ... just that the little things went well, and everyone at work seemed to be in a pleasant space. It really helps.
Another full night of quilting ahead for me. I have the second panel all quilted and now need to edge it. Tomorrow I'll complete the edging of it and get the third panel ready for quilting.
Oh! And just before I left for work my eye doc's office called to offer me an appointment for next Tuesday (instead of September 6th)!! I snatched it right up...and that means I'll have new eyeglasses in time for the wedding! Sweet!
= >:< Rock on, Howard Dean! >:< =
ReplyDeleteBTW, does anyone have any updates on any of the lovely bloggers listed as "Contributors" in the righthand side bar?
ReplyDeleteLet's see... I am in touch with tc and Denise and kimmy and sometimes donna in evanston and Jessica. Dear tc is bearing up well with her illness, and I admire her so very much. Denise is skypopping as much as ever, but got a vacation recently at her family's camp in N. Michigan. Kimmy and family just moved to Oregon and are super happy. I haven't heard from donna or Jessica recently...last I heard donna had sold her house...right?
I am also in touch with Maura, who is not officially on our list, but is ever welcome. She has recently been visiting family in Ireland.
puddle, which of this illustrious group still blog over at the BBB?
Has anyone heard from Nordy?? Last I knew she wasn't well and was struggling financially. So I hope her fortunes have improved.
How about Holly J and TTT and floridagal (and what about thefloridababe!)? Any word?
Only you an me still blog at the BBB. Corinne's on my facebook, as is Andrew, but neither very active. Holly's there, too. Still active, politically, and enjoying grandmahood. Floridagal occasionally shows up at the BBB, but very very seldom. TeaTime, haven't a clue.
ReplyDeleteThank-you, so much! I especially miss Holly J...! I'll have to email her one of these days. :-)
ReplyDeletePuddle,
ReplyDeletehttp://brontesinclair.blogspot.com/2008/11/chapter-twelve.html
Chapters Twelve through Fifteen form a bloc. But I haven't yet updated any other chapters, so I'm afraid you'll have to make do with this till further notice.
Ah. Just gets better n better. . . Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteHi!
ReplyDelete