Buying a bike off Ebay: The Good, Bad and Ugly

[cherinyc]

My bidding war is not looking good. Overnight some random person started bidding weird #'s. Who places a bid of $509.11? Anyway - it now appears that the guy has removed the "Buy it now" price that was there initially. I didn't know he could do that or I would've taken that deal. I don't have an infinite amount of money, so I will probably be outbid of my max (which is my ultimate max max).

Oh well. If it wasn't meant to be, it wasn't meant to be.

[Beane]

Anyway - it now appears that the guy has removed the "Buy it now" price that was there initially. I didn't know he could do that or I would've taken that deal.

For some reason ebay has the policy of removing the buy-it-now option once the reserve price is met.

[cherinyc]

For some reason ebay has the policy of removing the buy-it-now option once the reserve price is met.

I have been bidding on this since the start, and while my initial bid was up (the starting bid that he set) the "Buy it now" was still there. If I wasn't meeting the reserve price with my initial bid, it would tell me "your bid has not met the reserve price". Which it didn't.

[spokewench]

When I was looking for a Giant frame a few years ago, I bid on a lot of bikes; even one that belonged to one of VeloGirls' teammates; but I was outbid at the very end every time.

I got frustrated because there were not that many Giant frames in my small size being sold, so I found a year old frame for sale at a shop in Phoenix and ended up buying that instead.

So, hang in there; you may or may not get the bike; and the bids that outbid you usually come in the last few minutes of the posting on Ebay.

My husband bought a snare drum on Ebay from some guy in NY City and that was almost a nightmare; he kept saying he was going to ship it and that it was going to come overnight and when it did not come, hubby would email the guy back and the guy would get back to him 4-5 days later and say he got delayed or something; we tried to stop payment at Pay Pal, but I hear if the seller takes the money; sometimes you don't get it back. Anyway, finally, many weeks later, the guy (flake) actually came through and shipped the snare to us via snail mail.

[TxDoc]

My bidding war is not looking good. Overnight some random person started bidding weird #'s. Who places a bid of $509.11?

Hi,
despite the ebay suggestions of placing early bids to win the auctions - really the best way to win an item is to bid last, just a few seconds before the auction end. That is what I do, usually at 5 secs to go - barely enough time to click the button for the bid and for the confirmation! Sometimes, if my wireless lost connection for a second or anything - I lose the bid. Most of the time it works. Also, it gives you the opportunity to see if the predicted winning price fits your budget: if something that you are willing to pay 200 goes over 300 two hours before auction end - then you don;t need to waste your time checking your bids, since it's already out of range.
An bidding weird #s is also something you do to win, unless you are willing to pay a lot more than the current bidding price. For example the usual assumption is that people bid in 'round' numbers. So they would bid 100 but not 103, or 101, 107, 109... or 150, or 155, and so on. If you see a current bid of 100 or 105, you can decide to outbid for good with a 200 if you want to spend that kind of money - but if the item is not worth it then yo can go with the 'weird #s' and try 107, or 109.50 or 109.99 or something like that. Often time it works and saves you $$ compared to trying big outbids by posting round amounts
Anyway, best of luck - and yes post pictures when you get it!

[cherinyc]

Hi,
despite the ebay suggestions of placing early bids to win the auctions - really the best way to win an item is to bid last, just a few seconds before the auction end. That is what I do, usually at 5 secs to go - barely enough time to click the button for the bid and for the confirmation! Sometimes, if my wireless lost connection for a second or anything - I lose the bid. Most of the time it works. Also, it gives you the opportunity to see if the predicted winning price fits your budget: if something that you are willing to pay 200 goes over 300 two hours before auction end - then you don;t need to waste your time checking your bids, since it's already out of range.
An bidding weird #s is also something you do to win, unless you are willing to pay a lot more than the current bidding price. For example the usual assumption is that people bid in 'round' numbers. So they would bid 100 but not 103, or 101, 107, 109... or 150, or 155, and so on. If you see a current bid of 100 or 105, you can decide to outbid for good with a 200 if you want to spend that kind of money - but if the item is not worth it then yo can go with the 'weird #s' and try 107, or 109.50 or 109.99 or something like that. Often time it works and saves you $$ compared to trying big outbids by posting round amounts
Anyway, best of luck - and yes post pictures when you get it!

WOW - it's like Ebay for Dummies (meaning me)

Thanks for all the tips. If I don't win this one, at least I will be more ready for the next one.

[mimitabby]

ha, i always bid weird numbers. I've won more than one auction by a few cents because of that.

[malkin]

Bid once.
Bid your max.
Bid late in the auction-unless there's a BIN that you are willing to pay.

Everything I know I learned at the ebay Bidding Board.
Unless I learned it here at TE.

[Possegal]

I think the buy it now option will disappear if someone bids OVER that price. Which it sounds like maybe someone has? And maybe even if someone bids a max that is over that, but the max isn't showing as the current bid. That too is one of the problems with waiting and bidding in the last seconds. Say the current bid shows at $100. It is possible that person put in a bid of $200, so if you go in and bid 110, then it will say you were outbid and the current bid is 111. then you go in and bid 120, and it reads 121. So it is possible to run out of time doing that. Personally, I'm a fan of the 'go in and bid the max you are willing to spend' style. Then I don't get caught up in the thrill of the win, and end up bidding more than I wanted to spend. Hey, my grandfather was a bookie by trade, there must be a bit of the gambler in me that I have to keep in check. And if you put in the max you are willing to pay, doesn't mean that is the amount you will pay if you win. That will depend on how much other people bump up your bid.

[emily_in_nc]

I buy on ebay a lot and sell quite a bit as well. If I really, really want something, and especially if the auction ends when I'll be at work or away from the computer for some reason (imagine that! ), I use esnipe. Their computers will place your max bid 6 seconds before the auction ends automatically. If you didn't bid enough, you lose, but if you bid the most and no one else knows your bid, you win -- so I win most of the auctions I "esnipe". It may sound a little unethical, but believe me, this type of bidding goes on ALL THE TIME on ebay. There are several different auction sniping services, esnipe is only one. You do have to pay a small amount for "esnipe bucks" (using Paypal), but when you first sign up you get a certain number for free, and I just put $5 for more bucks in ever so often, and it lasts a long time.

Just wanted to let you know that this exists. It's MUCH MUCH less stressful than hoping your internet connection won't die with 5 seconds to go in an auction, staying up all night until the end of an auction, or risking getting fired from your job for being on ebay at work!

Emily

[teigyr]

I don't have much to add except for I have purchased a bike from eBay and it was fine. I think you can get a feel for sellers and whether or not they are scammers.

I have friends who swear by esnipe (http://www.esnipe.com). I'm torn...it kind of seems like cheating but I will bet anything I've been outbid by people using this service.

[cherinyc]

I have friends who swear by esnipe (http://www.esnipe.com). I'm torn...it kind of seems like cheating but I will bet anything I've been outbid by people using this service.

Cheating Shmeating.... I want this bike. Can you tell I was a tantrum throwing child?

I signed up for esnipe. I am still a little baffled about how it works, but I think I get it enough to just sit back and wait now. I've got about 12 hours, so....

I wish I had known about all these techniques before I placed the first stupid bid - which of course raised interest. Darn it!