ebay rant!!!!!

[marin man]

You dont have to tell me anything about auctions hf.....

There will always be an element of I will wait til the last minute then try and get it cheap in an online auction....essentially meaning it is not an auction.

as supratada said above.....

anyway......as you like it

 

[FMJ]

It's human nature to find the most efficient means (cost or time) to complete a task given the prescribed parameters. Given that online auctions must end at a predetermined time, and would be impossible to run like an open, max bid, live auction, people have figured out that squatting (online) or sniping (proxy bidding) are the most cost effective ways to participate. Same with the reserves, initial bids, and (the recent padded) shipping with selling. You either play the game the way it has evolved or not. Crying about it is just that. Crying.

 

[marin man]

Not crying :roll: ....just having my opinion about it.....as you just have....

No problem to me as if the items I sell have watchers and not bids at the last few hours I just end them.....

 

[dyna-ti]

I usually bid in the last 4-6 seconds from the finish.

It's a bit suspect to remove a listing before its run its course.Some might say if you wanted it to sell for so much as a minimum then a fixed reserve or buy it now price would be more appropriate :?


This wasn't done.Why? to save money on listing fees perhaps ?.

 

[FMJ]

No problem to me as if the items I sell have watchers and not bids at the last few hours I just end them.....

Which is commonly called "taking your ball and going home". Like I said, if you don't like the way the game is played, don't play. Putting something on ebay then pulling it if you don't like the way things are looking is weak. Set your first bid or reserve to what you'll be comfortable getting or stay on Gumtree.

 

[marin man]

I am taking my ball and going to play with the nice kids now.....bye bye fmj.......

 

[highlandsflyer]

Not crying :roll: ....just having my opinion about it.....as you just have....

No problem to me as if the items I sell have watchers and not bids at the last few hours I just end them.....

Most bidders arrive on the scene in those last hours you mention. This is partly because your items go onto the first page, and partly because most people like me throw in at the end. Impulse buying is a factor as well.

If people throw in at the last minute, it is still an auction.

If it is only one bid, it is still an auction in eBay's T&C.

I bid in the last two minutes usually, giving me time to increase if I want to, but normally I have set my final price so it is taken care of automatically.

You don't need to be told about auctions?

So what is the point of your thread? Just to tell everyone your opinion?

Perhaps you should state clearly you only wish to hear from those that agree.

I have sold thousands of items on eBay and very few run as auctions have not had a rash of late bidding, and a lot of those are automatic bids that register almost simultaneously.

I usually have about fifty watchers and maybe 15 bids, some speculative at the lower end then a hard core that will bid up to the end, as well as some 'snipers'.

Seems to me you are wasting sale opportunities by removing items before the final whistle, how do you know these watchers won't bid your price up?

If you are concerned about the price you are selling at will be too low, increase your reserve surely?

Of course you are entitled to your point of view on it, but frankly it is a wee bit odd.

It is also totally against eBay's T&C.

You are basically wasting the time of people who have read your item description and are interested enough to add you to their watch list, possibly hoping to come back before the listing ends to check the current price and place a bid if it is still within their range.

Just my Factual Opinion pal.

 

[Drencrom]

Just my Factual Opinion pal.

All of that makes total sense. eBay is a two way thing.

 

[FMJ]

a bunch of points that make sense

 

[BerthaPog]

Personally I look at it like this......It is an auction....or that is what they call it...in which case you bid until you get to the price you are happy to pay......

Ebay is an auction, but not that type of auction, it's an English second-price auction: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_bid
It is not the same as auctions that keep going until no further bids.

when people bid at the last minute they are essentially stopping the next person from upping their bid....

Absolutely - I'm bidding to win, not pay the highest price. It's called bidding strategies, people write books on this.

if everybody enetered their max bid before the listing ends then whoever wants it more would get the item......

This is what sniping, manually or via a tool is - it enters your best bid with the lowest chance of being outbid, in an auction, knowing your fellow bidders maximum price is the only useful piece of information. Putting a final bid in two days before the end of an eBay auction just gives the competition that information.

instead people get an outside agency to enter a bid at the last possible second....this means that the auction finishes when the item has not reached its 'price'.....

Apparently this is the "economically rational" thing to do (see link above). I snipe manually - sometimes you win, sometimes you don't, but the item has definatley reached it's price on that day, or possibly exceeded it, see "Winners Curse" section: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auction_theory

Just the way I see it....would people who use the system to buy and get something for a low price be happy to let something go when others use the system on them..... :?

First rule of any system you use - know how it works. Ending something early just because you've had no bids fits into the "cutting off ones nose to spite ones face" mode of operation. If you want to protect a minimum price, use a reserve.