Ebay bidding strategy

[davewadd]

A fellow Registry member listed a 1965 911 on ebay yesterday, and then posted a link in the cars-for-sale section for us to view. The car seems like a nice car.

What got my attention, was that the auction is for 7 days, and within the first 24 hours, the bidding went from $0, to $45,000.
I'm not questioning the value of the car.... but I am interested in why people would bid so feverishly in the the first 24 hours of a 7 day auction. Doesn't that just drive the price of the car up?
That may be good for the seller, but as a bidder, isn't one of your goals to purchase the car for the lowest price that you can?

Again, I'm not questioning the value of the car, and I wish the our Registry member the best of luck on the sale... I'm just curious as to what bidding strategy has a person bidding high, and early, in an auction.
Your thoughts? Are these bids from people who won't actually follow-through? Are these bidders just not clear on the objective? Are the bidders just so excited that they can't contain themselves?
Or am I totally off base, and bidding top-dollar on day one is the way to go?....

it just seems odd...

[POS]

It always seemed odd to me too. My strategy has always been to bid at the last moment. I'm guessing the bidder figured it'd get there anyway, so he might as well be an early bidder to show the seller that he's serious. If for some reason the seller wants to sell outside auction, at least the early, biggest bidder can say he put his money up.

[davewadd]

I understand your points....but with the auction less than 24 hour old, it would seem highly unlikely that the seller would cancel the auction regardless of where the bidding is.....

[jesseandersson]

There are Robot-bidding applications that can be downloaded which automatically bid in the last second, by using them you can mass-bid on stuff and set a "highest bid" on hold which is laid the second before the auction ends.

Never tried it but a buddy who trades watches showed me how it worked.

Technology 2.0

[andyjboy]

If you're referring to the red car listed by 'dporsche74', it's a private auction which means that bidder's identities are not shown:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1965-...item19cf178afa

This means that all bids could be from the same bidder or all different bidders.

It's almost certainly attempts to find out what the reserve price is (not yet achieved at $50, 098)

[Bill Simmeth]

but with the auction less than 24 hour old, it would seem highly unlikely that the seller would cancel the auction regardless of where the bidding is.....

I think you answered your question. A lot of eBay cars get sold privately before the listing ends. Showing the seller that there's keen interest early lessens his temptation to sell privately. For the buyer, closing the deal on eBay has advantages (Buyer Protection, feedback leverage, etc). BTW, it's interesting to me that the winner of the white car was 2nd on the car in Oregon and is the leader on the dolphin gray car.

[WCB4]

Not much of a stratiage but I use a proxy bid system, EZ Snipe. I decide what the Max I would pay for an item, set it and sit back and wait till the last 4 seconds. If I decide to up my bid during the auction. You can do it. That way I do not parcipate in running up the auction. My succcess rate is about 75%. And I dont get caught up in the last min. running up the bidding.

[davewadd]

I completely understand trying to snipe stuff at the last second... I still don't understand why someone would bid their max price in the first 24 hours...if you really want to have a shot to buy the item.

[curtisaa]

I completely understand trying to snipe stuff at the last second... I still don't understand why someone would bid their max price in the first 24 hours...if you really want to have a shot to buy the item.

If you think about it , it's really a poker game. The esnipe method is great. You sit in front of your laptop and say too yourself 3000 miles away, if I was there, what would be my maximum amount I would pay for this item. Then you wait until the auction is over, look at your email and you either W or L ...and the best thing to this Ebay poker game is that there's NO "buy-in" ! "no harm NO foul"

[72targa]

I've used many methods. This could be a single bid by someone who's all in at a level they think it is worth. Any other bid bumps them out. They may also be going on vacation and only have one chance to bid. Or it could be something else. In the end, there's always just one winner.