To buy on Ebay or not?

First, if you want to have any chance of winning an E-Bay auction and getting a good deal, you need to use sniping software.

Second, E-Bay is a retail outlet. Why do you think you are entitled to be able to purchase your coins at wholesale value? If you want to flip coins for profit then you need to work hard to find the deals. There are thousands of other E-Bayers doing the exact same thing.

Lastly, I don't consider my E-Bay offerings garbage simply because you can't turn a profit after purchasing them.

 

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I agree with you that the ebay idea is largely a retail market to 'end user consumers', even in most lot scenarios. Bargains are harder to find than years ago because of the huge base of ebuyers now. You could probably find more bargains on smaller auction sites, but that means more work and perhaps more risk.

I never understood why sniper bidding is perceived to be an advantage. You bid the most you are willing to pay and so does everyone else and the high (qualified) bid wins, snipers or not. [Assuming the high bid was chronologically first in the case of a small difference not meeting the required incremental - but that is a disadvantage for snipers since their bid is likely to be the later.]

Can you explain the logic of why sniper bidding is the only way to have any chance? I have bought all sorts of great deals without it. Or even the logic behind it at all? I have found that putting a big bid up front scares other buyers off. Certainly it moves it down the search list if sorted by price. I have 2 other major tactics that have served me well but I dare not spill the beans

 

Putting in actual bids before the end of the auction puts you at risk for a bidding war. Sniping will not automatically guarantee a winning bid as you still have to contend with the other snipers, but you completely eliminate the chance of a bidding war.

 

I don't think it's the only way to win coins, but it's my preferred method of bidding. I am pretty sure ebay has an algorithm to increase the visibility it gives to items in part based on the number of bids/views it has received. So if I find a great item I wait to bid on it lest my bid give the item more attention.

 

Ebay is very much hit or miss for me. The first few times I bought from ebay (not coins) I was totally ripped off, but this was pretty early in the Ebay game. I try to message the seller and ask questions about the coin they're selling, if they don't respond forget it and if they act like they don't know what they're talking about then forget it.

 

There is zero chance of being a bidding war participant if you just bid what you are willing to pay - up front. What else you got?

 

I am pretty sure that no algorithm defeats a price sort list position.

 

Can you provide a couple different free options that are reliable, I do it manually but would prefer software.

 

You ALWAYS have to contend with higher qualified bids, 'much' or any kind.

They could have been doing that all along with or without your snipe pending. This doesn't avoid allowing them anything beyond knowing that you have placed a bid the size of witch they do not know until it is beat. Anyone who bids based on second guessing what other bidders might do can only be harmed by either paying more than they want to or losing an item for not having bid what they wanted to. I wonder how many sniper bidders lost the ability to buy items they otherwise could have purchased at the price of their choice only if they had bid it?

Ebay provides that service as a watch list. Making a bid removal in the last 5 mins is no different than waiting until the last five min mark to place your bid.

I still don't see any advantage. So far it seems to add a level of complexity and your interaction. Just another thing to worry about.

 

Either they outbid me or not. Technically I have never bid more than I wanted to pay for anything. I never raised a bid because someone bid more than I was willing to pay. I have placed unreasonably low initial bids just to mark an auction in that list (bids offers) , for example if watching several same/similar items and wanting to make only one purchase, so I can watch them as they close and fall off the list and keep trying in order so as to end up with only one purchase. Sort the bidding list by ending soonest and I can put my real bid on the one that closes soonest after having done all the research which lands them in that list for me. When I place that bid and it is not large enough I can move down the list without hesitation until I am winning, only when that one closes do I need to go back at it. Pretty simple if you know what you are doing.

Given that ^ there one is caveat, you might end up buying something Damned cheap. All the rest of those things that you placed tiny marker bids on might not have over-bidders. That is why marker bids are so small that I'd happily buy it for that. If an item is already too expensive to fit that slot it gets watched instead. One weekend when I NEEDED to replace a truck I had bids out totaling MORE than $180,000 in the currently winning statistic, and ended up with buying a great deal. Also, I purchased one sweet vehicle accidentally with a marker bid so I could research it and woke up next day with the congratulatory email "you have won item ..." cost me less than 8% of blue book : ) In that case the sniper bidder who pushed my marker bid to the max lost by $8.88. Had he bid normally he would have had time to realize that my bid - my ONLY bid - didn't meet the next increment and wasn't backed beyond itself now shown at face, and he could have had that vehicle for another increment. I wonder how hard he kick himself in the pants when he realized that? That single experience learned at HIS expense is enough for me to shirk it. I'd bet you a thousand dollars right now that he would gladly have increased the bid in hindsight. If you want to do that ask ebay if they would be willing to contact the guy for us - I'll cooperate with that.

I have several other major purchase stories along that line and of the 5 vehicles from ebay they were all fantastic values. Some times you are the only bidder. ooooopsie

Happens all the time with small items. ooooooopsie

I 'impressive ' even me sometimes

If someone can show me a reason why it is an advantage I might try, til then ...

 

Sure. If you don't snipe, you're divulging more information to other bidders, in a way that can only work to your disadvantage.

You: "This coin is sitting at $10, but I know it's a rare variety X, worth $200. I'd love to get a bargain, so I'll bid $100." Current bid goes up to $11, with you in the lead.

Another knowledgeable collector: "This coin is sitting at $10, but I know it's a rare variety X, worth $200. I'd love to get a BIG bargain, so I'll bid $75." Current bid goes up to $76, with you in the lead.

Twelve less-knowledgeable collectors: "Why in the world is that $10 coin sitting at $76? OMG, it looks like a variety X! BID BID BID BID BID"

Now the coin is sitting at $200, and there are a bunch of bidders trying to convince themselves that it's worth bidding it even higher.

Now, suppose you're sniping.

You: "This coin is sitting at $10, but I know it's a rare variety X, worth $200. I'd love to get a bargain, so I'll set a snipe for $100." Current bid sits at $10.

Another knowledgeable collector: "This coin is sitting at $10, but I know it's a rare variety X, worth $200. I'd love to get a BIG bargain, so I'll set a snipe at $75." Current bid sits at $10.

Twelve less-knowledgeable bidders: "Ho-hum, another $10 coin. Maybe I'll bid $15."

Five seconds before auction end, your snipe kicks in. The current bid goes up to $11, or $16, or whatever.

Three seconds before auction end, another knowledgeable collector's snipe kicks in. The current bid goes up to $76, with you in the lead.

Twelve less-knowledgeable collectors: "OMG that must be... rats, missed it."

Does that clarify things?

 

First it is assumed "Twelve less-knowledgeable collectors: "Why in the world is that $10 coin sitting at $76? OMG, it looks like a variety X! BID BID BID BID BID"'

Then it is assumed "Twelve less-knowledgeable bidders: "Ho-hum, another $10 coin. Maybe I'll bid $15.""

Any scenario can be conjured up I suppose. Clear as mud

 

Okay, here is how I see the maturation of E-Bay bidders:

E-Bay infant: Places their max bid with days left in the auction and the guy that they outbid responds by raising his bid $1 and bids repeatedly until he becomes the high bidder again. The E-Bay infant throws a fit and then repeats the same process until they have a genius idea, maybe I should wait until the end of the auction to place my bid and the E-Bay infant grows up.

E-Bay adolescent: Waits until the last minute of auctions to place his max bids but constantly loses out for a multitude of reasons. Computer connection decided to go out just when he is placing his manual snipe, forgot about the auction, forgot he had to work when his auction was ending, GF/wife decides to start a 30 minute argument with 15 minutes left in the auction etc. Adolescent gets angry and thinks, there must be a better way and the E-Bay adolescent grows up.

E-Bay adult: Sees that he is getting outbid constantly by people placing bids within the last few seconds of an auction and realizes that they can't be doing this manually. Finds out about sniping software, uses it, and decreases his purchasing costs and time spent on E-Bay.

E-Bay old fart: These are guys who joined E-Bay way back in the day and think that technology like sniping software is stupid and doesn't work even though all the adults swear that it does.

Which one are you?

 

So your ridiculous anecdotal examples are valid, but Jeff's very plausible coin example is one that could only be conjured?

 

I use "gixen" as my sniping tool. I just set my highest bid on there, sometimes even days in advance, and close it, going about my day. It is easy and automated, and does not require your computer to be on. My success rate at winning auctions has gone up to 85%. (The other 15% is when the bidding actually exceeds my maximum bid that I set on gixen.) It avoids a bidding war, and I have gotten some great deals.

In fact, I was bidding on an 1835 large cent in F. It was at about $7 with a day left, but I saw that there were a lot of bids. In order to avoid a bidding war, I used gixen and set my maximum bid at $18.51. I checked an hour before the auction was ending, and I saw the price keep increasing...$8, $9, $11, $12...if I had thrown in my bid at that point, the bidders would be notified and would probably up their own bids. Instead, gixen threw in my bid 6 seconds before the listing ended, not really enough time to notify the other bidders, and I won the coin for $13.

I see this as an advantage. Instead of perhaps paying my maximum bid of $18.51, I am now only paying $13 because I bid at the very last second. That is the advantage.

 

Trust me, they surely exist. I dont buy a single a coin that i dont feel like i have a deal when buying it. Ive probably purchased 50+ individual coins like this. (obviously not all would realize a profit, but i was more than happy with every purchase and have made money along the way)

I have also made plenty of Buy It Nows on new sellers that didnt really realize what all they had. My best example was a roll of dimes, actually about 75 dimes for $90.00 plus shipping, this was when silver dimes were bringing over $2 each. I also worked the guy for every other piece of silver he had too. I simply asked if he had more, he said yes, told me what all he had. I threw a pretty fair number at him something like 65% and bang got another $200 worth of silver on top of my good deal on the dimes and made out well. You just have to be persistent and look at EVERYTHING if you want to find the deals. Plus you have to realize its the internet and you can simply ask anybody anything you want, whats the worst they can do, send a nasty email? So i always ask if people are willing to negotiate or if theres more available. Sometimes it pans out, sometimes no response, and sometimes people get snarky but its just words on a screen.

 

Please tell me why a sniper would raise his bid, even by only $8.88, when his snipe bid is the maximum amount that he wants to pay for the item? That sounds like a bidding war to me. Your whole argument is based upon the predication that bidding wars don't exist on E-Bay. Do you even understand that?

 

****As a disclaimer, not ALL of my coins are great deals, but I do get my fair share at below what I see the same coins selling for at other times or in other settings, I also havent bought a coin that i havent really been pleased with****