Bidding When Is The Best Time

Ebay (and others) would never do this, because they would make less money, but ideally I'd like an auction system that allowed 1 bid per account. The way that these things are supposed to work is that you enter your MAXIMUM bid, then let the automation run it's course. It's silly to bid $100, have someone bid $110, and then bid again for $120 (That's a different type of auction format). If you were willing to pay $120 for the item, then you should have bid $120 in the first place! This would eliminate the ability to nibble away at other peoples bids.

Of course, people would just work around this type of system with multiple accounts. I hate people (not really, but I have to fight the urge sometimes).

 

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Cherd, My thinking also

 

Here's the bid history of an Ebay auction I'm following that demonstrates the point.


What the i**r guy is doing shouldn't be allowed. If everyone only placed their bids at the last second then he wouldn't be able to do that. He's now nibbled all the way to $80+. That being the case, it just makes no sense for him to ever have bid $12. He is either an idiot, or the seller.

 

Why he's making bids? Now if he retracts at the end his account should be closed but it probably wouldn't be

 

With an Ebay type auction format, there is no need for a legitimate buyer to make any more than 1 bid. You bid the maximum that you are willing to pay and that's it.

The question, "Why would he have bid $12 if he is willing to bid $80?" is probably pretty simple, because he's not bidding to actually win the item. He is simply bidding to drive up the final price.

The most likely scenario is that the account is associated with the seller. Minimum bids can be placed until the highest bidder's bid doesn't increase by a whole increment. At this point they know that they've maxed out the price. This is shill bidding and the downside of this type of activity for buyers is pretty apparent.

Then there is the other possibility. It's just some idiot that, out of total disregard for others, decides to play this game for their own entertainment (I wonder what that guy's bid is?). Or maybe they think they are smartly gleaning some valuable information about what they need to bid to win the auction. But again, none of that matters, just place your max bid and be done with it. It's extremely discourteous to potentially cost other people extra money by playing this game.

 

That's completely false and another completely incorrect assumption by you.

You have no proof of that. There's lots of reasons he could be bidding that way that. Maybe he wants a lot of bids on it to scare people, maybe he just want's to be in the lead by a single bid, maybe he's not that computer literate and thinks you have to bid that way ect ect.

No it's not and this is just another baseless accusation by you.

Zero proof of it actually being that.

 

What that bidder is doing is unusual, I've seen people do that when there are other bidders and they want to jump over them, but not when they are the only bidder.

You could click on the bidder's ID and check to see his bid history with the seller. It's always good to check the bid history of the other bidders on a auction and if they show 80 to 90+% bids with the seller it raises a red flag that they could be shill bidders.

Also, beware of Ebay's private listing auctions, which is the best cover for shill bidding. I'm surprised that Ebay still allows them.

 

Without actually knowing the identity of the person pushing the buttons, it's impossible to have "proof" of this type of thing. What I have is logical deduction, the way he is bidding makes no sense unless there is ulterior motive (Or he is an idiot).

In any case, you seem to have set your mind to categorically argue with everything that I post. Have fun, I'm not chasing my tail on this one.

 

You've just decided that that's what you want him to be doing so they must be and are throwing around accusations without proof.

 

I bid on lots of items and look at other buyers as competitors, so I want them to have to pay top dollar on every item so they either can't afford to bid on other items, or lose interest in ebay as a source for buying discounted items.
I myself have lost some interest because I see too many people paying Redbook prices for details coins as though there is nothing wrong with them. It would be foolish to try and outbid people who are already overpaying.

 

it's an auction-type website.. www ola dot com

 

Each to his own, but this still falls under the category of "ulterior motive". You are not bidding to win the item, you are essentially shill bidding on behalf of the seller.

The point of all of this is that bidding at the last second is the only logical thing to do on platforms like Ebay. If everyone waited until the last second, then this type of thing wouldn't be a problem.

 

Yea, but running up the price just to inconvenience another buyer is impossible to prove. And the platform can't prevent it, so it's all part of the game.
I sometimes will place a high bid early on to dissaude others from continuing to bid. I mean they like most of us are looking for a good deal, so when they try to outbid you and place a couple bids at 50 cents or a dollar higher only to see the red alert that it's not high enough, they realize they are just chasing a high bid and move on.
It also depends on the number of bidders too. If there are only one or two I wait till the last seconds and snipe, hoping they'll think no one else is interested.

 

If you've been outbid by a shill bidder and the seller asks you to buy it now at your max bid which was substantially higher than the next highest non shill bidder. Would you refuse to go higher than a single increment over the next legitimate bidder?

That is the situation I'm in right now. I will not be maxed out by a shill causing me to bid against myself. It's the principal of the matter, even though I really want the coin and would have honored my bid up to my max if the legitimate bidders pushed me to it.

But am I wrong?

 

ps I do make multiple bids. The first is to get it on my bid list so I can make comments and observations in the notes section. Later, I do more research and decide if I wish to increase my bid or not. Other time I'm waiting to see if I've won other bids before committing to a higher bid. I intend to honor all my bids and I expect sellers to do likewise without manipulating the process through shill bidding..

 

How bad do you want the coin?

 

Not bad enough to pay off a shill.

If the seller doesn't make it right, he won't get any more of my business and I'll follow through with having eBay list him as a risky seller which they were going to do. I asked them to wait and give the seller an opportunity to make it right.

Shill bidding is against eBay plicy and illegal in many jurisdictions where eBay operates.

 

Are you a politician?

 

A max bid is a max bid. If its a common coin you can find anywhere sure walk away, if you've been looking for a long time well I'd value having it over waiting a long time again.

Nope but I understand the games that happen in auctions and it's not just an eBay thing. There's plenty of things I'd rather get than wait for months/years again just because of the "principal".

Like I said there's no way to answer without knowing what it is. Also people call a lot of things shills that aren't necessarily. Bidders play A LOT of games on eBay and it's just gotten worse over time which makes it look like a seller is shilling who isn't

 

Just so everybody knows, a shill bidder is the crooked seller of the coin/item. You are essentially bidding against the seller or his cohort. Ebay needs to do a better job in weeding them out.