Do you even eBay bro?

a reply to: Gazrok

As a seller, absolutely! As a buyer, absolutely not!

I always, always, always wait until the last seconds to enter my max bid. Of course, my intent is to get the absolute best deal possible rather than buy/win a specific item.

There are a lot of debates about efficacy of strategies, up to and including actual white papers and research. Maybe not the right place for the full discussion, but I firmly maintain the sniping strategy results in less cost as a buyer. On the flipside, the absolute last thing I want to see as a seller is a bunch of experienced eBayers interested in my items.. Well, maybe not the last thing, but I'd rather have a bunch of people entering in their max bids throughout the duration of the auction. Results in a higher selling price every single time.

ETA: In thinking about it, finding the absolute best deal possible as a buyer and selling for the highest price possible as a seller may be a bit more important to me than most. Obviously, its business 101, but in my situation, I am much, much more limited than most folks. My health dictates just how much I can do, and its completely unpredictable. Even my best days are significantly worse than the best days of the vast, vast majority of people. So, everything counts for a lot more since I can't achieve volume.

For me, I'm only bidding on an item I want, so I put in the lowest bid to make me lead, then just enter my max. I may want the item, but I also know how much I think is still a bargain for me, and don't want to spend a lot of time watching items.

a reply to: Gazrok

Well, I only bid on items I want too, but I'm doing it in a business context. So, unless its a rare item, I'm more than willing to wait for the next one to come up, or the one after that (or the one after that). Ideally, I get the item for 20%-30% of what I can sell it for immediately (i.e. the normal market price on eBay or anywhere else), and my absolute *max* is 50%. Even then, my max is only a consideration if I'm running low on inventory.

In that context, I'm not bidding on specific items, but types of items for inventory. So, instead of being driven by the specific item in question, its driven by economics. I'm not looking for a "good deal," but the best deal possible and I'm willing to wait to achieve that. That certainly shapes my bidding practices.

For someone that just wants to save a little, isn't doing it for business, or isn't willing to wait, they'd probably bid quite differently.

I also have no interest in spending a lot of time watching items. The only time I even look at them is the initial search, and then the last minute or so.