How do E-bay auctions work??

[redhen]

So, i've been trying to get my FIL a certain Christmas gift on e-bay.. (motorcycle license plate). And some jack wagon keeps out bidding me..
I've lost like 7 auctions so far..

They always swoop in with 2 seconds left and bid above me...

My question IS: HOw DO THEY know what my highest bid will be?? LIke it will SHOW $76.00 as the bidding price.. but i had made MY highest/increase bid to say $79.00..(and that doesnt show, to anyone but ME.. right??)
So then how is it they always bid like 1 dollar more than my top bid at the end of auction and win the auction?? Can they SEE my highest bid price?? Because i cant see theirs!
And i'm getting mighty IRKED!

 

[Stacykins]

They cannot see your price. They just happen to put their highest price above yours. I know eBay is all about trying to vie for the lowest price, but when an item is popular (sounds like it), then things are more competitive. I'd suggest increasing your highest price to the absolute maximum that you are willing to pay for that item.

 

[Highlander]

They are sniping you. There are free programmes you can use to automatically bid for you seconds before the auction ends. The bids go up in increments so it may look like they only bid a small amount more than you but they could in fact have a max bid a lot more than yours but you can never tell. Google for some free sniping tools and get your own back, it's fun!

 

[itsy]

When I buy something on ebay, I am an absolute lunatic about it. If you want to bid on the same item I'm bidding on - you're out of luck. Not only will I sit there and refreshrefreshrefresh from the last 10 minutes on - I usually won't bid on something until the last hour it's available. If you start bidding really early on something it can draw attention to it. Also - you may get in an early bidding war with another person or persons and then it gets too inflated too soon and the end price is much higher than it should be. I will also bid funny numbers. So.... instead of bidding $78, I'll bid $78.59. I'm just too competitive for my own good.

 

[desertdarlene]

One way they constantly outbid you is to set up a maximum price that is way higher than your maximum price, so no matter how high you bid, theirs will always be more. Another thing people do is use auction sniping software that places bids for them and at the last minute.

Usually, to get a good price in a eBay auction, you have to be very patient, do your homework and look around. Sometimes, it helps if you're not too picky. For example, I wanted a DSLR and I bid in several cameras in eBay, but all went above the price I would actually pay if I were to have bought it in a retail store. Then, I saw something with everything in the kit except the lens. I managed to get that one for a real low price and got the type of lens I wanted for a good price, too. I got the whole thing for way less than retail and it was barely used, too!

 

[Stacykins]

Quote:
You totally sound like me when I bid on eBay, ahaha. But I will bid early, just to get my foot in the door. When I am ALWAYS on the moment the bid is ending, even if it is like, 2am.

 

[itsy]

LOL Stacy! Me too!! Shoot, I hope we don't ever go head to head!!

 

[redhen]

LIke right now..its saying the price is $40.. i kept trying to bid.. $35.. 37.. 39... and everytime it said i was outbid..
And the price now stands at $40, with him being top bidder...
Heres my thing.. i dont want to bid anymore YET (5 hrs left of auction)... but i HAVE to to see what his highest bid is(or how can know how much to bid at the end?).... right now it is SHOWING 40.. but he could have 60 as his highest bid..
I need to find out where his high bid is at.. but i dont want to keep bidding dollar by dollar to see how high hes at... UGH!

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

Yup, you're being sniped. This is exactly why I rarely bid. I look for Buy It Now and save myself aggravation and disappointment.

Rusty

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Gah! I know...