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Bruce Schlickbernd wrote:
>
> In lugnet.market.auction, Rob Doucette writes:
> > 1. Never put in an early proxy! Don't be a fool, like I was, and enter a
> > proxy bid early in the battle. The conventional wisdom is early proxying
> > only results in higher prices.
>
> This is not an entirely true. I have won a fair number of auctions with "fire
> and forget" bids. They also tend to be some of my better buys. The trick is
> not to put in your "final offer" bid early in the process if you can all help
> it. I do not like commiting a high bid and tieing up the money for a week
> just to see a sniper come in at the last second.
I have won most of my auctions with fire and forget bids. I do usually
check in on the auction sometime during the last day, and if the bidding
is close to my maximum, I may chose to raise it. I also do some good
soul searching on my maximum bid, and make sure that is what I want to
bid.
I doubt that early proxy bidding actually does that much to raise the
prices. It may well make the price higher for the sniper, and it strikes
me that this problem is always mentioned by folks who are proponents of
sniping. If you can encourage everyone to play the sniping game, prices
overall WILL drop because the number of people bidding on any given item
will be smaller.
> > 7. eBay might consider sealed-bid auctions. Sealed bids would end all this
> > sniping stuff and might be a way to level the playing field. Or maybe not.
> > It is probably worth a try. It would encourage people to bid at their
> > leisure, which sniping kills.
>
> Idunno. As a seller, I'm not sure this would fetch the best price, sniping or
> not.
True sealed bid auctions will gain lower prices than open bidding. The
biggest thing which gets eliminated is bidding frenzy, but it also
eliminates the possibility of someone who is bidding cautiously deciding
that perhaps they are undervaluing the item.
> > I appreciate all the comments I have received. Especially the friendly
> > ones -- whether you agreed with me or not. I did not appreciate the ones
> > telling me that everything was fine because people who proxy their highest
> > bid imaginable don't lose so often. But they, as I have learned, are also
> > suckers and force up prices unnecessarily by taking on all comers with a
> > "now beat this" response from the proxy.
This type of language always strikes me as the snipers complaining about
other people bidding on their auction.
--
Frank Filz
-----------------------------
Work: mailto:ffilz@us.ibm.com (business only please)
Home: mailto:ffilz@mindspring.com
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: How to snipe on eBay
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| (...) Lower prices, not "fairer" - let's not place a moral judgment on it. Nothing wrong with anything either way. (...) Ah, there is a major catch. :-) (...) Which means publicizing the tactics in fact ruins them. Hmmmmm, are you a buyer or a (...) (24 years ago, 26-Jul-00, to lugnet.market.auction, lugnet.market.theory)
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