simplyred

So I'm on the hunt for parts for my build..
I see some great parts - oh yeah - I'll add that to my watch list...

10 mins left a bid - woohoo - time to ninja this
Get my cup of coffee out - and F5 my keyboard like crazy...

Wait... wait for it... 30 secs... wait... BAM!
Did I win?

YES?
YES!!!

Oh man - I SO overpaid for these...

Does this scenario ever happen to you guys?
I really like eBaying for parts... but it's definitely a test of patience not to show interest until the last 10 secs...
I lose some and I win some... but all in all it's great bidding fun..

Comments?

-simplyred

TrekDen

Yep, I've done that a few times myself. Bid something up, and then back off to see if anybody gets serious. Then bam, in for the kill. I won't do this unless it's something I truly want to buy.
Another scenario. If it's something I want, but don't want to pay to much for, then I set my max limit, and let it ride. If someone outbids me, so be it, if not then I feel that I got a good bargin.

marqueemoon

I never overpay. I set a strict limit and bid once in the last minute or so of the auction. If something is reasonably priced and has a "Buy It Now" option, I will often use it. I've seen many an auction end above the "Buy It Now" price. I don't mess with Paypal either. If someone won't take my money order, they don't get my business.

I haven't sold anything on ebay yet, but when I do I will not be setting the opening bid or reserve too high. If it's something good word will spread and there will be enough people battling it out to drive the price up.

Was anybody else watching those pink Phil track hubs? Ridiculous.

food

It's all about the 3 second snipe baby. No other way to do it. Ask those who know.

jemoryl

I've bought a lot of bike gear from eBay and really enjoy the whole process. Generally, I don't pay more than approx. 75% of the lowest available retail price for new(ish) items. For more expensive items, I'll watch several auctions just to see what a reasonable price is. Right now, for instance, Capmy Centaur or Chorus rear derailleurs are generally going for close to retail (or above!), while it is often possible to get brake calipers of the same for a good bit less than retail. Just snagged some new Centaur calipers for $75!

cycle17

{Yep, I've done that a few times myself. Bid something up, and then back off to see if anybody gets serious. Then bam, in for the kill. I won't do this unless it's something I truly want to buy. Another scenario. If it's something I want, but don't want to pay to much for, then I set my max limit, and let it ride. If someone outbids me, so be it, if not then I feel that I got a good bargin.} {If something is reasonably priced and has a "Buy It Now" option, I will often use it. I've seen many an auction end above the "Buy It Now" price.}

These two posts pretty much sum up how I Ebay. I love Ebay by the way, but I never over pay for things. I have a budget and I pretty much stick to it. If you lose one auction...another will come along soon.

bikebugmenot

There are way too many fools on ebay who will pay as much or more than what you
can get stuff for by shopping around on the net. They just want to "win baby!", no
matter what the cost. I'm like TrekDen, I set a max limit, bid it, and if I get overbid,
oh well, I'll try again on another one. If I win, I feel like I got a good deal. I probably
only win about 20% of the time however. Dont cost anything to try!

dlwilson42

Two things that really help me on eBay are:

Use the advanced search to check the "completed listings" box to see what similar items have sold for. This way, when you decide you just have to have that new lime green headset, you can check completed auctions for other lime green headsets. You don't have to wait for the current auctions to finish to see what the market price is.

Auction Sniper (www.auctionsniper.com) is your friend. You can specify an eBay item number, and your max bid, and it will place the bid for you whenever you tell it to (like five seconds before the auction ends). It is essentially the same thing as using eBay's proxy bidding, but the problem with proxy bidding is that irrational bidders will up their bid in increments until they top you. With bid sniping that can't happen. There is a fee for winning an auction with auctionsniper, but it's pretty low.

Just don't bid against me for that lime green headset.

Dave

lotek 

oh man I am so strung out on e-bay, it is the only way to find alot of
vintage stuff that I absolutely must have.
Funny, I saw a swobo had (current production) bid up 23 bucks more than
I could have gotten it off the web site.

If I'm mildly interested in something I will lowball bid it enough to get
me in the game, if I find I don't want it I leave it be. Got a C Record
derailleur for $9.00 that way, no one outbid me.
If I want it I set my bid to the most I would pay for the item,
if someone wants it bad enough to creep up the bid till he outbids
my max fine.
I prefer paypal it's hellva lot easier than money orders or mail.

marty