ShinyShoe
Well-Known Member
Because at least half of ebay bidders don't use maximum price bidding.
So 2 days before an item closes you decide to bid and are prepared to bid up to £100. It is currently at £10. You bid £100 and the price goes to £11.00
But along comes another bidder. They think it would be a great bargain for £12 so they bid £12, and you remain the winning bidder, now at £13.00. He thinks - £14 would still be a bargain and squeezes the price up. Eventually after a spat of bidding like that the price reaches £30 and he decides he is not so interested. Along comes another buyer who does the same... by 1 hour before closure its at £90, and someone bids £95. You remain winning bidder. Then along comes a few last minute (manual) bidders - who in the final few minutes bid you over £100 and win. Because when someone looses a bid at an auction they will often re-align their bid if they have time because why wouldn't they want to pay £102 to try and grab it. Which brings in my other tip... NEVER bid a whole number. Always bid just over it. So you think that thing is worth £100. Is it really worth £103.79? Bid that on your auto bid. I've won several things where the other guy stopped at £100... I end up paying £102. So unless I can BIN for £100 on another listing I'm likely still pretty happy... If it goes for £105 - I can be reasonably sure they were going to bid £120 or £150 and so off the range I was considering.
With a sniping tool you don't show your interest. The £12 bidder still comes along. He may be less tempted to bid... why has no-one else bidded? However someone else will bid. But if they don't use automatic maximum bids they rate of bidding is slower. Its maybe at £90 in the final minute. The sniping tool sneaks in in the very final second and you win for £92 because the other guys didn't use automated maximum bids, so you get rid of the guys who would otherwise have chipped in a last minute "I'll just bid an extra couple of quid" because they don't get enough time in that 15seconds.
To be fair if the other guy has used auto max bid - and you both bid the same amount he wins as you bid later. So its not perfect. But I have no doubt that I've won about 30 auctions purely because I sneaked in with my bid in the closing 15 seconds. I also have no doubt on other occasions I paid less as a result.
I do sometimes just do a standard automatic max bid. In fact I did yesterday and won today... at entry price. My gut feel was no-one else was going to bid. No other watchers, no bids, slightly odd item - likely a commercial application, but a reconditioned part that is normally <£50 anyway. Got it for £5. Perfect for what I need, but a commercial installer would be expected to be installing a new part.
Automatic Maximum Bid is a bit like sealed bids except you pay just over the second highest sealed bid. In a normal auction room, instead you are reading the room, reading the psychology of other bidders. Its the same with the snipe etc.
