last second ebay bidding

[cyclop]

Twice I,ve been pipped at the post on ebay for bike stuff,in the last few seconds,How ?

[rualexander]

Automated bidding

[rareposter]

Sniper software. You can set up automated watch and bid instructions, the software watches the item and puts in whatever bid you've set at the last second. Annoying but not illegal.

Some auction sites have a system to avoid that whereby a last second bid extends the auction for a further minute but that's also a price-gouging tactic whereby the auction house can effectively force a bidding battle where each bid extends the auction finishing time and you can get two people bidding against each other, sort of artificially inflating the item price (and also the auction house commission!)

Similar software (but more advanced) gets used in City trading - it can buy and sell shares/currency etc in fractions of a second.

[fastpedaller]

Weirdly whenever I've thought 'I'll not win that' with a proxy bid (both at physical auctions and online) I've ended up getting the item. Once at our local Auction house it became apparent to me that the auctioneer was just 'bidding off the wall' so I let the other bidder have it

[tatanab]

If I want something, I wait until a minute to go before entering my bid and then wait until the last 5 seconds before committing it. This is not fool proof since I can be beaten by sniping software or by a previous bidders higher limit.

[JohnR]

My bids fall into two categories (i) Something that I want and (ii) something I'll have if the price is low enough and then set my maximum bid accordingly. If it's something I want then I'll research the cost elsewhere before setting my maximum. Quite often I see the last-minute bidding wars resulting in someone paying more than the cost from elsewhere. Sometimes I put in a low bid purely to make it easy to check what the item finally sold for.

[Paulatic]

How?

Your bid wasn’t high enough

[cyclop]

Yes,I realise that but the point is that I had no chance whatsoever of upping my bid .

[Carlton green]

Yes,I realise that but the point is that I had no chance whatsoever of upping my bid .

Make your last bid the most that you’re prepared to pay. You might then win the item for that price, or win it for a lesser price or be outbid - it’ll be one of those three.

[rareposter]

Yes,I realise that but the point is that I had no chance whatsoever of upping my bid .

Which is exactly the point of the software!

[Bonefishblues]

Yes,I realise that but the point is that I had no chance whatsoever of upping my bid .

Which is exactly the point of the software!

Bid the maximum you're prepared to pay at first instance and let nature take its course, as it were.

[rareposter]

I've had it a couple of times on stuff I've sold. One (fairly collectable) item had about 20 bids in the last minute, I reckon most of those were automated, they were too quick to be anything else.

[simonineaston]

One way or another, all bidders seek to game the system, to a greater or lesser extent. I often use a so-called sniping website because a) I’ve decided on my highest bid and b) I don’t want to reveal that limit. Some folks think this is cheating, but as its a legitimate part of modern on-line life I don’t agree. There’s been many occasions when I’ve been outbid by a snipe, however the timing is irrelevant. What often matters most to me is how high I’m prepared to go.
Having said that, I do recognise that the disappointment experienced from “losing” an auction (isn’t it interesting that these transactions are couched in terms of a competition like a running race, that you can “win” or “lose”…?) can be quite a strong sensation, especially if the item is something the bidder coverts - and doubly so, if there’s a chance of a bargin via a low bid. Cautious auctioneers often advise placing your highest bid in good time, but that doesn’t take into account the many many folk who’ll do whatever it takes to beat the competition to the post (that running metaphor again…). Of course those who come second - and worse - feel cheated! But on the whole, I think it’s a miracle of modern technology that ebay auctions are mostly fair and equitable, albeit occasionally disappointing!

[Jezrant]

Twice I,ve been pipped at the post on ebay for bike stuff,in the last few seconds,How ?

As others have said, you’ve been pipped at the post by someone using sniping software. Annoying, but that’s fleabay for you.

[Jezrant]

Twice I,ve been pipped at the post on ebay for bike stuff,in the last few seconds,How ?

As others have said, you’ve been pipped at the post by someone using sniping software. Annoying, but that’s fleabay for you. I too use it (Gixen) after ‘losing’ a few times as you have. It’s worked very well the few times I’ve bid for something I wanted on that auction site.