>>>Either bid at the end, and I mean well within the last minute if not the
>>>last 10 seconds or so, or bid the full amount you are willing to pay for
>>>the item.
>>
>> If you're bidding on something that you really want, be prepared to be awake
>>and in front of your machine when the auction ends. Everyone learns this
>>after
>>a while.
>Or just bid your full amount to start with. Lots of people use eBay like a
>email store and just place an order, with a bid that delivers 90% of the
>time.
I've done that - usually for some oddball item that nobody else would
likely want, anyway.
I've been following the E-bay auctions for SCSI drives closely in the
past month or two, and what's *really* amazing is that sometimes there'll
be 4 identical items, all from the same seller, all closing within minutes
of each other, and in one auction the drive is bid up to $180.00 and in an
another auctions the cost settles around $60-$70.
Someone here said that E-bay is perhaps one of the harshest marketplaces
around, implying (I think) that it's pure open competition with commonly
available knowledge, but this isn't always the case: some of the bidders
haven't a clue as to what's going on, and instead of treating the auction
as what it is - a business transaction - they get caught up in the
frenzy of bidding. (It takes at least *two* such bidders to bid the
price up to ridiculous heights.)
I personally don't understand "sniping" at all - it isn't necessary.
Set your maximum bid what you're willing to pay. If someone else outbids
you, you didn't "lose" - "losing" is when you pay more than you're willing,
not when someone outbids you!
--
Tim Shoppa Email: shoppa_at_trailing-edge.com
Trailing Edge Technology WWW: http://www.trailing-edge.com/
7328 Bradley Blvd Voice: 301-767-5917
Bethesda, MD, USA 20817 Fax: 301-767-5927
Received on Sun Oct 17 1999 - 18:52:02 BST