First Time on Ebay

[DonN]

lately there have been many FatBoys for auction - decided to bid on a mint one - found out that I need to work on a better bidding strategy - set a max of $75 and was high bidder until the last minute - it jumped to $75 and change, I uped to $80 and then with the blink of an eye it was over and I lost the nice lookin mint FB by 8 cents

there have been some between $100 & $175 and there was one at $225 - wow - if only we knew in the late 50's what was going to be disirable today !!!

I've turned to "the Bay" in search of a second FB - got my first from a B&B member who was very helpful - I can't prove it but I suspect the members here with mint FBs are keeping them in their collections - can't blame them - and it seems like you have to be looking at B/S/T 24/7 in order to quick draw a PM to the few that are selling them.

my 2 cents worth !!!!

 

[Baartel Van StratenShaven]

Don't forget antique shows. I still find lots of razors and the occasional mug and brush at shows. I got a 59' Fatboy mint at a show for $5. Sellers at these shows generally are not specialized and razors are a small part of their inventory. They just don't know theres shaving nuts like us out there willing to pay outrageous prices. Last show I went to I came away with 4 DE's and a Straight for $25. I'm keepin all of them but I could easily rip some ebayers off and sell them for up to $500.

 

[Bullwinkle]

eBay Pro's have programs setup to watch items and auto bid everytime someone bids particularly in the last minute. same thing happens when trying to bid on a Dunhill pipe or any special pipe. that and gotta use paypal pretty put me off of eBay. YMMV

 

[proxymoron]

I don't know about that. Just this morning, a Red Tip and a Fatboy went for $.99 and $4.27 respectively (plus $10 shipping!) in two 'bad picture' auctions. I'm not in the market for either but I kept an eye on them just to see what would happen. As it came down to the wire, it was a real struggle not to bid on principle.

As big as the 'bay is, there are still sellers who don't know what they've got and buyers with their backs turned.

 

[Groat]

There's a fantastic website called Gixen that you can set snipes on. Snipes are essentially bids that execute in the last few seconds of an auction. You give it your ebay username and password, tell it the auction number and the price you're willing to pay and the website does the rest. It's worked wonders for me while bidding on the sports cards that I collect. It's been my experience that not only does it increase my win percentages but it gets me the items for cheaper as well. People tend to bid higher when they have competition, and if they don't get the chance then the price stays low.

 

[Sydney Guy]

Don, ignore what eBay tells you about putting a high bid on and letting their automatic bidding system do the rest. Their interest is in you paying the maximum price so their commission is higher, your interest as a buyer is in getting it for as little as possible. If you put a high bid in early, you'll get other bidders who'll chip away at the auction until they find your maximum price, then top you by a few dollars. Often these people are tyre-kickers who don't really have an idea of what something's worth but assume that you do. Even if they quit before your max bid, you wind up paying far more than you otherwise would. Also, an early bid notifies other bidders that there's going to be competing buyers, so they up their bids accordingly. Experienced ebayers wait till the last few seconds of a bid to put their bids in, to minimise the possibilty of getting overbid. For this reason, auctions frequently end in a bidding frenzy. Those that end at times when most bidders are at the computer get the highest prices, auctions that end at inconvenient times don't. Also look for items that are mis-spelled eg "Gilete", "rasor" etc as these often don't get picked up in searches and attract less bids.

So in summary, invest in a stopwatch and an alarm clock, and spend every waking hour scanning eBay, when not prowling antique shops and yard sales!

 

[DonN]

you can also just decide your max bid and let the auction play out - you'll win some & lose some

 

[Omaha-BeenGlockin]

Just this weekend off the bay:

Picked up a Slim Adj for $18 and a Super Speed for $7----happened to be from the same seller---so $3 to ship both----not bad for $28 total.

Not looking for mint---just users in good shape.

 

[wulfgar1976]

Don, ignore what eBay tells you about putting a high bid on and letting their automatic bidding system do the rest. Their interest is in you paying the maximum price so their commission is higher, your interest as a buyer is in getting it for as little as possible. If you put a high bid in early, you'll get other bidders who'll chip away at the auction until they find your maximum price, then top you by a few dollars. Often these people are tyre-kickers who don't really have an idea of what something's worth but assume that you do. Even if they quit before your max bid, you wind up paying far more than you otherwise would. Also, an early bid notifies other bidders that there's going to be competing buyers, so they up their bids accordingly. Experienced ebayers wait till the last few seconds of a bid to put their bids in, to minimise the possibilty of getting overbid. For this reason, auctions frequently end in a bidding frenzy. Those that end at times when most bidders are at the computer get the highest prices, auctions that end at inconvenient times don't. Also look for items that are mis-spelled eg "Gilete", "rasor" etc as these often don't get picked up in searches and attract less bids.

So in summary, invest in a stopwatch and an alarm clock, and spend every waking hour scanning eBay, when not prowling antique shops and yard sales!

This is excellent advice.

I have bought a good number of items at a good price because the manufacturer of an item was misspelled in the title. People are sometimes wise to this judging by the number of people I have seen bidding on some such items, but it does still limit the number of people who are aware of the auction in the first instance. Sometimes the people who push prices up early on are the less experienced, so it is good if these people are not likely to be aware of the auction.

Bidding at the last minute serves two purposes for me: the first is that, as explained above, you are likely to get the item for a better price; the second is that you can decide the maximum price you are willing to pay for an item with a cool head and not get caught up in the frenzy of the auction.

I really like the razors I have so far so I am not likely to purchase anything that costs more than a few pounds on Ebay. I wouldn't mind a Gillette adjustable for the right price, but I don't feel a pressing need to own one. I tend not to buy too much on Ebay any more in the first instance as it is very addictive...

 

[Sydney Guy]

Bidding at the last minute serves two purposes for me: the first is that, as explained above, you are likely to get the item for a better price; the second is that you can decide the maximum price you are willing to pay for an item with a cool head and not get caught up in the frenzy of the auction.

I wholeheartedly agree with Wulfgar's second point above. When I first started on eBay I'd put a bid in based on what I thought others might bid, then lose out and think "Damn, I should have bid more". Now I bid at the last minute with the maximum I'm comfortable paying and if I win fine, and if I don't win also fine because that's more than I wanted to pay - no regrets and peace of mind.

Another good reason for bidding your personal maximum is that so many snipers lodge bids in the last 5-10 seconds of the auction that the price at T-1 is no guide to the winning price and you don't get a second chance to bid. But don't put it in too early because other bidders (or even the seller using shill bids) will run up the price against you.

 

[Go West Young Man]

There is no winning strategy for bidding on eBay - if someone wants it more than you, they'll pay more for it no matter whether you snipe or manually enter bids or set-it-and-forget-it.

 

[proxymoron]

There is no winning strategy for bidding on eBay.

Actually, bidding last second can make network traffic work in your favor. Lag builds a bit of randomness into the outcomes, which won't guarantee victory but will help keep the winning price closer to what you want to pay.

 

[Go West Young Man]

Actually, bidding last second can make network traffic work in your favor. Lag builds a bit of randomness into the outcomes, which won't guarantee victory but will help keep the winning price closer to what you want to pay.

Unless someone else had already put in a higher max bid.

Actually, I see what you're saying, but I think that's more an argument for the fact that eBay auctions are highly dependant on the luck of the draw of who you're bidding against. If fewer people are watching the particular item, you might get lucky. If one guy who REALLY wants it at any price gets involved, there's no way you can keep it from him.

 

[Sydney Guy]

Unless someone else had already put in a higher max bid.

Actually, I see what you're saying, but I think that's more an argument for the fact that eBay auctions are highly dependant on the luck of the draw of who you're bidding against. If fewer people are watching the particular item, you might get lucky. If one guy who REALLY wants it at any price gets involved, there's no way you can keep it from him.

Luck of the draw is right - I've seen items that attracted no bids on first listing go for much more on the second listing because 2 buyers conduct a bidding war.

As for the guy who wants it at any price, that's fine. If he's prepared to pay more than I think it's worth to me, good luck to him. The object isn't winning the auction, it's getting what you want at a price you're comfortable with.

 

[Walker]

Very frustrating when you think you have it in the bag and at the last 30 seconds of the auction you get outbidded. I usually don't bid until the last minute of the auction. But i still get outbidded alot because i don't spend enough time on there to get this fancy bidding software you guys are talking about. Oh well, i'll just hang out on B/S/T were i know i'll get a good deal

 

[Joe Edson]

I truly don't like the idea of giving my ebay name and password to some snipe site to bid for me. I'm sure it is probably fine, but for me not my cup of tea. If I really want an item I bid the max I'm willing to pay with 5 seconds left in the auction. If I want the item, I'll do my best to be in front of the computer to do this manually. If I know I'm going to be away, I just bid my max and if I win it - great, if not, no biggy as there will more than likely be the same items for sale ending later.