Collaboration ?

[mark55g]

Have you noticed that sometimes seconds after making a bid someone else outbids you when there have been no previous bids during the preceding days ?

Have you ever thought that so called rival sellers could be collaborating to increase the price by bidding, or getting friends to bid on each others items ?

Have you noticed that the major sellers of specific items always get the so called current market value for their items . Is it solely because they are trusted sellers ? You are unlikely to get a bargain with these sellers.

At the end of the day none of this is illegal and they may come unstuck if they end up having to buy something that they didn't actually want

One golden rule is don't get involved in a bidding war just put in a bid for how much you want to pay  and leave it at that . In 99% of cases , like buses, there will another along in a while !

[*help_no_brakes*]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/buying/bidding/automatic-bidding?id=4014

Is it ok if I continue to use my snipe service to place a bid 2 seconds from the auction end?

That way I don't have to worry about your observations or Golden Rule.

[gasheff53]

As far as you're concerned, there is no need for an auction at all. You might as well say to the seller I will pay up to this for it and that goes for everyone else. The seller can then say who gets the item.

In any case, the E-Bay bidding system is a mess at the moment. You can't actually tell if it's 2 seconds before the end or 10 before the end.

[*help_no_brakes*]

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@gasheff53 wrote:

As far as you're concerned, there is no need for an auction at all. You might as well say to the seller I will pay up to this for it and that goes for everyone else. The seller can then say who gets the item.

I have no idea what you mean by this.

I decide the maximum I am prepared to pay & my snipe service places a bid for that amount.

Some auctions I win & some I don't.

In any case, the E-Bay bidding system is a mess at the moment. You can't actually tell if it's 2 seconds before the end or 10 before the end.

It works just fine for me & by using a snipe service I don't have to have to concern myself with any perceived mess.

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[gasheff53]

You keep mentioning a "snipe service". Who provides this?

Your "snipe" goes in at 2 seconds before the end, the clock goes back to five seconds and somebody else snipes it from you at the actual two seconds before the end. That's fair, isn't it?

[plpmr]

"the clock goes back to five seconds".

no it does not.

[myriad*seller]

I presume you understand eBays proxy bidding system where eBay automatically places bid for buyers? 

This is why you can be outbid within seconds, because eBay has placed a proxy bid for another buyer who placed their bid before you did, even days or weeks before.

[myriad*seller]

This link explains eBays automatic (proxy) bidding system if you weren't aware of it (it seems you arent)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/buying/bidding/automatic-bidding?id=4014

[gasheff53]

Yes it does. It's done it several times to different people.

It did it to me last week. Furthermore, it jumped back twice while I was watching the clock. Since then, I have ceased bidding on auctions.

There's a thread about the subject here with my comments:

Appalling-new-eBay-bidding-quot-glitch-quot-more-seconds-added 

I have used the automatic bidding system before. But what I didn't know is that you can time the precise point to place the bid so it appears two seconds before the end.  I always thought you had to place the bid straight away. At which point, it will then add the bare minium to pass the current highest bidder. But from what you are saying, you can time it?

[plpmr]

eBay does not deliberately add on time, the time jumping is just one of numerous bugs that need fixing.

[gasheff53]

Does e-bay know it's a bug? Because on the thread, somebody was telling everyone it was the clock on your device out of sync.

Glitches like that are a good way of loosing customers. Getting a bit sick of glitches on E-bay.

Can you actually set a time to bid? So you could place a bid of a fixed amount, and it would land precisely 2 seconds before the end?  That would be great as auctions often end at peak viewing time on TV and you have to sit in front of your computer and wait till the end to put in a bid. Plus trying to get the bid in a precisely 2 seconds before the end is for me a nightmare.

[**grandpa**]

But from what you are saying, you can time it?

In the dim and distant past, I used a sniper site to place timed bids on international listings. These listings would end during the night in the UK but during the day in the seller’s country. Personally, I left 5 seconds before the end of any auction. I always bid manually for any UK auction; the “thrill of the chase” perhaps.

Sometimes successful, other times not; which only meant someone else was prepared to pay more than I was. Such are auctions.

I used AuctionStealer but there are others; AuctionBid, AuctionSniper and more. Research auction sniper sites if you wish to consider using these.

[gasheff53]

So that's how it's done!  Now it makes sense, an automated system.  I could understand it if it was part of E-Bay itself. Everyone would know about. But a third party system and paying for it! 👿

Now I know that's what is happening, I will NEVER bid on auctions again, till it's banned.

[**grandpa**]

...and paying for it!

It is usually free for a certain number of auctions. You do not need to pay except if you exceed the maximum number of free bids.

It will not be banned. AustionStealer, for example, has been on the go for the last 23 years.

If you do not wish to use these tools, then do not do so. However, consider if you never bid on auctions again, the only person to lose is you.

[plpmr]

I've failed on the last 5 auctions I tried to bid on - bid window disappeared / circle  kept turning until auction over / blank window came up etc [had an IT expert check my computer and its OK].

Unfortunately there are too many bugs not being dealt with, even answering questions has greatly slowed down on spellcheck / replying. Sometimes it normal but usually slow to very slow.

You could try a snipe service - Google it.

[gasheff53]

However, consider if you never bid on auctions again, the only person to lose is you.

At one time I would have agreed with you, but the starting price on many auctions on the things I have bid on has gone up and to win these days you end up paying much more than you did. The bargains on bidding are just not there any more.

Just been switching the saved searches to buy it now or offers.  It seems a lot are sellers are also thinking auctions are rubbish. One search had 107 Buy it Now compared to 24 auctions.  That was not untypical.

I suspect also that the sellers are loosing out to with snipers. As I suspect, many are also the non payers they moan about.

The only one loosing at the end of the day is E-Bay.

[**grandpa**]

There will be more bargains on auctions than there will be on BINs.

[*help_no_brakes*]

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@gasheff53 wrote:

I suspect also that the sellers are loosing out to with snipers. As I suspect, many are also the non payers they moan about.

Snipers are the best buyers (I love them). They only get one shot & bid the absolute maximum they are prepared to pay... never had one not pay. It is the nibble bidders who do not understand how eBay auctions work that cause the most problems. 

If my bid is placed 2 seconds from the auction end & it is higher than the current high bid then how are "sellers loosing out"?

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[gasheff53]

That might be true on other parts of e-bay, but not on what I bid for.  I have seen bargain prices at the start of the bidding only. By the time of the end of the auctions, they have risen to the buy it now prices for the same thing.  In fact, the Buy It Now and the ones you can make an offer on will get you the real bargains. Because the seller wants a quick sale or doesn't know the true price of what they are selling.  Not common, of course, on the last thing!

The last 6 months of auctions has not been good at all. I have put on what I am prepared to pay for the items, actually what I think its value is, it was often a day or so before the end. Nine times out of ten I lost the auctions.  The one I thought I had got a bargain on, turned out to be a mistake. As the same thing popped up in the Buy it Now section (days later) for about what I paid for, but was complete.  The missing parts also could not be sourced either.  Though the thing worked, it would just look better with them.

Sometimes all you need to do is watch the Buy It Now item and the seller themselves makes you an offer!  That doesn't happen with the auction system.