E-bay etiquette . . . Help!

[Muchadoaboutnothing]

Ok when there is a starting price but no 'buy it now' price, how the blooming heck do you know how much you should bid?! I'm new to e-bay and watching an item that only has one bid on it, should I just bid slightly over the other person? Does the seller just not sell if the bids are too low? Don't want to be seen to be taking the pi$$! I asked if they had a buy it now but hasn't said.

Help please!

 

[FanyDuChamp]

If there is no buy it now price then just bid what ever you are willing to pay for the item. No one will be insulted, if a seller has a particular price in mind they will put a reserve on their item. Then if you bid it will show your bid and show whether you have met the reserve of not.

An example is I bought my daughter a Tshirt she hated it, I ebayed it and it sold to the US for 2x what I paid for it! But I have also sold things that have really disappointed on the price they finally went for, it is always a gamble.But fun.

Hope that is clear. Enjoy Ebay there are great bargains to be had.
FDC

 

[Paddy Irish]

It should say under the box where you place the bid what the minimum bid must be and also if there is already a bid on the item then you can't do a buy it now, as it's not fair on the person who's already bid if you get my drift...

 

[rubyrumba]

Just bid what you are willing to pay. Say the itemis only on £5 and you would pay £30, then ebay willbid on your behalf if anyone else bids, it doesn't go straight to £30,just a bit more than the highest bidder. Hope that helps, quite hard to explain!

 

[riding_high]

you set a maximum limit in your head and then you put that as your maximum bid, others will bid over you (possibly) and then you can either keep bidding or stop. you might win it or you might not. it's an auction so you have to bid up to your maximum limit that you are willing to pay for it.

 

[Sarah Sum1]

Bid whatever you like, you wouldn't be seen as taking the pee as that is how e-bay works. I persoanlly leave it until the last seconds of the auction and then put down my maximum bid. But if I were to bid on something with a few days to go I wouldn't put my maximum bid as some people tend to get carried away and I may get outbid early on.

I tend to win things last minute, last 10 seconds is best.

SO in answer yes you could bid just over the previous bidding and engage in a bidding war or leave it until the last minute.

If you were to bid on something at say £2.00 and you are willing to go up to £20, it wouldn't automatically go up to £20, e-bay do the bidding for you, so it goes up with each bid. So even though you put in £20 if there is no bidding war, you could pay less. If that doesn;t make sense, sorry.

 

[KittyJay]

rubyrumba is right. but the trick is NEVER to bid before the last 10 seconds. get everything ready so you only have to press the final 'place bid' button (a couple down the line) and in another window watch the time count down and keep refreshing to see if the price has gone up. even if it has it won't matter as you've put in the max you're willing to pay already and you can quickly change it anyway. this is the way everyone does it. happy bidding!

 

[mcnaughty]

Personally, I never ever bid on anything that I really want until the last 30 seconds - then I bid the top figure I am willing to pay. That way you are not showing your hand to everyone else.

If you bid now for an item that has 5 days to go and you bid your maximum amount you are just encouraging others to bid against you and you will push the price up and up.

Trust me - time it right - leave until the last 30 second and then wack in a large bid - the ebay computer will only take a few pence or £ at a time and bid for you up to your highest bid.

Patience!!

 

[rubyrumba]

The only trouble with bidding in the last ten seconds is that if your computer plays up or does a go slow then you miss out, this has happened to me more times than i would like to say!!!

 

[Muchadoaboutnothing]

You lot are fab! Right I know my limit so will hit 'em with it last minute and what will be, will be

Thank you for all the fab answers.

 

[*hic*]

Automatic snipers are the way forwards!

I put on one max bid with my sniping program as soon as I see and want the item, the autosniper bids for me in the last five seconds.

 

[appylass]

Automatic snipers are the way forwards!

I put on one max bid with my sniping program as soon as I see and want the item, the autosniper bids for me in the last five seconds.

sorry for slight hijack, could I just ask jemima_too which sniper you use? I have often thought of trying this but haven't been brave enough!

 

[rambling]

Automatic snipers are the way forwards!

I put on one max bid with my sniping program as soon as I see and want the item, the autosniper bids for me in the last five seconds.

That automatic sniper programme sounds very interesting is it part of ebay or did you get it somewhere else ?

 

[s4sugar]

Try www.auctionstealer.co.uk

I used it if an auction finishes at an inconvenient time like the Kennel Club Charity auctions last week which finished at 6am.

If you go to ebay via Quidco you get cashback on your purchases but you can't do this with a sniping tool.

 

[*hic*]

sorry for slight hijack, could I just ask jemima_too which sniper you use? I have often thought of trying this but haven't been brave enough!

I use www.justsnipe.com

Try www.auctionstealer.co.uk

I used it if an auction finishes at an inconvenient time like the Kennel Club Charity auctions last week which finished at 6am.

If you go to ebay via Quidco you get cashback on your purchases but you can't do this with a sniping tool.

Of course you can get cashback with a sniping tool, it wins auctions, you go through quidco to ebay, go to my ebay then Won/purchased and pay. Ebay / Quidco have no way of knowing how you placed the bid.