Merkava_4
Banned
Does it depend on your connection speed?
I've got a 1.5Mbp/s connection.
I've got a 1.5Mbp/s connection.
How long does it take to place a manual bid? (eBay)
- Thread starter Merkava_4
- Start date
lbgradwell
Well-known member
Red Green
Well-known member
I would guess about the time a page loads + one half of that time again
100Mbp/s ?!? Holy Smokes!
No kidding. Who is your ISP? That's like 10x faster than cable.
At work, we are on the eve of having 1000Mbps connections to the net. Of course most workstations will only do 100Mbps tops, and the connections to the LAN switches are limited to that as well.
I usually try to nab it about 5 secs before it ends. Make sure your PC time is in sync with eBay, and refresh often.
Remember, there is "Place Bid", and then a login if you are not already, then a "Confirm Bid" screen.
I connect through DSL and manually snipe at 6 seconds. I will have 2 windows open; one to keep track of eBay auction time and the other with my bid confirmation ready to go. Works out pretty good for me that way.
The highest max bid at the time the auction closes wins.
lbgradwell
Well-known member
Ooops! Looks like I have no idea what I'm talking about!
Just went to a site to test my connection speed and I'm advised I am connecting at 1386kbps down and 679kbps up.
(I got that 100Mbps figure from the little "connected computers" icon thing on the bottom-right of a Windows PC... What does that mean?!)
lbgradwell
Well-known member
Is it unethical for me to be asking these questions?
Of course not!
It means your local network connection (between your PC and your modem/router) is a 100Mbps Ethernet connection.
It sounds like your internet connection is a typical 1.5Mbps ADSL. ("A" means "asynchronous"....i.e., your download is faster than your upload).
lbgradwell
Well-known member
Okay if I'm not mistaken, that converts over to 1.386Mbp/s.
At that speed, how much time in seconds before the auction ends could you place a bid?
I typically bid with 3 seconds left and my bid is registered with 1-2 seconds left.
lbgradwell
Well-known member
Aha! Thanks, that is nice to know...
I bid whatever I am willing to pay for the item. I am sure you have seen the posts here documenting tools that have sold on eBay for more than the new retail price of said item.
That being said, I have bid in odd increments, and have won items by a one-cent margin. Not often, but once or twice. If the item is at $65.49, and I am willing to go $70 on it, I might place a bid for $71.52 or something like that.
If you want to be sure to win, why not just bid $250?
Yes, and yes.
Many auctions are won in the final second or two. I don't use sniping software, but I am sure it is capable of bidding within a fraction of a second.
I know I've lost a few that way.
lbgradwell
Well-known member
Because he almost certainly doesn't want to be on-the-hook for up to $250! you seem to be assuming that the bidding will only go to $75 or so at the high end, but what if some idiot really bid $245?! Our friend would have to pay!
What if the "idiot" was really the Seller (or his agent) shill-bidding. It might be hard to prove, and do not count on eBay to lift a finger to help you!
lbgradwell
Well-known member
I don't use software, but I've found a 3-seconds-remaining manual snipe to be a successful strategy.
As an example, here's one I won today.
edit: BTW, my Max Bid on this was $2.51, in case you're wondering... As it turns out, the only other bidder (who bid days ago) was hoping nobody else was going to bid at all since his max bid was only $1.00.
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Of course. The point I was trying to make is that there must be a maximum you are willing to pay, and that takes precedence over winning the item at any cost.
lbgradwell
Well-known member
Winning bid US $1.25 ?!? LOL!!!
The last of the big spenders. . . LOL!!!
But his max bid was $2.51.
If someone had jumped in at the last second with $2.52 (or $3, or $5), he would have lost.
He got the item for $1.26 less than his max bid.
lbgradwell
Well-known member
Looks like the bidding was really fierce on that one...LOL
Winning bid US $1.25 ?!? LOL!!!
The last of the big spenders. . . LOL!!!
Yep! And since S&H was actually the same to Canada as to a US address, and the value of the tool was under the $15 duty-exempt amount dictated by the thieves at Canada Customs, I am having my newly-acquired vintage tool artifact from a now-defunct maker sent directly to me in Toronto for a grand total of $5. Woohoo!
The bottom line is WHAT are you willing to pay for an item ...
lbgradwell
Well-known member
No, you just need a countdown timer synchronized to the end of the auction. You likely have one on a sports watch, or you can download one for free...
lbgradwell
Well-known member
No, that person bid earlier than you with a higher Max Bid than the bid you just placed. The 50 cent increment is eBay automatically re-bidding for him. That will continue to happen until your new bid is greater than his Max Bid.
lbgradwell
Well-known member
You don't. If you go back to the above post with the link to the auction I won tonight for the whopping $1.25, you can easily see that private350's Max Bid was $1.00. But hindsight is 20/20; nobody knew his Max Bid until my bid was placed (with 2 seconds left in the auction). Even if private350 was standing by and willing to pay more, he would not have had the time to react. This is the whole point of sniping.
You know my Max Bid was $2.51, but only because I told you; otherwise, nobody would ever know! When I placed my bid with 2 seconds left, it was my only shot (given the time remaining); either I won at an amount up to $2.51 (what I had previously determined was the most I was willing to pay before S&H) or I didn't and I had no way of knowing until the smoke settled. Had private350's Max Bid been $2.51 or higher, I would have lost since his earlier "proxy" bid would have had precedence.
No idea.
IDASHO
Well-known member
Bunch of Ebay snipers 
Thats Okay, I do it too
6 years ago I purchased a laptop online. At the time, it was a NICE computer. Anyhow, within the last 8 seconds of the auction, there were 15 bids.
Mine was on top by 3 cents
Thats Okay, I do it too
6 years ago I purchased a laptop online. At the time, it was a NICE computer. Anyhow, within the last 8 seconds of the auction, there were 15 bids.
Mine was on top by 3 cents
Junkman
Well-known member
As a eBay seller, I wish that they were to use the software that continues the bidding process for 15 minutes after the last bid is placed. This would make it more like a true auction, and eliminate sniping completely. Yahoo auctions were like this, and as a buyer, I didn't care for it, but I honestly can see how it would benefit the sellers and the other buyers that would keep trying to outbid the other person. Live auctioneers will keep the bidding going as long as there are two people fighting over the same item. I would also like to see eBay giving sellers more of a choice as to how the bidding would go. I would like to have it so if a bidders bids $20, then that is the current bid, no matter that the person before them bid only $10. I have been to live auctions where the bidding started at $5.00, and I will then jump in at $30 if I want the item. That usually eliminates all the bottom feeders that will be bidding in small increments. It also helps to move the auction along faster.
eschoendorff
Well-known member
Okay, but that's not the way ebay works - nor should it. If you want a more traditional auction experience, then go to a traditional auction. Ebay is a whole 'nother culture of buying and selling. It is really an auction in the broadest sens of the term. But it is also highly successful and serves many well....