Anyone Else Do This on eBay?

[route246]

I occasionally focus on acquiring certain SO tools on ebay. I figured out the best way to do this is to blast a bunch of lowball bids and hope/pray that one slips by. I've acquired quite a few speeder handles this way (all under $10, most under $5, plus shipping). They need to pass minimum requirements (decent condition, no engravings or initials, decent feedback profile, etc.). I'm doing this with ratchets now and will probably move on to sockets later. I basically put in a whole bunch of bids and wait for the outbid notices. So far, I'm about 0-for-100.

The bids are so low that I wouldn't even mind winning a pile of them at these prices. There is no urgency so I can be very patient. I setup a "saved search" with "ending soonest" and try to narrow it down to the stuff I want. I get the search results daily in my mailbox. I'm done acquiring speeder handles for now

I looked at SO screwdrivers on ebay, and maybe it's just me, but the prices seem to be totally unreasonable.

I do this with some other things that I have my eyes on (in particular, a brand of high-end trousers that I really like but don't want to pay department store prices for, a particular brand and style of shoes, etc.). With respect to the shoes, I'm continuously searching and bidding and I usually win a pair right around time to retire the current shoes. I can be patient, doing this for months or even years until the right deal comes along.

Bidding is free and just burns time and E-Mail bandwidth.

 

[indestro]

i dont even look at stuuf thats been bid on early on because i tend to assume someones is already watching it and cant stand the bidding snipers

 

[therealwormey]

i dont buy trousers on ebay

 

[route246]

New, generic, known sized ones are OK. I've had no problems.

i dont buy trousers on ebay

 

[Rye425]

I can be patient, doing this for months or even years until the right deal comes along.

Patience for years!?!? I'm barely out of the minutes category.

 

[Mr.N]

i dont even look at stuuf thats been bid on early on because i tend to assume someones is already watching it and cant stand the bidding snipers

Don't hate the player, hate the game.


So you're made your low ball price didn't win the auction?
Step up and bid what you think something is worth, then the sniper will not get it from you.

 

[route246]

Look, we are all bargain hunters here. Everyone tries to get the best deal possible. Nobody here likes to pay full price for anything, especially on CL or ebay. I don't go to CL or ebay for something I really need. I go to amazon or other reputable retailer for that. I go to CL or ebay to get a good deal on something, period.

I just bought some Ernst socket rails from ebay. The seller gave me combined shipping on a large order and that sealed the deal. He undercuts the other outlets and he got my business. But, that's from an ebay store which is a different matter from an open auction.

Don't hate the player, hate the game.
So you're made your low ball price didn't win the auction?
Step up and bid what you think something is worth, then the sniper will not get it from you.

 

[canuckian]

I usually go for the "buy it now or best offer" but occasionally, I'll snipe an auction or 2. I don't have the time nor the patience to search day after day for the super-duper Ebay deals. That being said, I refuse to over pay for an item. What baffles me is the people that buy those hard handled screwdriver sets for $300+

 

[MartyO]

i dont even look at stuuf thats been bid on early on because i tend to assume someones is already watching it and cant stand the bidding snipers

Boy, you would hate me.

If I don't do it as a Buy it Now, I will only snipe. Bidding in the middle of the auction is a suckers game. Sorry to be so blunt but it is a fact.

When you snipe, you set a price that an item is worth and snipe that amount. It also helps you from getting caught up in bidding frenzies which auctioneers (and sellers on eBay) love.

Try sniping. You'll like it.

 

[kb2tha]

When you snipe, you set a price that an item is worth and snipe that amount. It also helps you from getting caught up in bidding frenzies which auctioneers (and sellers on eBay) love.

Try sniping. You'll like it.[/QUOTE]

I agree. I has worked well for me. Just don't bid on an item I want to snipe
Ken

 

[glenmore]

I bid on things to keep them on the radar but they always get up to levels well above what I'd like to pay. Yeah, I'm talking about YOU, Green Snap-On pry bar set!!!!

Although not all the Snap-On tools are available in our Classifieds, there seems to be a plenty good selection and at unbeatable prices.

 

[mrshaun]

it is awesome to wake up in the am and see that you won an item for next to nothing. makes you want to try it again and again. I think I may have a problem... oh well

 

[impulse922]

i won a $500 arai helmet(not a closeout) for $200 on ebay this way. It has been my only real steal on ebay.

 

[thrifty bill]

+1 Snipe program is your friend. Never bid early. Several of the snipe programs let you set up a group, so once you win one of the group, it cancels all remaining bids (if you want it to).

I never disclose my interest in an auction to other bidders. While it should have no effect on what others bid, newbies will continually up their bids to stay in the lead....

 

[NUTTSGT]

I don't snipe although I have rode a bid down constantly bidding up.

 

[treasureseeker]

Lastly the deals I find are just searching for Snap on with a few minutes to go.

 

[Skyline]

As a seller, if I have any doubt at all that an item will have competing bids, it gets a fixed buy-it-now price.

The OP will never win a decent Snap-on ratchet with a low ball bid. Where you can get lucky is an auction for a not-so-in-demand item; like a specialty tool, single wrench, single socket, etc. Any complete set of anything, (wrenches, sockets, etc) will always get competing bids, and end up in a certain range. That's not to say the same item won't sell for different prices on different days. That's where the fun is. If you can get that 80 tooth ratchet for $45 instead of $55. You are NOT getting it for $10...never going to happen.

 

[MartyO]

The OP will never win a decent Snap-on ratchet with a low ball bid. Where you can get lucky is an auction for a not-so-in-demand item; like a specialty tool, single wrench, single socket, etc. Any complete set of anything, (wrenches, sockets, etc) will always get competing bids, and end up in a certain range. That's not to say the same item won't sell for different prices on different days. That's where the fun is. If you can get that 80 tooth ratchet for $45 instead of $55. You are NOT getting it for $10...never going to happen.

Those folks are considered "Sport Bidders" and I think they are worse than snipers in my not so humble opinion.

 

[tooth]

I make a living on ebay. Every item is fixed price with best offer. As a seller all offers are welcome, even low ballers. First it ups the offer count which will drive someone to use buy it now if they think it is popular and is getting offers. Second a buyer only gets 3 offers. Ive had many people lowball 3 times, get rejected 3 times and then buy full price because the item is unique and lower than retail $-wise.

I prefer to buy from best offer/buy it now but also place sniper bids. I agree with other posters middle auction bids are sucker bids - though in the end, highest bid wins so it doesnt make much difference.

 

[route246]

You can't say never. That sounds like a seller's perspective. As long as the cost of bidding is free and only consumes time there is nothing lost and nothing gained until the fateful event happens. Sniping is now largely driven by software and it's like programmed trading with derivatives. Not much fun and too time consuming if you try to do it without software. Lowball bidding is a way of life on ebay. It happens and there is nothing a seller can do about it. It used to happen to me all the time when I sold on ebay and i liked it for the aforementioned reasons. I always sold high-demand stuff and I always listed very low without buy-it-now or reserves. If something went for a low-ball bid, I was never disappointed because it is a marketplace and the market determines the final price (or my error in timing or listing).

As a seller, if I have any doubt at all that an item will have competing bids, it gets a fixed buy-it-now price.

The OP will never win a decent Snap-on ratchet with a low ball bid. Where you can get lucky is an auction for a not-so-in-demand item; like a specialty tool, single wrench, single socket, etc. Any complete set of anything, (wrenches, sockets, etc) will always get competing bids, and end up in a certain range. That's not to say the same item won't sell for different prices on different days. That's where the fun is. If you can get that 80 tooth ratchet for $45 instead of $55. You are NOT getting it for $10...never going to happen.

 

[vlpronj]

I bid on things to keep them on the radar but they always get up to levels well above what I'd like to pay.

I use the "Watch List" feature for that.

 

[route246]

Setup a precise "saved search" with E-Mail alerts and set the price pretty low. You won't get spammed with a bunch of overpriced items that way. Once you get your saved search tuned you will find that nice nuggets come in all the time.

The screwdriver sets are incredible. You can go to the Snap-on site and do much better.

I usually go for the "buy it now or best offer" but occasionally, I'll snipe an auction or 2. I don't have the time nor the patience to search day after day for the super-duper Ebay deals. That being said, I refuse to over pay for an item. What baffles me is the people that buy those hard handled screwdriver sets for $300+

 

[treasureseeker]

I am amazed at what a bunch (20 or more) of rusted Snap On sockets go for when the sizes are not listed, and the photos are just light enough to know they are all 12 points.

 

[Frank The Plumber]

Ever try milking the bison on the back of a nickel?

 

[Kool Coe]

I bid on things to keep them on the radar but they always get up to levels well above what I'd like to pay. Yeah, I'm talking about YOU, Green Snap-On pry bar set!!!!

I was watching and thinking the same thing on that pry bar set

 

[thrifty bill]

I still find good to very good deals as a buyer on ebay, and I have "customers" that get good deals from me on things I sell. The keys? 1. The best deals are on items that get minimal interest. 2. When I buy items that usually get good interest, the deals usually are on items with poor descriptions, typos, bad pictures, poor shipping terms, etc (I buy quite a few items local pickup that have nosebleed shipping). Nothing like silly/high shipping to eliminate competition!

 

[timtim2008]

ive done it before

 

[outtaplace]

I agree with some of the others who mentioned that you should never reveal your interest before the very end of the auction. Why tip others off if you are trying to get a deal. People love the bidding wars and let me tell you they are easy to get sucked into.

One method I've used to get good deals is to look for auctions that end at oddball times - Saturday and Sunday mornings are great because people forget to bid or are just not awake. Also, 12:30PM to 3PM, weekdays, but you gotta have access to a computer at these times.

I've watched/monitored many auctions to see what stuff is going for and you definitely see the highest closing auction prices on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights, from 7PM to 1 AM east coast time....good time to set your auction to end if you're selling, but a not the best time to be bidding on something you want to get a deal on.

 

[GarageEnvy]

I really don't do too much on Ebay but I have several different approaches.
1) If it's something I'm casually interested in and it's found in abundance - low ball all the time. It's the "throw enough darts" approach.

2) If it's a Holy **** I've been looking for one of these forever item I bid almost as high as I can as early as I can to discourage others. It also leaves a little room at the end for a snipe attempt. The problem I've found is that some people will put in a ridiculously high bid and then retract it so they know what the early high bid is. As long as they allow bid retraction, a high early bid shows your cards to other bidders.

3) Repetitive bid at what I believe to be fair market value. I did this with my Strong Hold cabinets. There were certain sizes and configurations that I wanted and I knew they didn't come up for sale that often. But when a batch of several hundred showed up, I just kept bidding. I lost well over 100 auctions to win 5 cabinets.

 

[route246]

This is a very good summary of my approaches on ebay. I might add for myself, I never use ebay for something that there are more attractive alternatives (amazon, retail store sales, etc.). The ebay tax and overhead is just too punitive to both buyer and seller. I believe that this will be the eventual downfall and whithering away of ebay. If you read the ebay seller forums you can detect the seller resentment of the high ebay and paypal tax imposed on power sellers. Unfortunately, ebay has this trajectory of huge profit and volume growth on wall street and they need to satisfy the analysts to keep their stock price high, but I think they will suffer the same fate as the USPS with first class postage. The USPS is losing bill-paying, stamp-buying customers to online bill-pay systems provided by almost every bank these days and those customers are never coming back to buy more stamps. ebay is losing out to amazon, CL and better online checkout systems for small retailers.

#1 is what the original intent of this thread was focusing on, however, others have voiced strong opinions regarding this tactic. SO ratchets are found in abundance here and it is easy to send hundreds (or thousands over a long period of time) of lowball bids in the hope to snag one. In the past I was thinking it was a waste of time when I was bidding on a certain type of cleaner. They were in abundance at the time and being taken down for a little more than I was willing to pay. Eventually, I got one for less than 1/4 of what I was willing to pay because the people overbidding either ran out of money or there were too many out there at the time, but it took a year of persistence and probably 500+ lowball bids. I believe this can happen with SO ratchets if there is a perfect storm of too many at the same time and not enough interest. You just have to get lucky and be at the right place at the right time at the right price. Sellers hate this and it is evident with the responses in this thread.

I've only done #2 on a very few number of occasions. I collect slide rules and one particular bamboo model which is extremely rare came on the market. I got that one but it cost me a lot. Doesn't matter since they are so scarce it holds its value.

#3 can only be done if there is not an abundance. If there is an abundance it makes it difficult to bid high because you may end up with more than you need. I do this with shoes of a particular style I like. New, sized correctly, color, style, etc. all matches and I bid exactly 40% of list (shoe store told me wholesale is 50% of list). It takes about 6-12 months to win one this way but I've been doing it on ebay for over 3 years now.

I really don't do too much on Ebay but I have several different approaches.
1) If it's something I'm casually interested in and it's found in abundance - low ball all the time. It's the "throw enough darts" approach.

2) If it's a Holy **** I've been looking for one of these forever item I bid almost as high as I can as early as I can to discourage others. It also leaves a little room at the end for a snipe attempt. The problem I've found is that some people will put in a ridiculously high bid and then retract it so they know what the early high bid is. As long as they allow bid retraction, a high early bid shows your cards to other bidders.

3) Repetitive bid at what I believe to be fair market value. I did this with my Strong Hold cabinets. There were certain sizes and configurations that I wanted and I knew they didn't come up for sale that often. But when a batch of several hundred showed up, I just kept bidding. I lost well over 100 auctions to win 5 cabinets.

 

[route246]

For me, this doesn't work because I don't have time to be online at those times and I don't trust automated bidding systems. Most of my online time comes when I have free time which is unpredictable (job, wife, kids, church, etc.). My online time is substantial but not on any timetable.

I agree with some of the others who mentioned that you should never reveal your interest before the very end of the auction. Why tip others off if you are trying to get a deal. People love the bidding wars and let me tell you they are easy to get sucked into.

One method I've used to get good deals is to look for auctions that end at oddball times - Saturday and Sunday mornings are great because people forget to bid or are just not awake. Also, 12:30PM to 3PM, weekdays, but you gotta have access to a computer at these times.

I've watched/monitored many auctions to see what stuff is going for and you definitely see the highest closing auction prices on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights, from 7PM to 1 AM east coast time....good time to set your auction to end if you're selling, but a not the best time to be bidding on something you want to get a deal on.

 

[csmitty]

I've only done #2 on a very few number of occasions. I collect slide rules and one particular bamboo model which is extremely rare came on the market. I got that one but it cost me a lot. Doesn't matter since they are so scarce it holds its value.

First what kind of sick twisted world do you live in I'm just kidding. I've recieved them as gag gifts for the most part. But I'm also a young engineer.

I'm a sniper and feel its about the only way other than BIN or best offer. I search for something I want or interested in and then add it to my watch list. Then for my phone I have it set up to push me an alert 15mins before it ends. That gives me time to take a look, see what the price is (figuring advertised shipping) and determine if I want to snipe it. Standard sniping applys, put in what your willing to pay and more times than not you'll get it, sometimes at your max, sometimes lower. I do this mainly because I don't have the resolve to watch 20 of the same item. Though I do determine from my watch list if one might be a cheaper option but thats a judement call.

Thank goodness for smart phones though. Rarely do miss a snipe opportunity. My ebay app works really well. The joy and curse of technology.

 

[route246]

It is a sick thing but I'm an old engineer and I can remember when they were used and how valuable they were in putting a man on the moon.

I have an iPhone. I'll check apps to see if this can help.

First what kind of sick twisted world do you live in I'm just kidding. I've recieved them as gag gifts for the most part. But I'm also a young engineer.

I'm a sniper and feel its about the only way other than BIN or best offer. I search for something I want or interested in and then add it to my watch list. Then for my phone I have it set up to push me an alert 15mins before it ends. That gives me time to take a look, see what the price is (figuring advertised shipping) and determine if I want to snipe it. Standard sniping applys, put in what your willing to pay and more times than not you'll get it, sometimes at your max, sometimes lower. I do this mainly because I don't have the resolve to watch 20 of the same item. Though I do determine from my watch list if one might be a cheaper option but thats a judement call.

Thank goodness for smart phones though. Rarely do miss a snipe opportunity. My ebay app works really well. The joy and curse of technology.

 

[csmitty]

I have the utmost respect for those NASA engineers back then. What we can do an a Ti-83 in a couple seconds would take them a few hours with pen and paper (probably exagerating i'm sure) Now we can model a whole mission from a notebook computer. It would be awesome to be part of an R&D department that went to those great lengths of the unkown.

yea i use the iphone ebay one. works good enough I haven't looked for any others. can buy and pay all from the phone in a min or two. only rarely do i forget about the auction in those 15 mins.

 

[Bolster]

Look, we are all bargain hunters here. Everyone tries to get the best deal possible. Nobody here likes to pay full price for anything....

True, but in all fairness, I must point out:

When we as individuals act this way, it's being "prudent" and "stretching our dollars."

When a tool company acts this way, it's "corporate greed" and "selling out."

 

[route246]

If you study marketing and in particular, branding, you will find that factors like price have more to do with product positioning in a marketplace than value or profits. Product positioning, for the most part, determines the brand. Snap-On is an example of a premium brand that places it products at the high end of the marketplace. Nobody that I can think of has much criticism for their ratchets, sockets, wrenches, screwdrivers, pliers and other generic hand tools.

Cachet is determined by perception and price. Wine and spirit companies learned this long ago. Studies have been done which have determined that when a premium brand of liquor lowers their price the sales volume actually decreases. This is totally counter-intuitive but it makes sense. Many people buy products because of exclusivity.

What if Snap-On decided to cut their prices of all hand tools by 50% tomorrow? Sure, us man-jewelry collectors would get a collective hard-on over this but what would happen to their profits and earnings?

I believe they have probably priced their stuff optimally. They still have plenty of loyal customers and they are still profitable. They must be doing something right.

True, but in all fairness, I must point out:
When we as individuals act this way, it's being "prudent" and "stretching our dollars."
When a tool company acts this way, it's "corporate greed" and "selling out."