Powerseller Interviews
eBay Sales News
Search eBay Sales
eBay Bidding - Winning Online Auctions |
 |
 |
|
eBay Australia suggests that you bid the maximum amount that you're willing to pay for an item (note that you won’t necessarily pay that amount). After you place a bid, as the listing proceeds, eBay compares your bid to those of other bidders. When you’re outbid, eBay automatically bids
on your behalf up to your maximum bid. eBay Australia increases your bid by the amount necessary to maintain your high bid position. The increase is an incremental amount depending on the bid value. Your maximum bid has nothing to do with the minimum bid increment. As an example lets say you've found an item you want to bid on and determined you are willing to pay $50.00 for it. The minimum bid on that item is $10.00, and you enter your maximum of $50.00. If there is no other bids on the item the proxy server will enter your bid at the minimum of $10.00. If someone bids $20.00 on it, the proxy server will automatically increase your bid to $21.00. EBay then informs the other bidder that they have been outbid. This bidding process continues throughout the duration of the auction, or until your maximum is met whichever comes first. You can be outbid by less than a full increment. A winning bidder's maximum bid needs only to exceed the next highest maximum bid by one cent. That is why it is a good idea not to put your maximum bid in at a predictable amount. If your maximum bid is $30 don’t put a round number, use $30.63 as an example. Many eBay auctions have been lost by a just a few cents. Now that you have determined your maximum bid amount you are protected from shill bidding. This is when a seller sets up fraudulent bidding, using a second account themselves or having a friend bidding on the item to inflate the price. This is also known as bid rigging and collusion. A bidder that has not set a maximum limit to what they are willing to pay will be most likely to fall victim to shilling. Don’t bid just yet! If you bid early in an auction you give someone a chance to respond to your bid, and attract attention to the item, increasing the final sale price. The best thing to do is bid in the last minute. This technique is called sniping. By sniping you don’t give anyone a chance to respond to your bid, with a higher one. Some snipers use automatic bidding software to bid in the last seconds of an auction, usually for a fee per bid. An added benefit of sniper software is that you don’t have to be online at the time the ebay auction ends. |