[LargeFormat] EBay

[Stan McQueen]

I don't think you understand how eBay Proxy Bidding works. It doesn't 
matter whether you bid at the last second or not, proxy bidding will 
increase your bid up to the maximum you bid in either case. Proxy bid 
merely allows you to specify the maximum you're willing to pay without 
disclosing that amount to others. Sniping has no effect on the proxy 
bidding process, which operates no matter how much or how little time 
remains in the auction. Proxy bidding is automatic--the only way to avoid 
it is to bid interactively exactly one increment above the current bid. 
Your statement below ("... of course they want you to use their proxy 
bidding!!!") makes it seem that proxy bidding is somehow optional, but it 
is not.

If you're happy with sniping, then you should use it, but it is not magic. 
It does have advantages when bidding against an interactive bidder and also 
when bidding against someone who has entered too small a bid for his/her 
maximum. It doesn't give them any time to revise their bids. So in that 
sense it is effective and if you are convinced that you have won bids you 
wouldn't otherwise have won, then great for you. But I could give you a 
similar list of items that I have won on eBay that sniping bidders didn't 
win--because I was willing to pay more than they were. Of course, I also 
have a list of items I lost because someone else was willing to pay more 
than I was--but it didn't matter whether they bid at the last second or 
not. If they were willing to pay more than I was, then they take it.

Stan

At 01:33 PM 2/7/2003, you wrote:
>nOOOOOOOOOOOOO Stan,
>
>Look at it this way.  Most bidders (I've won against a lot) want to be
>showing as the high bidder.  If I bid on something either directly or by
>letting Ebay's proxy bidding do it for me, the other bidder will increase
>his until he is higher than me and here it goes see-sawing up.
>
>I do exactly like you said - research and decide the maximum I am willing to
>pay ---- enter that bid with auction sniper and they place my maximum bid I
>am willing to pay 7 seconds before the end so that no reactionary bidder can
>increase what I will have to pay.  If you want to pay more then let eBay's
>proxy do it for you --- don't you see Ebay's proxy keeps you the highest -
>the other dude's proxy (or direct bid) keeps him the highest.  This works
>best for the company running the auction that benifits from the increase of
>their percentage on what the item brings ---- of course they want you to use
>their proxy bidding!!!
>
>Do the math and think about it.  I enter the maximum I want to pay 5 seconds
>before the end - I either get it or I don't, but I don't have to go back and
>increase my bid because someone had increased theirs to be higher than mine.
>
>I've bought 2 Omega D5XL enlargers, a 16", a 26" and a 31" Kreonite
>automatic processors, Wing Lynch and Photo Therm film processors, a 8x10
>Zone VI, a Wisner expedition 4x5, a Tachahara 4x5, about 20 lens, paper and
>huge lots of film this way and never enter a bid except within the last 5 or
>7 seconds of the auction.  I've never therefore increased myself the price I
>had to pay!
>
>"EBay automatically bids for me" -- how nice of them to increase their
>commission that way. :)
>
>
>
><This only works against an undisciplined bidder. Before I bid on something,
>I research to find out what the retail price is, what similar items have
>sold for previously, etc., then I enter the maximum amount I'm willing to
>pay. eBay automatically bids for me up to that amount. When you come in at
>the last second with a snipe bid, one of two things happens: either your
>bid is less than my maximum, in which case I win the item; or your item is
>more than my maximum, in which case you win the item with a bid larger than
>I was willing to pay. If you bid more than I am willing to pay, it doesn't
>matter to me whether you enter that bid 7 seconds or 7 hours before the
>auction ends.>
>
>Stan
>
>================================
>Photography by Stan McQueen
>http://www.smcqueen.com
>
>
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================================
Photography by Stan McQueen
http://www.smcqueen.com