why?

ganonbanned · Post by **ganonbanned** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 1:50 pm

This happens all the time to me. I saw an xbox 360 console on ebay, ends in 14 minutes and is $145. I click on it, and it goes up to $230!!! This happens to me all the time to, and im sure its not coincidence. Does anyone know why?

benol · Post by **benol** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 1:53 pm

Last minute bidders.

ganonbanned · Post by **ganonbanned** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 1:56 pm

kid, no. It happened to me 4 or 5 times today. some of them had 3 hours left, and I dont think its going to go up $90 or whatever it was in a second.

Kyo · Post by **Kyo** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 1:58 pm

That's just how ebay works. If you bid in the last minute, nobody is going to spontanously overbid you.

hammertime94 · Post by **hammertime94** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 2:10 pm

You can schedule bids. If you know how much you are willing to pay, you just set that amount and tell it to automatically bid that at a certain time. If you set it for the last minute, you will win unless someone has already bid over that or someone set an auto-bid higher than yours.
When you get out-bid right after you bid even with several hours left, it's because someone set in a maximum bid higher than yours. The bid you put in isn't your real bid. You automatically bid the minimum. If someone else comes along and bids, then you automatically bid the new minimum bid. If their bid is higher than that, the same thing happens until one of your maximums wins out. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 4:53 pm

Nothing beats the good old-fashioned bidding in the last 30 seconds though. Even if eBay can do that automatically now. I'm not sure if it can or not, but I know that I will always be able to. I got a good camera for $70 shipped that way!

But going up a large amount goes like this:

Person 1 places a maximum bid of $400.

Little jimmy comes along and places a single bid of $99, because that's all of his money.

Instantly, the bid jumps up to $100 and Person 1 is on top.

Then, Person 2 comes along and places a maximum bid of $500. This outbids person 1 and the bidding price goes to $401, with person 2 in the lead.

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 5:25 pm

Because you are cheap and think that somehow no one else on the whole internets is going to see that deal and not pounce on it.
Thats why I always use BIN, might end up paying a bit more than if I wasted a few hours watching auctions end at a penny more than I'd bid, but its worth it to me.