Why do some people have bidding end in the middle of the night?

[altoonay-9]

This seller was located in a similar time zone to me so I know it was the middle of the night for them, but the bidding ended at 4:40 something eastern time. This is an item I REALLY wanted so I tried to stay up late in order to get this item but I fell asleep in my computer chair around 3 AM and now someone else (a better night owl than myself) has this item and all I got for my efforts is a sore neck. I'm angry about this because the bidding end time seems unreasonable. If this person were located in Europe, Asia, or Australia, I could understand. Can someone help me understand why some sellers choose such weird times?

[kensgiftshop]

If they are like me, they just list when they can, no matter what time it is.

I don't do auctions, but I list at all different hours.

Not on Ebay, but i was listing at 3 am this morning.

[nobody*s_perfect · Accepted solution]

Sorry, I don't understand it, either.

But instead of falling asleep at your desk, you could have just bid your true maximum at your regular bed time.   Remember: the winning bid is the highest bid, not necessarily the last bid.  Or you could have used one of the many sniping services which will place a bid for you at your chosen time, usually for a small fee.  Most of them have a default lead time of 6 seconds before the auction's end, but some such as esnipe will let you adjust that margin.

[soh.maryl]

Just like you probably shop at hours that are convenient for you, probably many sellers list at hours that are convenient for them.  

And, regarding bidding, why not bid the most you would be willing to pay as late in the auction as it's convenient for YOU? If you usually go to bed at 9PM, then bid the most you would pay at 8:59PM.  Go to bed.  When you get up at 7AM, look and see if you were the winner.  If not, then someone else valued it greater than you did.  

And, BTW, the winner in that auction was not necessarily "a better night owl" than you.  Perhaps he placed his bid exactly the way I outlined above.  Think about it.  

[evry1nositswindy]

Sellers can list their items anytime they want.  Perhaps they thought the item would sell to someone on the opposite coast.  

[mudshark61369]

@altoonay-9,

The first reply to this topic is one reason why auctions may begin and end at very early/late hours. Often domestic sellers who do that are new to selling and do not know they can schedule listing start times, which are also the end times for auctions. They just hit the enter button when they are done creating the listing.  Some infrequent sellers do not take into account the time zones their listings are active in either. 

You may want to read the info about Automatic bidding in the link below. As nobody*s... wrote it is not the last bid placed that always wins it is the highest one. It is also good to add a few odd cents to a bid, which can break a tie when bidding later in an auction.

https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/bidding/bidding?id=4003

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@soh.maryl wrote: ...  BTW, the winner in that auction was not necessarily "a better night owl" than you.  Perhaps he placed his bid exactly the way I outlined above.  Think about it.  

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The winner of the auction might even have been somebody who placed a nice high proxy bid on the very first day of the auction, and then that proxy bid was able to outbid any and all snipers!

[1786davycrockett]

In today's economy, the era of the regular "9 to 5" daytime job is long gone -- while your waking hours may be convenient for you, they may not be for that particular seller -- or many sellers, for that matter.

My most recent job began at 4:00 AM, with a 12:30 PM punch-out time; but I also previously worked a 1:30 AM to 11:00 AM shift at another job.

I'm with the others here:  either use a sniping service, or offer a high-enough bid in the first place in order to shut down other bidders.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@1786davycrockett wrote:

In today's economy, the era of the regular "9 to 5" daytime job is long gone -- while your waking hours may be convenient for you, they may not be for that particular seller -- or many sellers, for that matter.....

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But as this case study shows, auctions that end in the middle of the night could be missing out on potential bidders who want to stay up and bid late, but can't manage to do so.  Night owls and shift workers are a minority of potential bidders.

Regardless of the time when the seller is setting up the auction, they can choose to schedule it to end at a time when plenty of bidders will be awake and available. There are even regular threads from sellers who want to be as strategic as possible when selecting their auction start/end day and time.

[maxine*j]

Since eBay auctions are a type of sealed bid auction, it does not matter when they end.  Anyone may place his bid at any time, from the moment the auction to starts to the moments before it ends.  There's no need to sit in front the computer, nibble bidding reactively.  In fact, that's often a good way to end up spending more than intended.

Decide the maximum you'd be willing to pay, including shipping, and bid that amount.  If it's the highest bid -- no matter when it was placed -- it wins.  If it's not the highest bid, someone else wanted it more than you did.

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[evry1nositswindy]

@nobody*s_perfect It could have changed, but the last I saw, people with stores have to pay to schedule a start time.  I pay enough, so would never do that.  When I list it is when I list it!  It could be 8am, 11pm, 1am. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

Scheduler is now free for everyone:

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/store-fees?id=4809

[soh.maryl]

Anyone who takes that "nuclear bid" approach needs to be aware that, if you place a $1,000 bid on that rare antiquity that started out at $50, there is always the possibility that someone with the same mind set has bid $999.  At the end, you will be the winner, but did you really want to spend that much?

[simba6]

Some bidders shop auctions that end at late times in hopes there will be fewer other bidders.   For auctions many use a snipe service anyway.  Does not matter when it ends in that case.

[1786davycrockett]

@nobody*s_perfect 

"Night owls and shift workers are a minority of potential bidders."

Out of curiosity -- what is your source for this "fact"?