Extended Time Auctions. Good or Bad For eBay? Would you use them or bid on them?

[*help_no_brakes*]

I have accepted the challenge to post this topic.

It was suggested that a Fire Truck be on standby.

I live in a remote location with a volunteer Fire Service...however here we are...

[mrmagoo-22]

Hi Trinton

Perhaps you would be good enough to explain the reason ebay has taken to encrypting the already encrypted ID of a bidder?

For example...Say my username is mrmagoo-22. I'm seen as such as a SELLER, but when I bid, you will change it to, say a***1

NOW say somebody clicks on the current bids of an auction I'm bidding in, so is taken to BID HISTORY and they want to check me out, so "click" on my NOW encrypted ID of a***1   to be taken to my BID HISTORY ID. Why will they find that my  encrypted ID has changed?, why have you encrypted my alREADY encrypted ID?.

[mrmagoo-22]

@Anonymous
trinton, I have some details I would like you to look over, but due to the content, I wouldn't be able to "post" them. Would a private message be in order?. I did try, but you seen to be deactivated?
Cheers
Later.

[z50com]

I've wanted those for 15 years!

There are places I buy eBay inventory that use extended time auctions and they get more money then timed auctions.

eBay could even charge .25 cents extra and people would buy into it.

eBay could also make money by providing video's on listings for .25 cents

eBay could also make money by providing data back farther then 90 days, sellers and buyers would pay for that info that eBay keeps on it's servers.

I should be working at eBay!

I could make them extra money without squeezing sellers to death with stupid stuff we don't want. . .

[z50com]

You wouldn't like to make an extra buck every 15 minutes after the auction ends?

I would

Auctions should end 15 minutes after the last bid. . .

or

We could do what Boeing does, you enter a "sealed" bid and who ever bids the most wins and no one gets to see what the highest bid was except the buyer and seller!

Try playing that game.

I've bought items for $1000 when the next highest bid was $50, I could've had it for $50.01

[z50com]

Ask yourself this

How many times have you lost an auction and you were willing to pay more?

As a seller I want every single cent I can get at auction and I could care less how long it's extended.

I've been sniped out more then a few times.

I lost a Brunson level i was bidding on for $1000 when I was willing to pay $1500, the seller lost $500 and I didn't get my level!

[tellmemama]

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@z50com wrote:

Ask yourself this

How many times have you lost an auction and you were willing to pay more?

As a seller I want every single cent I can get at auction and I could care less how long it's extended.

I've been sniped out more then a few times.

I lost a Brunson level i was bidding on for $1000 when I was willing to pay $1500, the seller lost $500 and I didn't get my level!

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I'm sure we've all lost auctions where we woulda/coulda/shoulda bid more.  I've been outsniped a few times too.  But I put in the max I am willing to pay so if someone wants it more than I do, they can have it. 

Adding 15 minutes to the end time isn't going to make me pay more.  I learned that lesson the hard way at my first few live auctions.  And I also know someone who will keep bidding until she wins.  No.  Matter.  What.  I have no idea how she can make money on what she buys at auction.

But I don't understand if you were willing to pay $1500, why didn't you bid $1500?

[*help_no_brakes*]

Ask yourself this

How many times have you lost an auction and you were willing to pay more?

I have asked & self said NEVER.

That would be because I place one & ONLY one snipe bid for the absolute maximum I am prepared to pay for the item.

[z50com]

I stopped doing auctions because of snipers!

I use to do auctions and had sell thru's of no less then 90% and more often sold 100% of my listed auctions.

I started all auctions at $9.99

My averge sell thru rate was 95% for the years 2000-2008

I would run 50 auctions per week back then, it paid the bills. . .

PS: Why didn't I like snipers you ask? It was my regular customers who had a distaste for snipers which in turn turned me off to snipers!

[*help_no_brakes*]

"PS: Why didn't I like snipers you ask? It was my regular customers who had a distaste for snipers which in turn turned me off to snipers!"

Are you saying that you don't like a sniper INCREASING your income?

Why cater to "regular customers" who are too cheap to bid their true maximum?

Just asking...

[z50com]

Why cater to regular customers?

Are you kidding me?

My best customer has been buying from me for 15 years.

He spends at least $4000 per year on my merchandise, I'll continue to cater to him as you say!

I have a lot of repeat customers who have been buying for years on end.

When they complain to me,  I LISTEN.

Snipers only pay 1 bid above the highest bidder. . .

Extended auctions work, I know because I bid on them all the time and the seller always gets more as each bids adds 15 minutes to the listing.

As a seller they are great, as a buyer you'll pay more!

Have you ever tried sealed bids?

Like others have stated live auctions don't stop at any certain time, they continue until no one bids!

PS: I'm new at this so bear with me ~ ROTFLMAO

[castlemagicmemories]

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@pikabo-icu wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hey everyone,

I love seeing the discussion of pros and cons regarding a change likes this. We appreciate the constructive criticism shared and I also am happy to see some members discussing how this could work for certain situations. I wanted to give an update on this topic.

This idea has come up periodically over the years, and our product team again evaluated it based on your suggestion and decided not to pursue a soft-close feature (AKA popcorn bidding or auction extension).

There are pros and cons to the current format, but overall it has worked very well the last couple decades and making such a major change to the auction-format, would cause disruption and create a different set of pros and cons. While we always are striving to innovate in an ever changing market, we do not believe the net benefit to the marketplace supports the resource investment at this time for this particular suggestion.

There are also aspects of the current system that buyers and sellers like, such as that the auction-format has a fixed end time. Their time investment is a known quantity. Many sellers also like the fixed end time as it allows them to plan when they will pack and ship.

And remember, the current system doesn’t reward the item to the buyer who placed the last bid (sniper), but rewards the item to the buyer who placed the earliest and highest bid (in case of a tie, the buyer who bid earliest will win). Automatic bidding allows the buyer to set the maximum they are willing to pay. If a buyer loses and claims they would have bid more, then they didn’t place their maximum bid.

We are always happy to review any suggestions our community provides and changes are often made based on customer feedback! Thanks again to everyone for sharing their ideas on this topic 🙂

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YAY!!!!  Wise decision IMHO       .. 

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Hi, Trinton! Hi, Pika!  BTW I second that emotion, just don't expect me to jump LOL!

[castlemagicmemories]

Or should I say bounce?

[*help_no_brakes*]

"Snipers only pay 1 bid above the highest bidder."

Only IF the snipe bid is Higher than the Hidden Maximum bid.

If it is greater than the current "highest bidder" who MAY have a hidden maximum the snipe will flush that out & the end price will increase.

You do of course realize that a snipe does not guarantte a win?

I apologize if my reply was poorly worded re "Why cater to regular customers?"

I list only with the auction format & have many repeat bidders (I'm a newbie...only been listing since 2006) & over 80% are snipers.

Nothing like seeing an item sitting at $9.99  at the last 30 seconds of the auction & watching 5,6,7 or more snipes come in the last 10 seconds to INCREASE the end price to several hundred dollars.

"Like others have stated live auctions don't stop at any certain time, they continue until no one bids!"

Having attended auctions for 48 years I am fully aware of that...however we are talking about auctions on eBay where a bidder has 167 hours,59 minutes & 59 seconds to decide the maximum bid they are prepared to place.

"Extended auctions work, I know because I bid on them all the time and the seller always gets more as each bids adds 15 minutes to the listing."

That's fine...I'm just not prepared to sit up at 3am bidding on an auction that just goes on & on.

[godzilla_goose]

@castlemagicmemories

castelmagicmemories,

Kindly check your personal messages.  I took a considerable amount of time thinking about responding to one of your replies but am replying now.  Thank you.

[z50com]

"That's fine...I'm just not prepared to sit up at 3am bidding on an auction that just goes on & on."

LOL

Extended auctions only go on for 15 minutes after the last bid.

The longest I've seen one go over the original ending time was 2 hours.

gunbroker & govliquidation are 2 places that use extended auctions and I shop at both.