AUCTION EXTENSIONS FOR BUYERS

[amricons]

Hi, would anybody object to eBay extending auctions that have activity in the last few minutes, like 5 ? Sellers may get more money, eBay would get more mony and buyers would have the opportunity to make a higher bid.  Lastly, it would elimate sniping, which still happens on ebay, is an violation of eBay pilicy, which ebay' acknowledges and still happens.  One reason I think it would improve the experience for eveybody are sveral. 

We often bid on multiple item from 1 seller and many list the items with close times within minutes of each other. 

Amyway, other auction sites do this, ie if an item has a bid they extend the auction time.

IMHO,  we would be spending a lot more money on eBay, LOl or keeps me from spending too much.

We have asked eBay why many, many times, as they seem to be seeking more top libe sales , this would increase sales at min cost and help all parties.

[eburtonlab]

@amricons

[If bidding had been extended five minutes] I would go back and re-consider the bid or not. Knowing the results gives me the option to spend otherwise allocated monry on a less than #1 priority. Just had it happen , last 2 auctiosns of the day, focused on the one, won it, and went to the 2nd and lost by a $1 , who knows maybe we would not had bid higher, but now we will never know.

I understand that you can easily imagine cases where having extra time to bid would have allowed you to consider your bid and possibly change the outcome of the auction in your favor. Can you understand my point that there are other cases where having that extra time would have allowed another bidder to reconsider their bid and possibly change the outcome of the auction against you? Or the extra time spent on one auction would mean less time spent on others?

You mention the problem of having to decide how to bid on a series of auctions ending within minutes of each other given the constraints of a limited budget. Auction extensions don't really help you in that case; you still have to decide how much to bid given incomplete information about the state of all the other auctions that haven't ended yet. Except now you don't even know the order that the auctions will end -- it seems you have to decide with even less information, not more.

Auction extensions would no doubt change the incentives and strategies of bidders; sniping would not be as effective, shill bidding might well be more effective since bidders will have to expose their bids longer, nibbling would no doubt increase. A new equilibrium would emerge. Someone will create a new type of non-sniper bidding service -- you enter your maximum bid, and the program keeps extending the auction by bidding one increment above the current price until you eventually win or get outbid.

But in the end, the high bid will still win, and the final price will be within one increment of the second highest bid. And folks will still grumble about being "outbid by a dollar". If only the bidding extensions were ten minutes instead of only five, then they would really have a chance....

[castlemagicmemories]

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@threshold.sales.group wrote:

+1, Exactly.  Unless you can get inside the head of the other bidders you have no idea what his /her max bid was. All you know is that they were a bid increment over everyone else (other guy max could have been a $1 or $500 more).  Years ago at a big heavy equipment auction I had that concept explained to me by an old farmer.  Gave up all nibbling on online auctions as a waste of time and energy. Do the work, Know your max, bid it. 

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I've consoled myself with that fact when I have lost as a runner up to the winning bidder.  It may have been only one bid increment, but they may have bid hundreds of dollars more than I did.  You just don't know.

[castlemagicmemories]

That's a great idea! Very interesting. The only thing is, with over 80% of listings being fixed price, I don't know that that would be considered something that would be a priority.

[castlemagicmemories]

Our issue is one small issue in a vast ocean, but the reaction, to it, well it may just show that things may never change for the better. There are always solutions to problems if people can work together.     

I'm sorry if you feel people were bashing you in this thread.  But I think you are mistaking disagreement with bashing.  

The point is, the majority have no problem with the current system, so they don't feel that your proposal IS a change for the better.  You are looking for agreement when there isn't any.

This is your individual problem.  Creatively considering the posts in this thread and changing your bidding behavior may equal the change you seek.  Many others have adapted to accomodate the system, instead of expecting the system to accomodate them.  You can, too.

[div_style]

I do use 3rd party sniping software which has been quite reliable.  And when I lose an item, the winner simply paid too much for it. 🙂

As a seller, I wish all bidders would snipe, and that I would have at least two snipers on every auction I run.

[gracieallen01]

@amricons

Someone may have already mentioned this, but what good would having an extension do, as far as eliminating 'Sniping'?

To eliminate sniping in the last few minutes of the auction, would mean eliminating ALL bidding in the last few minutes of the auction - making an extension of the auction time - for what?  another bid? another snipe? - useless.  Would someone fill out a form promising that their bid was just that - a bid - and not a snipe?  Ooops, times up.

[gracieallen01]

Of course, one could always bid what something is worth, rather just how little they think they can get away with.

If they got rid of sniping, low-ballers could have a field day.  IMO

[a_c_green]

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@gracieallen01 wrote:

If they got rid of sniping, low-ballers could have a field day.  IMO

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Maybe so. I agree with you on that, but also as you alluded to in your previous post, first you have to define what sniping is, and exactly how you would eliminate it in an auction that has a fixed end time. If you've got a fixed end time, then that's when the bidding ends, period. While you can call last-second bids "sniping," the reality is that they're just as valid as the earlier ones. There's no functional difference that would depend on exactly when the bid was made. It's either a winner or it isn't.

We've already been all over the reasons why an open-outcry auction model doesn't work on-line, and thus why there has to be a fixed end time for the auction, and thus because the auction does end at a specific time (predefined to the second), there will, by definition, be sniping bids coming in at the end. That's what can make an auction so exciting in the final minutes and seconds. For a seller, it's like winning the lottery in slow motion.

[eburtonlab]

@gracieallen01

Someone may have already mentioned this, but what good would having an extension do, as far as eliminating 'Sniping'?

I believe the original poster envisioned a system where, in the final five minutes of an auction, each time a new bid was entered, the time remaining would be reset to five minutes. Basically the auction is extended until such a point as there are no new bids for five minutes. This would give everyone a chance to respond to any "last second" bid, so in that sense at least, there is no sniping.

Having actually participated in such auctions years ago at another site, I much prefer eBay's current system.

[castlemagicmemories]

Most agree with you, excluding the OP, of course.

[poppyswag]

Kudos to this classic topic! If you've gotten this far you've read ALL the arguments.

Personally, I would love it. There are other sites that do it. Some have time limits (like 15 min), and there are increments, like if nobody bids back after 3 minutes, it's over. 

Sniping on the cheap is this game, like it or not.

[emerald40]

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@poppyswag wrote:

Kudos to this classic topic! If you've gotten this far you've read ALL the arguments.

Personally, I would love it. There are other sites that do it. Some have time limits (like 15 min), and there are increments, like if nobody bids back after 3 minutes, it's over. 

Sniping on the cheap is this game, like it or not.

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I am trying for 3 items tomorrow.  And my usual sniping last minute will probably not work.

With this particular item, buyers bid the highest they are willing to pay for it.  So if I do not snipe high it will be a waste of time.

[castlemagicmemories]

Hope you win! Thank God you will know when the auction ends, though, no extensions.

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

What's that old saying?

Nibblers bid for a bargain and hope for a win. Snipers bid for a win and hope for a bargain.

[emerald40]

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@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:

What's that old saying?

Nibblers bid for a bargain and hope for a win. Snipers bid for a win and hope for a bargain.

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Whatever way, hopeful buyers do it, while sellers hope to get the most for their items, buyers hope to pay the least.  It is the nature of the beast.