eBay

micbro-brknjzh · ‎07-24-2023

I guess nobody bids on anything on eBay anymore. Everybody seems to want to wait until the last three seconds. eBay needs to do away with that and start a five minute rule like other auction sites do.. Its really unfair for sellers as well as buyers when buyers do that. Since I’m unable to find a actual link so I can make suggestions I’m hoping at least somebody from eBay staff may see this and forward it to somebody who can do changes that actually helps both buyers and sellers. I’ve actually lost items I needed because somebody outbid me in the last second after being the only bidder for days. It’s time for a change eBay.

doc-holmes · ‎10-05-2023

@jarjoh5532 wrote:
Then why doesn't ebay show what the max bid is?

It's NOT that someone makes a higher bid days earlier. They literally wait until the last second to post their nominally increased bid. You sound like the ultimate coper for the horrible systems in place at ebay.

Also, how stupid do you have to be to think anyone's going to post their max amount on the first bid.... are you completely unfamiliar with the idea of an auction? And how bidding actually works in real life?

Just because you don't like it, it doesn't mean it's bad. The vast majority prefer it the way it is.

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yuzuha · ‎07-24-2023

@micbro-brknjzh wrote:
I’ve actually lost items I needed because somebody outbid me in the last second after being the only bidder for days.

No, you didn't lose because someone outbid you in the last second. You lost because someone bid MORE. If you were willing to pay more for the item, why didn't you bid more in the first place? The other person won because they were willing to pay more than you were-- WHEN they bid is irrelevant.

buyselljack2016 · ‎07-24-2023

Yes, time for a change, but not for eBay to change. The bidders actions need to change.

As yuzuah posted, it isn't when, it's how much.

Your idea has been proposed many times by those losing auctions in the last seconds and is not going to change. All buyers have the same amount of time to bid. If they choose reactive bidding they sometimes lose.

southern*sweet*tea · ‎07-24-2023

Bid once at any point in the auction.

Bid your absolute maximum you are willing to pay.

Wait.

If you win, great! If you lose, it means someone else was willing to pay more than you were. It's not the LAST bid that wins, it's the HIGHEST bid that wins, and it does not matter when during the auction that bid is placed.

On the rare occasion I bid on auctions I usually bid early. I'm not looking to get the lowest price and I don't like playing around by nibble bidding late in an auction. I have a set price in mind and I don't want to pay more than that. Sometimes I get lucky and don't get bid up, sometimes I will get bid up, but I will never overpay because once someone else exceeds my limit, I'm out.

The easier you are to offend the easier you are to control.

We seem to be getting closer and closer to a situation where nobody is responsible for what they did but we are all responsible for what somebody else did. - Thomas Sowell

theteamsetguy · ‎07-24-2023

@micbro-brknjzh ,

I have bought many things on eBay via auction over the years. I just bid the max I'm willing to pay and let the chips fall where they may.

Ebay's way of doing things is a lot more efficient that your proposal. Everyone knows when a auction will end and no time is wasted by nibble bidders. If you needed something why didn't you bid more to begin with.

Have you ever got into multiple offers when buying a home? When there are multiple offers the listing agent will let all of the interested parties know when the best and final offers are due. Anyone interested will submit their best offer by the deadline and the seller will usually accept the best offer.

chapeau-noir · ‎07-24-2023

The "soft close" has been brought up numerous times, but I think the days are long gone when most people hovered over their bids like a cook over their soup - they want to be in and out and get it done with and not have to deal with the annoyance.

“The illegal we do immediately, the unconstitutional takes a little longer.” - Henry Kissinger

"Wherever law ends, tyranny begins" -John Locke

doc-holmes · ‎07-24-2023

I don't see how an auction that ends the exact second it said was going to end, and being sold to the highest bidder is unfair.

linda7913 · ‎07-24-2023

I have to agree with the OP. No matter how much you bid and put in your maximum bid for proxy bidding, it seems like there is always someone in the last second who bids more than you to win, and because it is the last second, you don't get a chance to top him or her.

For example, I was bidding on a collectible doll out of the box and knew from sold prices and Terapeak, that $40 was the right price. So, I put in a maximum bid of $40 and was the highest bidder for several days up to the last 5 minutes. Someone put in $41, so I upped my bid to $42, and then he jumped to $44. Before I could bid, someone other than the two of us bid $45 and then the auction was over.

And no, I have not gotten into offers when buying a home or car. I will pay the asking price if it is reasonable, or I will look for something else. I wish eBay would do away with auctions altogether. That might have been their model when they started, but times have changed.

In the above example, although I knew $40 was the right price, to beat out the competition should I have bid $80 to be sure that there were no real competitors to me? I am pretty sure that had I done so, I would not have to pay the total $80 if the bidding stopped at $40 or $45. But the last 30 seconds does bring out the bidders who do small increments in hoping they will beat you and the clock.

nobody*s_perfect · ‎07-24-2023

If you were willing to pay $45, then you should have bid $45. Bid your true maximum that you'd be willing to pay -- no more, no less.

kensgiftshop · ‎07-24-2023

If you really need an item, find a seller with a fixed price and just buy it.

Have a great day.

a_c_green · ‎07-24-2023

@linda7913 wrote:
I have to agree with the OP. No matter how much you bid and put in your maximum bid for proxy bidding, it seems like there is always someone in the last second who bids more than you to win, and because it is the last second, you don't get a chance to top him or her.

Right, though (as noted already), the winner is the highest bid, not the latest. You're bidding against the other bidders' hidden maximum bid, and they are bidding against yours. Highest bid wins.

@linda7913 wrote:
In the above example, although I knew $40 was the right price, to beat out the competition should I have bid $80 to be sure that there were no real competitors to me? I am pretty sure that had I done so, I would not have to pay the total $80 if the bidding stopped at $40 or $45.

Right; if your hidden maximum bid was $80, and the bidding by others stopped at $40 or $45, you would have won for the price of $41 or $46 respectively (since the most you would pay as the winner would be one bid increment higher than second place, and in that price range, the bid increments are $1 apart).

Regarding the original question by the OP, I would say that this thread here:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Extend-the-auction-by-three-minutes-when-a-bid-is-placed-with-...

...is probably the most comprehensive discussion about whether extending the time limit on an auction is a good idea. (TL;DR: It isn't.) My contribution can be found in Message 7. Enjoy. 😁

maxine*j · ‎07-24-2023

People from all over the world, in each of its 40 time zones, use eBay. What you propose would be madness. Anyhow, even live auctions wrap it up at a certain point, not waiting endlessly to see if someone else might bid. If they did, they'd never get through all the lots.

eBay uses a version of the "sealed bid" auction -- so it does not matter when a bid is placed, early or late. No one has to hang around his computer to bid. No one has to nibble bid, or bid reactively.

Decide on the maximum you will pay for something, including any shipping and handling charges, and bid that amount whenever you like. If yours is the highest bid, you win. If not, someone wanted it more than you did.

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janet9988 · ‎07-24-2023

@micbro-brknjzh wrote:
I guess nobody bids on anything on eBay anymore. Everybody seems to want to wait until the last three seconds. eBay needs to do away with that and start a five minute rule like other auction sites do.. Its really unfair for sellers as well as buyers when buyers do that. Since I’m unable to find a actual link so I can make suggestions I’m hoping at least somebody from eBay staff may see this and forward it to somebody who can do changes that actually helps both buyers and sellers. I’ve actually lost items I needed because somebody outbid me in the last second after being the only bidder for days. It’s time for a change eBay.

Auctions could continue fore weeks or months. You would have to stay awake to keep bidding to stay in the lead.

Lift your left leg at midnight to start off on the right foot. Happy new Year!

yuzuha · ‎07-24-2023

@nobody*s_perfect wrote:
If you were willing to pay $45, then you should have bid $45. Bid your true maximum that you'd be willing to pay -- no more, no less.

And you might not even have to pay that much, either! A while back I found an auction for a set of fairly rare figures I had been looking for. It was going to end while I was at work, so I put in a max bid of $150 and then went off to work. When I got home, I found out that I'd won the auction for $80 even though I'd put in my bid a little over eight hours ago.