I only ask because I just participated in my first bid. I had some holiday money and saw a 1st gen. ipad mini I wanted that was bundled with a case and trent keyboard attachment that comes with it. I admit I sniped to get it last second and won it all for about a price just the ipad would've cost. So I'm feeling triumphant, poorer, but excited because I'll definitely use the item. Do you ever bid on items there? If so, do you get into a war (if that's a thing) or just snipe them at the end?
Do you do eBay bidding?
- Thread starter Blueskyy
- Start date
I used to do sniper bid but that's what everyone does so in the end it ends up being high anyway, so I usually use smaller, less popular websites to bid on things because there's generally less traffic and you have a better chance of winning items for a cheaper price.
yeah I did it just this once. I won't ever do it again. There were only 7 bidders on the item so in the end there was only one other person trying to snipe in the end. I had just entered a higher max bid. Anyway, done with that.
littletwinclouds
sleepy girl~
i have once or twice but it always stresses me out. i just stick to "buy it now" items - even if i have to pay a bit more for peace of mind
Yeah. I understand that. There are tools that you can use that bid last second on the item, but the max bid you preset in it must be higher than the last bid already there or else you won't get it.
I hear you there. I had in my head how much I was willing to spend and entered the amount into the tool I was using. I ended up winning by like 2 dollars lol.
I am a veteran eBay buyer. I have had both bad, and good experiences. The majority of them are good, but just like anywhere, you'll have a few bad apples that try to abuse the system.
All-in-all though, it's a great place to get some items you can't find elsewhere. Old collectables. It's like a giant garage sale. I also find other random items for cheap, such as smart phone screen protectors and/or cases.
As far as the bidding thing goes, I have definitely felt the anxiety a few of you talk about. lol It's real, when watching an auction's last minutes & seconds tick down. You know what's the worst though? BIDDING WARS. Unless of course-you are the seller. Then two buyers driving the price up on each other is music to your ears. And bells in your pocket! A bidding war causes people to bid out of spite, and someone is going to way over-pay on an item.
There is a solution! Also something a few of you have mentioned: bidding tools. The one I use is gixen.com. It's free. Enter your eBay info, the item #, what you want to spend, and it will bid for you with like 5 or 6 seconds remaining in the auction. Then, you're not sitting there bidding what you want to pay, getting outbid, then bidding again, then justifying yet ANOTHER bid, and in the end: overpaying, or driving someone else to way overpay. You set what you wanna pay, and if you win you win, and if you lose, you lose. It can certainly still be frustrating if you lose, or win at a price more than you hoped it would go for, but it's the best way to go overall.
Another tip I will give you guys-is if you have one, and if you can-PAY WITH A CREDIT CARD. Through PayPal. Not with your bank account. You don't get charged any extra fees for paying for eBay items with your credit card, and then, if the seller does end up hosing you one way or another, you have a great line of defense. My credit card companies (Mastercard and Discover) have mostly been great when I contact them & let them know an eBay seller did me wrong. You can file chargebacks, and they will launch investigations, talk to the seller, and help you get your money back. That is, if the seller is in the wrong. Now you can also do this through PayPal, but it's been to my experiences that a credit card company does a much better job helping you out. Plus-PayPal only gives you a 30 day window. Where as a CC company gives you 6 months or something like that.
Anyways!! lol That's my take. I use it a ton, and love everything about it, except the obnoxious fees they charge sellers. I don't sell on there often, not nearly as much as I buy, but they take a whopping 13% (10% eBay, 3% PayPal). That's too much. Considering how many items are ending each second, worldwide. My God...
All-in-all though, it's a great place to get some items you can't find elsewhere. Old collectables. It's like a giant garage sale. I also find other random items for cheap, such as smart phone screen protectors and/or cases.
As far as the bidding thing goes, I have definitely felt the anxiety a few of you talk about. lol It's real, when watching an auction's last minutes & seconds tick down. You know what's the worst though? BIDDING WARS. Unless of course-you are the seller. Then two buyers driving the price up on each other is music to your ears. And bells in your pocket! A bidding war causes people to bid out of spite, and someone is going to way over-pay on an item.
There is a solution! Also something a few of you have mentioned: bidding tools. The one I use is gixen.com. It's free. Enter your eBay info, the item #, what you want to spend, and it will bid for you with like 5 or 6 seconds remaining in the auction. Then, you're not sitting there bidding what you want to pay, getting outbid, then bidding again, then justifying yet ANOTHER bid, and in the end: overpaying, or driving someone else to way overpay. You set what you wanna pay, and if you win you win, and if you lose, you lose. It can certainly still be frustrating if you lose, or win at a price more than you hoped it would go for, but it's the best way to go overall.
Another tip I will give you guys-is if you have one, and if you can-PAY WITH A CREDIT CARD. Through PayPal. Not with your bank account. You don't get charged any extra fees for paying for eBay items with your credit card, and then, if the seller does end up hosing you one way or another, you have a great line of defense. My credit card companies (Mastercard and Discover) have mostly been great when I contact them & let them know an eBay seller did me wrong. You can file chargebacks, and they will launch investigations, talk to the seller, and help you get your money back. That is, if the seller is in the wrong. Now you can also do this through PayPal, but it's been to my experiences that a credit card company does a much better job helping you out. Plus-PayPal only gives you a 30 day window. Where as a CC company gives you 6 months or something like that.
Anyways!! lol That's my take. I use it a ton, and love everything about it, except the obnoxious fees they charge sellers. I don't sell on there often, not nearly as much as I buy, but they take a whopping 13% (10% eBay, 3% PayPal). That's too much. Considering how many items are ending each second, worldwide. My God...
LinkToTheWorld
The past is obdurate
Sometimes I do, you can occasionally get a bargain. But it drives me mad when people snipe the item last minute. I only tend to use eBay for international items or Pokemon/amiibo cards now. Found a good deal on a Blastoise shiny a while back
visibleghost
ʕ •̀ o •́ ʔ
nah
i rarely but stuff, eveb more rarely buy stuff online and ive never bought anything from ebay
i rarely but stuff, eveb more rarely buy stuff online and ive never bought anything from ebay
Nightmares
(￣。￣)～ｚｚｚ
I did twice, but they were from my mum's account (as I'm under 18) so I got her to stress over them instead lmao...she's pretty good at winning items so //wipes away sweat
DJStarstryker
Senior Member
I've done it in the past, but I prefer buy it now. as a seller, however I love bidding wars and snipers.
Bidding wars don't seem to happen as much as they used to on eBay, like in the early 2000's. Kinda sucks to be a seller in that context.
dawsoncreek
Senior Member
I usually do "buy it now"...but it takes me hours to buy something because I'm always searching to see if someone else is selling it cheaper..took me about 4 hours to buy BTS Wings album because some sellers had the poster with the album, some didn't, or some had the poster but not the photocard..finally got the album with the poster, photobook, 2 photocards, and polaroid for $15.25...and on the rare occasion I do bid on something, I try to snipe them at the end..
