Well, I tried my hand at this ebay auction today. I was successful on one item and lost the other, at the last few seconds!!!!! This certainly could become addicting, although frustrating at the same time! Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice shame on me. I will difinitely learn to be a bit more devious on this bidding procedure, as I was really bummed about losing this item!! How do others feel about this auction venue for our beloved Corvette parts?
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Re: ebay bidding: a bit tricky!!!
Warren - I am a sniper at heart. I bid the last 12 seconds,as high as I am willing to pay. Only unseasoned bidders bid early and create a bidding war. All they are doing is running up the price and creating a fever for the part, of course I love this if I am selling which is infrequent. Bottom line, with snipe bidding, whoever is willing to pay the most wins the part, pure and simple........Craig -
Re: ebay bidding: a bit tricky!!!
Sniping seems to be the way to go. It gets very interesting in the last few seconds on rare items like a set of C2 lower ball joints.Comment
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Re: ebay bidding: a bit tricky!!!
I'm addicted. once I was looking under 55 Corvette at 1pm Ca. time and some guy in Fl. listed (Buy Now 53 to 55 a pair of headlight assy complete sreens,buckets,and doors in the NOS box) for $400.00. I was shakeing while hitting the buy button hoping no one was looking too and got them.He listed 10 minutes before I got on line. I also e-mail him about other parts asking what els he had and got NOS door strikers,front emblem ( not a repro).Have made many great buys and was only once srewed for $100.00. Also sold many Corvette parts for more then a swap meet could get.Comment
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Re: ebay bidding: a bit tricky!!!
if the part is in demand why not just bid the max you are willing to pay right off the bat. if someone else is willing to go higher you just saved yourself a lot of time. you are never going to steal any corvette items because most bidders know what they are going for.Comment
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Re: ebay bidding: a bit tricky!!!
LIke one of the previous posters, I happened on to a steal one Sunday morning. Someone listed a NOS 62 radiator, still in the GM box with a $400 "Buy it now" price. There has been one of those radiators listed in Driveline in the last issue or two for $2000.
I snipe also. Bidding early and often only serves to run the price up.Comment
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Re: ebay bidding: a bit tricky!!! - Yep
Warren, or anyone else
Couple weeks ago I made a series of 3 or so posts about how to bid and WIN on Ebay. I don't have the URL and it may still be at the bottom of the current posts below or do a search on the current posts for it. It should provide you with some good tips.
Sniping is definately one way to go but you CAN defend yourself by simply placing a fair MAX bid up front. IF your MAX bid is high enough a sniper can set his alarm clock and come in and carefully wait until the closing second and place his sniper bid only to find out it wasn't enough to beat you're initial bid - all that effort to no avail.
Anyway take a look at my previous posts if you didn't already for some possible suggestions on winning strategies.
If I didn't mention it before - do research on bidding trends for certain HOT items - go to Advanced Search and then search only on completed items to see what they closed at.
For certain types of items there are certain days of the week or times of day when they close that they do better or worse. Obviously the perspective is different for a buyer or seller but each can list items or look for items closing on days that may yield more preferrable results - then again it only takes 2 to tango.
Oh and it never hurts to do searches with common misspellings - I've found sweet deals because of poorly described or misspelled items or items w/ incorrect years or whatever - because NOBODY ELSE SAW IT!!!
Good luck,Comment
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Re: ebay bidding: a bit tricky!!!
I've bought some items by contacting (e-mailing) the seller and asking if there is a price for which they would sell the item for now and end the auction early. I do this on hard to find items to prevent a "bidding war." Many sellers are receptive to the idea and I have bought many rare, original parts for my car this way. As a seller, I have done the same for buyers myself. It can work out well for both parties.Comment
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Re: ebay bidding: a bit tricky!!! - Yep
Wow!! Thanks for the insightful tips everyone.
Clem: I did just as you described, but still got beat out of the original weatherstripping I was trying for. I thought that was a good way to go!!
Craig: Sniping, that is a GREAT TERM for it! Well, I guess, I just got educated on this new wave of parts hunting, internet style.
Thanks, WarrenComment
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Oh yeah 1 other ebay thing
WHen I made my original 3 posts a week or two ago on 'ebay strategies' there was one thing I'm pretty sure I forgot to mention or warn of...
Watch closely for super high shipping costs. In fact it bears repeating to always read the seller's fine print and understand their payment methods and so forth.
Some sellers do put down no specific shipping costs (ask before you bid) or very high shipping costs. High costs are a way to reduce ebay fees for the seller. It can also be a bit of a scam to extract extra $ from an inattentive bidder who doesn't reduce his/her max bid accordingly. It's OK to bid on such an item - just understand your total out of pocket delivered cost compared to the same item from another seller w/ more reasonable shipping costs and bid accordingly.
This may not apply to Corvette parts for most of us but also take note of items that may be listed by sellers in other countries - CAN isn't too bad but elsewhere can run up shipping costs - again no reason not to bid but this will affect shipping and currency issues and int'l MOs are pricey IMO.
Given a choice between two items for the same out of pocket expense but one being sold w/ a heavy bias towards the shipping part of the total deal - I tend to prefer the seller w/ lower more realistic shipping simply because I don't feel like I'm be played. No I don't own ebay stock at this time.
Generally sellers do need to send the item by a method that they can have electronic delivery confirmation and tracking - that usually means USPS priority etc. (but the PO does provide FREE boxes and tape! for Priority)
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Sort of like the old saying 'measure twice, cut once' all I'm saying is read carefully and understand the circumstances w/ each seller.
Good luck!Comment
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Re: ebay bidding: a bit tricky!!!
Rob - eBay hates this of course, and it violates their policies, but it has happened to me as well with sellers. This is one thing that is bad when you are a sniper like me, as sometimes the item is "no longer for sale due to listing error" or "the item is no longer for sale". Some people even state the item is for sale independantly of the auction. Personally, if I am selling I always let the auction run it's course first before selling offline, to be fair and follow the rules. However, if someone offers me an item for a price I feel is fair when I ask questions such as reserve etc, I will take them up on it. eBay even has a way for them to allow a seller to relist for a specific buyer only to close, which of course is being more fair to eBay. However, with the comission they are pulling in, a few that slip through this way probably doesn't hurt them much. In my own selling though, I treat the contract seriously, and always email, pay, and ship promptly in all my dealings. Nothing frosts me more than someone dallying around.......CraigComment
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Re: ebay bidding: a bit tricky!!!
Craig,
Here is a good example of what you have just stated.
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And BTW the Bidding was...
...almost $50,000 before the auction was terminated prematurely.Comment
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Re: And BTW the Bidding was...
Snipping is now common practice.3 years ago nobody knew was snipping was.Ebay sellers have to hate it.I am a snipper from WAY back.I use exstreme caution in my MAX BID PRICE and other snipers should do the same.I have seen a ton of auctions with insane sold prices and if you look at the last 2 bidders the came in with in the last 8 to 12 secounds of the auction and just proxed the price WAY UP I can tell you they never exspected to pay soo much its just a common practice when you snipe to put in a supper high bid price so you dont miss it by a penny.(At least I used to do it that way) Not anymore since snipping has become a more common practiceComment
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Sniping is difficult with 56K dial-up...
but I'm getting it down to an art. Last night, placed my only (winning) bid at 8 seconds before close. There was one previous bid at opening price. Got me a NOS / NIB L78-L88 starter armature @ $ 9.50 (shipping makes this figure less of a "wow"). Got another one 6 months earlier @ $ 5.00 (string on box STILL not pulled)Comment
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