FABRICAND'S HORSE SENSE ON E-BAY NOW

[formula_2002]

BIDDING WILL END ABOUT 11 AM TODAY.. i JUST BID IT UP TO $50.00.
sOME GUY MUST HAVE A PROGRAM THAT PLACES HIS BId $1.00 ABOVE, MINE.


I developed a similar program a few days ago, but i'll use it for on line betting!!

[Whirlaway]

You can get it for $50 at abebooks (http://www.abebooks.com). They also have is book The Science of Winning for $20.

[formula_2002]

Originally posted by Whirlaway
You can get it for $50 at abebooks (http://www.abebooks.com). They also have is book The Science of Winning for $20.

Thanks Whirlaway

[GameTheory]

Nobody wrote a program, Joe, that's how ebay works. Just bid your maximum one time, and it will automatically outbid the next guy if he is less than that. If the current bid is $20, and you bid $50 and you win; the final price could be anywhere from $21 to $50 depending on what his max was. If his max was more than $50, it will simply raise the current minimum bid to $51 and tell you that you were outbid...

[formula_2002]

Originally posted by GameTheory
Nobody wrote a program, Joe, that's how ebay works. Just bid your maximum one time, and it will automatically outbid the next guy if he is less than that. If the current bid is $20, and you bid $50 and you win; the final price could be anywhere from $21 to $50 depending on what his max was. If his max was more than $50, it will simply raise the current minimum bid to $51 and tell you that you were outbid...

Ah, thanks.. Too bad it works that way. I thought I saw a whole new market here!!:)

[headhawg]

Originally posted by GameTheory
Nobody wrote a program, Joe, that's how ebay works

That is how eBay works if you are just using eBay's site tools. There are probably a half-dozen or so software auction programs that will help you outbid the other guy. This technique is affectionately known as "sniping". There are even more programs out there that help you manage online auctions in general.

For those interested, try SnipeRight Professional (www.sniperight.com) or Auction Tamer (www.auctiontamer.com).

HH

[cj]

I have yet to figure out why anyone would place a bid on an item before the last minute. What's the point?

[GameTheory]

Yeah, but sniping makes one bid (usually just one) right before the end of bidding. One thing that makes sniping work so well is because of misunderstanding the system (like Joe just did). People tend to bid the minimum only and then wait to bid again if they are outbid instead of just bidding their max to begin with...

[headhawg]

Game Theory,

I think most bidders fall into two categories:

1) people who think that by making only minimum bids that somehow they will "steal" whatever it is they are trying to obtain, and

2) I think the other group has nothing better to do, and look at the bidding as a form of entertainment -- at home or on the job.

cj,

See #2. Or maybe most people just don't have a clue.

HH

[formula_2002]

Not understanding how the game worked, when I saw the counter bid submitted so quickly, I thought that perhaps I was being " set-up". So I bid my max and quit.

But the question remains..How does one know that he is not bidding into a "set-up" ?

[GameTheory]

You can't be "set-up" unless the seller is using another identity to bid and raise the price. But in that case he runs the risk of winning his own auction. And since the seller can set minimums and reserves, there is no particular reason to resort to this sort of thing.

Just bid the maximum you're willing to pay and be done with it. If you lose, you lose, but if someone else is willing to pay more than you then so be it. You lost because you don't want to spend that much, not because of being set-up. This whole idea of being set-up doesn't even make sense.

I used to sell stuff on ebay for a living. Trust me, many many of the bidders have no conception of how the system works even though it is crystally-clear explained on the site in plain view when you sign up, and also when you bid, etc. I am quite sure that many people think that if they bid $100, that means they will have to pay $100 no matter what. But if the next lowest bid is $10, then they'll only have to pay $11. People don't seem to get that. We would sometimes have the winning bidder say, "How did the bid go up so high?" It went up that high because you bid that high, dummy! No one forced you!

[Pace Cap'n]

Originally posted by cjmilkowski
I have yet to figure out why anyone would place a bid on an item before the last minute. What's the point?


Speaking for myself, because the auction will end at an inconvienent time, or because I don't want to forget to bid on it.