DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum eBay frustrations

Over the last couple weeks, I have bid on a 8-iron. I have a set of Callaway Big Bertha Gold irons - my 8 broke and is not fixable. I found an individual 8 iron for my set for sale and kept bidding on it - up to about $47. Sure enough, in the last 30 seconds, someone beat my bid by $0.50.

I tried again on a Callaway X-16 8-iron. Same thing happened - got outbid in the last 30 seconds. It happened again on another 8 iron.

I had no idea the market for individual clubs is this hot. And its frustrating the heck out of me. I am beginning to think this may be a golf club reseller (business) bidding on these sticks - to be resold in their stores for $10 - $20 more.

Are there losers like this on eBay tracking various items, only to bid at the last second, assuring a win? Is there a way to beat these people? Do I have to continually hit refresh up to the end of the auction? Can I contact the seller and request a sale to me directly - to find the particular club that matches my set is pretty hard to do - I do not want to lose out again.

There are sniping programs that do what you have described. The only way to beat them is to be online in the final seconds of an auction. And even then you may not beat the program.

Or you could just be losing to someone who is a little quicker on the draw than you are. If you are unwilling to raise the price on your bid to a level that is sure to win then being online at the end is the only way to ensure a win.

And it doesn't sound like the guys who are beating you are losers........

Here is a guy selling a club. I found it hilarious.

http://cgi.ebay.com/TaylorMade-Rescue-Mi...1QQcmdZViewItem

I coined them "losers" because its a freakin 8 iron. Are that many broken that people need to buy them up in the last seconds? I think not. Just frustrated because I need one freakin club. I suppose I can head over to the golf store and pick one up - I'd like to keep the set intact though.

It really is amazing how large eBay actually is.....

You have to decide what it's worth to you and set your max bid that high.
If someone outbids you it's more then your willing to pay anyway and you move on and look for another.

Ha - that was hilarious.

Yea- it started low and there were 2 other bidders. I'd always go about $7-$11 higher than the current bid (to set my max that high), then check my email to see if I was outbid. It happened twice, getting up to $46 or $47 for my max - however losing out each time by a buck. This same thing happened for 3 different clubs.

I guess I should just throw up a $50 bid at the beginning. I have a feeling that would not scare anyone away....

Quote:

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I coined them "losers" because its a freakin 8 iron.

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Evidently there are a whole bunch of losers out there who break their 8-iron to the point of disrepair and need a new one.....

Wow. That relationship ended well.

Hilarious... in a sad way.

I thought everytime someone bid in the last couple minutes it lengthened the auction by 2 minutes? I may be mistaken, but I thought I saw that somewhere.

False.

First check to see if the winners have won other things of a similar type. If so and they do it often, you maybe getting beat by a shill for the seller, but for 50 cents not likely. They might be building their golf club set from scratch.

You almost have to be a "sniper" to win on something popular if you really really want it. I used to try to win by setting up my high bid and then letting it bid by proxy up to that, but couldn't win. Usually someone who wasn't even in the bidding swooped in at the last second.

I couldn't beat them so I joined them. The way I stopped losing was I got the Official Ebay Time and tried to set the computer clock to the same time or a second or two earlier. I keep the clock showing on the screen as analog so I can see the second hand tick.

I would refresh the Ebay window constantly starting with a few minutes left and watched the time and noted how accurate my clock was. I then bid 2 increments (in your case 0.50 x 2 is a $1) higher than the latest bid when there was about 5 seconds (allowed for any time lag for slow internet connection speed or computer response) left in the auction.

Pain in the arse? Yep. If the item is popular and you really really want it, you have to snipe. I have put NASCAR tickets on there for days and not get the first bid until 15 minutes left. In the last minute they would double in price.

Unfortunately Ebay allows sniping. In fact it almost sounds like they brag about it in their policy.

In the "older days" before it was Ebay's world, many online auctions required a bidder to have bid on an item at least once and that the bid was made at least 10 minutes or more prior to its end. This discourage sniping and it also allowed you to know how many were possilbly waiting to put in a last second bid.

Nice info rogue - much appreciated. If an 8 iron like mine comes up, I'll definitely be syncing clocks and bidding at the end. These snipers won't know what hit 'em.

I've always been a loser.

Alright then, I'm a winner!!!! At least that's what my family tells me.

I buy parts for my old sports car on Ebay all the time and to be honest, I got beat often and thought the same thing you are thinking..

I don't know if that's the case or not, Maybe some vendors do that.. maybe they bid things up.. not really sure.

Ebay has this tool that is built in..

Let's say you find what you are looking for on Ebay.. If you know the value of the item, then you ask yourself "what is the maximum that I would pay for this item"?

Bid that number and walk away from it...

What happens is this.

Current bid: 22.50

Your maximum bid: 55.30

But your current bid is actually 23.50.

SOmeone else comes along and bids 24.50 but an automatic bid puts you at 25.50. and so on and so on and so on....

You really don't have to worry about it again until the bid surpasses you maximum. You'll get alerted and then you have to decide if you want to pay more,

I always put in the highest number I am willing to pay for an item. If I get them,, Great, if I don't, I move on.

Just a suggestion, but so far, I now win most auctions and to be honest, my maximum bid has only been reached once.. And I don't set the Maximum so high that I feel ripped off.. Out of some 35 purchases so far, that's really not all that bad.

Example... There was a front strut bar for my 92 Z listed on Ebay. there wasn't a buy now price. I know you can buy these as low as $8.00 all they way up to several hundred.. So I did a little research. I found that most catalog houses that sell this exact part price it about 59.95 plus shipping. Putting the total prices right around 85.00..

I put a maximum bid of 50.49 on it. This was a new part so I knew what I was getting.. I won the bid at 31.60. with Shipping, it came to 60.85.

If you know what you are buying and understand the value not only in terms of pure purchase price, but also the cost of getting it to your door, then it's easy to make the decision as to what your max bid should be...

Just a thought

That's what I do, too. Put in the maximum I'm willing to pay for any given item. If someone wins by $.50 cents or $1.00 over my max bid, it's because they put in a higher bid amount. They probably didn't reach their maximum bid, but they won.

Damn.

ebay cancelled it again...lol I guess it got too much attention.

The only way to play the Ebay game is to bid the absolute most you're willing to pay for the item when there's 40 seconds left in the auction. You're only driving the price up when you bid earlier, and 40 seconds gives you enough time to place the bid and verify it. If you don't win, you didn't spend more than you planned, and you may win the item for a steal if no one has a large max bid.