Re: [Harp-L] E-Bay and sniper programs




On May 9, 2005, at 8:50 AM, Tim Moyer wrote:


Joe Leone <leone@xxxx> wrote:
1. figure out what the item is worth? (this is the hard part)

I don't really find this that hard, in an auction.  If you're buying
used merchandise, find out what it would cost to buy it new.  Don't
bid more than that.  Adjust down for age, condition, etc.

Exactly Tim. One thing that IS disconcerting. In a regular auction, you have the ability to walk around and check out the merchandise beforehand (visually). Even when there are phantom bidders on the phones, they STILL have a representative who is AT the auction and has seen the item(s) close up. With e-bay, you don't have that luxury and going by 'claims' is suspect at best.


  Ebay has
a search feature for completed auctions where you can see what
similar items have sold for in the past.  In the end I always ask
myself, what's the most I would pay that, if I were beat I wouldn't
be disappointed.

Exactly


  For example, look at the time and think, "If
someone paid $2 more and beat me for this, would I be upset?"  I
always add an odd amount to that, to beat the people that might bid
an even dollar amount.  So if I'm willing to pay $50 for something,
I'll bid $52.51 or something like that, just so I don't get beat by
the guy who bids $50 first.

Exactly, a few odd cents (or dollars) here or there is a good idea. (Just like on the price is right)

You can also do your own bid sniping. Just wait until the last few seconds before the auction ends and bid your own maximum. People always seem to forget that ebay does proxy bidding, so you're not going to spend more than the bid increment above the next closest bid. You can bid $200 and still get something for $25. Bidding low and bidding early (as most ebay people do) just tips your hand and raises the price early. If everyone waited until the last second and bid their maximum the item would go to the highest bidder at the lowest price.

ONLY because a used harmonica is such an 'iffy' proposition, it is the one thing I would shy away from. I know a fellow who sucks them up, then has them rebuilt. The cost winds up prohibitive and what's the percentage in THAT? Since I am a cheap sob who remembers when these things (chromos in particular) went for $18-28 NEW, I have a hard time justifying the cost and would prefer to just go bite the bullet and get a new example.
smo-joe


-working man tim




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