How to win on ebay?

[andygates]

I've just lost the third auction in a row for a relatively high-value collectible item; in each case the sale ended in a last-minute bidding war between two bidders.  First one I lost, I was foolish enough to leave the auction alone for the last ten minutes.  Second, I and the other bidder both sniped at one minute, at the same amount, but he beat me by three seconds.  Tonight, I fat-fingered the keyboard with twenty seconds to go and while I was reading the "huh? doofus" message, the clock ticked out from under me.

Is there a good technique for winning this sort of auction?  Maybe put a high-value snipe in place using AuctionSniper, just in case it gets squirrely in the final moments?  I'm loath to just put a high bid in as these items have arbitrary value: they're worth what people will pay.  In tonight's auction the item went up £220, 30%, in the last half hour.

Your wisdom will earn beer if I get lucky.  Honest.

Comments

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think it's a psychological block :)

Alas the items aren't really generic so there's usually only one on offer, but I will take a look at Bid Assistant.

And maybe just get a welding course and make my own.

[jarkman.livejournal.com]

I used to hang about and bid maually on eBay, but these days I just set up an auto-snipe and forget it.

On the whole, I prefer it this way. I have to decide how much it is really worth to me without all the exciting complications that come from watching the auction, but once I've decided that I am happier to let it go when it goes over the limit.

£680 will certainly buy you some welding kit and a bunch of metal stock. How ambitious is this item ?

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Very: pennyfarthings. Good rideable ones, not wall-hangers. I've set my mind to doing a certain ride on one.

[jarkman.livejournal.com]

I had a visitor teach himself to make bicycle frames in the shed once. He succeeded, too, with the aid of a few books and a bit of practise, and I don't think he had any previous metalworking experience at all.

That was all steel tube - chrome-moly and Reynolds something-or-other - and oxy-acetylene brazing.

He had it easier than you in some ways, because he could use standard parts for bottom-bracket shells and so on, but it must be a very similar problem. I can tell you all about it, if you'd like...

[andygates.livejournal.com]

And he could use standard wheels, and straight tubes. I do plan to make my own (I have a little MIG rig that needs cleanng and I need to learn how to use it), but I am *notorious* for starting a million projects and never really finishing any of them. To get a rideable penny for July, I will have to buy a rideable penny!

[jarkman.livejournal.com]

Yes. Well, he did build wheels from parts, but he bought the rims & spokes. I guess it must be possible to buy pennyfarthing rims somewhere ? I don't think I'd like to make those.

If you're using thin-wall bike tube, MIG will probably work very badly. Depends how light you want to make it. But learning to braze wouldn't take you longer than learning MIG.

I understand entirely about the million-project thing. I do much the same. But, I figure that as long as I keep finishing something I'm doing OK. Maybe you just aren't starting enough projects to get a decent finishing rate ? :-)

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Dangerous thing to say, given that my projects list runs to two pages and only half of them are marked as "crackpot" :)

[jarkman.livejournal.com]

Well, it may be dangerous, but I think you'd find it no less dangerous to you than to me. My lists are also extensive. Let alone the stuff that rattles round in the back of my head, that isn't concrete enough to get to a list.

The question now is, which one to beat on this afternoon ?

[andygates.livejournal.com]

It should have been the bathroom, but instead it was the badger-restraining stick. Oops...

[jarkman.livejournal.com]

Oh - and - if you *only* snipe on an auction, you deprive other bidders of the information that your earlier bids would have given them about your enthusiasm for the item.

That information may increase their perception of the value of the item & encourage them to bid more. So, if you only snipe, you may get it cheaper.