Bidding Strategies - Win and save money!
*Bidding Strategies*
First off, you need to develop a buying strategy according to the item you are seeking to win.
-BUY IT NOW
If you need to win an item quickly, this is the quickest guarantee to obtain the item. Once you bid this route, no one else can compete with you. Most sellers set their prices higher than the typical eBay price for the item for the convienence of this service. If you are knowledgeable about the market value, you can better gauge the prices to find the best bargain. However, some collectibles have been found at great deals - though understanding the average selling price will help ensure that you are not overpaying too much.
-PROXY BIDDING
This is a convienent, automatic bidding function so you don't have to keep coming back to re-bid everytime someone else places another bid. However, this may not be the best way to save money. Essentially, you set a maximum amount you're willing to pay for the item, which is disclosed to the seller and other buyers. Bids will be placed in automatic bid increment amounts, enough to make you the highest bidder or to meet the reserve price, up to your maximum amount. If another bidder places the same maximum bid or higher, eBay will notify you so you can place another bid. Your maximum bid is kept confidential until it is exceeded by another bidder.
-MINIMUM BIDDING:
This is probably the best method to get the best deal if winning auctions is not crucial. This works best when there are multiple auctions of the same item. This allows buyers a comfort level while maintaining a positive control over the bids. The downfall is that it can easily be outbid and requires you to check on the item if you really want to win. Many will cast minimum bids on multiple auctions knowing that they will generally get outbid for the most part. However, many times an auction can be won with the absolute minimum when no one else bids on it.
-SNIPING
If you have the time to monitor the auction closely to the end, this is a good way to save you money. Sniping within the last few minutes to win an auction, is a common bidding strategy for many experienced eBay bidders. Many will watch the timed online auction to place the winning bid even at the last seconds, giving other bidders no time to outbid. Many auctions run their course with progressive bidding where most of the action occurs in the beginning of the auction. Because of this, many bid on their emotions, reassessing their maximum bidding limit. More bids attract other bidders since heavy bidding makes items more attractive. It is therefore useful to snipe auctions with little action to obtain better bargains in the final moments of the auction. This method does not conflict with any of eBay's policies or rules.
*Auctions that generate better deals*
Many people do not market their listings well and often misspell their items or descriptions. Because the search engine does not pick up these, fewer viewers mean fewer bids. You can always type in close approximations to the listings to potentially find good deals. From Christmas Day till New Years' Eve, prices are generally the best since the traffic for online shopping is very low.
Buyers seem generally reluctant to bid on items that have no images. Some listings don't even use an original picture. If their description is more than adequate, this can be a great opportunity to win an auction for a great price.
*Following the auction*
-After you get the email from the seller regarding payment, you should follow up to acknowledge the email and the payment. If your receive an item that is not up to your expectations, you should contact the seller immediately before filing a complaint and negative feedback. Many will attempt rectify the situation to make sure you are happy to preserve their feedback.
-For your protection, save and copy a picture of the auction you win. This is a good way to have proof should you not get the item as the picture indicated.
*Other tips and flags*
-If you are purchasing a heavier item, it may be wise to employ the "search by location" to find listings in your area to save on high shipping costs. You can even arrange for pick up to save money and time for both you and the seller.
-Some sellers will offer discounts if you purchase multiple items from them. This may be a possible way to save some money on shipping.
-More flags can be raised if they say "Authenticity is guaranteed or your money back." If it is the real thing, they wouldn't need to make a "guarantee." If they are selling a high end product, phrases such as factory direct, reject, wholesale should NOT be found in the description. If they are selling a rare and unique piece, check the other items to see if they have duplicate listings. This takes away from the authenticity of the item.
-Don't buy guides for eBay. Many of these tools can be found for free on the Internet.
-There are times that deals seem too good to be true. This should be an instant flag to take extra precautions: make sure the seller's feedback rating is high, examine the pictures and the accompanying text, study the details.
*Shill bidders*
These are "fake" bidders that are created by or working with the seller to control and protect their item price. If you can detect these, you should avoid the seller altogether. They will often bid to drive up the prices of their auctions if there is little bidding activity, to create a "more sought after" item image, or to outbid at the end of the auction when the current bid is much lower than the normal market price (to avoid losing money). You can check the history of the bidding to see if the same buyer bids on the seller's auctions repeatedly, but wins infrequently. These are hard to detect and prove, but should be generally avoided to sidestep markups.