OT: Can you hide an Ebay Bid?

[Gdad]

Just wondering- I bid on a cheap item that had a couple days to go and no bids showing. It was listed at the starting price of $0.99- I bid $5.01 and it immediately came back and said that I had been outbid and listed the new prine at $5.51. The bid history NOW shows the first bid time as happening two days prior. What gives? How do you hide a bid like that?

 

[WDWFigment]

I've never heard of that. Might you have visited the item a day (or more) prior to bidding? If so, maybe you had the old page in your cache, and the bid was really there? I don't know of any other explanation.

 

[Todd_H]

Could have been some kind of snipe bidding program the other bidder was using:

http://www.esnipe.com/

 

[Gdad]

I've never heard of that. Might you have visited the item a day (or more) prior to bidding? If so, maybe you had the old page in your cache, and the bid was really there? I don't know of any other explanation.

Nope- I have never even searched for one of these before.

Could have been some kind of snipe bidding program the other bidder was using:

http://www.esnipe.com/

That was my thought- but I have no idea how they work.

 

[WDWFigment]

That was my thought- but I have no idea how they work.

Any snipping program I have ever used responds to a time in the auction, and does not interact with others' bids. However, I have never use a service for which you must pay, so that might be different. I still don't think it could somehow hid a bid. The programs do have to work within the constraints eBay establishes.

I am curious as to how this happened, too. Maybe it's as simple as being a glitch in eBay's system?

 

[annnewjerz]

Is it wrong that I'm more interested in what cool new toy you were bidding on for $5 than getting an answer to your question??

 

[Code]

You sure you didn't miss that there was 1 bid already? If the starting price is $0.99 and someone puts a maximum bid of $10, their effective bid is $0.99 until someone else bids. Then you come along and bid $5, so the system automatically ups the other bid to beat yours since their max was above what you bid.

 

[Groucho]

Code is exactly right. The initial bid was made for a higher amount than you entered. It only goes up when your bid forces it to - this is why you instantly get a "you've been outbid!" message in this circumstance.

Side rant: eBay makes me crazy sometimes. The way they say that they want you to bid is that you put in the most you're willing to spend for something as your first bid. It will only mark it as the minimum necessary to beat the starting bid or high bid. The theory is that you will never regret losing an auction because either you'll win or it will sell for more than you're willing to spend.

Of course, that's not the way auctions work in the real world, and it's certainly not the point of an auction! The point is to stimulate back-and-forth bidding to maximize the amount that the item is sold for.

What eBay really, really should do - and it would be trivial to implement - is a "going, going, gone" system. The auction should not end until there have been no bids for a given time - say, five minutes. Maybe even one minute.

This would instantly make sniping obsolete, make auctions fairer, remove a great deal of frustration for the buyer, promote higher prices for the seller which helps eBay too, and put all the people who sell software specifically made for automating eBay sniping (I put these people somewhere between human traffickers and Nazis) will instantly be out of business.

If only... while we're at it, I can hope for them to loosen the draconian rules about accepting PayPal, cut down on the pounds of flesh they get from you on the eBay and the PayPal side, and for pigs to fly.

 

[Groucho]

Oh wait - I just re-read, and you're saying that when you bid, there were none showing? And later it turned out that there was a bid?

I dunno, that does sound weird... maybe they entered theirs as you were entering yours? Is there a timestamp?

 

[Gdad]

You sure you didn't miss that there was 1 bid already? If the starting price is $0.99 and someone puts a maximum bid of $10, their effective bid is $0.99 until someone else bids. Then you come along and bid $5, so the system automatically ups the other bid to beat yours since their max was above what you bid.

I'm 99% sure I didn't- but then again maybe I did. Who knows.

Is it wrong that I'm more interested in what cool new toy you were bidding on for $5 than getting an answer to your question??

LOL- So Exciting! It was an old MF lens for my Minolta XD5.

 

[mom2rtk]

If there was no bid showing prior to you placing your bid, the only way this could happen is if you both placed a bid at the same time, which is not likely. There is no way to hide a bid.

I personally use a sniping service. I decide what my absolute top dollar is, then enter a snipe. These programs place the bid on your behalf in the final seconds of the auction.

 

[mom2rtk]

If only... while we're at it, I can hope for them to loosen the draconian rules about accepting PayPal, cut down on the pounds of flesh they get from you on the eBay and the PayPal side, and for pigs to fly.

Isn't that the truth!

My money's on the pigs....... Gotta go mortgage the house so I can pay this month's Ebay bill......

 

[kaffinito]

I hate those snipe programs. That means that I have to babysit the auction until the final seconds, or to place my maximum bid a little over what I really wanted to spend sometimes.

That happened to me a few days ago. I was bidding on a Yashica Mat124 G and a snipe program outbid me in the last seconds. I missed out on a good one.

Jeff, it was either that someone had placed a bid and you somehow didn't see it, or it was a glitch in eBay's system. Even the great eBay makes mistakes sometimes!

 

[mom2rtk]

I hate those snipe programs. That means that I have to babysit the auction until the final seconds, or to place my maximum bid a little over what I really wanted to spend sometimes.

That happened to me a few days ago. I was bidding on a Yashica Mat124 G and a snipe program outbid me in the last seconds. I missed out on a good one.

Jeff, it was either that someone had placed a bid and you somehow didn't see it, or it was a glitch in eBay's system. Even the great eBay makes mistakes sometimes!

I sell dresses and costumes on ebay and buy a ton of fabric there, from little old ladies cleaning out their attics.... I got mad after missing one piece because my son had been on my computer and turned off my number lock. So I thought I was entering numbers and I wasn't and lost out. Soon after, a friend recommended a free sniping service that I have now used for years. Since then, I haven't missed out on the things I really want.

It certainly takes some of the climactic excitement out of the bidding process, but it also keeps me from getting caught up in the heat of the moment and going higher than I intended.

So sorry to all you who hate snipers.... but I doubt we're bidding on the same fabric!

 

[kaffinito]

I sell dresses and costumes on ebay and buy a ton of fabric there, from little old ladies cleaning out their attics.... I got mad after missing one piece because my son had been on my computer and turned off my number lock. So I thought I was entering numbers and I wasn't and lost out. Soon after, a friend recommended a free sniping service that I have now used for years. Since then, I haven't missed out on the things I really want.

It certainly takes some of the climactic excitement out of the bidding process, but it also keeps me from getting caught up in the heat of the moment and going higher than I intended.

So sorry to all you who hate snipers.... but I doubt we're bidding on the same fabric!

Not you personally, you understand! And I'm definitely not bidding on fabric. I have to have some way to feed my growing camera obsession you know.

 

[mom2rtk]

Not you personally, you understand! And I'm definitely not bidding on fabric. I have to have some way to feed my growing camera obsession you know.

I hated the snipers too, you know.... until I joined them!

No offense taken.... You stay away from my fabric, and I'll stay away from your cameras! I don't know enough to buy used cameras anyway....

Gdad: Good luck on your item! And PM me if you want a link to a free sniper....

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I agree with Groucho that Ebay should change their auctions. On ubid, the bids continued until at least 1 minute passed without a bid.

If people really did bid their max price, sniping wouldn't be effective. The truth is that people raise what they are willing to bid when they see someone else bid more. For that reason, I snipe. It helps me get things cheaper than I otherwise would.

I also like to use a sniping tool that lets me snipe on several items and it quits when I've "won" one of them. I don't want to sit around watching how my Ebay bids are going. I find everything that qualifies, factor in price differences for shipping, quality, reputation, etc, place my bids on all of them, and I'm done.

 

[mom2rtk]

If people really did bid their max price, sniping wouldn't be effective. The truth is that people raise what they are willing to bid when they see someone else bid more. For that reason, I snipe. It helps me get things cheaper than I otherwise would.

I absolutely agree. Once you put your bid out there, people are way more likely to keep chipping away at it just to see if they can find your maximum. Put in a snipe at the last moment and you are much more likely to get a bargain. No time to be a sitting duck.....

 

[seashoreCM]

>>> back and forth
>>> chipping away

The system does simulate a live auction in that chipping away is the same thing as back and forth.

It is more convenient for the first bidder because the first bidder doesn't have to be there in person every time someone else comes around to chip away.

One way I think that sellers are not getting as high bids as they would like is that bidders are holding off until the last minute and then some bidders forget to come back and snipe so there are fewer bids made altogether.

 

[mom2rtk]

>>> back and forth
>>> chipping away

The system does simulate a live auction in that chipping away is the same thing as back and forth.

It is more convenient for the first bidder because the first bidder doesn't have to be there in person every time someone else comes around to chip away.

One way I think that sellers are not getting as high bids as they would like is that bidders are holding off until the last minute and then some bidders forget to come back and snipe so there are fewer bids made altogether.

The economy has also taken a toll on prices paid for most things on Ebay. As a buyer, I love to snipe and do think I get better deals that way.

As a seller, I hate sniping because I do think it keeps prices down. Since I have an ebay store, I now almost always list my items with a Buy It Now in my store rather than auction them. I have a dress and costume store, but sold my primary lens that way last week so I could get my new VC one. It's the only way to be sure you get what you need. And I have always felt that reserve auctions put people off.