Why do people actomatically bid for things and how do you do it.

[bright rabbit 1]

I was interested in buying G1 Princess pony on eBay.uk it was on bidding, it had no bids on it but when it got near enough to the end of the auction; someone already bidded on it and I checked the bids on it and this person had it on automatic bids.

I think it's unfair that they do that because it doesn't let you have a chance to bid because it automatically bids after you bid. 

How can you put it to automatically bid, I have no clue.

[banditpony]

It sounds like the person who put the first bid in first had a higher max bid then you.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/bidding-overview.html#auto

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Ebay uses the proxy bidding system - you bid your absolute max and then Ebay will bid in increments for you so you don't have to jump the price up super high at first.  If the auction is set for $0.10 increments, it will increase your bid by ten cents each time there is another bid in the system. 

Of course, if you only put in your lowest bid and someone put their highest, yes they will win always!

Advice?  Either bid your max or use a sniping service! 

[banditpony]

Advice?  Either bid your max or use a sniping service! 

A sniping service won't win an auction if someone else has a higher max bid.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Advice?  Either bid your max or use a sniping service! 

A sniping service won't win an auction if someone else has a higher max bid.

This is true but it really helps with the emotional aspect of bidding.  You decide your max. you program it in.  You go do something besides hover over your auction.  If you won, yay go you. If you didn't, then you know the other person HAD to pay more than you wanted to! 

[banditpony]

Advice?  Either bid your max or use a sniping service! 

A sniping service won't win an auction if someone else has a higher max bid.

This is true but it really helps with the emotional aspect of bidding.  You decide your max. you program it in.  You go do something besides hover over your auction.  If you won, yay go you. If you didn't, then you know the other person HAD to pay more than you wanted to! 

Of course, but when it comes down to it, the person with the highest bid wins-- no matter when or how it is placed. Sometimes people think using a program means they will win, and that's not true.

[tulagirl]

Nothing unfair about this process.

[Taffeta]

It's how ebay works in general. Though I remember when sniping services first came in there were a lot of people who were disapproving of them, now they seem to be a norm. I don't use them, though. If I can't be online at the end, I put my max in and go to bed/out/whatever and leave it up to the fates.

I don't think there's a problem with proxy bidding as a system. With a digital system online it makes a lot of sense to do it that way. I don't really like the sniping services but as has been said, an automatic sniper doesn't necessarily win. I just dislike them because it's like having an extra advantage at the auction end. But realistically they aren't unfair either, just a shade dispiriting if they come in and win with 3 seconds to spare.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

I've still managed to outbid a sniping service before... this was before Ebay started censoring usernames...  but YES of course it was because I had a higher amount and NOT because I was faster.  I don't like the speed element of an auction, as a lot of people don't, which is why I suggested it as an option!  You of course do not need to feel compelled to use that option!  Just to be clear before anyone starts a huge debate about the option..... I could have opened a really can of worms here.... ooopppps...  *hangs  head*

[Stormness_1]

Always put in your max bid, and that way you don't get pushed higher than you want to go - ebay will never make you pay more than you need to. so if you're willing to pay $10, you put in $10, and hit bid. If someone else has put in $2 as their max bid, than the bid might go to $2.01, or $2.50, or something like that. It won't jump to $10 until someone else gets close to your bid - that's how automatic bidding works. It's good, because sometimes, you really snag a bargain!

[dragonfly]

Sniping is a strategy to keep the price lower until as near the end as possible, increasing your odds of winning for a more affordable price. You can manually snipe by being online when the auction ends and bidding at the last few seconds but many people use automatic software to bid on their behalf. Since sniping is so close to the auction end, you won't usually have a chance with time left to enter an alternate bid if someone bids higher than you.

EBay's proxy bidding system lets you - directly through eBay, no third party software involved - enter either one bid for a certain price or do a proxy bid. A proxy bid is you enter your maximum bid and eBay will automatically bid for you until it reaches the max as other users place bids. You can do this any time during the auction. No matter when a bid is placed, the highest bid will always win.

The theory is that sniping can sometimes outsmart proxy bidding because instead of the price going higher over the course of several days you enter at the last moment.

Like this:

Day 1:
Seller: lists item at $0.99 for a 5 day auction

Day 1: bidder 1 places one manual bid for $1.05

The auction price increases to $1.05

Bidder 1 is the high bidder.

Day 1: bidder 2 places a proxy bid for a maximum of $10

eBay increases the price incrementally and places 1 bid on bidder 2's behalf. The auction price is now $1.30. Bidder 1 has been outbid. Since Bidder 1 entered one manual bid, they would need to come back with a second bid or proxy bid to try and win the auction.

Bidder 2 is the high bidder. The auction price is $1.30.

Day 2:
Bidder 3 sees the auction price of $1.30. They enter a proxy bid of $5. They do not know that Bidder 2 has entered a max bid of $10.

Bidder 3 is automatically outbid by Bidder 2's proxy bid. Bidder 3 must now come back to place a new bid, otherwise is out of competition to win the auction.

The auction price is now $5.25. Bidder 2 is the high bidder

Day 3:
Bidder 1 comes back to check the auction and sees that she has been outbid and is no longer in competition to win the auction. She decides to place another bid. She enters a proxy bid this time. She enters a max of $12

Bidder 2's bids are entered and automatically countered by Bidder 1's bids. Bidder 2 is outbid. eBay increases the price by the minimum amount required so the auction price is now $10.50 and Bidder 1 is the high bidder.

Day 4:
No bids are placed. The auction price is still $10.50

Day 5:
Bidder 1 thinks sweet, she can get a great deal. But just in case, she decides to increase her proxy bid max to $18. The auction price doesn't change until a few other bidders wander in and place manual bids, but the price remains below Bidder 1's max.

The auction price is now $16.75 and Bidder 1 is the high bidder

Bidder 2 decides she really really wants the pony. She enters a max price of $50.

There is one hour left in the auction. The price increases to just above Bidder 1's max and the auction price is $18.50.

Bidder 2 is the high bidder. Bidder 1 decides she doesn't want to spend more than that and drops out.

A few more bids trickle in, some manual, some proxy. The proxy bids increase the price quickly because eBay automatically outbids the second highest with the first highest.

The price is now $27.25 and Bidder 2 is the high bidder.

Five seconds to go.

Bidder 2 panics and enters a max bid of $200 (never do this!) because she really really wants the pony. It's her grail!

Bidder 9 snipes the auction at 2.5 seconds left using third party software. Bidder 9 probably isn't even online right now. He trusts the software to do its job.

Bidder 10 enters a manual last minute bid of $52 with 2 seconds left but is immediately outbid by Bidders 9 and 2 and doesn't have time to enter a new bid.

The auction price jumps to $100.75 after Bidder 9's snipe.

The auction ends at $100.75 and Bidder 2 is the winner.

Why is Bidder 2 the winner? Bidder 9 bid closer to the end of the auction.

Bidder 9's max snipe price was $100
Bidder 2, although the bid was placed earlier than Bidder 9, still wins the auction because eBay's system makes sure  the highest bid wins and $200 is higher than $100.

So usually a last minute bid will win the day but not always.
Bidder 2 probably way overpaid for the pony but she got emotionally invested in the auction.

Bidder 1 goes and BINs the same pony for $8 from a different seller.

(It was Peachy)

[Taffeta]

I don't think it's a can of worms yet

I have manually sniped auctions, I just think the software is a bit unfair. But if the auction clashes with something else or is in a non-UK friendly timezone I will put my max in as late as I can in the auction and then leave it be. I don't think that sniping or proxy bidding necessarily puts the bid price up unless you get people in a bid war with the proxy bid element of things. I have seen that happen, which is why it is silly to bid your max when the auction has 6 days left to go. It's better to see how the thing goes and then bid. If the price is still low by day 6 probably everyone is going to snipe it anyway...that is, if it's a desireable item.

I have beaten a snipe machine thing too, long ago in the days where you had to manually refresh ebay. It was a Jem lot and the other person bidding was a nasty person who lied a lot and hoarded stuff and she was already bragging about how she won it to someone else before the auction had ended. She basically said that she was a sure thing to win it because she would snipe it at the last minute. I knew nothing of this till after through a mutual acquaintance, but I just went in with my max bid and hit it lucky with about 2 seconds to go. That was a fluke though. I don't think I've ever repeated it. But it was a really nice lot and my friend, myself and my sister got some awesome stuff out of it for a quite decent price. It was up as US only but I had got permission from the seller to bid, so it was all good.

I also had a completely fluke the fates were with me win on the pony front as well. It was the huge lot of UK pony packaging and stuff which as a lot of you guys know is my grail, my nirvana if you like. And the lot had a Mountain Boy card and bubble in it, so I knew it was going to be crazy. In any case, it was an expensive lot. The most expensive I have ever paid, I think. But I had to be out when the auction ended. And I don't use sniping machines. So I put in my absolute max and then went out.

The auction ended for exactly my maximum bid. If anyone had bid one penny more than me it would've gone. I genuinely think that was meant to be. 

[kitkatvintage]

I'm kind of surprised at the number of users that don't seem to understand how eBay's system bids for you. I've seen this happen both on things I've sold & things I'm bidding on. Most recently I was bidding on a item for my son's birthday that started at $0.99. I put in a bid around $16 with plans to come back & bid higher if necessary. A few days later I got an outbid notice & see that one person has made multiple bids in $1 increments until they out bid me. Fast forward to the end of the auction. I put in a higher bid with about 10 minutes to go as it was around dinner time & I was afraid I'd miss it. The same person bid in $1 increments until they had beat me. Since I was on to their bidding method, I waited until there were 5 seconds left, increased my bid by $3 and won. The other bidder's unfamiliarity with the system exposed their bid strategy & allowed me to know exactly how to outbid them. My only regret is putting in that bid around the 10 minute mark, as I could have saved myself a few extra dollars if I waited. 

And yes, I know I could have used a sniping service, but I'm another one of those old school eBayers that prefers to bid manually.

[tulagirl]

Using a sniping service is no different than hiring someone to help you at an auction house over the phone.  There is nothing unfair and wrong about using one.  If you are outbid by them regularly, my suggestion is to get on with a service of your own, but it still doesn't mean you will win.  You only win the auction when you have the highest bid when it closes down.  If 4 snipper bids come in and yours is the lowest you will still lose.  There is just nothing unfair about this at all.  I was trying to get antique dolls once and I couldn't figure out how this same bidder was outbidding me on three auctions at once.  I finally realized what she was doing.  I never felt it unfair, I just jumped into the sniping service myself and finally I was able to get one doll for myself.  We can't call things unfair because we lose.  We have to think how we can win next time.  I guess this is just how my mind works.  Not easily defeated.  Its a good thing I never got into poker I guess lol.  You can clearly outbid a sniper program if your bid is larger the sniper bidders.  So, really I don't understand why this would upset anyone.  Whether you use the service or not you still have to skillfully bid to win.  Its the game of auction and that is why people get into bidding wars which is total nonsense to do lol.

[Taffeta]

I've never been actively offended by it because as you say, tulagirl, it still requires the highest bid. But I am also old school and I dislike the idea of paying someone else or another organisation to do the work for me. I tend to believe that if I am meant to win it I will, anyway, but I'd rather do it under my own steam. Maybe that's because I remember how much furore there was about the services in the first place.

I see phoning an auction house to place a bid as being the same as the proxy bidding system, not the last minute snipe. An auction house auction doesn't end until bids stop coming in, so it's not the same at all. Some websites also have a system now to prevent late sniping by extending the auction 10 mins if a late bid comes in (which is very annoying). I think there are various ways of winning auctions. I just personally don't go with the idea of using a machine to win my auctions. I prefer to either bid late or bid when I can and win, or not win at all.