I watched, with some interest, the run-up to the end of the auction
today for the "colorful lace shawl" on eBay. I was interested to see
the outcome, but by today I did not want to buy it myself, even though
it is very pretty. It was item number 300521571376, in case you missed it.
It struck me that two people who are not very experienced with eBay had
the majority of the bids going into the end of the auction today. This
had been going on all week! One would put in a bid way higher than the
existing bid, and the other person would put in bid after bid until s/he
had outbid the other one, and then add a chunk to that. They were in
their own private bidding war, and ran the bid up - something I'm sure
the seller loved! I had a very strong hunch that someone else would
jump in at the bitter end, and sure enough, that happened! I was
actually glad, since their faulty strategy at winning the bid did not
produce the desired results, and so if they're reading this, perhaps
they'll take my advice!
Dear spiders... if you see something on eBay that you really, really
love and want to own, it is fine to post a bid, just so your page on
eBay will have this item clearly listed as something you want to bid on.
But make it a token bid! Once you've done that... let it go until
the end of the auction!!! Don't show your hand, or your eagerness...
Make up your mind what you are willing to pay for the item, and stick
with that figure. Meanwhile, you won't be emotionally involved each
time someone else puts in a bid, and you won't be running the bid up!
If others end up bidding more than you're willing to pay, you can have a
rational talk with yourself about whether you really want to spend
more. Chances are, you'll win the bid from time to time, but you won't
get stuck with something you paid entirely too much for because you got
emotionally involved in keeping "your" item, and bid more than it was worth.
BTW... I believe this piece is probably machine made. Still, it is
stunning, and I would not have been unhappy to win the bid on the item,
but it passed my established figure well before the auction was over. I
congratulate the winning bidder! Their price really wasn't too high -
just more that I was ready to spend today! I hope I get to see this
sometime!
Clay
Clay Blackwell
Lynchburg, VA USA
"Lace at Sweet Briar"
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