That's auction fever.
Graywolf wrote:
Some theories do not seem to apply to Ebay.
While you and I would probably bid on another of the same item all too many times I have seen 6 of an item list one after the other and one of them has been bidded up 10-12 times while the rest are still sitting at the openning bid. It is a fact that you are bidding against people who do not have a clue (wow look at this it has been bid way up it must be better than those others), they are the ones snipping helps against. It doesn't do much against an informed bidder as he/she is only going to bid what they think the item is worth. If they think it is worth more than you do, you lose (or win depending on how you look at it).
graywolf http://www.graywolfphoto.com "Idiot Proof" <==> "Expert Proof" -----------------------------------
Mishka wrote:
i generally agree about sniping being the best tactics most of time. but there're some exceptions.
when you are buying something that's not in short supply (say, Zenitar fisheye :) basically, you don't expect a lots of bids (one, maybe two). in that case, you should
-- if there's no BIN, just bid early.
the rationale is that the second bidder (if there's one) is going to
see that someone has
already made a bid and if there are auctions with no bids and comparable price,
he would be better off bidding there than to wage a war with you. when
this happens, the
first bid usually gets the lower price.
-- or "BIN" if that's available.
-- or, if you are not in a hurry and really want to get the item below BIN, *bid at BIN*. then if someone wants it more, you'll lose the item (but remember, there's lots of supply and you are not in a hurry). otherwise, you'll get the item for something between the initial bid amount shown and the BIN price.
of course, if the demand is much higher than the supply (e.g. A*135/1.8), then snipe.
best, mishka
--
I can understand why mankind hasn't given up war. During a war you get to drive tanks through the sides of buildings and shoot foreigners - two things that are usually frowned on during peacetime.
--P.J. O'Rourke
