I was cruising arond ebay and saw a United NYC Niagara 4-8-4 in almost mint condition, with original box, at this time it was 3 hours left and the bids were $63.00, In all my knowledge I assumed all the high bids would come in at the last minute as they usually do, BUT I forgot about it and went to bed, I just now looked and it sold for $152.00, so don’t let anyone tell you there aren’t still deals on ebay, I’m so mad for being so dumb. Saw some identical locos on a sale site for between $400 to $800, just to make me feel better.
Ive done that were you see something and say wow that will sky rocket in price at the end and never bid. Then you see it sold for so little.
tatans,
As the old adage goes: “Better to have bid and lost…than never to have bid at all.” (Or something like that. [:)]) At least you didn’t win something that you regretted buying. That’s what I originally thought when I first read your title.
Whenever I bid on something on eBay, I set a limit for myself early on. If it’s outbid, I’ll re-evaluate whether the item is worth the extra $$$…then determine whether to pursue it again or not. Once out bid, VERY rarely do I up my limit a 2nd time.
Yea, a few things I would have really liked to have had slipped through my fingers. However, in general, I have VERY few regrets for taking this strategy.
Tom
I buy on eBay a lot. I’ve tried “sniping” in which I bid at the last second and hope that I’ve bid high enough to get the item. Sometimes I forget and miss out; other times my bid is too low and I miss out. Sometimes I get the item, but I don’t think that sniping actually saved me any real money. Now, when I see something I want, I decide what I’d be willing to pay, place my bid for that amount, and let it go. Most of the time I get the item for much less than I expected. One thing is for sure, it takes the stress out of bidding.
I try not to feel bad about the ones that “get away.” With few exceptions, there will be another one posted soon, and at least when I’m bidding on the next one I know I won’t be in competition with the guy who beat me the first time.
To get another shot at your Niagara, set up an automatic search so eBay will e-mail you when there is one for sale.
Just tell yourself it wasn’t meant to be. I sniped on a set of Athearn B&O passenger cars on 4-5 different auctions. I got beat out with some rediculas bid EVERY time! Couple months later I saw the same set on HO Yardsale and got them for 1/3 of what I was willing to snipe them for.[:D]
There’s no telling what your competition entered as his maximum bid either. Maybe they entered $400 and you would have lost sleep over nothing. That’s usually what happens to me.
You can’t go by that. Just because it ended at $152.00 doesn’t mean that was the high bid. The person who won it might have had a reserve in at $500.00. You don’t know that because it outbids the highest bidder by a few dollars, nothing more. So nobody but the highest bidder know what the high bid is. So you might have had to bid $505.00 to win it. Usually 75% of the bids come in in the last 20 seconds. I snipe bid all the time unless it’s when I am sleeping or like you I forget. But I know how it is to forget a bid like that.
Mike
Hi,
As an earlier posted mentioned, it was highly likely that the winning bidders max bid was “up there”. Having no competition, he stole it for $152. I know you feel bad, but imagine how the seller feels!
I’ve got over 600 all positive Ebay feedbacks and have been a buyer/seller (mostly trains) for a number of years. If there is something out there I want, and the auction ends at a convenient time, I will bid at the last minute - with the max amount I want to spend. Usually I get the item.
If the auction ends when I am not around, I bid the max at the latest time I can. Usually I don’t win these auctions - but once in awhile get surprised.
It wasn’t meant to be…
Mobilman44
I agree, I prefer to bid what I can afford and see what happens. That last-second bidding is fun once in a while I guess but it can get you hooked into the excitement of bidding and you end up bidding too much just to win.
Keep in mind if something sells on ebay at a decent price, other people will be enticed to sell theirs. I did that with a guitar, I missed out on a couple that sold in a short period and had a number of bids. Someone then put basically the same guitar on ebay and the market was kinda oversaturated and I got it for about $100 less than what the earlier ones sold for.
Yeah, I just did the same thing on three Atlas RS-1s. I bid but was going to raise it by sniping at the last minute. I forgot about them. Two of them went right at $35 (a couple dollars more than my original bid) and the SP&S went for $43. The Kato drives are worth $50 alone. Bummer, well I can’t afford all the good deals anyway.
The LAST thing you want to do is place a bid hrs or even days before the auction ends. All that does is get the guy you outbid to think that he now has to outbid you. Thnk about it. If you wait he has no time to place another bid. In some cases were you are not around then it ok to bid taking the chance you will win. But you should never place a bid, all that does is drive up the price when you might have gotten it for far less then your maximum bid is going to be. It makes sence. I keep on refreshing the page till it has 1 minute left. I then look at my watch and place the bid with the mouse on the “conform bid” button while watching the second hand. With around 10 seconds left I click the button. There is even parties out there who will enter your info into a system that will automatically place the bid with 3 seconds left. It snip bids automatically for you. But it cost money and you have to give them your Ebay name & password. DON"T think so, LOL.
Mike
I recently won 5 N scale FA-2 shells for $10.00 plus $4.95 shipping. That is $2.99 per shell. I always figure the shipping in my bid calculations. Even if I want an item badly. If I have to bid more than I know that they are worth, plus shipping, I will pass on the item. Eventually they will show up on Ebay or I will find them at one of the train shows. Found an N scale plastic Jordon spreader at a show. Never even knew they made them in plastic.
You guys are doing it all wrong. I’ve one WAY too many items on Ebay using esnipe.com. It’s easy. You sign up, enter the item # and your max bid. You tell Esnipe how many seconds before the auction ending you want to bid and esnipe does the rest. It works great. No more setting your alarm for 3am to bid at the last minute or hoping your internet connection is fast enough. It’s extremely cheap to sign up (like 10 cents per auction-I cant remember the fee as I bought credits two years ago and still haven’t used them up) and you can buy credits via Paypal. Just be warned, you’ll end up with A LOT of train stuff! Now don’t tell anyone our secret! SHHHHH! [:)]
Todd
Tatans, I’d have to agree with Mike and Mobilman on the matter. The other day there was BLI 2 SD40-2s and a BLI C30-7 with the QSI decoders, all painted for BN. When I got on a few minutes before they ended, they were still at $140 bucks. With a minute left to go, I put 200 on all of them. No dice, so I tried 220. Still no dice. I gave up at that point, and after a little searching turns out a few stores had them on sale for less. (gratned trainworld is out of BNs for these engines, and I’d rather not un-patch a unit since I’ve never worked with decals)
So I bought a C30-7 from another store for $204 shipped. BLIs site has one of the SD40-2s for about 150, so I’ll try to get that later. Highly doubt any of these will show up at the pensacola show.
Last second bidding is my preference, much like Gasturbine described. I guess you could compare it to the thrill of the hunt. At times I can feel my pulse going up as the seconds tick down. My goal is to get under 5 seconds but sometimes I get buck fever if it’s a really hot item and bid sooner. Like others I have missed a lot of auctions so I bought a Lab Alert timer which is good for 9 hrs and 59 minutes and 59 seconds so we could say 10 hrs. It is digital and I set it to sound the alarm about 15 minutes before the auction ends. Even with that I’ve still missed out.
My bid amount is based on how bad I want the item so I have no regrets if I lose. Like some one said about not knowing just how hight the loco might have sold for, I’ve won many auctions much under my maximum bid.
What’s hard to understand is a seller ending his auction after 11PM PCT. I would think most people would be in bed by that time. I like to end my auctions on Sunday night no later than 10 Eastern.
Bob
www.AuctionSniper.com Been using it for a couple years now. As safe as safe can be. You can worry yourself to death about every little this and that. I’ve won many an auction with this tool. And it’s nice because I travel all the time and I don’t have to keep track of the auction. Set the max you want to pay and keeps you from getting emotionally involved and paying too much.
I’m assuming these sniping services charge a few and require paypal, correct?
Minimal fees. PP not required on AuctionSniper, credit card is.
Hello Tatans,
I wouldn’t get too choked up over losing out on that loco, if you’re patient enough it’ll probably show up eventually at a better price anyhow. I don’t use any of the sniping software available I’ll decide on what I’m willing to pay maximum then place my bid on the last day. I work nights so I’m never around for the end of any of the auctions I throw down on. Sometimes I win other times not, usually I get beat out by anywhere from $1 to hundreds regardless of sniping software you have to be outbid to lose anyway. Besides the high bidder might have a top bid over your top bid by pennies or a good hundred for head room over you anyhow. Be patient and happy hunting, you’ll probably find one in better condition with a smaller price tag anyhow.
Andrew
So if you use a sniping company who gets the feedback??
Mike
You do - or the bidder using the sniping company who have all your relivant details, password, user ID, so as far as the bidding process is concerened it’s as though it was you who were bidding.
Bruce[:)]