I see this frequently. An ebay train item goes on sale for auction with an added buy it now button. Usually the buy it now is roughly double the starting bid. Many times the buy it now is pretty reasonable and a good grab. But within a day somebody puts in a first bid, cancelling the buy it now. Sure enough, by auction’s end the bidding has exceeded the original BIN, sometimes by a substantial amount. Why are bidders so foolish? Do they think bidding will stick close to the starting bid and get a bargain? It never happens. Anyway have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
I think it’s like gambling, the bidder bets on getting it lower than BIN. Some of it also is the item that is for sale. I once bid on a retired Athearn item, next day BIN was gone, so I bid about the former BIN price plus 10% because I wanted it and got out bidded and I gave up. Should have done BIN, live and learn.
Have you ever been to a real, live, old fashioned auction? The kind headed by a fast talking guy in a western hat? Many times a form of insanity seems to take over and things sell for more than you could buy them for at a store. That is the magic of auctions.
Dave Nelson
I sometimes over bid on eBay. When an item I want has both bid and buy it now. I look at the buy it now price and it’s usually $10-30 dollars more by the MSRP price tag. I real think hard if I really want to get it or just skip it like I usually do.
I bid on something around $30 dollars and I got it around 40. Making myself excited and setup by the amount.
When it comes to eBay I generally skip over any bid/Buy it now auctions if the By it now price is above MSRP. Most of the time that works for me, as I can generally find the item from someone else or somewhere else cheaper. I think I average 20-30% below MSRP and have only purchased a few hard-to-find items at or slightly above MSRP.
Tom
I think that is a wise rule.
As a general observation, ebay BIN prices are about equal to, if not more than, MBKlein, TrainWorld, and other online stores.
Anything that I bid on that also had a BIN price I’m well aware of not bidding more than what was the BIN price. Another one will likely come along soon enough.
I frequently bid under the Buy It Now.
On the other hand I seem to be an anomaly. I decide how much I am willing to pay for something, bid that amount, and don’t bid again. If I get it I get it; if I don’t, I don’t.
I buy things that are hard to find elsewhere. I try to stay away from bidding wars, as I have a price I am willing to pay and thats about it.
I only use Buy It Now because I hate when someone waits until the last second to bid and steals the item from me.
To say that the Buy It Now price is higher than retail is not always true, besides many times the items are not available anywhere else because they are vintage or discontinued. Also websites usually charge more for shipping and have slower delivery.
CV Truss bridges: MSRP $43.95,
Online Internet store: $32.99 + shipping.
Ebay buy it now, nearly all are a fixed price sale, with shipping 34.75 - 59.30 or if you buy it from the UK $206 !!!
You’re not an anomaly, Michael. I do the same thing. I generally use eSnipe and decide on my maximum price ahead of time and leave it until the auction is over. Sometimes I get the item; sometime I don’t. I can only think of one time when I changed the maximum bid before the end of the auction because I really wanted the item.
Probably one of the most overused and abused terms used on eBay. I’ve seen it applied to an item or items with the seeminly sole purpose of charging 3x MSRP, when the same item is “trending” for less than MSRP.
Bottom line: You gotta know your prices and stick to a plan.
Tom
Normal auction mentality, be it ebay or an auction house. Someone goes low and hopes to get it for such(the gamble), but then a bidding war breaks out between 2 or more bidders that have to have the item at any cost(even more than retail) and only once they hit thier absolute limit or lack of anymore in thier wallet do they relent to the other bidder. Or in the case of ebay, run out of time. Seen this time and time again both on ebay and at farm auctions where you could go find the same tractor/implement or whatever for much less than when “sold” is called by the auctioneer. Mike the Aspie
I never bid on items because like the OP said the item usually gets bid up through the roof…
If I see something I want and have the extra money to blow on it I do so even if it seems a little high. Usually high items are either name brand or rare.
Oh heavens! Why am I getting into another eBay discussion?
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I will do exactly what the OP said, if the item is something I just “kind of” want.
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Say, an old Athearn Blue Box undecorated PA-1 comes up for auction. Probably the prices looklike this:
Reasonable Price: $40.00
Buy It Now Price: $30.00
Opening Bid: $15.00
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I don’t really need another PA-1, but if I can get it for $15.00, well OK. Maybe I will get lucky. So I bid $15.00, and the Buy It Now goes away.
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Well… in the next seven days the bidding goes to $38.00 for a final bid. My $15.00 bid was outbid a long time ago. I did not get lucky. I rarely do when I trawl for bargains, but it does happen from time to time.
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If the winning bidder wanted it for $30.00, he needed to find it before I did. Too bad for him, but better for the seller.
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That is how it happens.
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Sorry for ruffling any feathers.
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-Kevin
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Yea, well, I do the same as what the OP’s post is about. If it’s something I’m interested in, I put it in my “watch” list, and see the “watchers” list grow, until someone bids, than I watch the bids, while researching what the same thing went for new, it’s current price, and what I can buy it for, and who has it in stock.
While reaserching that information, and the BIN price is lower than the MRSP, and what it’s currently selling at, and I can justify the shipping, and I REALLY want this, I go for BIN, if not, I bid what I think I want to spend, and watch the bidding process unfold.
And, I do the “last few seconds” thing too, and see nothing wrong with it. Sometimes, when I log into Ebay, if it’s something I’m looking for, or something at a ridiculous price I know is worth way more, I’m there, doing the “last second” bidding.
Mike.
I use BIN 90% of the time if the item is in my price range and I’ve got some great deals in the past including some badly needed detail parts from the same seller with free shipping.
When I bid I set my highest bid and see how it goes some times I win other times I loose.Doesn’t matter because another will show up.
Perhaps everyone should stop bidding at, what, fifteen minutes before the auction’s end? Ten minutes— or five?
You can blame me for last-second bidding, too. I often see “nibblers” placing bids days before the end of an auction. I don’t see much point in that. It is the last and the next-to-last bid that count.
If you already have your maximum bid in, how can anyone steal anything from you? Outbid maybe, but steal?
I have seen reasonable buy-it-now items come up and someone makes a single bid which sometimes results in a final price way over the original BIN.
I once found a seller with dozens of ready to run Proto 2000 HO cars. All listed buy it now at $12 or opening bid at $7.
I had already bought several and had a question about two others. By the time the seller answered my question somebody placed a bid which cut out the buy-it-now option.
Well, now I have to wait seven days, asking the seller to hold the already purchased cars, for the end of the auction so they can all be paid for and shipped together.
Most of the auctioned cars ended at around $25.
This is the stuff that makes auctions so much fun (and generates so much discussion).
Still, after so many years and thousands of transactions, I’m very pleased with the items I have bought and sold on Ebay.
Thank You, Ed
With e-bay you never know where an item will end up. I always try to get a bargain, a real bargain. I ussually buy at 70% off or less but on very few items I pay at least retail because I want that item or the $ amount is so low it realy dosn’t mater. Been tricked once or twice but the money I saved on one item would cover that and then some. Many times on one of those buy it now I am not willing to pay that price so I bid a small amount and reconsider the purchace along the way, bidding up when it seems right and yes I have bid up something much higher as a common item becomes rare but that is a really rare occurance.
It does happen. I have won auctions for the minimum bid when no one else bid on the item.
I stand corrected, Robert. I’ve seen those a few times, but rarely.