HP Forum Archive 12

[ Return to Index | Top of Index ]

humorous bid pattern Message #1 Posted by db(martinez,california) on 23 Apr 2003, 12:11 p.m. re: http://cgi6.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=3019223110 tell me; is "creator" clear on the concept of "bid what you think it is worth"? if anyone has a comment on this and you just email it to me, i can then erase this. it is barely on the hp forum track.

Re: humorous bid pattern Message #2 Posted by Tony David Potter on 23 Apr 2003, 12:24 p.m., in response to message #1 by db(martinez,california) Seems as if he's familiar with the mantra "pay as little as you can", since he saw the opening bid of $1.00, then bid in an increasing amount until he reach the point where he didn't feel it was worth it. He understood your concept. He must have felt the book was not worth more than $7.50 I follow that mantra, too. If I see a low bid on something I want, I'll slowly up it as to pay as little as possible should I get outbid. YMMV. I'll delete if you delete. -Tony David Potter

Could you explain how this works? Message #3 Posted by Jim L on 23 Apr 2003, 3:31 p.m., in response to message #2 by Tony David Potter It doesn't seem like it would have any effect to me except for taking more of your time but I might be missing something.

Re: Could you explain how this works? Message #4 Posted by Tony David Potter on 23 Apr 2003, 10:48 p.m., in response to message #3 by Jim L Since the prior bidder's bid is hidden behind the Initial Bid, you have no idea just how high the orginal bidder bid. I've seen many auctions where the top bidder just put up a "token" bid trying to get an item on the cheap, and if it's something I kinda want, I'll put up a "token" bid just high enough to top it. Sometimes I'll be the new top bidder, and sometimes the first bidder really did bid higher. It's a crap shoot, and the only way to probe what the price is is by slowly elevating your bid. I do it, even if it is a newbie technique and I'll be derided out of the group, but on a $1.00 initial bid, there really is no way of telling whether the top bid just bid enough to hold a place or if they really bid what their "max bid" was. I'm sure that that's not the "approved" technique, where you do research on how your "opponent" bid on his prior auctions, and whether he's a claim jumper or in it for the long hall. Chide me if you must. --Tony David

Re: Could you explain how this works? Message #5 Posted by Jim L on 23 Apr 2003, 11:31 p.m., in response to message #4 by Tony David Potter "It's a crap shoot, and the only way to probe what the price is is by slowly elevating your bid." That's not true. You'll know the other bidder's bid whether you bid in small amounts or bid your maximum up front. Either way, once you exceed his bid, the current bid will be his maximum bid plus the minimum bid increment. Your bid is a proxy bid just like his was. Anyway, once you've probed the guy then what do you do? If you exceed his bid at $10, how do you figure out if that was a token or his max and how does that help?

Re: humorous bid pattern Message #6 Posted by Paul Brogger on 23 Apr 2003, 4:04 p.m., in response to message #1 by db(martinez,california) I found myself in an interesting related situation, with the outcome potentially not very humorous. I was top bidder on a "broken" Pioneer style calculator. My maximum bid was WELL above what the proxy system had arrived at, and I felt I was in the driver's seat. Then, I get an email via eBay from someone asking, "Is it possible to fix these calculators?" I explained that yes it was, and that the MoHPC had all the information he would need. I also added that I was currently the high bidder, and that if he chose to bid, by all means jump in with both feet. I didn't want to be in the position of having enabled a competitor to justify a bid on the item, and then having that competitor bid it up to within a dollar or two of my maximum before backing out. Well, he must have thought it over, but two days later, this guy is suddenly the top bidder. A review of the bid history showed he'd issued something like ten bids to get there. (After the auction closed, I could see that he had bid in $5.00 increments until he came out on top.) As it turned out, a third party sniped the article from both of us, but I wondered: if my maximum been $20.00 higher, might this second bidder have backed out and cost me $50.00 for having given him some information? That would NOT have been humorous!

Re: humorous bid pattern Message #7 Posted by db(martinez,california) on 24 Apr 2003, 2:06 p.m., in response to message #6 by Paul Brogger i guess there was a little bit of interest in it and you guys have interesting points, so i won't delete my first post and leave all this headless. my first thought had been like what jim said; what a waste of time! that and; he looked like a kid that wants to stay up while mom puts him to bed. no. no. no. no. no........ as daddy turns the light out and they shut the door. the guy raised the bid, then his own bid by 50 cents eleven times. oops. actually he got so mad that he raised it 75 cents once. then he gave up. i usually just bid once and forget it. i don't win much though, so don't go using my syster either.

Re: humorous bid pattern Message #8 Posted by Spice_Man on 24 Apr 2003, 4:57 p.m., in response to message #1 by db(martinez,california) That bid pattern is exactly how some of the sniping programs work out there. Spicey

[ Return to Index | Top of Index ]

Go back to the main exhibit hall