Playing chicken with bidding on ebay.

[larryh]

Recently its become clear that in certain categories of records one person (whom may well be a member here), has ruled the roost by paying anything to deter the competing bids. While of course that is fair and its an auction, it has the effect which I think is intended to keep others from not bothering to put in a bid, having no chance to win. So after some time and aggravation, I decided to let the buyer pay for his selections and not keep the price down though advance bidding. On one recently ended set I am sure I was able to get the seller at least double his money, any extra hundred or so on some records. While it may seem a bit petty, I was pretty happy when I was selling some things to have a couple die hard bidders that would at least attempt to get the items I was selling, only to be constantly trumped. To me the prices were too high, but when your getting the money fine. I wonder how the bidder feels when he no longer is able to get it all without intimidation from others? Now I may get stuck with a few expensive records I really don't want, but knowing that someone like this is at least not getting them for opening prices has a bit of a revenge too it. Ever been in this boat..

[brianu]

Recently its become clear that in certain categories of records one person (whom may well be a member here), has ruled the roost by paying anything to deter the competing bids. While of course that is fair and its an auction, it has the effect which I think is intended to keep others from not bothering to put in a bid, having no chance to win. So after some time and aggravation, I decided to let the buyer pay for his selections and not keep the price down though advance bidding. On one recently ended set I am sure I was able to get the seller at least double his money, any extra hundred or so on some records. While it may seem a bit petty, I was pretty happy when I was selling some things to have a couple die hard bidders that would at least attempt to get the items I was selling, only to be constantly trumped. To me the prices were too high, but when your getting the money fine. I wonder how the bidder feels when he no longer is able to get it all without intimidation from others? Now I may get stuck with a few expensive records I really don't want, but knowing that someone like this is at least not getting them for opening prices has a bit of a revenge too it. Ever been in this boat..

unfortunately there won't always be times when a person is the only one at the auction house who knows what the thing is, or the only person who may happen to notice a 3-day ebay auction listed on a Tuesday at midnight... or, for example, a poorly listed gold-plated brass victor orthophonic reproducer, which ended on ebay last night.

sometimes you've just got to pay "full value" for something (full value, being what the market, or the other bidders, are willing to pay). you shouldn't let it bother you, the fact that something can't always be had on the cheap. I've started embracing the approach recommended by others here, just bid your highest and let it go... if you get it, you get it, if not, then oh well, your highest wasn't high enough... and I don't care what anyone says, in 99.9 percent of the cases, there will be another opportunity should you miss the immediate one...

and so far as playing chicken... you mean bumping up the price to spite another bidder who's bidding astronomical sums?... there, I'd say, you just run the risk - as you acknowledged - of ending up with something that cost you far more than you would have ever otherwise paid... I'd be careful with that one, especially if you're not sure who you're bidding against.

[larryh]

Your probably right that I will get stuck with some, but so far this bidder has never let me outbid him on anything and were talking months of buying here. But I may get my day.

Your right about the price being way too high. Thats really what ticks me off, paying a price no matter what the real value just is very irritating and drives the price in a way which it wouldn't normally do. Of course last few years when Edisons were hot so to speak, many records brought 30 or 40 dollars that now I see go for a dollar to ten, way under the paid price of the past. So I have a feeling this person is going to own a lot of very overpriced records. What bothered me is that by the tactic of overbidding he is keeping the records from selling to anyone but him due to being intimidated by the price willing to pay. Yes its an auction, and yes I think he is over paying, so I think the game will continue. At least till they get bored with it.

[brianu]

Your probably right that I will get stuck with some, but so far this bidder has never let me outbid him on anything and were talking months of buying here. But I may get my day.

Your right about the price being way too high. Thats really what ticks me off, paying a price no matter what the real value just is very irritating and drives the price in a way which it wouldn't normally do. Of course last few years when Edisons were hot so to speak, many records brought 30 or 40 dollars that now I see go for a dollar to ten, way under the paid price of the past. So I have a feeling this person is going to own a lot of very overpriced records. What bothered me is that by the tactic of overbidding he is keeping the records from selling to anyone but him due to being intimidated by the price willing to pay. Yes its an auction, and yes I think he is over paying, so I think the game will continue. At least till they get bored with it.

but if people stop bidding against him because they're intimidated, then won't he end up getting a lot more for a lot less because he's driven away any possible competitive bidding?

how can you identify him as well? doesn't your ebay (like the US ebay) anonymize (is that a word?) the bidders' names for "buyers' security"?

be that as it may, if you know you'll definitely be outbid, then I'd keep bidding the guy up... if for no other reason that to just spite his gluttonous ways. have you ruled out, though, whether it's a shill and the seller is just placing high bids to guarantee high prices (even if in the end, the stuff isn't selling at all and the seller ends up keeping it)? I've seen sellers playing more ridiculous games than that, so could it be a possibility?

[bbphonoguy]

I used to bid just what I was willing to pay for an item, but then I'd get outbid by anwhere from one penny to a couple of dollars. Usually the winning bid was one I would have been willing to pay and so the bad feeling of losing an auction would ensue. Now I'll bid anywhere from twenty to fifty dollars more than I want to pay. If and when I get outbid at least it's at a price that I really didn't want to pay, and I feel relieved when I lose an auction. I know it sounds screwy, but it works for me, and I really rarely wind up paying more for an item than I want.

[phonophan79]

Now I'll bid anywhere from twenty to fifty dollars more than I want to pay. If and when I get outbid at least it's at a price that I really didn't want to pay, and I feel relieved when I lose an auction. I know it sounds screwy, but it works for me, and I really rarely wind up paying more for an item than I want.

I've done the same... i've only had "buyers regret" on 1 or 2 items.

[larryh]

I think we all do that to a degree, and I guess I am just irritated that in a limited set of recordings one person is consistently getting 99% of the records. Yes I can relate also to loosing over a matter of a 50 cent bid which I have done many times. Here too on occasion if I really want something now and then I put in a bid a bit higher than I would like for that very reason.
Of course that isn't exactly the subject here, its more the game as mentioned by several of us of letting the person go ahead and pay for the records which he is tying up due to his bidding strategy. It has certainly caused me to stop normally trying to buy any thing because its always trumped. So I just figured he could pay those prices he is willing to run them up too on a lot more things, which surly will not come as a pleasant surprise when your suddenly spending three times as much for a lot of titles. It most likely doesn't really matter since obviously he has the bucks, where as I don't.. I would just like to have had chance at a few I guess.

[brianu]

Now I'll bid anywhere from twenty to fifty dollars more than I want to pay. If and when I get outbid at least it's at a price that I really didn't want to pay, and I feel relieved when I lose an auction. I know it sounds screwy, but it works for me, and I really rarely wind up paying more for an item than I want.

I've done the same... i've only had "buyers regret" on 1 or 2 items.

that's what I'm saying... if you're inclined to get frustrated by bidding incrementally and being outbid, then just place your highest bid from the start... as in your highest (if you still get outbid by pennies or a few dollars, then you were just outbid, someone was willing to pay more... and if your reaction is that you would have paid a few more pennies or dollars at that point, then what you bid at the start wasn't the highest you would have bid)... that's actually just how the auction fever works, and how effective auctions are able to achieve ultra high prices relative to others... by effectively urging bidders on, ie., "I know that was the highest bid you had in mind, but look, just a few more pennies, a few more dollars"... and then again, and then all those few more pennies and dollars add up in the end, more often than not to that buyer's remorse dean mentioned.

so far as what we bid, what we're wiling to pay, and what we end up paying, I don't think anyone here ever really ends up paying what they really want to pay, which would be nothing... finding the machine or record on the curb so to speak. but, eh...

[coyote]

Such is the nature of auctions. I know that I've overpaid a LOT recently for DDs that I'm interested in, but since I only have a list of about 50 titles that I REALLY want, or want better copies of, it's better to overpay and get specific titles if I can when they come up. If I'll be home when the bidding ends, and it's not already beyond what I'm willing to pay, I'll "snipe," as that's about the only way to both ensure you'll get a lower price and not pay more in the heat of bidding (i.e., if you're bidding in the last few seconds and someone has entered a higher price, you have no time to bid again beyond what you initially set as your maximum). If I'll be at work or otherwise have plans for the auction end time, I'll just enter my maximum before leaving home, and that's that. I have a hard enough time keeping track of sellers that I like/offer decent discs rather than figuring out who outbid me. If you really want to know who a winning bidder is on an item, usually the feedback for it will spell it out. So much for bidder anonymity, unless you never leave feedback. I always do, as I sure dislike the sellers who don't!

[larryh]

Speaking of low bidding. I used to note with some amusement one fellow that consistently bid the opening bid on edisons. For ages he got only a very few undesirable titles. But lately with the price as they are, I notice that often he is now the winner of many of the Edisons that come up, some not too bad, but due to the lousy climate, no one is bidding as in the past. So a low bid on everything can eventually lead to a few jewels at that!