Your Opinion: eBay Auction or Buy It Now?

[Sam I Am]

I have been a buyer/seller on Ebay since 2000, with over 1500 transactions and feedback of 100%. As a seller I can pretty much list an item anyway I want and people know they can count on me. The last few things I  have listed, I  went the BIN route. I researched sold items to get a fair price that I could live with, added in a shipping price that covered most of the US, and added free shipping to the auction.  What it did for me was eliminate all the questions from buyers, and sell the item quickly. Already had it boxed, just had to drop it off at the post office. The last items I listed were higher end stuff and while I made off really good, the buyers were very happy as well.

 

As a buyer, I like BIN for most things. Look for a fair price that includes shipping and it's in the mail to me the next day.  If it's something I really want, and it is rare, I am more than happy to try and snipe it at the last second.

Edited April 1, 2020 by Sam I Am

[Bainford]

BIN, as a buyer. No time for auctions. If I want it, I buy it. If it’s an auction, I pass. 

[peteski]

On 4/1/2020 at 12:27 AM, Bobdude said:

I would much rather buy it now rather than the auction.You can get sniped in the last two seconds of the auction.

Sniper only wins the item if they were willing to spend more money on it than you were.  It is *THAT* simple.  Remember, eBay does proxy biding for you. A lot of people don't seem to understand it.

 

For example, some auction for a rare item starts at $1 on April 1. It ends on April 7.

On April 1 you are the first bidder, and you really want it, so you bid $200.  Since eBay does proxy bidding, it only bids the minimum bid amount. It shows you as a high bidder and high bid is now $1.

On April 3, someone else bids $3.  Their bid shows up in the bid list as $3, but eBay instantly proxy bids from your $200. So he is instantly outbid by eBay for you, and now the high bid is again yours, but at $3.50.

The same person sees what happened and bids again, this time they jump to $22.  Again, their $22 bid shows up in bid list, but eBay outbids them for you and makes you a high bidder at $22.50.  That guy gives up.

On April 5, someone else comes in and just out of the blue bids $40.  Their $40 bid shows up in the bid list, and again eBay outbids them for you and now you are still high bidder at $40.50 (or whatever the next minimum bid increment is).  They give up.

Now the sniping part.  Your $200 maximum bid is still hidden.  The high bid is yours at $40.50.  The sniper comes in and he is willing to snipe this auction with a $145 bid.  He snipes using that amount within seconds of the auction ending, but since you placed your $200 bid earlier, eBay "outsnipes" them for you with a proxy bid of $150 (I think the minimum bit increment at that level is $5).  So you haven't lifted a finger since your initial bit on April 1, and eBay outsnipped the sniper for you, and you still get a bargain, since you were willing to pay up to $200 for it. You won the item for $150

But if the sniper was willing to go as high as $300 when sniping, they would have won the auction for $205 - simply because they were willing to spend more money on that item than you were.

So, you aren't losing to snipers - they just have deeper pocket than you.  If you are willing to go high enough, you can win the item  even just placing that single high bid at the beginning of the auction. EBay will do the bidding for you to get that item for the lowest amount possible.

 

Edited April 2, 2020 by peteski

[STYRENE-SURFER]

Good explanation Peter. Now I understand how I lost out on some deals.

should have done the research on my end but too lazy. Now I just do "Buy It Now".

Edited April 1, 2020 by STYRENE-SURFER

[ranma]

I like the B.I.N. as sometimes you can get a good deal!  Mpc '68 Impala parts can be pricey, so when I seen this  '68 "parts lot" I bought it! I plan on rescuing the convertible and restore the poor thing back to the way it was before it got carved up!