When I'm shopping online you see auctions that don't end until days later yet people are madly bidding on the item very early. Do people do this to scare away other people, or do that not know what they are doing? Whenever I am going to make a bid I always wait until the last few minutes before putting in my bids. It just seems like it would be better for everybody to wait until the auction is soon to end. However there are people that are having bidding wars days before it is due to finish. What is going on there? Do you bid early, and if so why? Can somebody please explain this mystery for me.
Just like me, i bid early thinking I'm thenonly interested to the product. ebay for instance, i have to bid just so i'd get notified once bidding is almost over so can bid later if i find the product really useful
They probably want the respective item really bad and they want to be the sole and last person to bid for it at any price, they will try to outbid you even if you come in later because its all about motivation. Sure you may come bid with a sum that surpasses the respective individual's sum that he can no longer outbid and that will really anger/depress them but again its all about motivation, wanting to be the one who bids on it whatever the cost, thinking only he/she is interested in the respective item and so on.
I bid so that it will appear on top of my summary page. Usually if it has zero bids, then I usually bid on the item first. But I tend to also test how much the other bidders allotted for their maximum bid, so I sometimes outbid them too, especially if the item is expensive even if the auction has a few more hours before it ends.
I never enter a bid for an item until the very last minute. If there are two people who desperately want that item, they will probably place a few bids against each other, which will obviously then drive the price up. If you bid early in the auction then there is time for the price to be driven up highly, whereas if you wait until there are say ten minutes left there would only be chance for a couple of bids to increase the price, so you would have a much better chance of being the winning bidder at a lower price - particularly if the person you were up against didn't know that you were interested in it at the time. They might not even be online if they thought that there was nobody bidding against them, and by the time they got the email to say you'd bid, it would be too late. So yes, you're right, you should certainly never bid earlier than right at the end of the auction time.
It's psychological, if someone has already spotted the item, then they know they have a competitor, so they make a bid and hope that person will look for something else. If I see something with a bid on it, then I will think twice about taking the time to monitor it or have interest in it knowing there is competition. That way it can stop the last minute bidders, who think that no one else is watching an item.
I never quite understood that either. I guess people do it for the fun of it because there isn't any real value in it. You are only driving up the price on something I'm sure your hoping to get for a good deal. I wait until the last few minutes to bid, that's when it's most important. Plus I think that's when the people who are genuinely interested in the product bid as well. That technique has worked great for us over the years and we do a lot of auctions on Ebay. Danyel
I bid early for this reason: People want bargains. Which item are you more likely to pay attention to? A) This widget usually sells for around $100. It currently is sitting at $80. B) This identical widget currently has no bids. Pretty simple, huh? You have added Item B to your watch list and are hoping not many people have noticed it. You are salivating at the thought of picking it up for less than half the price it typically sells for! While you (and 73 other people) have added Item B to your Watch List, I have just won item A for $80. Everybody has passed it by as their greed gets the best of them and they are only interested in item B. Now I am going to sit back and watch item B close. First bid comes in with 5 minutes to go. "Newbie", you proclaim. "Way too early. I can snipe that one no problem." Then another bid comes in... and another and another. With a minute to go, the bidding is at $60. "Oh well" you think, "It is still a great bargain". You search for more widgets on ebay and find this is the only one listed now so you think you had better go a little higher than you first hoped for. The seconds are ticking down and your bid is getting rejected. $70, $80, $90. In a hurry you proclaim that you won't go higher than the $100 it usually sells for and enter $100.01 smug in your knowledge this will soon be your at an "okay" price. When the dust settles, you see somebody won it for $102.57. Thank you for reading to the end, but this example really does exemplify the rationale behind early bidding and shows the psychology involved. Early bidding DECREASES your competition in the final minutes and gives you the most bargains.
Well, I think a big reason is people get a notification on the item, and can track the bidding throughout the time alloted. And who knows, with putting an early bid in, you might be able to take it for a steal. But if not, you can also keep tabs on it and decide if the bidding is something in your price range or not. I'd say there are some psychological things going on as well to limit the amount of bids, if it's a high initial bid on the item
I wonder whether those bidders are actually real bidders, or just a team employed by the seller to bid artificially to pump up the price. I hardly ever buy anything at these auctions, as I don't trust in them. I prefer set prices. I entered an auction once or twice, but I just don't have the time or nerve to see something that I really want, snapped up in front of my nose in the very last moment.
I think some people bid just for entertainment. They know they won't win but want to put a bid in for fun. Others I think are just impatient and want to get in on the action. Maybe some times people bid to 'bookmark' the auction? Not sure. I am the same as you: I never bid unless it's the final couple of seconds. I don't want to drive up the price...although there have been some instances where I get click happy in the last couple of minutes and bid several times
Sometimes, I'll bid early, if the starting bid is really low. It adds to my watch list, and sometimes I'll win really cool stuff for $.99. I don't do too many bidding wars in general, so that early low bid will probably be the most I'll pay. It works for items that the market is saturated with- like baby clothes. And, it means a really low investment on time.
