Ebay Online Auction Bidding Strategies
Posted: Thursday, October 20, 2005
by Jason James
One of the truly great things about Ebay auctions is that each and every one of them is different. You must be willing to adapt your bidding style to counter the strategies used by the other bidders in the auction. Plus, depending on how badly you want a particular item, you may have to use a strategy that you normally would avoid. Here are some of the more popular Ebay online auction bidding strategies to help you win more auctions.
Now this is a strategy that really gets under the skin of a lot of Ebay "newbies" who are new to the world of online auctions. In fact, they all have a name for people using this strategy to win auctions: snipers.
Snipers hold off until the last possible moment to place a bid so no one else can come in and make a higher bid and win the auction. By using this strategy you never have to worry about paying more than you wanted for an item. If the bid amount is too high for you at the end, then move on to the next item. But, if you play your cards right and the competition is snoozing, you can swoop in at the end and make off with a great deal!
Win At All Costs
Now there are definitely some radicals participating in Ebay auctions that will do whatever it takes to win an auction-including paying more than there competition. Now everybody who wins an Ebay online auction must outbid the competition but these "win at all cost" people will place a relatively high bid in the beginning of an auction to scare off vultures trying to find the super deals on Ebay. Then, they simply defend their bid by outbidding anyone that actually claims to want the item more than they do.
You see this a lot in collectibles or other keepsakes that may have sentimental value. Maybe it is a toy from their childhood or something that reminds them of a loved one who died a long time ago. If you get this feeling when you see an item while browsing through an Ebay online auction, just be careful and try to set a reasonable but steep maximum dollar amount that you are willing to pay for the item.
Stickler
A stickler is someone that sees an item while looking through the online auctions and decides to place bid-only they always have a preset limit to what they will spend. If the bid exceeds that number by even a dollar, a stickler will walk away and take their business elsewhere.
Frankly, this is a great strategy to use-especially in the beginning. By doing your homework and knowing what a good price is for an item, you can set a predetermined limit that is reasonable enough to possibly win the bid while still being a bargain in the process. Plus, the stickler strategy keeps you out of trouble during Ebay auctions.
Schilling is an underhanded technique used by a very small number of sellers to artificially raise the bid amount. This is done by having a partner with their own Ebay account come into the auction and place bids that continually raise the selling price. If you do not have a predetermined limit, then you may get stuck with something at a price that far exceeded what you originally intended to pay.
You never want to become involved in an Ebay online auction without some sort of strategy in mind. In the end, however, most pros of online auctions opt for the low balling route and become a sniper. But if you are just starting out in the world of Ebay auctions, stay with the stickler approach until you either come across one of those "must have" items or become a seasoned pro-sniping the "newbies" with the best of them!
Resources Box:
Jason James is a 10 year Internet marketing veteran and an eBay Power Seller of 4 years. His website "The Auction Resource Network" reveals his inside secrets, tips, and sources that help him pocket over $10,000 per month on eBay. His proven step-by-step system shows even users with little or no business experience how they too can make huge profits selling products at online auctions.
This Article has been viewed 3,318 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.