I keep on losing at at the last minute

quote:

but it did mot show up until my bid was posted at the last 8 seconds.

On ebay's bid history, click "Hide automatic bids". The winning proxy bid was placed earlier, but your snipe caused their bid to increase.

OK, I guess I'm clueless. I don't see where that person had bid before. How do I go about finding out who has placed automatic bids? How do I find out if I should place a bid to flush people out?

I don't see where i***e had placed an earlier bid.

Read up on Proxy Bids on eBay help - here's an example:

Item starts at 1.00
Fred bids 5.00 - item high bid stands at 1.00
You snipe at 3.01 with 8 seconds to go - eBay takes over and Fred's bid appears as 3.06 with the time placed still that of his original bid. You lose.

Flushing him out? Nuclear bid (say 1000 for a 5.00 item) but you risk meeting another nuclearite and spending too much money!

Instead, do your research and bid your max (plus a few cents/pence to help you win in a tie) and keep trying!

R2

Sorry - just noticed the item number at the top!

 Member Id: i***e( 20)     US $70.99 06-Jul-10 09:04:12 BST  
 Member Id: e***a( 84)     US $69.99 06-Jul-10 16:11:49 BST  
 Member Id: 1***5( 9 )     US $45.00 05-Jul-10 12:45:05 BST 

1***5 bid $45.00 and this was the price until i***e bid at least $70.99 (you'll never know exactly how much) taking it to 46.00 (or whatever the next increment is over 45.00
e***a came along and snipped 69.99
As i***e's existing bid was higher, ebay took over and the finishing price was 70.99

Top Tip: Shops put .99 on the end of a price to make an item look slightly cheaper than it is - eg. a 9.99 shirt looks a lot less than a 10.00 shirt even though there's only a cent/pence in it! This is a seller's trick. As a buyer where many other buyers just bid whole units you are more likely to lose (ie. 10.00 will beat 9.99) if you do this so add a few cents/pence to up your chances eg. 10.01 will beat 10.00 in a proxy bid situation.

R2

quote:

I don't see where i***e had placed an earlier bid.

i***e placed their proxy bid at “Jul-06-10 1:04:12 PDT” which is some 7 hours before your bid. You are looking at this link?

quote:

How do I go about finding out who has placed automatic bids?

They’ll be listed in the bid history and they’ll be the current high bidder. One usually can’t tell what the top bidder’s maximum (proxy) bid is until the top bidder’s bid has been outbid.

quote:

How do I find out if I should place a bid to flush people out?

One need not “flush people out”, as the people, or better person is already listed (aka flushed) in the bid history. NOW, to “flush a maximum bid out” requires that you bid more than the pre-flushed person. If you really have the urge to flush, then you’ll probably have to do this in advance of the auction closing, and to avoid bidding too much, you’ll need to bid small increases, until you have exposed the maximum bid. This is referred to as nibbling, which can be very entertaining, if you’re into that. Typically snipers aren’t all that big on nibbling, but don’t knock it till you’ve nibbled it.

quote:

Originally posted by region2:
Sorry - just noticed the item number at the top!

 Member Id: i***e( 20)     US $70.99 06-Jul-10 09:04:12 BST  
 Member Id: e***a( 84)     US $69.99 06-Jul-10 16:11:49 BST  
 Member Id: 1***5( 9 )     US $45.00 05-Jul-10 12:45:05 BST 

1***5 bid $45.00 and this was the price until i***e bid at least $70.99 (you'll never know exactly how much) taking it to 46.00 (or whatever the next increment is over 45.00
e***a came along and snipped 69.99
As i***e's existing bid was higher, ebay took over and the finishing price was 70.99

Top Tip: Shops put .99 on the end of a price to make an item look slightly cheaper than it is - eg. a 9.99 shirt looks a lot less than a 10.00 shirt even though there's only a cent/pence in it! This is a seller's trick. As a buyer where many other buyers just bid whole units you are more likely to lose (ie. 10.00 will beat 9.99) if you do this so add a few cents/pence to up your chances eg. 10.01 will beat 10.00 in a proxy bid situation.

R2

But I never saw i***e make the price go up to $46. Shouldn't that bid show up?

Have you read up on Proxy bids yet?

Click on 'show automatic bids' and you get this:

Bidder Bid Amount Bid Time  
 Member Id: i***e( 20)     US $70.99 06-Jul-10 09:04:12 BST  
 Member Id: e***a( 84)     US $69.99 06-Jul-10 16:11:49 BST  
 i***e( 20 )     US $46.00 06-Jul-10 09:04:12 BST  
 Member Id: 1***5( 9 )     US $45.00 05-Jul-10 12:45:05 BST  
 1***5( 9 )     US $43.00 05-Jul-10 12:45:05 BST  
 Member Id: l***l( 4 )     US $42.00 05-Jul-10 17:26:52 BST  
 1***5( 9 )     US $41.00 05-Jul-10 12:45:05 BST  
 Member Id: l***l( 4 )     US $40.00 05-Jul-10 15:51:29 BST  
 1***5( 9 )     US $38.00 05-Jul-10 12:45:05 BST  
 Member Id: l***l( 4 )     US $37.00 05-Jul-10 15:51:05 BST  
 1***5( 9 )     US $35.00 05-Jul-10 12:45:05 BST  
 Member Id: l***l( 4 )     US $34.00 05-Jul-10 15:50:35 BST  
 1***5( 9 )     US $31.25 05-Jul-10 12:45:05 BST  
 Member Id: m***3( 13)     US $30.25 03-Jul-10 02:39:21 BST 

R2

Thank you so much. No, I did not see that automatic bid. Now I get it.