WINNING AUCTIONS

So the winner of the Indy 500 is a wiener because of deep pockets. . . so why participate at any level?

What if you are the high bidder and you know that the item is undervalued by the current crowd? Win/loose?

One can also win by 'Buying Now'as opposed to letting the crowd start at 10 cents and running it PAST 'buy now'.

By checking bid histories a smart bidder can 'win' with a snipe that will put the incremental bidders in a lurch.

Sure glad you got this troubling issue off your chest, maybe you can spend some time on studying bid strategy.

Life is mostly froth and bubble,
Two things stand like stone,
Kindness in another's trouble,
Courage in your own.

One reason that people like to sell via an auction is that it gets the highest $ amount. One reason is the whole bidding frenzy that people get into - it's not as bad on-line as in real life, but people think it's only an extra dollar - so why not. That goes on and on until the price is higher than a reasonable person would have paid if it was just for sale at that amount.

That's one reason I like sniping, you decide how much you're willing to pay, and then leave it at that. If your snipe was what you thought it was worth, set it and forget it.

If it goes higher than that, what do you care - someone paid more than you think it's worth - so be it.

BUT - if your snipe goes through at less than your maximum - yipee - you got it for less than you thought it was worth!

“So the winner of the Indy 500 …” – The team that comes in first place SHOULD be called a “winner”. Deep pockets alone will not guarantee success. Skill is very important in that kind of “competition” or “contest”. In the 500, the driver and pit crew with the best skill has an advantage over other teams with comparable equipment. But in an auction, if I bid more than anyone else, I will “buy” the item (no luck; no skill); I won’t “win” it. My original premise was that “winning” denotes luck or skill. With enough money, I need neither luck nor skill; therefore I’m not “winning” something. I’m just paying too much for it. Deep pockets rule!

“What if you are the high bidder …’ - I would agree, given an auction attended by a very small number of bidders that are uninformed, you could indeed “win” an undervalued item (luck AND skill). But with something like 50 million people on ebay, that is rarely (not never) going to happen. Due to the number of “buyers” (ebay’s classification on feedback), the high bidder is willing to spend more money than anyone else. That means, he most likely (not always) couldn’t turn around the next day and sell it for more money. In fact, he would probably have to sell it at a lost. He paid more than the market value for the item. That’s not “winning”; that’s “losing”. I’m not talking in absolutes. Some buyers resell at a profit, but the closing price for most auctions on ebay, or any large auction, is probably above the market value.

“One can also win …” – I’ll concede that there are some good values in BIN’s, but that isn’t an auction. No one bid against you. You didn’t “win” the item. You “purchased” the item. You might say there’s luck in being the first one to spot the BIN and skill in knowing its market value. True. I might say you’re spending a lot of unprofitable time searching ebay.

“By checking bid histories …” – Again, I will agree with you to some extent. But, if I’m willing to spend more money than anyone else, whether you know my bid history or not, I will be top bidder. No luck; no skill. As an obvious side note: you can’t check bid histories on snipers.

“Sure glad you …” – And I thank YOU for taking time away from “studying bid strategy” to get this troubling response off your chest.

In summary: The high bidder in a well attended auction is rarely a “winner” because he paid more than the market value, and an auction usually requires no skill or luck, only deep pockets (luck only if deep-pockets dies before he “purchases” the item).

p.s. - Like the poem.


T o S – I’ll take all the help I can get on this line of thinking.

Bid Strategy?

You put a snipe in for the maximum amount your willing to pay, if you get it great, if not who cares?

Am I missing something?

"Bid strategy" gives proxy bidders something to do. Like an individual voting in a national election, "bid strategy" has very little influence on the final outcome.

As a sniper, my "bid strategy" is to determine my maximum bid and minimum lead time, and when to add the snipe to AS.

Grasshopper

OK - so I wasn't missing anything

I think the use of the term "win" is to make the buyer feel good about his or her purchase.

You certainly are right that emotions often cause people to pay more for an item but to say that it is more than its "worth" is a subjective term.

The "worth" or value of anything at any time is what a willing buyer is willing to pay a willing seller in an arm's length transaction.

Values fluctuate (look at the stock market). When you buy an item you may be able to re-sell it for more or less.

So to draw the conclusion that one always overpays at an auction is erroneous. The value of the item is still ultimately determined by who is present and how badly they want it - and they then set the market price at that moment in time.

Thanks to AS I have bought many brand new items for less than I could elsewhere. From that however I don't draw the conclusion that everything at Best Buy is overpriced (although much of it is). If Best Buy is able to sell a product at the price they set, by definition that is the market value.