i am happy u said this i was snip out on ebay so i now know how to do it thanks to u

If you are going to do this, place a bid first. During the last hour only, you can go on 'One Click Bid'. This gives you a second by second update and lets you place bids with one click of the mouse. Regular bidding does not give you a second to second update and the biddi takes two moves. Sniping only works well when you are on 'one Click Bif'

Good luck, Nick.

All very logical. Thanks for the idea.

This is also how I bid. I didn't know there was a name for it!

I can't remember what the item was, but I once went head-to-head with someone in the last ten seconds of the auction, and was shocked that I managed to win. The bid history revealed something like 6 bids in the last 10 seconds. It was quite a rush! (For an item that probably cost less than $20, I might add.)

I don't do auctions. I do the buy it now deals. I don't have the patience for that nonsense.

Auctions very often make a better deal that the buy-it-nows - precisely because people like Tommy value urgency, so THANK YOU. :-)

Exactly, bidding usually gives you a better deal. My favorite time on eBay is Sunday morning. I have developed a routine I have been following for some time now.

I get up, scratch what needs scratching, have a cup of coffee while I read the Sunday Times and then go on eBay. I enter 'orchid species'. Usually between 1,200 and 1,400 items come up. I rapidly glaVnce over the first 500 or so and add to my watch list interesting items. Since most of it gets passed over fairly quickly, this takes me less than 1/2 an hour.

Then I spend much more time researching the items on my watch list. Jay Phsl's site, google etc. much more gets eliminated until I'm left with just a few. Some Sunday's none, other times a handful. I then see if Andy has the items, if he does I prefer to buy from him. Now I sleep on everything and if Monday morning they still look like I have to have them I'll put in a low bid. When the item ends, I enter my snipe or have 'Goofbid' do it for me

After a couple of years of this, I have seen some of the most Bizzare species crop up. Since there are 52 weeks in the year, the effects cumulative. I have some bery unusual items in my collection

I try very hard not to get caught up in the hype. If the item cannot be had at a very favorable price, I let it go. There are many Starfish in the sea and next Sunday will serve up a new smorgasbord of exiting plants.

Nick

What I do is put in the maximum amount that I am willing to pay for an item, orchid or otherwise, and let eBay automatically do the bidding for me up to that amount if it goes that high. Their computer is faster than mine when it comes to entering bids. They'll send an e-mail if I win.

the problem with your way of bidding is that there are people that will make multiple bids in $1 or $10 (depends on the value of the item) increments until they out bid your max amount. If your bid is not there, they will stop their bidding when they have the high bid, and when you snipe at the last seconds, you don't give them a chance to out bid you.

Nevermind, nothing to see here! ;)

I completely misunderstood the preceding post... I get what you're saying, but if your initial bid is very low, it's not really bumping up your price at all when they outbid you. Better to have a "placemarker" bid, so to speak.

This post was edited by Danielle317 on Sat, Apr 26, 14 at 15:04

ywong91301, you got it! The nickle dropped, the music is playing and the lights are on. The whole idea is to not give them a chance to outbid you. I'm not on eBay to make friends but to get plants at the lowest possible price.

Most of the people I know who buy on eBay do this so it's questionable if there is a real advantage. Anyone who does NOT do this probably is at a slight disadvantage.

I like it because I decide long before the bidding is finished the maximum amount I'm willing to pay. It thus prevents ME from getting carried away in the last second hoopla and bid more than I really should. So in a way, it protects me from myself as well as giving me a slight advantage over some one who does not engage in this practice.

Nick

I bid on 5 plants this afternoon, sniping on every one. Lost 2 by substantial amounts and won 2 with the initial bid. Sniping obviously made no difference with these 4 items. The 5th plant was interesting.

I opened bidding a few days ago with $16, it gradually went to $21, With 4 seconds to go a bid of $28 showed up and with 3 seconds to go I entered my bid for $29 and won the auction. Looking at the bid history it is apparent that 3 different individuals entered bids of 27, 28 and 29 all within the last 5 seconds

I won it because mine was the highest and there was no time left for any changes. Had I entered the $29 bid 1/2 hour before the end, I'm sure one of the other 2 would have outbid me. All 3 of us were sniping but the plant was only going to be won be a snipe, a regular bid probable would not have one it

Nick

Nick,

On those two that you won with your initial bids, did you snipe yourself with a higher bid at the last seconds even though your's were the only bids at the time?

I entered a larger snipe in case someone else also did that. It does not cost me as eBay only makes you pay the lowest bid you entered. I cannot cost myself by doing that, it's only a preemptive move. Similarly if the low bid is $10 but some one is going to enter a $15 bid at the last second as I enter a last second bid of $20, my cost will not be $20 but the lowest amount necessary to win. In this case either $15.50 or $16.

The vendors can see what's happening, one of them, a friend of mine, has told me about a customer who routinely enters $100 if he wants a plant. He is assured to win and yet will only have to pay the minimum to secure the item. Probably doesn't need to care about money.

Nick

Sniping is nothing new. It's been around for over a decade. I remember as a senior in high school being sniped on a few plants. It was frustrating as hell but it's all part of the process. I've done it a few times myself.

Agreed, it's been around for ever. I have always done it. Recently a friend of mine lost a plant he really wanted to the process. In talking to him about it, I realized he had no idea how it works. I posted in case there are people who are in a similar position to him and would benefit from understanding the mechanics of it.

Nick

Nick, I do this as well (manually, but Goofbid looks interesting), but there is one thing in you description I still do not understand.

> My favorite way to bid is to enter the lowest possible bid which gets me on board and makes it easier to follow the plant.

Why do you need to do this part? You can follow an auction (if that means entering it into your Watch List) even if you don't bid. What do you want to do that you can't do if you don't bid early?

By being on board I can follow it on 'My eBay', further more eBay sends me some notifications such as 'This item will end soon' and during the last hour it allows my to go to 'one click bidding' which you can't do if you are not a bidder. Only 'one click bidding' allows you to enter a bid with 2 or 3 seconds left. A regular bid takes 2 steps and, depending on your internet speed, takes longer.

I readily put stuff on my 'Watch List' but once I made up my mind that I want an item, I will place the lowest bid possible to get on board and then follow it on 'my eBay'. There is more than one way to skin a cat. It all works.

Nick

I also would rather follow it in my list of auctions I have bidded on, than in my list of auctions I'm watching.

There are other sites that can do sniping for you. I'm not sure of all the costs, but be sure to find one you like.

And as with many auctions, even a misspelling might let you get an item for a low price, so be sure to purposely misspell key words for items you want and see if anything pops up!

EBay is insane. Pleuro dilemma was listed and even though Ecuagenera lists it as available for $18, I entered a bid for $25 or so. The vendor selling it routinely brings stuff in from Ecuagenera and without even unwrapping it sells them on eBay. I don't mind paying a little extra as it avoids dealing with the import and shipping issues. This item is an Ecuagenera plant as can be seem from the typical wrapping they use.

It sold for $56!!!! Don't people check at all what things are worth? Sniping does not help when you are up against stupidity.

Nick

No, Nick, sadly not all people check what things are worth before bidding.

I had lost a particular Encyclia species a few years ago and was looking for another to replace it. Not overly rare or anything, but not always easy to find. The dealer/seller put one up on eBay for $15, a very nice plant, which was what they sold it for at their orchid website. So I bid $15, it wasn't important where I bought it from them. Next thing you know, the bids are flying in. Once it went over $17, I went to the website and bought one that same day for the $15. The frenzy continued and the eBay plant ended up selling for -- I think it was about $60 or more. If my memory is correct, a second one they posted up afterward also sold for big bucks.

A lesson I learned long ago: always check the price and availability at online websites before bidding on anything, even a toaster.

How do you pay for the items? Paypal?? I don't like Paypal. In the old days, you could win and send a money order.

Jane

Paypal only and liove it it's linked to eBay and two clicks of the mouse does it. Don't have to give your credit card number out and it's free at my end. The seller pays 3%, the cost of doing business

Nick

I use Paypal, Jane. I've been using them on eBay for about 15 years without problems.

I'm the same as cjwatson. PayPal makes it so simple to pay immediately upon winning. It's always prompting me to connect my Paypal with my bank account, though... that's one thing I just won't do. It's connected to my debit, which notifies me by text message if there are charges over a certain amount. PayPal also provides insurance against getting scammed ... as does eBay, but it's nice to have the double back-up just in case.

We had a problem getting a refund years ago after receiving a damaged item. Took almost a year.

As a result, I would not connect PayPal with my bank accounts.

Jane

Mine is connected to a credit card. Never had a problem and with a credit card you can call and dispute a transaction as a safety precaution if needed.

I wouldn't use a bank account for it either.

Tom

Mine has always been hooked to a credit card.
And Paypal is not responsible for a problem with the seller; they give you a certain amount of time to report it to them and they will withhold payment.

Mine is hooked to my debit card. I only had a problem once when I paid for $60 worth of plants that never arrived. After 3 month I received a refund. I'm totally satisfied with the service i have gotten from PayPal.

I had a friend in Denmark mail something to me and I owed him money. Enter his email address, click the amount and it's done. I used to deal with this 20 years ago when I made transactions with family in Denmark. What a pain getting exchange rates and waiting up to 6 weeks for banks to compete the transfer.

I bought some plants from a Chinese nursery which they delivered to the San Francisco show. Again a click of the mouse and the Chinese debt was taken care off. Instantly changed into yens, schleckles or what ever, how can you beat that.

Nick