Dealers buying on Ebay

[Guest]

[kbmum]

remember if there are only 2 bidders on an item and you lose to them more often than not because how ebay work you will always lose by only a few pounds every time.

But that's the problem -- constantly losing to the same person by only a dollar or less.  I'm not commenting so much about how eBay works, but rather that there are card hogs who don't need multiples of a common card.

I love the thrill of the case.  It's great to get a deal on a card.  But I've certainly paid market value and higher, too.  Yes, it evens out, but there are still cards I'm missing because there aren't that many of them available anymore.

[ztaylork]

I know that there are a lot of mixed feelings about auction snipers, but I really like them.  I use auctionsniper.com for any auction that I really want to win.  That way I just put in the max that I plan on paying and forget about it.  MOst of the time when I do win in the last second I get it for a lot cheaper (of course I don't always win, as other people have the same thinking)  But when I just place the highest bid that I am willing to go say 15 minutes before the auction closes, then all the other bidders have a chance to peck away at my bid, until someone finally ventures just over my high bid.  So for me as a bidder I wouldn't want the 15 minute thingy.

I also will buy cards when I see a good deal, even if I already have the card.  I don't consider myself a dealer, but I do quite a bit of selling (usually try to sell enough to support my bad habit of collecting)  But for instance over the past few years I have probably bought a dozen Jennifer Ganer Alias Season 1 autographs.  I have never paid much over $200, and I will usually turn around and sell them during a hotter selling time of the year (closer to christmas) and will usually get at least $300.  So I have paid for that autograph for my collection a few times over, and actually don't currently own one as I sold it during the winter months.  Right now is a good time for buyers, and a bad time for sellers.  Too many people are spending less time on the computers because of the weather, saving for a summer vacation, already spent all there tax returns, paying off credit cards from buying like crazy before christmas....etc.  So if you want good deals, now is the time, and don't be afraid to cross over to the dark side and try an auction sniper.  (auctionsniper.com is the only one I have ever used)  Just my thoughts.....just want to make sure no one hates me if I outbid them on something    

[Sharon]

I am a last minute bidder but have never used an auction stealer site - I just sit there shaking and praying the internet doesn't freeze at the wrong moment  .  If it is a US auction that finishes in the middle of the night I do just stick in my top bid and hope.

I have noticed a new trend over the last few months though that ties in with Cindy's experiences.  Recently I wanted a Barty Crouch Jnr auto.  Practically every current auction (I think there was about 8 at the time) had the same high bidder who turned out to be a UK dealer - to the best of my knowledge they are not a member of this forum.  The bids were pushing the cards to way over their average price so I didn't even place a bid.  Now this particular dealer will no doubt start selling these autos for incredibly inflated prices and as they have cornered the market will probably sell most at this increased price.  I have bought one from a US dealer (thanks Zach  ) for a reasonable price, not cheap but not extortionate.

I know this is the type of thing that happens all the time in other walks of life but I am sad to see it start happening with trading cards.  If this dealer makes a huge profit on these autos they will pick a few cards to do it with on another set - imagine if they had bought every sleeping bag prop that went on Ebay, we could be seeing a £10 card jump to £50, just because one person was controlling the whole supply.  This is an extreme example but I can see this is the thin end of the wedge 

Tialessa it annoys the heck out of me when I lose an auction by 1 penny - how do they do that  .  And this is probably me being silly but if there was a 15 minutes rule wouldn't everyone just stick their bids in 15 minutes early?  Or would this work differently?

[kbmum]

I hope I can explain this right.  With a 15-minute rule, it doesn't matter when people start placing their bids.  The auction has an ending time, but won't end at that time if someone has placed a bid less than 15 minutes before the auction is supposed to end.  With each new bid that's placed, the auction-ending timer starts over at 15 minutes.  Eventually, the auction price will reach a point where no one will want to place another bid.  Fifteen minutes will go by, then the auction will end.

[Sharon]

Thank you    That makes lots more sense but I definitely wouldn't like that.  It is like how long is a piece of string, when would the auction end    If you were able to just sit at a computer and out wait everyone else fine but I think it would put a lot of people off.  When I bid I do generally put in my top bid (unless like you Cindy I am just ' watching ' a card) and then wait and see if I have won.  To keep looking at an auction and see someone chipping away at my top bid with seemingly no fixed end time would not appeal to me at all.

[HPfamily]

I hope I can explain this right.  With a 15-minute rule, it doesn't matter when people start placing their bids.  The auction has an ending time, but won't end at that time if someone has placed a bid less than 15 minutes before the auction is supposed to end.  With each new bid that's placed, the auction-ending timer starts over at 15 minutes.  Eventually, the auction price will reach a point where no one will want to place another bid.  Fifteen minutes will go by, then the auction will end.

I didn't even know this existed! 

[kbmum]

It would be possible to have an auction continue on hours after it was supposed to end, if people kept upping their bids.  I once saw an auction site that had this rule, but I can't find it now or remember the name.  It probably went out of business, since it's so difficult to compete against eBay.

[grecopa]

But when I just place the highest bid that I am willing to go say 15 minutes before the auction closes, then all the other bidders have a chance to peck away at my bid, until someone finally ventures just over my high bid.  So for me as a bidder I wouldn't want the 15 minute thingy.

Yeah, that's exactly what's been happening.  With summer in full swing, I'm constantly taking the kids places during the day and sometimes night and I can't be at the computer when the auction ends.  Normally I can wait and enter a bid, or multiple bids at auction end and at least stand a chance of winning the card.  Lately, I've had to enter my max bid hours before.  But when I say "max bid" I don't mean I couldn't go up another .50 if need be.    It just seems that people keep upping it by tiny increments until they price me out.  Usually by a very small amount.  I think that would happen no matter what bid I put in (within reason).  I may look into an auction sniper to stop that from happening.  I really don't bid on a whole lot, but the cards I do bid on are ones I really want! 
I can't say I blame people for buying low and selling for a profit, if I had the time, money, and knew a lot more about the market I might be doing it too.