Quick background: Was gifted a "race gun" in .357 Sig. Thought it'd be neat to get a carry pistol in the same.

A nice one showed up at an auction site. I determined what it would be worth to me.

Long story short: At the 11th hour somebody comes along and trumps my bid. I had to exert fairly significant control to resist the temptation to try to out-bid the late-comer.

Here's the odd thing: By the time the bidding ended I wasn't so sure I wanted the item any more, anyway. But, at the same time, I'm annoyed at having lost the auction.

I think if I'd won I'd have been happy about winning, but experienced buyer's remorse at the same time.

Ever had either of those happen to you with an auction? E.g.: Kinda sorta lukewarm glad it ended-up the way it did, but, at the same time, kinda sorta wishing it'd gone the other way?

It's weird.

Yes.

When you go to live auctions, you could at least see your competition, size them up, wrongly mostly. The competitive juices would start to flow and overcome reason and rational decision making.

I briefly flirted with eBay years ago, actually buying a Mercedes SL, a tuba, and a bunch of lesser items, and experienced the sensation you describe many times. Some anonymous no good would outbid me at the last moment. I spent a lot of time plotting and scheming to thwart those bums, all of which seemed to involve paying more than I wanted to.

I gave up participating in auctions.

No not weird. It happens to me more often than not. I get on a Jones for something, and I need to have it bad. After I have committed, someone else out bids me which riles me up, since now I have to pay more to get it.

Lately, I come to my senses, and let the other bidders have it, and let it go at that. Then I rest easy. This is all the result of outbidding a bunch of guys to buy a Firebird, which wound up being nothing but trouble. So now I just think of the grief it caused, and I just move along.

On the other hand, I still wish I had won a couple of pistols I wanted, but didn't really need. And so it goes. It is the human condition; buyers remorse vs. irritation at not winning. Depends on the day.

I've made some good buys at online auctions but generally do better face to face. the best buys seem to be the ones I don't care if I win or not.

I've heard it said that the definition of a fair deal is when both parties think they got screwed.

I've been buying and selling on eBay since 2001.
I've also done some buying and selling on Gunbroker.

You did the right thing, set your bid at your top limit of what you would pay.
There are always going to be last minute bidders that try to outbid you.
But since you already made your decision on what the item was worth to you, getting outbid really shouldn't matter.

I know I have better things to do than to be online just watch an auction end if I've already determined my top bid.

These auction sites thrive on people getting obsessed with 'winning'.
Then people end up paying more for something than they wanted to just to 'win'.
The higher the end price is, the more the auction business makes.

I just went through what you went through this weekend.
Wife wants a CTC for her Glock 42.
Found one on eBay and put a top bid of $150, was the top bidder for 2 days.
Someone bid over my $150 with literally 6 seconds left on the auction, it went for $152.50.
How did I feel about that?
They can have it, it wasn't worth more than $150 to me..

You describe a typical cycle. Auctions are competitive by design.

I have learned to make a decision on what I am willing to pay, set the auto bid max there and go away until the auction has ended. I know if I follow the auction in progress I'll get sucked into that bidding cycle.

I only ever bid once, and only ever at the last second. Telegraphing your bid by doing so earlier than that is just asking to be outbid. Don't let the game game you...

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:
Yes.

When you go to live auctions, you could at least see your competition, size them up, wrongly mostly. The competitive juices would start to flow and overcome reason and rational decision making.

*Argle* Don't even speak to me of live auctions.

Last one I went to was when I was in old hand tool collecting mode. (I thought I was going to get into fine woodworking.) Estate sale. Had my eye on a particular Stanley Baily hand plane. Unfortunately, so did somebody else. We'd both spotted it about the same time. I saw it, he saw it, we each saw that the other'd seen it and eyeballed each other. When it came up we got into a bidding war. In my last three-four bids it became, on my part, more one of "How high can I make this joker go?" than actually wanting to win it. Thank God I gave up when I did, because, by the time I let him have it, it was going for well more than it was worth--both to me and in real value.

My wife had been watching all this, freaking out. Nearly everybody else there had stopped looking at the other stuff and gathered 'round the two of us to watch the show

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:
I briefly flirted with eBay years ago, actually buying a Mercedes SL, a tuba, and a bunch of lesser items, and experienced the sensation you describe many times. Some anonymous no good would outbid me at the last moment. I spent a lot of time plotting and scheming to thwart those bums, all of which seemed to involve paying more than I wanted to.

Since eBay has no "15 minute rule," the way to win is set your price and snipe the auction. I actually once won with, not kidding, one second left in the auction. I was actually surprised I made it. (I hadn't meant to shave it that close. I'd forgotten about the bid confirmation step.)

There are two reasons for sniping: To prevent auto-bidding software from beating you and to prevent yourself from engaging in senseless bidding wars.

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:
I gave up participating in auctions.

So did I, but mostly because eBay's become kinda st00pid wrt auctions. I have watched people pay more for used things than they could get brand-new ones for on Amazon or whatever. Repeatedly. Now I only use eBay for Buy It Now things or for used stuff you cannot buy new any more that I actually need.

quote:

Originally posted by SpinZone:
I have learned to make a decision on what I am willing to pay, set the auto bid max there and go away until the auction has ended. I know if I follow the auction in progress I'll get sucked into that bidding cycle.

quote:

Originally posted by 46and2:
I only ever bid once, and only ever at the last second. Telegraphing your bid by doing so earlier than that is just asking to be outbid. Don't let the game game you...

On GB I've decided on kind of an amalgam of those two: Bid close to the last fifteen minutes or so, to avoid triggering raising the price, then purposely walk away until I know it's over.

Ebay has made a ton of money over the years from buyers getting into bidding wars over an item. Multiple buyers getting a case of the "I wants" is a seller's dream. When I first got on Ebay (around 1999?) I lost numerous auctions due to last-second bidding (sniping). The way their system works with a specific end time means that sniping is usually the only way (other than luck) to keep the price down as early bidding tends to drive the price up.

If you're not careful you either end up frustrated from losing or overpay. Unless it's something that's really hard to come by you just have to figure out your personal maximum price and stick to it. If you win - great, if you lose wait for another like it to show up. Some items I wanted took months to obtain at a decent price, others over a year. Rare in real life and RARE! on Ebay have little in common.

In recent years I've scored better deals from "Buy It Now" items than from auctions. Sometimes a seller puts out something you want at a fair price or even a bargain price and that's when you want to be fast with the mouse.

It's not bad once you get past the "win/lose" mentality. It's just a purchase so your wallet will be a lot happier with a bit of restraint and realizing that "rare" is the most abused word on Ebay.

quote:

Originally posted by 46and2:
I only ever bid once, and only ever at the last second. Telegraphing your bid by doing so earlier than that is just asking to be outbid. Don't let the game game you...

Yep.

I figure what I am willing to pay for an item, set a calendar reminder to alert me a little before the auction ends, and if the amount is still under my limit, I hold off until the last few seconds and bid my max, and let it ride.

I have gotten a great number of items this way, and often for far less than I expected. Never paid more than I was willing to pay in the first place.

The exception is "Buy It Now" and "Make Offer". And those are items that are hard to find. (Car parts for a mid 60's)

Yes, all the time. My solution is to bid early and give the maximum I want to. If I lose it, so be it. I bid on a GM MAF a few days ago, I held it until the last 2 minutes. Someone bid $1 over my max price. I let it go.

Sometimes you win the bid and sometimes you don't. I know how much I am willing to pay for an item and draw the line at that amount. It's just stuff. No big deal.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: prairieviper,

I still buy a few things on eBay from time to time, but almost universally use eSnipe if it's not a buy-it-now or make-an-offer type deal. Put in the amount I'm willing to pay and walk away. Get a notice at auction end that it was either enough or not.

I'm sure it hacks some folks off since it functions under the "sniping" model of bidding in last seconds of auction, but it's a tool that's in bounds and I have had good luck with it. Also relieves the issues of getting emotionally involved in the auction, which I have done with some watch/gun auctions in the past. And have DEFINITELY seen happen live at classic/muscle car auctions!

It is very frustrating. Watch something for days. Bid a fair price and decide on your limit. Then in the last 30 seconds lose while fighting the urge to bid higher than your well thought out limit. Find another item and repeat. Eventually it will work out.

quote:

Have You Ever Been Ambivalent About Winning/Losing An Auction?

Quite a few times.

For winning - Put in a bid, fully expecting someone would come along and outbid me. Didn't happen. So, I was stuck with the "win" in the end.

For losing - Put in a max bid, thinking that was way up there that no one would be crazy enough to reach it. Well, some nut (like me) came along and outbid me. I lost and was annoyed, but at the same time I was greatly relieved that I didn't have to spend.

And then there is the shill bidding or the seller pulls the auction if the price is being bid up to where they figure it should be.

I started an item once for a dollar, a 1960's Harley Davidson carburetor body with damage. Pointed the damage out in the photos and explained where it was in the description.

The winner got it for a buck, shipping cost more than the item did. If it didn't go on the "Bay" it was going to go in my scrap pile.

Im always worried about the fake bids that occur last minute to raise the price.

Go back a day or two later and see if the item is listed for sale again. This will tell you if they are trying to fudge the auction.

quote:

Originally posted by gpbst3:
Go back a day or two later and see if the item is listed for sale again. This will tell you if they are trying to fudge the auction.

Well, if they were, they screwed up. I've been watching this particular selection for... a week? A bit longer?

With few exceptions the same things keep getting re-listed, for the same prices, repeatedly. I think I've seen all of three of the ±41 there actually bid on. When one does go, it goes for the minimum.

I'm kind of losing interest, now. Thus the ambivalence over having "lost" the auction.

I go to several equipment auctions a year and you'd think they weren't emotional purchases.
Quite often, I see things go for more than retail plus buyers premium.
The auctioneers and spotters are good at working competitive bidders to see it as a grudge match and pay accordingly.

Yes. Being ambivalent about winning / losing an auction is a much better state of mind than:

gotta have it

that mf'er thinks he has more money than me

Unfortunately, I've experienced the second bullet at live auctions during Ducks Unlimited fundraisers after a few beers.

---

Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.