Ebay Tips and Tricks (how you win stuff)

[ryan summit]

are you bein serious?
like the"dont let her know your interested" tactic
fuck artificial intelligence

[trace]

Sellers can see how many people are watching an item but I don't think it hurts you as a buyer to watch it. I do a good amount of eBay selling and I do best when my auctions end Friday or Saturday evenings (everyone gets paid) so as a buyer you should do the opposite. Look for shit ending like 4:15 am Wednesday morning.
Also use real broad search terms, you have to wade through more crap but you may just find that small stone that someone listed as "guitar pedal" instead of "Vintage Rare Electro-Harmonix Small Stone Phaser Pedal Awesome Tone Mojo L@@K!" Got a steal on a kramer aluminum bass like this recently, listed only as "aluminum bass guitar" or some shit not even the brand in the title.

[ShaunNecro]

Yeah, if somebody thinks that they're the only ones interested in an item then they feel more comfortable with bidding earlier and at a lower price. Then you swoop in with 3-4 seconds left and snipe 'em.

[fishtankdork]

ebay snipers ruin my day sometimes. i hate hate hate when im the higher bidder all week, i get in a bidding war the last 20 seconds; and there is a false sense of security as i am the highbidder by at least 20, auction has a 2 seconds left, i wait for it to load in the won list. THAN BAM. youve been outbid, followed immediately by auction ended. at least give me .5 seconds to try to up bid.

[stripes]

i RARELY lose eBay auctions. if i do it's usually because i'm at work and can't run into the bathroom in time to bid.

rules:

DO NOT BID before the last 30 seconds of an auction: chances are, other people are going to bid. by you bidding with 3 days remaining, all that's happening is you're raising the price. i guarantee you SOMEONE will bid regardless of you already being in there. don't drive up the price when it doesn't have to be driven up.

set an alarm. if there's an auction that i want to win, i always set an alarm 30 minutes before it's going to end... and then sometimes another one 10 minutes before. whether you have the app or you're sitting at your computer, they start the countdown in real time when it gets down to the minutes (and it's pretty much accurate give or take a couple seconds).

bid last and bid your highest. i usually wait until AROUND 10 seconds remain (i've waited for less and lost because my bid didn't make it in in time, but i would have won... ffs). remember, after the first screen of submitting your bid you get a SECOND screen to confirm it for real. this second screen still shows you the countdown and will update you when someone has raised the bid. during the last minute to 30 seconds i hang out on the second screen waiting. and the great thing about the way eBay works is that if you're bidding on something that's at $100... there's 5 seconds left and you submit a bid of $200 (or whatever your MAX is), and some poor guy bids $105, and someone else bids $120, you beat both of them and get it for $120. so just because you're bidding high, you're just trying to outbid someone, not pay that actual amount.

GOOD LUCK BIDDING IS FUN

[Doctor X]

i just bid on something with 5 seconds to go and lost it because the other bidder did the exact same amount with 6 seconds to go ... should have bid with 7 seconds to go ..... grrrrr

[Doctor X]

oh ryan, dont beat yourself up because you think they are sometimes going for lowish amounts, that person could have bid higher and you wouldnt necessarily have got it for that amount

[AxAxSxS]

ebay snipers ruin my day sometimes. i hate hate hate when im the higher bidder all week, i get in a bidding war the last 20 seconds; and there is a false sense of security as i am the highbidder by at least 20, auction has a 2 seconds left, i wait for it to load in the won list. THAN BAM. youve been outbid, followed immediately by auction ended. at least give me .5 seconds to try to up bid.

As others have said, you are doing it wrong. Never bid untill its just about to end.

I have a few rules I follow that help me deal with ebay wants.

1. again, never bid till the last second.
2. If its not worth making sure you are paying attention to it when the auction ends, it's not really something you need to have anyways.
3. determine ahead of time what the thing is worth to you. this number becomes your max bid. when you hit submit with 5 seconds left this is the number you use.
remember, as stated above. if I bid $5000 on something and the next highest bid is $25.99, I win the item for $26.99, not $5000
4. Ebay was very smart to call it "winning" It's not a competition. Battleing another bidder back and forth only drives up the price. ALWAYS wait till the end to bid, and enter only what you are willing to pay.

[trace]

Also keep in mind eBay may not be the best place to find whatever it is your looking for. The sheer number of people looking will ensure the items generally go for the max the market will support (or higher). Try guitar centers used website, music go rounds web site, reverb.com, this and other forums B/S/Ts, and even out of town craigslists, lots of people are Paypal savvy and can be convinced to ship something like a pedal. I only really use eBay for stuff you simply never see anywhere else and super cheap direct from china swag.

[ChetMagongalo]

and the great thing about the way eBay works is that if you're bidding on something that's at $100... there's 5 seconds left and you submit a bid of $200 (or whatever your MAX is), and some poor guy bids $105, and someone else bids $120, you beat both of them and get it for $120. so just because you're bidding high, you're just trying to outbid someone, not pay that actual amount.

All of stripes advice is great, but I think this part is real important for you to know because you don't really find it out unless you've experienced it.

[TweedBassman]

how to score SICK dealz:

have a rainy day fund in paypal to hit sweet scores automatically.

Log in.

use a BROOOAD search term... i.e. 'guitar pedal' or "vintage guitar' or whatever. this way it searches entire categories instead of a specific term.

After searching, select 'recently added'

refresh like a mofo. wait for dealz to drop in lap. might take a while, but i've gotten a lot of amazing stuff like this. Sadly, friday night and monday morning (when people get laid off or have smaller than expected paychecks) are hot times; also near the end of the month when bills are due.

[ryan summit]

oh ryan, dont beat yourself up because you think they are sometimes going for lowish amounts, that person could have bid higher and you wouldnt necessarily have got it for that amount

was gonna say im not beatin myself up
but clearly i am
i understand that the guy prob bid $60+
and gets it for just higher than my bid
BUT I WANT TO BE THAT GUY
not the douche who virtually wins for a week
great advice all around
i have the app
amd it counts down for real in second screen
so im gonna use all this
and start playin with the bigboys
i just hoped there would be some honor
you know amongst the effects world
"hey that dude got a good deal,
ill get the next one"
but nah
like anything else
everyman and everystripes for themselves
thanks guys

I need some tips for sellin as well
ive got like 3 feedback
so barely anyone looks at my shit
do i need the description to look like an ad?
or just buy everything off ebay
till my score bumps up

[futuresailors]

I don't think feedback dictates views that much.
The places with like 10000 feedback are eBay stores.
In the description, say specifically what it is, generally what it is, and anything related
eg: I sold a Devi Ever Ruby back in March
My title: "Devi Ever Ruby Tone Bender Fuzz Pedal"
Then I think I basically just cut and paste Devi's description.
But yeah, your description should say why whatever you're selling is awesome
Because you're trying to convince people to buy it

[trace]

For selling, good pictures are important. Also, try to use all the available space in your title, throwing buzz words like "vintage" and "analog" in there will help more than it seems (only if they actually apply to the item of course). I set a flat price on shipping generally around what it would cost me to ship to California (all the way across the country for me). If the winner ends up being one state over and I make a little on the shipping that's just icing on the cake.

Also, to get your feedback up always make sure to leave feedback whenever you buy / sell. Lots of people won't leave feedback until they get yours.

[Deltaphoenix]

You should win this
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FURY-CANADIAN-1 ... 26?afsrc=1