This is why I don't bid until near the end of an auction

[Bruticus]

What it looks like is happening here, to me, is that the person who posted the auction has another account, or a buddy doing it for him, and they are trying to max out the bids, hence why the minimum bids. That way, if they "win" their own auction, they can say the person who "won" will not pay and offer the person who put a valid bid on the auction a "second chance" at their max bid.

(Sorry if this is what has already been stated. )

[Buhawi]

It's a given in any auction.

If you didn't know this before...

[Buhawi]

This is also the real reason why anyone telling you that eBay prices reflect real prices is sticking it up to you real hard...

[Wheeltron]

I've seen a lot of buyers from China doing this. They list at $.99 and then keep bidding up the same item. Multiple lots and long auctions. I don't have the patience out wait them for possible substandard items.

[BigBot79]

When I use e-bay anymore I mainly look for sellers with "buy it now" prices. The non-sense involved with auctions is something I have no time for. I don't buy many TFs anymore on e-bay but I do still buy a lot of MOTU Classics and Neca items.

There are plenty of sellers on e-bay that sell items at a fair or better than fair price and can help you get around import charges as well. I find this is the best way to do business, this works well also if you can find sellers with multiple items you want and bundle price them together to get a deal. I did this when the Hasbro MP-10 came out and was sold out everywhere. Found a seller that had one in California and also had a Takara Voyager TF Prime Breakdown, also hard to get at the time. Both were way overpriced as listed everywhere even on-line stores like TF Source, BBTS, Ages 3 and Up etc.... I ended up getting the MP-10 for about $125 CAD (seller was asking $165 USD) and the Breakdown for $40 (seller was asking $50 USD), shipping was about $35 USPS Priority, no import fees, no HST and got the package within 2 weeks. Great deal for everyone involved. At that time our dollar was basically par with USD so it made good sense, in this example it made really good sense given what is asked for these figures today.

Just need to pick and choose who you deal with and communicate with them before committing, negotiate with the seller not with unknown auction BS.

[Sun Swipe Prime]

Yeah, it kind of sucks, but for myself, I have my max limit. I input that and if I get it for that price or less, I'm happy, but if I don't then I don't. If I suspect a seller is doing something like you described, and they come back to me later, I just just say forget it.

To me it's not worth being frustrated over. Set a limit you'll be happy with not matter what and let the chips fall.

Edit: and yeah, I look for buy it now prices too. Cuts down on the BS.

[ConvoyGTR]

^ Pretty much what I do too. Last few secs I go all in with my max amount and if I win great or if I lose that's fine too. But as others have said its not worth the hassle of monitoring auctions, so I mainly find the buy it now auctions and find the ones that are fairly priced.

[MULTIPLEX]

One important thing the phony bidder (aka the seller or his minion) is doing is only outbidding the top bidder by the minimum increment, usually $1. There are reasons for this.

First, the obvious one, he wants to know what your max bid was without overbidding you by a huge margin. Why? He doesn't want to scare you off. Read on.

Remember, the eBay system will bid automatically for you up to your max bid if others start bidding higher than your current winning bid. Each automatic bid on your behalf is $1 more then the top bid (up to your max).

So let's say you are a real bidder. And you are monitoring the bid history (visible to anyone btw). You notice this one bidder is always bidding in small increments ($1 each time). Then you see they outbid you. So chances are you were only outbid by $1. Well are you willing to lose an auction for $1?

That's how they get you psychologically. Auctions are just a pissing contest. Egos are at play and that feeling of a "rush". Its like going to the casino and pulling that slot machine handle just one last time. Trust me, sometimes when you are in a bidding war, your impulses take over and you are more likely to bid more than you originally planned. That's exaclty what the seller wants.

Excellent point made earlier. If this ploy backfires and they end up winning their own auction, as others have said, they will email you a "last chance offer" and give reason that the winning bidder backed out for whatever reason but since your bid was 2nd highest, it's yours if you want it still but of course, remember, you bid more then you were originally hoping to.

I've received those emails before. I just ignore them.

[Subroutine]

Wow I always wondered if this was going on.

I'm done with ebay I tell you. Import costs are ridiculous now.

Im sure everyones aware of " sniper" apps out there that help sneak in that last bid. Not sure how that all works but the whole deal stinks I tells ya.

So glad its CONVENTION SEASON !!!!!!

New movie coming out too means lots of new toys at retail.

Suck it Ebay..

Ebay no.. festivus Yes.

[MULTIPLEX]

Originally Posted by Subroutine

Im sure everyones aware of " sniper" apps out there that help sneak in that last bid. Not sure how that all works but the whole deal stinks I tells ya.

Never heard of this. Can somebody explain how this works?