Question about bidding on ebay

[CathyA]

I thought I understood it, but I guess I didn't. They have bidding software, so I just say what my top amount is that I'm willing to buy it for. So I did that. The only screen I could watch right up until the end of the auction said that I had to top bid. I watched it until the time ran out, and nothing changed. Then I got an email saying I was outbid. I realize that they got it for $.50 more than I was willing to buy it for, but you can change your upper limit when you see others bidding higher than you. Why didn't I see that happening?
Thanks.

[ToomuchStuff]

I thought I understood it, but I guess I didn't. They have bidding software, so I just say what my top amount is that I'm willing to buy it for. So I did that. The only screen I could watch right up until the end of the auction said that I had to top bid. I watched it until the time ran out, and nothing changed. Then I got an email saying I was outbid. I realize that they got it for $.50 more than I was willing to buy it for, but you can change your upper limit when you see others bidding higher than you. Why didn't I see that happening?
Thanks.

Most of the bidding happens in the last 5 minutes. Beside the software on their site, there is off site bidding software, where people can set, not just the maximum bid, but the time til the end to bid. (forget the term)
Then there is the actual bidding, and things like refresh rates, speed of light transmission, the talk between computers, which mean we normally don't see the actual end, but have to physically refresh the page to see the actual end.
Best thing to do, consider your highest bid, your highest bid and don't go more then you would.

[goldensmom]

I don't bid on ebay anymore I only buy 'buy it now' items. Back when I did bid I was always out bid in the last few seconds so then I started to type in a bid then hit the 'place bid' button with 2 or 3 seconds left. It was a game but I got tired of it.

[Chicken lady]

I buy stuff on e-bay. I try to bid really close to the end do people don't change their mind and over bid me "oh, it's just $1" but I lose a lot. Which is ok. My maximum bid is my maximum bid. When I started, I would sometimes be that "oh, it's just $1" person, and then I thought about it - those dollars start to add up. not too much if you don't buy many things, but what if, instead of spending an extra $5, I saved $100 by not buying the stuff at all because it was a want, not a need and I lost the bid. Hmmm..... Then I've got $105 to spend on other wants at prices I'm willing to pay. It's not like I'm going to run out of wants.... (If it's a "need", my maximum bid is basically what I'd pay somewhere else).

With yours, probably there were bids right at the last millisecond and your computer didn't have time to reload the page before it became the sold page. Even fast internet isn't "instant".

[Sloeginfizz]

They probably used a sniping service like Bidnapper or Ezsniper. I don't often bid on auctions these days, but when I did, that's what I used. A sniping site can put in a bid at the very last y second, faster than a human can click.

This is all part of why I much prefer buy it now.

[CathyA]

Thanks everyone. They didn't offer a "buy now". Actually, they had another of the same thing there for only a little more than $2.00 more that was a "buy now".....so I bought it. It's much higher everywhere else. It's too easy to get into wanting to win, without realizing that you're paying too much just to win! I think I'll stick to the "buy now" stuff too. Life is too fast paced and complicated for me. I need to slow down.
Thanks for your help in understanding this crazy game.

[Teacher Terry]

I set my max price and let the chips fall where they may. I wanted a robot vacuum and it took me 3 tries to get it at the price I wanted to pay. I also sometimes use the buy it now feature if they let you.