Bidding on Items

When you find an item you just gotta have, the next step is to bid on it. Go ahead. Don’t be shy. eBay bidding is slightly different from conventional auction bidding, as I explain shortly. I also explain how to place a bid and close a sale.

How bidding works

Each auction page tells you how many days, hours, and minutes are left till closing time. The person who submits the highest bid before closing time, of course, wins the item, but it’s not quite that simple. eBay auctions are not live auctions. Because not everyone who wants to bid can be online and signed into eBay at closing time, eBay buyers make what are called maximum bids. Only the bidder knows what his or her maximum bid is. As long as your maximum bid the maximum amount you are willing to pay for an item exceeds other buyers’ maximum bids, you are the high bidder. But if you make a maximum bid and someone who bid before has made a maximum bid that is higher than yours, you are not the high bidder. Instead the stated price of the item rises to the amount that you submitted in your maximum bid. Confusing, huh? To see how it works, imagine an auction for a Chippendale mirror. The bidding starts at $50. The bid increment the amount by which each bid must exceed the previous bid is $2.50. Dave, the first bidder, enters a maximum bid of $75. On the auction page, however, the price remains $50. Dave has merely stated how high he is willing to go to win the item. Remember: Only Dave knows what his maximum bid is. The next bidder, Sally, enters a maximum bid of $60, but because her $60 doesn’t exceed Dave’s maximum bid of $75, eBay informs Sally that she is not the high bidder. Meantime, the price of the item rises to $60, the amount of Sally’s maximum bid. If no one else bids, Dave can buy the mirror for $60. Sally, still keen to own the mirror, enters a maximum bid of $65, but eBay informs Sally that she is still not the highest bidder. At $75, Dave remains the high bidder. The price of the item rises to $65, the amount of Sally’s second bid. Sally just has to have that beautiful Chippendale mirror. She enters a maximum bid of $85. Now she is the high bidder and the stated price of the item is $77.50, Dave’s original maximum bid ($75) plus the bid increment ($2.50). eBay informs Dave by e-mail that he has been outbid. Dave goes to the Bidding/Watching tab of his My eBay page, selects the Chippendale mirror auction, and goes to the Chippendale mirror auction page. He sees that the item now costs $77.50. He has been outbid. He enters a maximum bid of $90. eBay tells Dave that he is the high bidder. The price of the mirror is now $87.50, the amount of Sally’s maximum bid ($85) plus the bid increment ($2.50). Dave will win the mirror for $87.50 as long as no one outbids his maximum bid of $90. Because you never know what the current maximum bid is, you never know whether a maximum bid you submit will make you the high bidder. The maximum bid formula is designed to keep one person from outbidding another by a few dollars at the last minute. It also gives you a chance to participate in auctions without having to be present at your computer while the auction is taking place.

Placing a bid

To place a bid and declare the maximum amount you will pay for an item, click the Place Bid button. Enter your maximum bid and click the Continue button. You see the Submit Your Bid window, where you have a last chance to review your bid before clicking the Submit button. As soon as you submit a bid, eBay tells you whether you are the high bidder. The item you are bidding on is placed on the Bidding/Watching tab of your My eBay page whether you are the high bidder or not. If someone outbids you, eBay sends you an e-mail telling you as much. The e-mail is sent to the address you entered when you registered. To change this address, go to the Preferences tab of your My eBay page.

Strategies for successful bidding

To be a successful bidder, be coy. When you see an item you really like, don’t bid on it right away. Click the Watch This Item link to enter the item on your Watch List, a list on the Bidding/Watching tab of your My eBay page. From the Bidding/Watching tab, you can click the item’s name and go to its auction page to find out whether others have placed a bid. Ideally, bids should be placed at the last minute, but forgetting to bid on an item is easy. One strategy for remembering to bid is to enter a low bid in the early going. Each time you are outbid, eBay will send you an e-mail telling you so. The e-mail message will include a link you can click to go directly to the auction page and up your bid. Setting aside what I just said about being coy, if you really, really want an item, make a large bid for it. This way, you will scare off other bidders and decrease your chances of being sniped.

Closing the Sale

When you win an auction, eBay sends you an e-mail telling you how much the item costs including shipping and handling. At that point, it is up to you to pay for the item. If you did your homework, you know how the seller prefers to be paid. You can usually pay by PayPal, by check, or with a credit card. When the transaction is complete and you have the item in hand, be sure to describe the seller to eBay. You can do so by going to the Feedback tab on your My eBay page. Click the Leave Feedback button to see a list of people who sold you items. Click a seller’s name and enter a rating and brief description of the transaction. Other buyers depend on this information to decide whether a seller is trustworthy.