Bidding Endgame

Near the end of the auction is where it gets exciting.

Sniping

In the previous lesson, I had bid on an item but did not win it. I'll tell you about a technique called sniping that some people employ to help win bids.

Sniping means placing bids very close to the close of auction so that other bidders do not have time (or are not available) to raise their bids and outbid you. This is a perfectly legal technique and is part of the eBay experience.

Do not confuse this with Shill bidding which is illegal. This is when family and friends of the seller (or the seller himself/herself under a different alias) bids for the sole purpose of increasing the bid price. This is not allowed. Also family, friends, employees who have inside knowledge of the seller price point, reserved price, and other non-public information can not bid on items. But they can still buy it with the "Buy It Now" button.

Raising the Bid

Since I'm not available online at the time of auction close. I'll wait closer to the auction end and I'll raise my bid in an attempt to obtain the item. I'll put in a max bid of $10.05. That way in case another bids a common value of $10, my bid would still be higher.

And when I put in my bid, I indeed got a bid confirmation that I am the current high bidder.

But note that the current bid is not $10.05. eBay raises my bid to the point where I am the high bidder. The value $7.50 had already beaten the other bidders max bid, and eBay did not have to raise it further.

In addition, eBay sends me an email saying "Bid confirmed. You are the high bidder!".

And if I go to My eBay, I can see the items that I am bidding on. The green $7.50 that is next ot the item indicates that I am winning this auction. If there are not other bids till the end of the auction, then I would be able to obtain this item at the price of $7.50 (assuming that this price meets the seller's reserved price).

I'm Outbidded

However, luck was not with me. Shortly before the close of auction, I was outbid by another bidder whose max bid was higher than my max bid. When this happens, eBay sends me an email saying that "You have been outbid."

But since I was not online, I was not able to raise my bid further before the auction ends.

When the auction ends, eBay notifies me of the results saying that I did not win the item.

Cleaning Up

After the auction, my item had been moved to the "Didn't Win" category in the My eBay Views. You can also see the ending price and the history of the bids.

To remove this item, simply checkmark it and click the Remove button. Similarly, I am going to remove the item from my "Watching" category.

What if You Win

What if you had better luck than I did and actually did win the auction. What now?

Typically, the seller will send you an invoice detailing the total cost plus shipping cost. Sometimes they will give you a choice of shipping methods. When you receive the invoice, just follow its instruction for payment. You often can pay by PayPal. But it does vary by seller. If you do not receive an invoice in a couple of days, you should contact the seller.