OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums General Discussion Forum Off Topics How do they do it

I was bidding on a Toecutter yesterday and playing games with the other bidder jumping the price up a few dollars at a time and I was holding the top bid at $22 as the seconds ticked down to zero (I'm still holding top bid according to ebay) and as it ended I'm informed I have been outbid and it sold for $61. I just don't get it and this has happened to me on many occasions, what am I not understanding about this auction process? It doesn't bother me just curious how they do it.

g'day Norm it's called "snipe bidding"you wait till the last 4/5 seconds and fire in the bid,i do this if i really want something.just means you have to watch and wait,cheer's

I put in my last bid at 3 seconds to go and somehow it jumped from $22 to $61 in under the last 2 seconds so at least 2 other bids had to be placed in that time

Probably a flurry of snipe bidding from others.
Don't you have to refresh the page to update the highest bid?
$61 seems reasonable for one of those unless it looked like it had been thrown off a cliff!

Yep, but it's not done manually, for those in the know.

There is 'sniping software' available, which will do this automatically, timed to the split second.

And because it is done this way I don't bother much with the auctions, just play with it some times, set the max price I will pay and walk away, sometime I get a notification that I have won, then I have to quickly think what did I bid on.

that's the way Norm,i have a set price in mind i stay at that price, i reckon people get carried away and pride (or stupidity) gets in the way,i must admit i am guilty sometimes of running another aggresive bidder up and pulling out when i think they are weakening,i had a bidder that for awhile went to war with me on everything i put a bid on? i must have upset him/her somewhere along the way,

Hi, I use Bidnapper if an auction is going to finish and I cant be there to bid. Bidnapper bids for you and cost a couple of dollars to get them to bid for you but you must put your highest bid in to start with.
The person that beat you would have bid the $61 and on the last second
Bidnapper puts in the bid that beat you and maybe also other bidders
up to the value of $61
Go into Bidnapper and have a look its easy to use
Lets say two people are biding on the same item and both are using Bidnapper the winner will be the one that put the highest bid in to start with.
Hope this makes sense

Thanks Ken, makes sense, but what intrigued me was the high bid was mine at $22 with 3 seconds to go so a couple of "bid nappers" must have gone head to head in the last 2 seconds to jump it to $61. Anyway my high bid of $22 was all I was prepared to fork out

Yep you got it in one LOL
I sold a battery cradle from a 80 series Land cruiser
on eBay it was worth about $30 and I think new about $80
and two people biding it got up to $280
I didn't have the heart to take that so I let the guy that won it have it for $50
some people just get carried away

Should have taken the dosh but I commend your decency. Helps balance out the indecent ones.

Sniping can backfire on you as well, I sniped on one last night with 2 seconds to go only to find out today my grandson was the other bidder anyway it only cost me an extra dollar

Gee Norm you are tighter than a fishes backside LOL !!