How bids on ebay work. How to Bid on eBay: Helpful Tips and Tricks. Types of eBay sales

There are many ways to earn or save money online. Ebay virtual auction attracts the second category of users. That is, those who want to save their own money. The Internet platform works by Wishing to purchase a lot, Ebay users simply place their bets. As you know, the goods go to the one who offered the most favorable price for the seller. It becomes interesting how to win an auction on Ebay, the reviews say that it is not so easy. Users go for some tricks.

Simple Rules

Before you wonder how to win an auction on Ebay, you need to know the features of this site. As with other online resources, there are rules here. To purchase a product on Ebay, you will have to comply with them.

• It is impossible to wonder how to win an auction on Ebay if contact details are not filled in the profile. Because in this case you can't even place bets. The same rule applies to those who provide false information. During the auction process, the seller and buyer need to communicate. That's why it's important to provide accurate information on your Ebay profile.
• It is forbidden to put up a lot on Ebay and place bids on it. This is contrary to the rules of the auction and is even considered as the actions of figureheads.
• Even if you are interested in how to win an auction on Ebay, you should not bid on several lots out of interest. It is possible that they will all have to be redeemed. You can withdraw a bet, but this is a rather problematic task. For example, an erroneous action can be canceled, but the user is still obliged to place a real bet. Even with a smaller amount.
• It is forbidden to buy goods off the site on Ebay. With such a cunning scheme, you can not count on protection against fraud. After all, the seller and the buyer make a deal bypassing the auction. Accordingly, neither one nor the other receives any guarantees or protection from Ebay.

• Don't bet just out of curiosity. If no one bids higher on Ebay, you will have to buy back the item. Even if you don't need it. In case of refusal to pay, you will have to prepare for any sanctions from the administration of the Ebay auction. That's why you shouldn't place any bids if you don't plan to buy an item.
• Before you win an auction on Ebay and simply place a bid, you need to study the information provided about the lot in detail. Some potential buyers act wrongly. Sellers, in some cases, display goods only for certain countries. To avoid unfair bids on Ebay, it is better to study this information in advance.
• If you know the seller personally, it is not recommended to make bids artificially inflating the price of the lot. As a result, you can become the only one who named a high price, and the lot will have to be redeemed. Or refuse to pay and have problems with the administration.

How to bet correctly?

In fact, there is nothing difficult in placing a bid on an online auction. However, you need to prepare for a fairly high competition. After all, many users are interested in how to win an auction on Ebay.

So, the whole process of placing a bet includes a few simple steps:

• choice of goods;
• placing a bet and confirming.

Product selection

First of all, you need to find the desired lot. Have time to carefully read the description and cost. If all the conditions suit you, you can place a bet. You should not always trust only the photos posted on Ebay. Some sellers try to mislead auction users. That is why it is recommended to familiarize yourself with the characteristics.

Everyone wants to know how to buy and win on an Ebay auction. But it is equally important not to make erroneous bets. To do this, you need to carefully study not only the lot, but also the seller himself. Beginning participants in the Ebay online auction are advised to pay attention to the rating. The most reliable partners boast a high rate. Ninety-five percent or more.

Placing a bet

Having familiarized yourself with the lot and the seller in detail, you can make a decision. If all the conditions suit you, it is enough just to place a bet by pressing a virtual button with a similar inscription.

How to bet?

If you do not know the answer, it is impossible to understand how to win an auction on Ebay. Tips from experienced users assure that this is important.

So, the Ebay auction uses automatic bidding. First, the minimum price is set, which corresponds to the one indicated by the seller. Further, Ebay instead of a potential buyer raises the rate. Gradually, the auction brings it to the maximum level. That is why the buyer needs to be careful when setting the maximum price he is willing to pay for the offered lot.

How to win an auction on Ebay?

When setting the maximum amount, it is better to specify not an integer. For example, not $10, but $10.05. In this case, there is a chance to beat a competitor who will bid only 5 cents lower.

You need to be patient and wait for the end of the auction. Statistics say that winning bids on Ebay are made just ten seconds before the end of the auction.

However, you need to understand that even this does not guarantee that the lot will go to you. Some sellers on Ebay have a hidden cost. If it exceeds the bid, the lot cannot be redeemed.

Program

You don't have to do it yourself to figure out how to win an Ebay auction. The program can do everything for you.

For example, Ebay has ProxyBidding. This program monitors the auction every five minutes and even bids for the user.

All you have to do is specify the maximum bid in advance. Then the program comes into play, which is traded no worse than any real buyer.

However, when using the program, the lot will definitely need to be redeemed in case of winning. That is why, before using it, you must not only have a confident intention to buy a lot, but also prepare the specified amount in case of winning.

As you already know, eBay is a huge online auction where anyone can buy the item they like. Initially, eBay existed only as an auction, and the goods were sold to the highest bidder. Now more and more sellers are setting fixed prices for their products, thus eliminating the possibility of bidding. But the auction functions have not gone away, and you can still bid on the lots you like, bargain for the best goods. How do you bid on eBay? How to buy a product that suits you? Today we will give answers to these and other questions, and also consider in detail, step by step, in pictures, how to win the fight for the lot as quickly as possible.

In order to be able to bid, you must register on eBay, and if you have an account, then log in with your username and password.

Next, you need to find the product you like, place a bid, or offer a “blitz” price by buying the desired lot. As we have already said, many sellers give fixed prices for goods, moving more and more away from the principles of the auction. To some extent, this is convenient, but today we will talk about the auction and its conduct.

You can place a bid by clicking the "Place Bid" button. The seller determines the minimum step, that is, the minimum amount by which you can increase the bid in order to outbid the previous buyer. The system will tell you what the minimum amount is. In the example below, you see that the current price is $320, and the minimum possible subsequent price is $325, then the minimum auction step is $5 at this auction. If the auction is small, then the step can be estimated at a few cents, if an expensive and worthwhile thing is being sold, then the step can be from several hundred dollars.

The eBay auction is a little different from the usual form of auction. As you know, in regular auctions you make a bid, and it is for this amount, if you win, that you will have to buy the proposed log. eBay is more democratic in this regard. The system saves you time and money. As you can see, the field for the bet is called " Your maximum bid' is your maximum bid. That is, by participating in the auction, you simply indicate the maximum amount for which you are ready to buy this or that product, and the system itself is traded, interrupting the bids of competitors. For example, at the moment the product costs 200 dollars, but you see that you are ready to give no more than 500 dollars for it. In “Your maximum bid”, put 500 dollars, and wait. Perhaps the auction will stop already at 250, and then you will pay exactly 250, or maybe they will go further and exceed 500, then you will not pay anything. The “Your maximum bid” you specified is not visible to other users, and this is a big plus. If rates have gone over your limit, you will receive a notification by mail. You can set a new maximum bid, or do not continue trading.

Each auction has a time limit and bidding continues until someone makes the highest bid before the time runs out.

If, when placing a lot, the Seller used the “Buy it Now” option (buy it now), as indicated by the icon and you are satisfied with the price requested by him, then you simply press the appropriate button on the page where the auction is going on and buy the goods immediately. Bidding in this case is terminated and all placed bets are cancelled. We can say that this is a “blitz” price for which the seller is ready to part with his goods without bidding.

Having decided to put a “blitz” for a lot, you become its owner and receive a notification about this - “Congratulations, you have won the item!” Next, you will receive an invoice from the seller, which contains the details for payment, terms and conditions for the delivery of the goods you have chosen.

Another term that you need to know in order to fully participate in the auction is Reserve Price. The seller can set a price below which he does not agree to give his lot. Buyers do not see it, but they can find out whether it has been achieved or not. Information about reaching the minimum price is written in the description of the lot. Of course, you can try to negotiate directly with the seller to buy goods below the minimum price, but this is not always possible. As a rule, auctions end successfully in most cases, therefore, it makes no sense for the seller to rush and give the goods for the first offered price.

How to control your betseBay?

The bid control system is quite simple and well-established. You will be informed about all actions with the lots on which you have placed bets on your e-mail. You can also control the auction movements directly from the panel of your personal page on eBay. If your bid is outbid, or you win the auction, then within a few seconds a notification about this will be sent to the mail, and will be duplicated in private messages on eBay. Trust me, you won't miss anything. No need to refresh the page every 10 seconds, hoping that something will change.

How to withdraw a bid from an auctioneBay?

You can withdraw any bid you have made, but for this you will need to indicate the reason for the withdrawal (wrong amount, bet on the wrong lot, etc.). We talked about canceling a bid in more detail in our article "How to cancel a bid on eBay: a detailed guide."

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Snipers foreBay.

Recently, so-called sniper programs have gained wide popularity on eBay. What is their role? You buy or download certain software that monitors the selected lots. It searches for the minimum bids for the groups of goods you have chosen, and makes them a few seconds before the end of the auction. Thus, in 99% of cases, you can buy a product at the lowest price, while the opponent, if he also does not use a sniper, will not have time to outbid your bid, and the product will be purchased. The sniper program compares favorably with the eBay automatic robot, which immediately outbids the other person's bid, thereby inflating the price of the lot, provoking other participants to make more and more new bids.

That, perhaps, is all that we wanted to tell about rates on eBay. We also invite you to watch the video below, from which you will learn how to shop, what to look for, and supplement your knowledge about rates.

eBay is one of the most popular sites for online shopping enthusiasts. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that goods on eBay can be sold and bought not only at a fixed price, as in a regular online store, but also in the auction mode (online auctions are the main activity of the site). In order to buy the desired product on eBay, you have to fight for it with other buyers.

On hearing the word "auction", most people immediately imagine the classic English open auction that is so often shown in films: after the announcement of the minimum price, the bidders name prices higher than the initial one, and in the end the winner is the one who offers the highest price that competitors cannot beat. However auction on eBay is different, which you need to figure out in order to win the auction and get the item you are interested in.

eBay is the so-called second price auction: the product goes to the buyer who offered the highest price, but he will pay for it not his own bid, but the second highest bid plus the so-called bid increment. Let's look at an example of how the bidding process on eBay works.

When putting up a product for sale, the seller specifies the minimum price for which he is willing to sell the product, and the duration of the auction. Let's say the starting price is $15. One of the potential buyers (let's call him Buyer 1) sees the product, decides to put on it $30 and makes a bet.

The system remembers his bid, but the displayed price remains the same. It will only change after another buyer (Buyer 2) bids. Buyer 2, not knowing how much was bid before him, decides to bid $20.

Since his bid is less than that of Buyer 1, the system will increase the cost of the goods by the so-called minimum bid step. The bid step depends on the price of the product, in this case it will be 50 cents. So after Buyer 2 bid, the displayed price for the item will be $15.5.

After that, Buyer 3 enters the auction and decides to bid $25. After that, the price of the lot will rise to $26(the second high price plus the bid step, which for a price in the range of $25-99.99 is $1), but Buyer 1 will still be the leader, who bid $30.

If no one beats Buyer 1's bid by the end of the auction, he will get the goods, but not for $30, but for the price that will be set at the end of the auction. And if Buyer 4 appears and puts, for example, $40, the goods will go to Buyer 4 if no one has time to put more.

In this case, Buyer 4 will pay for the goods $31, since the second maximum bid is $30 (what Buyer 1 bid), and the bid increment for $25-$99.99 is $1.

During the auction, you can see the history of bids: you can see the number of bids, the dynamics of changes in the price of the lot, the number of bidders (however, the nicknames of the bidders are hidden). You can also see which of the participants is currently the leader and whether there were breaks in his leadership. However the exact amount that the leader staked is unknown. This is the whole complexity of bidding on eBay: only the current bid leader knows the maximum bid, since it was he who placed it.

Before you bid on eBay, study all the information about the proposed lot in particular : it would be a shame if you win the bid and then it turns out that the seller does not ship to your country or uses expensive shipping services.

In addition, if you refuse to pay for the goods, you will be warned; after two warnings, your eBay account will most likely be blocked. Carefully read the product description and additional information, read seller reviews- in general, weigh the pros and cons before bidding.

Deciding to fight for the goods, determine for yourself the maximum amount that you are willing to spend on it. After that, subtract the shipping cost from it. The remaining amount will be your maximum bid in the auction. Be sure to link your eBay account to PayPal, otherwise your bid will not be accepted.

There are two main eBay bidding strategies. The easiest way is to put the maximum amount you are willing to pay for the lot at any time during the auction. If no one kills her, the lot is guaranteed to go to you. And if they kill you - well, you weren’t ready to pay more anyway.

The second strategy is last minute bet. Typically, bidders are in no hurry to increase bids, as everyone wants to buy goods cheaper. Don't bid early, raise your bids, and fuel the hype: Users will bid up just to find out how badly you want to buy a given item.

You need to wait until the last moment, when there are 30 seconds left before the auction closes, and make your first and only bet by setting the maximum price you are willing to pay. The lot will still go to you not at the price you suggested, but at the second maximum price, and the likelihood that your bid will be outbid at the last moment is very small.

In order to successfully place a bid, please log in in advance and go to the product page. Enter the bet amount in a special window, but do not rush to place a bet: click on the button Place Bid, when there are about 30 seconds left or even less until the end of the auction.

However, even such a strategy does not guarantee 100% success: you are unlikely to be the only one who thinks of using it. The winner will be the one who bids the largest amount. Well the possibility of technical problems cannot be ruled out such as interrupting the internet connection.

If you are lucky enough to win the auction, it is important to detail discuss with the seller the terms of payment and delivery. In the event that you bought a product from a seller from the USA, it makes sense to ask him to send a package from eBay (USPS): this way you can control the sending process.

Each USPS package comes with special label, which contains information about the recipient and the product. You can fill out and generate such a label online using and email it to the seller. All he has to do is print the completed label and stick it on the parcel. So you will be sure that your address is correct and the package will not be lost on the way.

To date, eBay is the largest virtual auction. It attracts people with the opportunity to purchase goods at low prices and participate in an exciting bidding process. But at the same time, winning an item on eBay is not easy.

To successfully play at the auction, you need a developed strategy and knowledge of some nuances, otherwise you simply will not keep up with more experienced users.

eBay Auction Success Conditions

Luck at an auction is a fickle thing. Not everyone is able to win back the lot they like. It often happens that the product that you hunted and led at the last moment goes out from under your nose or the price for it increases several times. You should not just wait and hope that your bet will play - you need to carefully analyze and think through each step.

How to win on eBay:

1. Do not bid at the initial stage. Wait until a couple of minutes left before the end of the auction. The ideal time is considered to be a segment of the last 10 seconds. If you manage to make a decisive bet at this moment, you will most likely win.
2. Don't bet big. Just because that's what most people do. And to win, you need to bet one step more than your opponents. That is, the $41.05 option is more likely to succeed than exactly $40.05. In the last seconds, even a cent can play a role.
3. In order not to "overplay", determine for yourself the maximum price that you are willing to pay for the lot. Don't exceed it.
4. Don't raise the price abruptly. The cost of goods and so will grow as we approach the final auction.

The point of an eBay auction - to get an item at a lower price - is often lost in the excitement of bidding. Buyers, without noticing it, at times wind up the price. Therefore, it is important to control not only the rates, but also pay attention to the benefits of the transaction.

last second rule

The method of bidding up in the last 10-15 seconds of auction time remains one of the most popular among eBay old-timers. But even here there are nuances.

It makes sense to bet in the last seconds if:

1. You have the opportunity to be present at the end of the auction. eBay is a worldwide auction. Therefore, there is such a factor as the time difference. Trades may end late at night.
2. You are confident in the quality and speed of your Internet.
3. Your account is linked to PayPal. This increases the chances of success. The bid may not go through if the seller accepts payment only through this system, and you use another service.

There are always many other "snipers" in the auction who also know about the 10 second rule. Therefore, be especially careful if the rate you have proposed has not been “interrupted” by anyone for a long time.

It is likely that at the last moment one of the competitors will "shoot out of cover" and win by only slightly raising the price of the lot. Moreover, such actions at the auction are quite legal.

Proxy Bidding - personal buyer assistant

Not everyone is able to keep track of all transactions at the auction. Moreover, this is impossible if you are running several lots at once. You don't have to be fully involved in the process. eBay has a special Proxy Bidding option.

Here you specify the lot and the maximum amount that you are willing to pay for it. The system itself starts trading.

When your competitor raises the price, the program automatically raises your bid. This happens either to the bitter end, or to your financial ceiling. However, users do not see your maximum bid.

There are also disadvantages. The program checks trades only once every five minutes. The decisive time often comes at this pause. Other than that, you can't undo your decision. If the bid is won, you will have to buy the lot.

Beware of snipers

sniping- not only a strategy for winning bidding, but also the general name of a number of programs. Some of them are launched from third-party sites, others - directly from the user's PC.

The presence of such services at the auction is widely known. Despite the fact that many express dissatisfaction with this method of playing the game, the administration of the auction is neutral towards this kind of program. Moreover, sniper programs are legal.

What is the essence of snipers? The principle of their operation is the hunt for the final bet.

After connecting the program, it acts for the buyer. But it is included in the auction in the very last winning seconds. The user is only required to specify the lot and the maximum bid. The sniper does not exceed the set price. Moreover, it allows you to make the most economical winning bets.

The benefits of such programs:

• independently control trades;
• save money;
• can work simultaneously with several lots.

As a rule, such services are paid. In this case, the price determines the reliability of the resource. Since, resorting to the services of the program, you need to specify your username and password from your account. When using free snipers, you do not have a guarantee that your data will not fall into the hands of scammers.

And finally:

To successfully play on eBay, it is not enough just to systematically raise bids. You need to develop your own winning strategy.

Carefully follow the course of the auction, bargain competently - and you will be able to overtake your rivals. Some prefer to use special programs and services to hunt for lots. But you should be careful - not all applications are reliable.

Here I would like to elaborate on Auction(auction) and its difference from Buy now(buy it now).
Both options have their pros and cons.
Auction- you can get a better price, but you have to wait until the end of the auction and monitor the rates (or a special program will do it for you).
Buy now- a fixed price at which the seller is ready to sell the goods - in this case, you do not need to wait for anything, just put it in the basket and paid, but most likely more expensive than you could win at the auction.

* If you have not yet registered on eBay.com, you can do so by clicking on:

So about the auction - you can sort - which items are auctioned and which are fixed price.

IMPORTANT :
* You are required to pay for each item you win in the auction.
Therefore, do not bid or bid if you are not sure you want to buy this item.
For refusal to pay for the won goods, the buyer may receive a warning Unpaid Item Strike, several of these warnings lead to account blocking.

Reasons why you might cancel a bid/not make a purchase :
1) The bet amount was entered incorrectly due to a typo.
For example, you entered $100 instead of $10. In this case, you must immediately place a bet on the correct amount.
2) Item description has changed since last bid. For example, the seller updated information about the features or condition of the item after the bids were placed.
3) Unable to contact the seller by phone or email.
Auction cancellation link http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?RetractBidShow

* You cannot bid or bid on the items you sell - either on your own or through nominees.

From the moment the first bet was made ( Bid) it is forbidden to change the description of the goods and the conditions of sale.
Since the beginning of 2010, eBay has banned changes to packaging/shipping costs after the end of the auction.

Be sure to check how much it costs to ship the item to you before you bid.
In some cases, shipping may be more expensive than the item itself. If not specified Free Shipping(free shipping), then the description indicates Handling(package cost) and Shipping(cost of delivery).

The auction can last from 1 to 10 days.
Place Bid- place a bet.
time left is the time left until the end of the auction.

Trades are conducted on the basis of the so-called "minimum steps" ( Bid increments).
This is the minimum amount you can bet to outbid your competitor.

When you place a bet Place Bid), the system will prompt you to specify maximum bid, in which case the system continues to trade for you if you are currently unable to do so yourself.
Your maximum bid is the maximum price you are willing to pay for a product.

This means that if someone overrides the one you set Bid, then the system will raise the bid by one "step" for you each time, until it reaches the maximum price that you are willing to pay for the item, i.e. - maximum bid or until the end of the auction, and the maximum price indicated by another bidder is lower than yours.
In this case, you will buy an item at a price lower than indicated in maximum bid.

If your competitor's bid is higher than your maximum bid, you will receive an email notification that your maximum bid has been outbid and decide for yourself whether to continue trading or not.

The rest of the bidders do not see your maximum bid or your nickname.

The seller installs Starting Bid(initial price of the item).
But in addition to the initial price, the seller can set Reserve Price(reserve price or hidden minimum price), that is, the price below which bids will not be accepted.
This price is not seen by bidders, they only see if this price has been reached. If not, it will be written - Reserve price not meet yet.
Sometimes a minimum price is put on a product to attract buyers, but this does not always mean that you will be able to buy at such a low price, since it can be set Reserve Price.

If the title says "NR" ( No reserve), which means that there is no reserve price set for this product.

If you have already participated in the auction for a specific item, then at the end of the auction you have the opportunity to make 1-click bid- raise the bet by one "step" with a single click.

Clicking on 1-click bid you get a window (see left), where the amount has already been set.
In this case, an additional window does not appear asking you to confirm the set price, so this option is convenient a couple of minutes before the end of the auction ( in the example on the left, it's almost 13 minutes, but that's too long for 1-click bid ).

It is best to bid towards the end of the auction.
Add your favorite item to watch list, when there is a little left before the end of the auction, you will receive an email notification about this.


During the auction, you will receive notifications by email.

If the title says:
ENDING Product Name- a warning that the auction for this item ends soon.
Outbid notice: Bid again on Product Name- a warning that someone outbid your bid and an offer to make a new one.
Enjoy your Product Name- it means you won the auction, the letter will say Congratulations, it's all yours!(Congratulations, it's all yours now!) and an offer to pay for the goods by clicking on the button pay now.
GOT AWAY Product Name- means you lost the auction. The email will list the item, your maximum bid, and the price the item was sold for.

Sniper programs :
If you participate in auctions a lot and often, then maybe you should use a sniper program ( auction sniper).
The program in the last seconds of trading can beat the competitor's bid, while it makes the lowest possible bids, within the maximum set by you. You only indicate to the program the item (lot) number and the maximum price that you are willing to pay for this item.

If figuratively - the sniper quietly sits in the bushes until the last seconds of the auction, does not create a stir and does not wind up the price. He just "shoots", that is, makes a bid a few seconds before the end of the auction. The price at which you will get the lot will be equal to the maximum bid of the competitor plus the "step".

Such programs are usually paid, use free "snipers" should be careful, because you give your eBay login password.
Although well-known "snipers" have free versions, such versions have limitations, for example, no more than one bet per day, etc.

If you are just starting to play on the auction, then make your first bid manually, as eBay may request additional data about you for verification. The sniper will not be able to do this and then the bet will not be accepted.

I have no personal experience with such services.