How does eBay bidding work? How to win auctions

Bidding in an eBay auction is all about getting a bargain price for the item you want. Once a seller mentions the starting price, it’s you against other buyers competing to place the highest bid before the listing ends. However, there are some tricks you can use to help you win and keep your wallet happy. Here’s how eBay bidding works.

Read more: Five Best Auction Apps for Android

How bidding works on eBay

eBay auctions often have multiple competing bidders, but you can increase your chances of winning by using a sensible strategy. Do some research before bidding on an item. The goal is to find the offer that gives you the best chance of winning for the lowest possible price.

Think about how much you are willing to pay, determine your maximum bid and stick to it. Never place a bid until you are ready to buy the item as you are committing to the purchase if you win.

Send offers

If the seller is willing to accept offers, consider sending them your best offer. The seller has the option to accept it, decline it, or make you a counter offer if they are interested but want to negotiate. If your best offer is accepted, you can often win an item without having to wait through the auction, and it could even save you some money.

Tips and tricks

You can see items sold on eBay to view the highest bids on previous auctions for similar items. In addition, try using different keywords to see all currently available auctions on the site. For example, use misspelled words like “porcelane” instead of “porcelain” in your search. If a listing title has a typo, fewer people will find it, meaning fewer bidders to compete against.

Keep in mind what time the auction ends and how many other users are viewing the item. A common tactic on eBay is bid sniping, which involves people trying to invade at the last minute with a winning bid. You’ll see a lot of activity as auction-style listings are about to expire. In that regard, bidding your time is crucial. Placing your highest bid in the last seconds increases your chances of getting the item. If you see that you are immediately outbid, try bidding an odd amount, such as $10.63 instead of $10.50. Why? Because people often set maximum limits in even numbers. More about this in the last paragraph.

Also see: Cancel a bid on eBay

When cutting bids, try to time your intervals as well. Sometimes, if you expect other snipers to bid very late, bidding for them ten or twenty seconds before closing can help. eBay’s rules state that an earlier bid that is equal to a later bid takes precedence. You can use a third-party ‘auction-sniping’ service, such as: Last minute auction, which will automatically bid for you at the last minute without exceeding your maximum bid. Some services like BayCrazy help you find hidden bargains on eBay by letting you auction items with no current bids.

Book prices

A reserve price is an amount for which the seller is willing to sell an item. On eBay, if no one bids up to the reserve price, no one will get the thing. In other words, even if you are the highest bidder at the end of an auction, you will not win the item if you see the “reserve not met” message after placing the bid.

There are cases where a seller lowers their reserve price during an auction if they don’t see much activity. However, do not rely on these cases to win an auction. If an auction has a reserve price, it’s best to bid up to that amount as early as possible so that a low starting price doesn’t attract other bidders.

Consider downloading the eBay app to receive auction notifications and place bids directly from your phone.

Set up automatic bidding on eBay

Automatic bidding is a way to let eBay bid on your behalf while you are away. It’s a handy feature when the auction ends late at night, as it’s difficult to monitor incoming bids while trying to stay awake. To set up automatic bidding, simply enter the maximum amount you are willing to pay for an item and click Place bid. eBay will place slightly higher bids to keep you in the lead, but only up to your limit.

You’ll be notified if someone outbids you, so you can decide if you want to increase your maximum bid. When setting a maximum bid, keep in mind that you also have to pay shipping costs. So make sure you feel comfortable paying the total amount if you win the auction.

Set out-of-bounds notifications

A handy feature of eBay is to get real-time alerts that someone has outbid you, so you don’t have to constantly monitor the auction listing. To enable notifications:

1. Click My eBay in the top right corner of the screen eBay.com.
2. Click Account in the main menu.
3. Click on the left side communication preferences.
4. Click under the heading ‘Buying activity’ on show.
5. Make sure all drop-down menus are set to “Realtime” and check the box next to it outbid to receive an instant message.

Now you know the moment someone outbids you, so you can jump back in and outbid them!