[LMB] AKICOT:L - eBay bidding

[alayne at twobikes.ottawa.on.ca]

You can use JBidWatcher (see jbidwatcher.com). It's a java-based app that 
should run on most operating systems.

If I really do want to spike, I ensure that my PC is set to National 
Research Council of Canada time to the second (there's an equivalent in 
the U.S. and other countries), with a program that keeps it on time. And I 
have a clock on my PC that shows seconds.

Then I check how far my time is different from ebay's time with a few 
refreshes, and ensure that I'm freshly signed in. And then I go to the 
final bid-confirm page with my bid already entered, and click on the 
"confirm bid" icon with a few seconds to go (allowing for any difference 
between my and ebay's time).

It requires steady hands, steady nerves, and a decision in advance of 
exactly what the maximum is that you want to pay.

Essentially, what you should do is assume you will be bid against by 
someone in the last few minutes, and enter your last and final bid in the 
last few seconds. That way you're least likely to be outbid. If you wait 
to see that someone's outbid you, it's too late.

Alayne

On Fri, 15 Feb 2008, Jacki Knight wrote:
> I have a question for those of you who are experienced in eBay usage.
> 
> Just recently I have been involved in two auctions where I really  
> thought I was winning. I kept clicking refresh every few seconds as  
> we got down to the final minutes and in both cases a I was outbid  
> with less than 10 seconds to go.
> 
> Does anyone know how this happens? And is there any way I can  
> overcome it?

-- 
Alayne McGregor
alayne at twobikes.ottawa.on.ca

"In dark paradise the other people grope on an arduous road. And the only brightness that sometimes lights
their nightly march like an ephemeral spark is a brief impression of a chance magnetic neighborliness --
a brief nostalgia, a momentary shudder, a dream of an hour of sunrise." -- C.V. Cavafy