Monday, June 8, 2009

Bidding On Ebay: Dont Get Eaten Alive

Since eBay is the lifeblood of many of us for singles that we want to purchase, I want to discuss bidding practices for possibly getting the card you want, at the price you want it. I know for me, I have personal policies that I only break under very particular circumstances, and I am hoping that this discussion can help some people out, or at least prevent stupid bids from happening to my card.

First, the question of bidding late versus bidding early always presents itself with an auction that is not BIN/BO. I know when I take a look at an item, I always look at the clock first. Normally, unless it is a card that I know wont come up again for a while, I wont even open an auction unless there is a BIN or less than a day left. Its just pointless to examine an auction for a non-rare card if there is eight days left on the timer. In fact, if the card isnt low numbered or rare, you shouldn’t be bidding early either. Just put it on your watch list if its important, and wait until later. Early bidders suck when an auction first comes up, mainly because it normally disqualifies a BIN/BO, and puts the auction in the seller's court if he is a shiller. If the card is rare, it’s a little different, because early bids can sometimes prevent off eBay sales, and can put you in the drivers seat for watching the item grow. However, the shill is still a factor, and it is always a good idea to look out for that.

As for the BIN/BO auctions, its always safe to believe that the card is not going to go for less than it usually does. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule, but it’s mostly a waste of time to use lowball offers. If you actually want the card, its better to just offer fair market value, plus a possible incentive of a few extra dollars, just to prevent a loss because the seller hates you. BIN/BO is a great way to buy cards, unless you are dealing with a shop that still operates on book value. Then you should just avoid the item in the interest of time, as they are not going to be accepting reasonable offers. Also, if you want the card, and you put in a lowball offer, don’t expect a counteroffer. Most people, including myself sometimes, just think you are some kid who doesn’t know any better, and will deny you without a thought. If you are indifferent to the card, go ahead and lowball, you may get lucky. No reason to risk a card you want because you want a crazy good deal.

In terms of late bidding, I usually wont bid on a card unless there is less than 30 seconds in the auction. Because sniping, or "eFucking" as my dad calls it, has become so popular, its stupid to put in an early bid on a card you want without considering how many other people want it. Sniping is a great idea, especially if you have found a good program, because you can easily enter in the max price you want without having to sit there and wait. As for me, I don’t like to use programs, mostly because I like to see the auction develop in the last seconds. If the card ends late, I will set an alarm if its important. Its just a thing for me, doesn’t happen often that I need to go out of my way to be there. Plus, the card is going to go at or around SV 99% of the time, so putting in early bids of 10 bucks on a 100 dollar card is just not going to be a good use of resources - unless, like above, its rare and succeptible to off eBay deals.

The important thing remains, if you see a card you want, just be smart about it. Don’t be stupid enough to let a card go because you want to get the best possible deal. Its better to assume the card will go at the expected price, and feel good when you get a deal. Also, the golden rule remains, unless you get some 2,000 dollar card for 200 bucks, there is no reason to go posting steals all over message boards. I will come and strangle you with the cord from your desk lamp.

4 comments:

  1. Nice article Gellman.

    As a collector, and I talk from experience of a guy that has thousands of useless cards from the 80's and 90's due to overprinting - just find a product you like and sort by serial number and/or autograph. Try to make your purchase worth something so 10 years down the road you can sell it if you have to.

    I also know it's expensive but try to stick to Exquisite, NT, SPX and Donruss Elite while you're collecting (I'm sure I missed a few good ones).

    If I buy a base card - you can be assured it's because I love the player and it's an Exquisite or NT...end of story.

    btw - I'm all over Stephen McGee as a my sleeper for 2011. Aggie kid playing for Dallas and he has a huge arm. Aaron Rodgers should have a nice bounce back this year as well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the warning. I got 36 of the UD 2Oth Anniversay Cards for the set I'm building for $. 99c and was going to do a post on it. But I won't becuase I don't want you to kill me.

    Oh crap I just posted it here. Anyway. Nice article

    ReplyDelete
  3. Those 'steal' posts are all over the baseball section of FCB. I understand that you're proud of yourself for getting a good deal, but do you really need everybody else to feel proud of you as well?

    ReplyDelete
  4. "In fact, if the card isnt low numbered or rare, you shouldn’t be bidding early either. Just put it on your watch list if its important, and wait until later."

    Why not just schedule a snipe using a sniping service? You can always go back and cancel it.


    "Sniping is a great idea, ... because you can easily enter in the max price you want without having to sit there and wait. As for me, I don’t like to use programs, mostly because I like to see the auction develop in the last seconds. If the card ends late, I will set an alarm if its important. ...so putting in early bids of 10 bucks on a 100 dollar card is just not going to be a good use of resources..."

    But automated sniping is the best choice for the efficient use of your most valuable resource - YOUR TIME.

    Set it and forget it. If you change your mind, cancel it. That is much better than placing an early bid and then having to file for a retraction (sellers can ban bidders who have bid retractions, so that could affect your future bidding).

    Which, I know that you also advise not to bid early, but most people probably cannot be near a computer when some of the items in that they want to bid on end.


    Something else that you could try (May not work well as card sellers may have a pretty good handle on things) is searching eBay for misspellings of the item you want. Sites like Typojoe.com allow you to just enter in a keyword and click the search button and you'll be taken to eBay and shown any items that have potential misspellings of the keyword you entered, in their title.

    If you can find an item with the main key word misspelled, you may be able to get a great deal as there will be less competition that will find it.

    ReplyDelete