Do you ever make "Stake Your Claim" bids ?

[WCP]

The idea behind a "Stake Your Claim" bid:


Let's say that you see something on Ebay that you'd really want to get, but unfortunately the price is already at the maximum limit that you're willing to pay. You could try to set up an Esnipe or something, and try to snag it with 5 seconds left at the minimum bid, OR.... You can put in a minimum bid now, and "Stake Your Claim".

Here is how the theory works. The idea is that other people that will see this auction, will look at the price, and look at the shipping, and realize that there is already an active bidder on it, and if the price is already as high as it really should be, then I think a lot of other Ebayers are just going to think to themselves.. "Well the price is already high on that thing, there is already a guy bidding on it, do I really want to try to outbid that guy, when the price is already pretty high ?" .

Now some may say that it's a mistake to EVER bid any earlier than you have to. Don't be the guy that puts in the first bid, unless that first bid is with 5 seconds left in the auction. Their thinking is that an early bid is going to draw unnecessary attention to the item, and you were better off letting sleeping dogs lie. Why put that bid in there to draw attention ? When some people do advanced searches, they only look for items that already have a bid, and now the auction that you are interested in, is going to be seen by them. Had you just not made any bids until the last possible second, then you don't bring any unwanted attention.

Well, here's my response to that. Sure, when you do a "Stake Your Claim" bid, you are running the risk of having more people notice the auction, than would have otherwise. However, if the auction is already at the maximum amount that you want to spend, why not just put the bid in now, and anybody else that has a similar view of the item is going to look at the total price with shipping and everything, see there is a guy already bidding on it, and some people are just going to say F it. They might be slightly interested in the item, but not with somebody else actively bidding on it.

[bb_hood]

I often bid early. If something starts off at 0.01$ and you are the first to bid say, 50$, then you will win the item if it sells for 50$ or less.
If the item is worth 50-60$ and you are the first to bid 50$, then you will be the winner if it sells for less than it is worth.

[Atarileaf]

when you do a "Stake Your Claim" bid, you are running the risk of having more people notice the auction, than would have otherwise.

I'm confused, how does NOT putting in a bid make an auction less noticeable? Searches reveal all items, not just ones with bids.

Also, shipping is a massive consideration anymore, especially being in Canada and buying from the US. I'll go all in on an auction with multiple bids that has cheaper shipping and, god help me, no import charges up front (stop using that people, it's a rip off!!) than an auction with no bids that has insane shipping costs.

[Enmity]

I always wait until the last moments to bid at all. Normally I use a program for "sniping" items that I don't really care about but would like to have for the right prices. Items I care I about I usually bid on personally because sometimes I make the last minute decision to over pay XD.

However sometimes when I see auctions newly listed for items I REALLY want I try to convince the selling to switch over to a buy it now at anywhere from 50%-100% of the items real worth depending on the items. More often the seller will choose the price they want to set and it ends up being around 25% less than what I was willing to spend on the item to begin with. The reason I take this route is because I don't like fighting over items, and would rather just not bid sometimes. If I can buy the item on the spot for a fair price I'm more apt to spend my money lol.

[WCP]

I'm confused, how does NOT putting in a bid make an auction less noticeable? Searches reveal all items, not just ones with bids.

Well, I knew of people who would do "Advanced Search", and they would click on the box to only see items that have at least one bid on it. Their theory, is that anything that is actually worth having, would already have a bid on it, so it saves them time from scanning through tons of pages of Ebay results.

[Atarileaf]

Well, I knew of people who would do "Advanced Search", and they would click on the box to only see items that have at least one bid on it. Their theory, is that anything that is actually worth having, would already have a bid on it, so it saves them time from scanning through tons of pages of Ebay results.

Baffling theory, every auction needs a first bid.

[ProjectCamaro]

I always bid within the last five seconds of an aution. If I bid early someone else may bid, and they can keep bidding until they hit my max bid and end up winning the auction, now bidding more than they had planned on. They can place some bids in and keep bidding until they hit their max which is under yours but now you're paying more for it.

I bid at the last second so they cannot come back and up their bid causing the price of the auction to go up. After trying both ways I find this is the way to get the best price while winning more auctions.

I also place a bid at an odd number, i.e. I won't bid $8.00 for something, I will instead bid $8.57. This will allow me to beat people who bid the normal amounts without me going overboard.