when to bid or not to bid, that is the question!

two weeks ago, with one single strategic bid i won a brand new(2005) pair of $400 authentic prada shoes.the total cost  for the shoes was $34...the shipping, $15....the total price "mathematically", wa $49. i paid a total of $42 for both the shoes and the shipping combined....how?...read on and you will soon find out that to be a smart ebay bidder requires some work a few tricks and a little  dose of lady luck.here are my two, tried and tested strategies which i am sharing with you.

the first strategy: THE WAITING GAME:

step 1) DO your HOMEWORK. finding a good product takes time and patience. if you want to hurry up the process  then sort your products according to time and click on 'ending soonest'. it is at the top right hand side of the page.that way you may get lucky and you spot a good product that is ending soon and you can bid on it and get it. however that is not always the case.like i said...it takes a bit of time to spot a good deal.

step 2) once you spot the item you are looking for click the 'WATCH THIS ITEM' tab so that it can be stored in ' my ebay' and you can then 'stalk your ebay item/prey' at your leisure.trust me the 'watch this item' is a great tool for the serious ebay bidder/hunter.

step 3) DO NOT BID! you MUST play the waiting game. you wait and watch depending on how bad you want this product/item.( further down i will tell you in which circumstance one should bid soon, that is my second strategy)

step 4) KNOW your SELLER.check his/her feedback score. the greater the feedback score,the more likely they know their product and the less likely you are to run into problems.  make sure you recheck with your seller the authenticity of the product/item. DO NOT wait to bid on the item and then ask questions because once you bid it means you are already comitted to buying the item.you really cant change your mind.

step 5)KNOW your FELLOW BIDDERS. now that you are sure of your product. its time to look around you. meaning who else has bid on this item? you can find this out by using one of the many ebay tools. click on the history tab. you will see a list of the bidders starting with the highest bidder and then moving down to the lowest bidder.this is a very important step.so PAY ATTENTION. depending on the number of times a bidders name appears, the harder it is going to be to win your item without a fight. which i have now termed "bidding wars"

RULE OF THUMB: the number of times a fellow bidder bids is directlly proportional to the desire to obtain that item, which for you= more money spent on that item then is required.again observe your fellow bidders. check their feedback scores. the greater the feedback scores the more experianced your fellowbidder is. which means they know what they are doing.the less the feedback score the less likely they are to know the tricks of the trade.the more likely you are to be able to get your desired item at the desired price.so do watch for that. it is definately a helpful clue to know who your are up against.you can even check your fellowbidders previousely bought items by clicking on the bidders user names this may help you to see whether they buy expensive items or cheaper items and it may give you a clue as to how high they are willing to bid.

step 6)DO NOT BID! once again i am repeating..do not be tempted to bid on the item even if you see alot of bids. you must wait and keep watching or it will result in a 'bidding war' which no one wants. this only hikes up prices.

step 7)keep waiting.as the auction nears its end and the count down begins, you will see that when there is 1 day left, the colour of the font/writing now turns to red and the time is counted down in hours starting with 24 hours,23 hrs,22hrs, etc. now the real game has begun.this is when serious bidders start to turn up the heat. this is when you will see more bids popping up for that item.(again i will stress, it all depends on the type of item)this is when auctions that falsely seemed to be dorment appear to be very,very active.

step 8)there arent many hours left for the auction to end. this is when sellers whos items have not been bid on realise that in order to make a sale, they need to lower their 'starting bid'.alot of the time they are willing to knock down the price .,they can only do this when the item has no bids then it is possible to revise items and change some aspects of their listings.like 'initial bid',shipping cost and better shipping discounts. that is why i stressed repeatedly "DO NOT BID TOO EARLY".the waiting game is crucial.sellers cannot change any aspect of their listing if there are bids on the item.

step 9)'IT DOESNT HURT TO ASK' .ask the seller if he/she is willing to drop the price of the shipping. some times as a precaution or a handling fee sellers keep a higher shipping cost. ask them in advance if it is possible to drop the price of the shipping even a few dollars. if the seller has one of those ebay stores where the price of shipping is the same for every item throughout his/her site,wether or not the item really does cost that much to ship, the less likely he/she will be to lower shipping cost. if it is a casual ebay seller.some one who is cleaning out their closets, they have an item which didnt fit, etc.the more likely they will be to lower shipping cost.in the case where your seller agrees to lower shipping cost, you must ask for a new invoice to be sent once the auction has closed. that is how i did it when i was buying my prada shoes. the shipping was $15. a pair of shoes does not cost $15 to ship via regular mail. not fedex or ups just regular united states postal service. my seller was a lovely person, who was a casual ebayer clearing out her closet, and she was more then willing to lower the price of the shipping from $15, to $8.thats almost half the cost and so i paid a total of $42 instead of $49 for both shoes and shipping together. that is why i stressed "KNOW YOUR SELLER" it really helps.have some sort of communication with your seller.

step 10) now there are only a few hours left for the auction to end. keep your eyes on both the bids, and the bidders. are they knew bidders?, or are the same die hard bidders from the beginning still in the game?

step 11)one hour to go...keep watching.DO NOT BID.

step12)one to two minutes to go. BID! i would say one minute but i am giving you a margin.now is the time to bid.when you bid, keep in mind your fellow competitive bidders and the die hard bidders. dont forget that there will usually be one person who is the die hard bidder who wants the item as much as you do. this means that he/she potentially has bid a 'higher maximum bid' which you cannot see. you can take a gamble and bid slightly above the highest bid and hope that the highest bidder has not got a higher maximum bid then you.or, you can go for a sure shot and bid much higher but still within an amount that you can afford and are willing to pay even if it is on the higher side. here is where lady luck comes in. if you are lucky,  chances are,your fellow bidder has not put a much higher maximum bid. if he/she has been bidding for a while .they have been playing the bidding war from the start of the auction he/she will not be expecting a new bidder to just pop into the game and throw in a much higher maximum bid. by the time they recover from the fact that they have been outbid by a new bidder (you) and they click on the "place bid" button,which takes them to the next page which is where they have to confirm their bid and then click again, the auction would have ended! the item is yours! GAME OVER!

in the case where you have placed your bid when there are 1-3 minutes to go and the other bidder has outbid you, you still have time to swoop in and go for a higher maximum bid. however it is always best to be a little bold and go with a higher maximum bid in the beginning and let the ebay automatic bidding system do the bidding for you instead of having to scramble in the last few seconds. leave the scrambling for the amateurs! if you are lucky, you wont have to pay the amount you put as your maximum amount .ebay will compare your bid amount to that of other bidders and use only that much of your bid in order to keep you as the higher bidder.since your maximum bid is hidden from other bidders, you end up paying less then the maximum price you entered thanks to the automatic bidding system of ebay.

second strategy:  THE TRIGGER HAPPY INSTANT BIDDER.

 the first strategy we used was employing the waiting technique. the second is completely opposite to the first. in this second strategy we use a sort of reverse psychology...read on...

step 1) follow step 1) and step 2) of first strategy.

step 2) now that you have found your item 'BID INSTANTLY'. do not hesitate as long as you are sure you want this item.

step 3) now sit back and relax.EXPLANATION: many times when other bidders come across an item that has already been bid on, it is some what of a turn off. alot of ebayers do not want to get into bidding wars and so if an item has a bid on it, it is somewhat like a 'DO NOT DISTURB' sign. this is a better strategy for items which are not so high-end or not that expensive.nice items but not die-for items.

step 4) same as step 4 of first stategy.KNOW YOUR SELLER.

step 5) in this case lets say you are the first bidder or amoung the early bidders of an auction.again....KNOW YOUR FELLOW BIDDERS. its not as crucial but still an important part of your instant bidder strategy.

step 6) as the auction nears its end, you may see more bidders popping up. but then again, with your early bid on the item it may discourage other potential bidders.now is the time to ask for shipping discounts.

step 7) follow the bidding technique given in step 12. it is the same for both strategies. the disadvantages for this technique is that you may have to bid multiple times as opposed to when you just have to sit and wait and watch and you bid right at the end.

so there you have it, the fine art of bidding and winning on ebay, and getting the price you desire.anyone can bid, but only one will win an auction!