Bidding ethics and ebay

Bikingnut

Good morning everyone. Many times while browsing ebay I'll come across coins that have a few hours to go, no bids, a starting bid, and a buy it now price of two or three times more than starting bid. Example: Last night I came across a nice BU Washington, I think it was a 44S, that had a starting bid of 12.99, and a buy it now price of 36.99. It was a no reserve auction and there were no bidders. Would anyone here have a problem bidding at the starting price at the last minute and not use the buy it now feature even in a no reserve auction?

Me personnaly, I don't feel right about it. I don't have a problem bidding on auctions that have no bids in the last minute that don't have a buy it now price. Any thoughts?

Dennis

JrGMan2004

Absolutely nothing unethical about bidding at the starting bid with a minute left that has a BIN... nothing unethical about winning at the opening bid...

fivecents

JRG....

solid

Absolutely not! The seller listed the coin with an opening bid that was the
minimum they were willing to accept to sell the coin. There may be 3 or 4
other people bidding in that last minute, or there may not be...you never
know until the hammer falls.

Ken

UncleJoe

I dont understand your dilemma.

You bid what you are willing to pay not what the seller wants you to pay. If the seller wasn't willing to let it sell for a lower price he should not have listed a lower opening bid or placed a reserve. And for those others, they will simply cancel the auction.

Joe.

rkfish

I agree with the others.......bid !!

ddbird

In most cases, sellers set a the opening bid price at a price they would be somewhat happy with if it ended there. The BIN, is normally the price in which the seller starts dancing with joy. There is nothing wrong with bidding in the last few min. for a low price...just means better deals for you!

orie

Another thought. You can't bid against yourself, therefore, I usually in this case bid with about 4 min to go. This way I might have another shot.

edsiajb

I have seen sellers using artificially high BIN pricing trying to draw bidders up to a higher reserve. Without the very high BIN price, the item would probably never meet the reserve.

RotatedRainbows

The opening bid is the minimum the seller will sell the coin for, the BUY IT NOW is what the sellers wishes he could get for it. If they did not want to sell the coin for the opening bid then they should not start it at that price so I would place a bid in the last few seconds at the opening or just above in case someone else is waiting to try to snipe it at that price.

orie

Was at a meeting a couple of nights ago and missed a coin. I emailed the buyer with a offer of $50 more then the selling price of $275. He emailed back that he was a collector and was going to keep the coin, but thanked me for the offer.
I see no problem with this. We both have excellent feedback.

fishcooker

When I see things like that, my first response is to check the starting bid against market price. Lots of sellers price stuff too high, looking for a sucker to BIN.

Most times the seller is simply unrealistic in their pricing structure, and everybody else on Ebay figured it out before I did.

ziggy29

<< <i>Another thought. You can't bid against yourself, therefore, I usually in this case bid with about 4 min to go. This way I might have another shot. >>

How is this any more efficient than just determining the maximum you're willing to pay and sniping that amount with four *seconds* to go?

If you place your best offer just before it ends, you can avoid bidding wars if you win the coin, *and* you won't get emotionally sucked into paying more than you really wanted to pay.

flaminio

You're a good man, Dennis, but you've got no worries here. As far as ethics in bidding goes, eBay sets the rules programmatically. Anything that the program accepts is ethical.

In situations such as you've described, a typical strategy is to BIN-stomp and then snipe at the BIN price. Of course, you risk being outbid at the end, but you guarantee you won't pay more than the BIN, and most likely will pay less.

BowTieCoins

I'd say there is nothing wrong with taking it at its starting price! Good deal!

Katrina

XpipedreamR

<< <i>Good morning everyone. Many times while browsing ebay I'll come across coins that have a few hours to go, no bids, a starting bid, and a buy it now price of two or three times more than starting bid. Example: Last night I came across a nice BU Washington, I think it was a 44S, that had a starting bid of 12.99, and a buy it now price of 36.99. It was a no reserve auction and there were no bidders. Would anyone here have a problem bidding at the starting price at the last minute and not use the buy it now feature even in a no reserve auction?

Me personnaly, I don't feel right about it. I don't have a problem bidding on auctions that have no bids in the last minute that don't have a buy it now price. Any thoughts?

Dennis >>








Can you explain what exactly it is that you don't feel right about, and has it changed since you've read the responses?

BAJJERFAN

Why would you BIN for 3X first bid? Thats kinda not smart unless you really need the coin. Thats also not smart on the seller's part because the BIN can be easily removed. A smart seller will put his BIN number close to the first bid to encourage bidders to just go ahead and get it over with. I had one buyer try to save a lousy $5 by bidding the first bid when the BIN was only $5 more. Smoeone else also bid late and the first bidder ended up paying MORE than the BIN price.

shmort6552

I agree with the others. I get a laugh when I hear people talking about a no reserve auction with a low starting bid. IF there is a starting bid of, for example, $29.00, then thats a reserve. The seller will not sell for anything lower than that. If thats not a reserve, I don;t know what is. It saves the seller fees with e-bay as I understand there is a charge for a reserve auction, but anything less than a penny start, is a reserve.

If it walks like a duck...........

Bid away!!!!

Myqqy

I agree with everything that's been said- there's no ethical problem here so bid away! I've oftentimes wondered if hefty BIN prices keep people from getting into an auction until very late, but I have no way of knowing if that's true......

uncleb

I'm having trouble understanding why you would have a problem with it. Do you like to give away money for nothing? If so, please send me some. I can really use it.

Consider the possibility that the dealer only needed $13 to cover this coin and free up some cash for other purchases, the rent, or phone bill. By not bidding on a coin you wanted you may have cost him much more than you realize. Maybe this coin now gets flopped to the next vest pocketer who comes by for $10. Unless he listed this as an outright gamble to save listing fees, you haven't done him much of a favor by not bidding on it.

In fairness, I have heard similar silliness from the other side of the table; like dealers who worry that the bid incriment is too high, or reduce the winning bid to the second bidders level. Hard to believe, but it happens.