ebay bids. Are they a joke, a con or what?

Question

I've just joined ebay and was bidding for a Motorola v3x phone. With just minutes left and the bid £111 it suddenly shot up in stages to £230!! Another v3x went from £108 to £420 in the last minutes!!!! Surely these can't be genuine as you can buy the phone from Amazon for around £270 so who'd pay over £400????
Do people do this just for the fun of it? Does it happen all the time?

Answer 1

That tends to happen. Some people get involved in bidding wars and they just HAVE to win the auction, regardless if they end up paying more for the item or not! But I've made some good money and gotten great deals on ebay. So don't let those two experiences you had discourage you from using the site.

Answer 2

Sometimes people pay well over the odds for stuff on eBay. I think it's auction fever. I once sold a knitting machine table to an American who was prepared to pay £15 for the table and £25 to ship it to the States. For that money, they could have paid a local carpenter to knock one up and have enough left over for gold inlay.

You can buy software that puts in a last minute bid to eBay. eBay don't like it, but there's not much they can do to stop it.

Answer 3

I tend to snipe but i think theres a system if you bid £150 and the highest current bid is £60, it will bid for you every so often add make your bid £65 to top the previous bid. So by the end if the highest bid is £80, you will only have to pay £80 and not £150 if that makes sense...?

Answer 4

I know I don't get it either! I think people probably jsut get addicted to bidding or are just addicted to wanting to win. I bought Incubus tickets the other day (through normal channels) and anyway, I went on ebay a few hours later and noticed that there were people already selling Incubus tickets and people were bidding despite Incubus tickets still being avilable through genuine ticket outlets. Why were these people biding for hiked up incubus tickets when they could get them cheaper by buying them through the official means.

It is the same with Reading Tickets. I remember on ebay in the summer people were bidding on 1 day reading tickets despite them still being available for cheaper from ticket outlets.

People are strange!

Answer 5

i think the simple answer to your question is some people are just stupid and will pay more because they dont know any better but sometimes the owner will get the bid up high to entise others to bid but the owner would not do that in the last seconds

Answer 6

Ive seen this happen loads of times, Ive even seen something shoot up to £300+ when exactly the same thing is on a buy now offer directly underneath it for £150.

Perhaps some people take it personally when they get outbid,lol.

Answer 7

it has been known for some sellers to have multiple accounts so they can run the bids up on their own items. not everyone is dishonest. many people use eBay and are very happy. always read the sellers feedback. don't give up, keep trying, there are many bargains to be had.

Answer 8

I sold a brand new lawnmower on eBay in 2003. Funnily enough, it eventually sold for £8 more than B&Q were charging for them. I think bidders get carried away. When I am after something I am very mindful of that and set my limit in my mind and never exceed it.

Answer 9

Bidders put in an offer waiting for the last minute. It does seem a lot for a phone.
I dislike people who do not pay up so perhaps the highest bidder doesn't pay and doesn't care if he/she gets a negative feedback.

Answer 10

ebays 4 real lol u can sumtimes get a good bargain and other times things will go for more money than its wrth ppl get a bit bid crazy lol