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Who are these moronic eBay bidders?

mcdj

mcdj

macrumors G3
Original poster
Jul 10, 2007
8,974
4,233
NYC
I've been buying and selling on ebay since 1998. I don't sell aspirin or socks. I sell my used computers, cameras, watches, etc. Hard goods. Relatively expensive stuff, typically current models, in great condition.

My items usually sell, and usually for market value. Sometimes slightly more, sometimes slightly less.

But without fail, the first few bidders of every auction I've ever run, are absolutely delusional.

Does anyone in their right mind actually think they're going to win an iPad 4 for their high bid of $3.99? A Canon 5D body for $27? A MacBook Air, ANY MacBook Air, in ANY condition, for $55?

These are actual bids I've received. And those are just the ones above $1. Many others have been 99 cents.

I understand that some people bid low as a means to watch or follow the auction, although clicking the "watch auction" button does the trick for me.

But there seems to be no shortage of people with either zero understanding of how ebay works, or zero understanding of market values for popular items. And a $55 bid isn't a 99 cent placeholder bid...that's a dude sitting in front of a computer, thinking, "Hmm, I sure would like me a nice Apple computer for $55! Can I swing it? What the heck! I'll splurge!"

Sure, there are great deal stories out there, but there have been exactly zero legitimate $4 iPad auctions or $25 full frame SLRs sold in the history of ebay.

So what are these brain donors smoking?
 
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Keep in mind that ebay used to be exactly that: the place to pick up used stuff for way cheap. This was before it became the place to try to make a big profit off used stuff. "Market value" was rarely considered in the early ebay days. I used to be able to sign onto ebay and find software one version old for a fraction of the price of the original. Nowadays, the used versions are as much as the new versions, if not more. Apparently "market forces" have flowed to ebay.

That being said, if an auction doesn't have a limit on the low end, why the hell wouldn't you put in a low bid and see what happens? Does it cost you, as a bidder anything? No. So if you happen to place a bid for $20 for an iPad that somehow doesn't get more bids, and you get that iPad for $20, lucky you.

I think the bigger problem is people posting crap like "BRAND NEW IPHONE 5!!" and then somewhere down in the lengthy description in 2-point type is something saying that the auction is for a photo of the phone only. Not sure if that's been taken care of as I rarely visit ebay these days.

I don't find the low-bidding process as annoying as the craigslist or facebook sales where someone offers a table for $500, and some jackhole sends them an email saying "I'll give you $25." There's a girl in my neighborhood who is notorious for this. Every time someone on our neighborhood facebook page posts something for sale, she offers somewhere in the neighborhood of 5-10% of the asking price. Cabinet for $250? She'll offer $20, or ask if you'll trade it for a six-pack of PBR.
 
Heck I can remember the days when I used to get stuff for bargain basement prices. Maybe not quite that good but, I have gotten some realllllly good deals. And besides it doesn't hurt and there is always that off chance that people will not find your item till it is too late!
 
I am a watch enthusiast and have won a fair share of auctions at ridiculously low bids. Sometimes these are gambles, as the seller has not included a photo or maybe misspelled the brand, or even better, didn't know what they were auctioning. Even though you may do a great job in posting relevant information, including photos, etc., there's enough history out there with successful underbidding that it's still worth a try.
 
mcdj said:
I've been buying and selling on ebay since 1998.

{snip}

But there seems to be no shortage of people with either zero understanding of how ebay works,
Click to expand...

Seems to me someone who has been "buying and selling on ebay since 1998" would know about setting minimum and reserve bids...
 
Honest answer I have done bids like that on items hoping to get lucky. Heck I have gotten lucky on a few items with low bids. It is a 1 in a million shot but lets face it the 1 in a million shot that has no real risk cost to it.
 
mcdj said:
But without fail, the first few bidders of every auction I've ever run, are absolutely delusional.
Click to expand...

It all depends. If an item is in good supply with plenty of bidders, then each sale starts with a few ridiculously low bids and it ends at some reasonable price. But if it is a rare or unusual item, there might be only one person looking at it and being interested, and the chance to get it really cheap is realistic.

And I know a woman who sold a used table and chairs worth around £700 for two pound. (Her parents had bought it for her originally; she would probably have been less careless if it was her own money).
 
I don't get what the big deal is about that tbh.

What's worse is when you put something in your listing to the effect of "no offers below x amount will be considered and no pickup" then some idiot messages you offering a lowball amount and wants to pickup.
 
This is not just an ebay phenomenon. I just had a yard sale and you would not belive some of the lowball offers I got from a few people. You can't offer 10% of a sales price. They need to take Reasonable Remedial Haggling 101.
 
Roric said:
Seems to me someone who has been "buying and selling on ebay since 1998" would know about setting minimum and reserve bids...
Click to expand...

Seems to me someone who "read my post" would know I'm not complaining about actually having sold anything for such ridiculously low prices. Also seems to me setting a reserve has nothing to do with 99 cent bids.
 
Goes both ways though. How many people post something like a good iphone for 10k starting bid? Hope those are jokes
 
Mac'nCheese said:
Goes both ways though. How many people post something like a good iphone for 10k starting bid? Hope those are jokes
Click to expand...

Aww, you stole my rant for next week's post. lol.

My favorite is when these sellers have names like BestDeal4U and they're selling an Apple TV for $349.
 
None of those low bidders are going to win if I want the item. :)

I never bid until the last 15 seconds, and bid the highest price I'm prepared to pay.

If someone else has bid $5 for an item I'd happily pay $500 for, I'm still going to get it for $5.50 if $5.00 is the next highest bid.

I'm not interested in helping drive up the price in a bidding war, nor am I interested in paying a cent more than I have to.
 
adk said:
I'd like to add a side-rant ... People are auctioning off $100 amazon Gift Cards and bidders are bidding over face value. Why?
Click to expand...

Because the buyers are probably using stolen Paypal accounts, what do they care if it sells for over face value?
 
Mike in Kansas said:
I am a watch enthusiast and have won a fair share of auctions at ridiculously low bids. Sometimes these are gambles, as the seller has not included a photo or maybe misspelled the brand, or even better, didn't know what they were auctioning. Even though you may do a great job in posting relevant information, including photos, etc., there's enough history out there with successful underbidding that it's still worth a try.
Click to expand...

I am with you on this. Do it myself. I will purposely misspell an item I am looking for to see if someone made a mistake in their auction. Have done this many times and made some money doing it. Buy cheap and list it properly. Not as much these days as when Ebay first started though.
 
mcdj said:
I've been buying and selling on ebay since 1998. I don't sell aspirin or socks. I sell my used computers, cameras, watches, etc. Hard goods. Relatively expensive stuff, typically current models, in great condition.

My items usually sell, and usually for market value. Sometimes slightly more, sometimes slightly less.

But without fail, the first few bidders of every auction I've ever run, are absolutely delusional.

Does anyone in their right mind actually think they're going to win an iPad 4 for their high bid of $3.99? A Canon 5D body for $27? A MacBook Air, ANY MacBook Air, in ANY condition, for $55?

These are actual bids I've received. And those are just the ones above $1. Many others have been 99 cents.

I understand that some people bid low as a means to watch or follow the auction, although clicking the "watch auction" button does the trick for me.

But there seems to be no shortage of people with either zero understanding of how ebay works, or zero understanding of market values for popular items. And a $55 bid isn't a 99 cent placeholder bid...that's a dude sitting in front of a computer, thinking, "Hmm, I sure would like me a nice Apple computer for $55! Can I swing it? What the heck! I'll splurge!"

Sure, there are great deal stories out there, but there have been exactly zero legitimate $4 iPad auctions or $25 full frame SLRs sold in the history of ebay.

So what are these brain donors smoking?
Click to expand...

In my experience these are mostly traders looking for a good deal, If nobody picks it up they get it for next to nothing, for no trouble.

Back when I started on ebay I used to bid quite early in the time frame, it's a losers game. Now I wait until the last few seconds and bid what I think it's worth to me. If I win then I've not paid more than I wanted too, and if not no harm done.
 
I think my first MBP that had some work done only sold for a little bit over $300.00. I'm hoping to keep my current MBP for more than not quite four years. When it comes time for an upgrade of the whole machine, I don't think I am going to sell on E-bay again.
 
I make super low bids on tons of stuff. Usually during the week when a auction is set to close late at night in the middle of the week. I search for all kids of things that I might have a chance to get on the cheap for a variety of reasons, some that I won't tell you about because they are my secret, others are the common ones like something that is categorized wrong or have the wrong name of the product...others just have no reserve. I get those things and re-list them for more money. I love ebay.
 
mcdj said:
Aww, you stole my rant for next week's post. lol.

My favorite is when these sellers have names like BestDeal4U and they're selling an Apple TV for $349.
Click to expand...
Probably someone that sells a lot like a dealer. When they run out of stock they put in a really high price rather than pull the listing and paying another listing fee. Should someone actually pay that much they can always run out and buy another at retail to fulfill the order.

As to your original rant - I've gotten some amazing deals over the years where no one else has bid on an item. I'm guessing the lowballs are just hoping if they put in enough of those bids that some of them are going to pay off.
 
mobilehaathi said:
It seems, since one is able to set a minimum bid, that the OP intentionally allows low bids. Why, then, complain about people submitting them?
Click to expand...

Again, I never asked for advice as to how to avoid lowball bidders. I'm merely asking, what are they thinking. And that has been answered.
 
mcdj said:
Again, I never asked for advice as to how to avoid lowball bidders. I'm merely asking, what are they thinking. And that has been answered.
Click to expand...

I wasn't giving advice. I was asking why you were so awfully bent out of shape about something that seems patently obvious to the rest of us.
 
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