[offtopic] [help] Ebay Strategies

hi all,

i'm working on my honors thesis in game theory, and i've decided to analyze the ebay auction scheme. to get started, i'd like to know what strategies or observations you have made in either selling or bidding on ebay. i mean strategies like:

last-minute bidding

using buy it now

using reserve price

reading feedback reviews

submitting multiple bids

bidding below your true valuation

psychological tricks like using the words "free shipping," etc.

what do you think when you bid or sell on ebay? do you have certain strategies you use? how do you form beliefs about other bidders' actions?

thanks for your help.

#84439

Honestly I don't really have a strategy. I mostly use the buy it now option so I don't have to go through the hastle of bidding and getting out bid. I usually find it easier to just go to the store and buy it new. This way I know what to expect as I have had some buddies of my have some really bad experiences with sellers.

#84507

yeah, but how much would you be willing to spend on buy it now? i mean, most people would choose buy it now if it's only 1 cent more, or 2 cents, there's a limit to it. i think it depends on how much you want it and how much you think other people want it. that's what i'm trying to do. see how people think about how other people think, and see how they all act.

#84549

with buy it now and bidding, i take shipping costs into consideration. if i am saving a significant amount, i will wait to have it shipped to me versus buying it at a store

i will use buy it now if it is lower than what i would plan on my max bid, take for example my iPod that i bought recently. 15GB 3G brand new *in box* iPod. Buy It Now price: $319; Shipping: $12...thats a total of $331 for those without a calculator. i would have paid slightly more than that for a new iPod of that hard drive size (just then Elppa changed their mid-model to 20GB). with several days left in the auction, i figured, if i bid on it, the bid price would be higher and the buy it now option would disappear. i went for the buy it now, and got my iPod less than my *personal* reserve price (wow, i learned something from my economics class)

thats my two cents

#84575

Never bid on auctions with a BIN price and a reserve.

Having just a reserve really makes no sense too... why not just start from your reserve price?

#84597

If I can, and the price is cheap/right, I prefer to use the Buy It now option. Otherwise I'll watch the auction until a few minutes before it's closing and if it's still in the right price-range I'll put a proxy bid upto my maximum that I'd pay for it.. That way I either don't get it (outbidded from someone else's proxy bid) or I should get it (30 seconds or so isn't enough time to try bidding at 50p increments or something).

I've got quite alot of eBay the past few months.. PSO, DreamCast Keyboard, NGE Boxset, Design Tablet.

#84604

having a reserve price is good from the seller's perspective. it allows the seller to maximize expected profits.

in any case, thanks for all the input. i'll run some ideas by my professor and see if i can come up with a new theory.

#84629