CoinOpCollectorForum.com

I've bid but never won anything on some Live eBay auctions before. It seems to me that the stuff is usually won by a floor bidder, and the prices are much more than the item would have sold for on eBay. Are the items that much better or is it the "live" atmosphere that drives up the bidding? Or do those high bidders just avoid eBay?

Also, shipping seems to be a sore point with some Internet buyers. Seems like the auction houses might view shipping as a nuisance and really overcharge for it.

Thanks -- Keith.

kmorris8 wrote:I've bid but never won anything on some Live eBay auctions before. It seems to me that the stuff is usually won by a floor bidder, and the prices are much more than the item would have sold for on eBay. Are the items that much better or is it the "live" atmosphere that drives up the bidding? Or do those high bidders just avoid eBay?

Also, shipping seems to be a sore point with some Internet buyers. Seems like the auction houses might view shipping as a nuisance and really overcharge for it.

Thanks -- Keith.

All the 'live' E-Bay auctions I have seen carry a significant extra surcharge if you bid on E-Bay. Usually something like 10%.

If you are bidding on an expensive item that can really impact the price.

I also think you are at a disadvantage bidding on E-Bay because you cannot check the machine out personally.

If it were me and if it were an expensive item I would make every effort to try and attend the auction or at least try to contact someone I trusted who is going to be there. If I could not attend but still wanted to bid on it I would contact the auction company and try to arrange to be a phone bidder. That way you get out of paying the outrageous E-Bay surcharges.

Some auction companies also allow you to put in a proxy bid. I WOULD NEVER DO THAT. NEVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES LET AN AUCTIONER KNOW HOW MUCH YOU ARE WILLING TO BID.
If you put in a proxy bid of say $15,000 and you are the high bidder you will probably end up getting it for $14,999.99 even if the next highest real bidder was at $10,000.

I noticed on today's VCA auction, those (like me) participating through the "live" e-Bay auction were stuck in specific bid increments (for example, when the bidding on an item reached $1,000, my next bid had to be $1,500), while people attending the auction in person were able to bid smaller increases (e.g., $1,100, $1,200, etc.). There were times when something seemed like a bargain at $1,000, but I couldn't justify bidding $1,500 for the same thing.

Also, I atteneded a live auction several months ago in PA, where the auctioneer clearly seemed to have a bias against internet bidders. Admittedly, he had several hundred items to sell, but little time was given for internet viewers to bid. At one point, he even made a joke about it.

I asked this question to Ebay live auction help line. This is what they said.

"Thanks for writing to us. My name is Sandra and I will be happy to
assist you with your questions.

The bid increments are set by the seller when they set up the auction.
You may want to voice your concerns to the seller about these
increments."

...

Regards,

Sandra P. F.
eBay Live Auctions Support
I have talked to other auction companies. They have told me that this is a ebay limitation. I would like to see a button or something that allows a offer bid to the auction. But I think that internet bidding is too much of an inconvience for the auction houses. This may explain the problems that we are having.

Rogers1313