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 Replies: 14 / Views: 1,707 |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
838 Posts |
Hi all -- just wondering if any of you have seen an instance where a very low and early bid eventually scores a coin worth much more. For instance, with 5 days left, I see an S-VDB with a few bids, $15 being the highest. This is typical as I see these kind of bids all the time. Who is making these bids, and do they ever expect to win? Second question: if (a big "if") one would be successful on something like that (due to a power outage at closing time, meteor strike, H1N1, Jurassic Park's gates getting opened, etc.  ) then what are the chances that a knowledgeable seller will even let it go? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1116 Posts |
i have not seen that happen before but maybe it has. in the case of the S-VDB and who is making those bids I make a low early bid all the time on coins I want the reason I do this is so I don't have to leave the item in my watch list I am sure a lot of other people do this.
and I am sure there are some people who bid $15 on a high value coin and hope for some freak thing to occur such as Jurassic Park's gates getting opened that was pretty good.
oh and one more thing most buyers search for items with keywords in the search box instead of searching the categories at least that's what I have heard and do. if a seller spells the item wrong and you put in a search for the coin the way they spelled it you may be able to get it for a good price.
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Valued Member
Australia
465 Posts |
"if a seller spells the item wrong and you put in a search for the coin the way they spelled it you may be able
to get it for a good price."
...i am doing this aleady - shushhh, don't tell anybody else!
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Rest in Peace
United States
1729 Posts |
How about a recent mint set going to me for $.99 a year or so ago? I put that bid in more as a "marker" bid, but no one else bothered to overbid, and I scored it for that amount. The seller agreed that I "stole" it, but he sold me a few other lots at the same time and came out all right.
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
838 Posts |
cool feedback - thanks everyone
I have some complicated E-Bay searches that I've bookmarked in my browser. It searches through some dates (with "or") within a category. But I think I need a better system than simply clicking on those every day or so.
I might become an early, low bidder after all.
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Valued Member
United States
168 Posts |
I get the feeling that early/low bidding might work, but doesn't for what seems like 95% of the time. Some bidders just like to work backwards from the ones ending the soonest. I remember some coins jumping from a dollar to fifteen in the span of about fifteen minutes.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2734 Posts |
I get in early, make my maximum bid, and if someone wants to pay more than I do, that's the way it goes. Usually, it's the low starting price auctions that get all the interest (and bids!) while the 'Buy It Nows' get 0 bids, because they're usually asking above market price and a lot of buyers ignore Buy It Now listings for that very reason. It's very rare to see a Buy It Now item at a fair market price, because the item would indeed get 'bought now' fast!  99.99+% of the time, the initial 'low bidder' will get outbid in the last day or two, and the risk to the seller of actually having to sell the item for the starting bid is extremely low in the real world. Supply and demand for the particular item do affect this 'risk'. There's much more 'risk' to the seller of a 1980's Proof Set getting only one bid, as compared to a Slabbed 1913-S Type 2 Buffalo nickel. That said, most big ebay sellers will fully comply if they do happen to get only that one low starting bid on their auction. Most sellers would rather 'dump' the item vs. risk getting a negative feedback. And even then, "99¢" is still more than what most Buy It Now listings get!  Those who bid only the low first bid have nothing to lose. They either get the item for next to nothing, or (99.99% of the time) they get outbid! Edited by DNA
11/03/2009 10:08 pm
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
Only when I'm selling - never when I'm buying.  |
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Forum Dad
United States
24182 Posts |
Don't forget that the $15 high bid you see on day one or two could be a $1500 bid.
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Rest in Peace
 United States
1380 Posts |
I picked up 7 Standing Liberty quarters last week in about good to very good for 1 cent each - no one else bid at all. Felt so bad that I offered to pay double the stated shipping, still keeping my cost to about $1.43 each. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1082 Posts |
I would imagine it's rare, and depends on demand for that particular coin. When you see a low bid, the temptation is there to bid up on it. Sometimes you find that there is a maximum bid in effect by the buyer, and sometimes you find yourself to be the high bidder. In those cases, I bookmark and check back often especially at closing time. It's amazing how many snipers come out of the woodwork then!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2797 Posts |
My primary focus in the last couple of years are unattributed Morgan and Peace dollar VAMs. I search by year and mintmark and put coins I'm interested in on my watch list. Early on in this process, I watched two "MEGA-VAMs" turn up as "sold" before the auction closed. In both cases, another Variety collector also saw the rarity and contacted the seller with an offer. In both cases the seller accepted the offer and sold the item with a "Buy it Now". One of these was an 1878 8TF VAM 14.8 in AU (around $1500 value) go for $55. Now when I see a must-have, I place a nominal bid on the coin (usually just over melt) just to show the seller there is interest. This won't stop them from selling it outside of ebay if they get an offer, but it may make them think twice before doing so. I then follow these auctions and place my highest bid with seconds remaining. Many of those lowball early bids you're seeing may be others practicing the same technique. I've won very few with my initial low-ball offer. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1840 Posts |
I love bottom feeding. I often make small bids on items that have some appeal to me, especially if seller is some one that I trust. Yesterday I picked up a 1930 Netherlands 2 1/2 Gulden for the $1 minimum bid plus $1.50 shipping and handling. The coin contains just over a half ounce of silver!
Granted it is no VDB, but the price I paid is less than 25% of the melt value for a coin that looks to be VF at worst.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1807 Posts |
Quote:
Second question: if (a big "if") one would be successful on something like that (due to a power outage at closing time, meteor strike, H1N1, Jurassic Park's gates getting opened, etc.) then what are the chances that a knowledgeable seller will even let it go?
I had this happen when the item sold for about 80 bucks less on a 300 dollar coin. The seller decided to keep the coin he says for his son. Of course he got reported for whatever good that did. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
790 Posts |
Bobby obviously nailed it. Many "low" opening bids are just higher bids that haven't been challenged yet. If I bid $200 when the opening bid is .99 and no one has bid yet, then it will show as a .99 bid.
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Replies: 14 / Views: 1,707 |
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Posted 11/03/2009 6:00 pm
