# On line auctions **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 28, 2002, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-auctions/100518 "2002-03-28T05:27:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2002, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-auctions/100518/1 "2002-03-28T05:27:17Z")
I just finished my first attempt at buying on line. My daughter needs a graphing calculator so I thought why not just try that bay place. 2 days of preparations finding the right one or two that I would bid on. The bidding started last night. I held the bid all morning then was outbid .I countered with another bid and held that til evening. I countered again and held right to the end constantly refreshing my computer. The auction ended with me nearly jumping out of my chair when the screen showed I was the last bidder. Cool. Then I went back to the individual item page and found someone else was the winner. WHAAAAT I had considered uping my bid since the proxy bid was only a penny less than my actual bid but it had been that way all night. I was beaten in the last 4 seconds. There were 2 calculators that sold at the same time. the same person got them both. SO whoever you are that calls yourself a teacher :wally ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2002, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-auctions/100518/2 "2002-03-28T05:34:31Z")
The trick is: wait until the very last minute to bid. That way you don’t drive the price up prematurely, and also you have the element of surprise - nobody will have time to out bid you. And the most important thing - it is not the _last_ bidder that wins, it is the _highest_ bidder that wins. Proxy bidding works but bid the maximum amount you’re willing to pay. If your item is at 10.00 and you are willing to go as high as 20.00, bid 20.00 once, and only once. Don’t get into bidding wars and try and bid .50 a bunch of times…bidding wars drive the price up. Well, thats my 2 cents anyways. ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2002, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-auctions/100518/3 "2002-03-28T05:58:18Z")
I was raising it $5.00 or $10.00 at a time adding a penny or 2 as a kicker. There were only 7 bids in the whole auction. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2002, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-auctions/100518/4 "2002-03-28T16:14:31Z")
Someone probably used sniping software,which puts in a bid with just a few seconds left to the auction & they don’t even have to be there to put in the bid. Better to search for BuyItNow items & buy those. There is a button at the top of the search with those items listed. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2002, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-auctions/100518/5 "2002-03-28T16:39:30Z")
[eSnipe](http://www.esnipe.com/) is your friend!