I lost a special pair of sunglasses years ago and quite by accident I found the same pair on ebay. But not being very ebay savvy, and noticing no interest from other bidders on the site, I just placed the starting bid and let it go. An hour before bidding ended I was still the only bidder. So I went off thinking that these were mine. Lo and behold, as is always my luck, someone had bid on the pair, just a dollar more, at the last minute. Skunked. Now I really have to have them, the disappointment is too great and you know, when you can't have something, you want it more. These are vintage and so not at all available anywhere, anymore. Do any of you know of any places I can contact for DKNY vintage sunglasses. I can give a better description if you need. If nothing else, this is my present whine.

Scorpio115, I can relate and commiserate! I started shopping on eBay last Christmas, trying to find dated ornaments from 2000 onward. The same thing happened to me on my first bidding adventure. Right up until five minutes before the end of the auction, the ornament was mine. Then someone bid one dollar over me, but I happened to be on line and watching, so I counterbid, several times and won the item.

I have no proof, but I strongly suspect (because it's happened more than once) that these last-minute overbids could be orchestrated to boost the final bid for the item. Just in case that's true, maybe you should keep checking back on eBay over the next two weeks and see if it reappears. And this time, if you do bid again, watch it at the last minute so you can counterbid.

I've been curious about this same thing. I've noticed this happening more and more. According to Ebay however, they watch this closely and if they suspect it happening, they close them down as this goes against their rules. Yeah, right.

I think Eagle has given you the best advice. Bid on things at the very last minute. Lots of people who shop regularly on Ebay wait until the last minute so that no one will override their bid, and/or hopefully the owner won't do so in order to run the price up. If you suspect this, I would report it.

JJ

Yes, Eagle's right. My SIL is an Ebay junkie and she bids on everything at the very last minute. It works for her!

The following is called "proxy bidding" and is allowed by eBay (we have over 500 transactions at the moment)

This is from the eBay site itself:

1. When you place a bid, you enter the maximum amount you'd be willing to pay for the item. Your maximum amount is kept confidential from other bidders and the seller.
2. The eBay system compares your bid to those of the other bidders.
3. The system places bids on your behalf, using only as much of your bid "as is necessary" to maintain your high bid position (or to meet the reserve price). The system will bid up to your maximum amount.
4. If another bidder has a higher maximum, you'll be outbid. BUT, if no other bidder has a higher maximum, you win the item. And you could pay significantly less than your maximum price! This means you don't have to keep coming back to re-bid every time another bid is placed.
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One personal example....I found a vintage doll on eBay last year. Starting bid was $40. I knew that the max I would want to pay is $100. I ended up paying $65 because the final bids were only up to $64 or something like that.

I know people who set their watches to monitor the last few minutes of an eBay auction, just in case they might be outbid...you just never know.

Good luck bidding, all!

diamond, my SIL keeps track of time too. I don't know how she keeps track. My daughter was buying purses one weekend so my SIL was teachin gher how to do it right.

I was like...no thanks, I don't want her to know this science. She's a teen and doesn't have the money to buy all the things she sees on Ebay. Let's wait until she's out of college and independent. She did get several purses which she paid for, but we said, "no more." She's listening for now.

Do you buy AND sell?

Yes, we do both, with more buying than selling tho.
We just recently hit over 500 trans.; we began using eBay in 1999.

I don't blame you for making your daughter stop; eBay can be so addictive, especially once you learn all the tricks LOL!!

I have some antique "things" I wouldn't mind putting on there, but the red tape getting down to actually putting something on there is unbelievable! I admire you for having the "stick to it" attitude.

I have had some success in selling old books on Amazon and thoroughly enjoy that. Which reminds me, I need to add some today.

What do you sell Cindy?

JJ

We've been selling computer parts, golf clubs and related items, audio visual components. My husband got tired of some of his hobbies so he was selling alot of those items as well.

One fun thing....we were cleaning out a closet one day and discovered that we had "still new in the box" phonograph cartridges from the 1960's. Yup, those tiny things not bigger than an inch. We did not know that as a collector's item it was in demand. We sold them on eBay for several hundred bucks each! Still have a few to sell : )

Wow...I wish I had something like that to sell...and I don't even know what they are! Way to go!

JJ