Your EBay strategy

[neckababy1]

Finally was able to get back on EBay recently thanks to a $25 gift card for my birthday. As I've been looking at cards to buy, I was wondering what everyone else's strategy is when buying. Mine is simple...before I start, know that I am a cheap SOB, don't have much to spend on cards since both my girls dance which take up most of my disposable income. I always set the search to cheapest including shipping (got caught a few times with high shipping when I first started) and then use the listings ending on next 24 hours. I like to buy lots that average out to no more than .25 cents per card. As for individual cards, I will not buy unless the card is at least 75% of BV. I get a ton of good deals this way. I slip off the rules every now and then when I get a nice trove of Paypal built up but for the most part, that's how I roll. So what is everyone else's strategy???

[SQ180]

Mine is pretty is simple, I usually do not bid until 30 seconds or less are left on an auction.

[Hands]

When I'm on EBay - I am usually hunting set needs.

I already have a price in mind that I wanna pay (including shipping) before looking.
Then I snipe like Brian ^^^ lol

If the card has a BIN within my price range, I always hit the BIN.

[timber63401]

Ive gotten great deals looking at odd time of the day or night. Also if you havent already expand your search to international sellers also.

[clarkesk82]

Mine is pretty is simple, I usually do not bid until 30 seconds or less are left on an auction.

yes same here...only time i stray from this strategy is if the auction is ending at a strange time like 4 am...and i usually bid with 2 sec left

[ranbethscards]

Everytime I work out a game plan, somebody changes the rules.....lol....sorry ...that's no help is it?
.

[T-206]

I go ahead and put the most I am willing to pay. No snipe needed that way. If I dont win then it wasnt meant to be.

[Leafsfan1967]

Once I find a card I want to purchase, I decide to myself what is the most that I'd want to pay for it ( I usually do reseach on that particular card to get recent sell prices). I then go to auctionsniper.com with the auction number, and type it in. Then I type in my maximum bid, and forget about it until I get an email from them. It only cost .25 per snipe (only if you win the auction), and it's so much easier then trying to time a last second bid. I can't remember how many times I forgot about a card, and lost out on it by not using the sniper program.

[dpatera]

I miss the days when ebay seemed more like a regular auction than with all this sniping nonsense. I get the feeling some people snipe now, just to snipe. I've lost countless auctions in the last few seconds, by one bid increment, even when they weren't great deals. Most "real" auctions actually extend the time a little bit after the last bid, so sniping doesn't have the same effect. I'm really surprised Ebay hasn't tried to do something like that, as it could only increase the final prices and get them more in fees. Aren't all those sniping sites technically against the Ebay TOS anyway? I thought they say you're not allowed to give anyone your password.

I might hate it even more from the selling side and really having no idea what you're going to get until the end of the auction.

That said, I put in bids in the last few seconds normally now. I just wish I didn't have to.

[clarkesk82]

Once I find a card I want to purchase, I decide to myself what is the most that I'd want to pay for it ( I usually do reseach on that particular card to get recent sell prices). I then go to auctionsniper.com with the auction number, and type it in. Then I type in my maximum bid, and forget about it until I get an email from them. It only cost .25 per snipe (only if you win the auction), and it's so much easier then trying to time a last second bid. I can't remember how many times I forgot about a card, and lost out on it by not using the sniper program.

i am going to check that out...i agree i have forgotten about auctions before. I do have the ebay app on my phone though and it gives me a heads up when there is 15 min left.