This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Ruby Buzz
by Daniel Berger.
Original Post: Please learn how to bid on eBay
Feed Title: Testing 1,2,3...
Feed URL: http://djberg96.livejournal.com/data/rss
Feed Description: A blog on Ruby and other stuff.
Folks, when you place a bid on eBay, you shouldn't try to bid just enough to beat the current bid. You should do what the little screen tells you - bid the *most* you're willing to pay. That's not your actual starting bid. Your starting bid will be just enough to beat the current bid, assuming you've bid high enough, and will be incremented automatically should someone bid higher than the current price, but lower than your maximum bid.
I see people do this all the time, including my dad. It's also why tools like "Sniper" (I think that's what it's called) are popular. Drives me nuts.
I guess it's a psychological issue, where people aren't actually sure what their maximum bid is. They just have a rough idea of what they're willing to pay, and they want to see if they can get away with bidding the absolute minimum to avoid having to pay their actual maximum.
I'll bet I could write a Psych thesis on this phenomenon.
Previous Topic
