The following is offered as a public service:<O
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IF YOU SUBMIT A BID IN AN ONLINE AUCTION ANY EARLIER THAN YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO, YOU ARE A COMPLETE FOOL!
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The only thing you accomplish by bidding early in an online auction is to drive the price higher than it otherwise would go. That’s right, you are just costing yourself money!
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Things to consider:
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When you bid early, you often end up starting a bidding war. That other guy who you just outbid now has time to think, “well, I wasn’t planning on bidding higher, but I hate to lose, so I guess I will go a little higher and see if I can still get it.” Oftentimes, this happens repeatedly during the course of the auction, causing the price to be driven up artificially.
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Also, the early (and completely unnecessary) bidding wars draw attention to auctions which some of your potential competitors might otherwise not have noticed. When people see an item which is getting a lot of bids, they go to investigate what all of the interest is about and frequently join in. The more that join in the bidding, the more the losing bidders are inclined to think that they may have undervalued the item in their earlier bidding and, hence, the more they become inclined to consider upping their max bid. It is a viscous circle.
<O</OWhat to do:
<O</OIf you simply sit back and let that other guy believe he will win with his low bid right up to the very end, you can often swoop in and outbid him in the final minutes without giving him time to reconsider and come back with a higher maximum bid.
<O</OResist the urge to bid early just to see your name listed (temporarily) as the high bidder. That brief moment of artificial satisfaction gains you nothing and can end up being very expensive in the long run. Be patient; fly in under the radar and drop your bid at the final moment. You will end up with the far more satisfying feeling of beating out the guy you had left with the false sense of security and you will pay a lot less for the items you win.
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Bottom Line:
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Don’t be an idiot. It doesn’t matter who is “winning” an auction during the days, hours, or even minutes before close. The only thing that matters is who has the highest bid at the END. So, take that itchy bidding trigger finger off your computer mouse until you have to make the final kill; otherwise, you are just going to shoot yourself in the foot.
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</OIF YOU SUBMIT A BID IN AN ONLINE AUCTION ANY EARLIER THAN YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO, YOU ARE A COMPLETE FOOL!
<O
</O<O</OThe only thing you accomplish by bidding early in an online auction is to drive the price higher than it otherwise would go. That’s right, you are just costing yourself money!
<O
</OThings to consider:
<O
</O<O</OWhen you bid early, you often end up starting a bidding war. That other guy who you just outbid now has time to think, “well, I wasn’t planning on bidding higher, but I hate to lose, so I guess I will go a little higher and see if I can still get it.” Oftentimes, this happens repeatedly during the course of the auction, causing the price to be driven up artificially.
<O
</OAlso, the early (and completely unnecessary) bidding wars draw attention to auctions which some of your potential competitors might otherwise not have noticed. When people see an item which is getting a lot of bids, they go to investigate what all of the interest is about and frequently join in. The more that join in the bidding, the more the losing bidders are inclined to think that they may have undervalued the item in their earlier bidding and, hence, the more they become inclined to consider upping their max bid. It is a viscous circle.
<O
</OWhat to do:<O
</OIf you simply sit back and let that other guy believe he will win with his low bid right up to the very end, you can often swoop in and outbid him in the final minutes without giving him time to reconsider and come back with a higher maximum bid. <O
</OResist the urge to bid early just to see your name listed (temporarily) as the high bidder. That brief moment of artificial satisfaction gains you nothing and can end up being very expensive in the long run. Be patient; fly in under the radar and drop your bid at the final moment. You will end up with the far more satisfying feeling of beating out the guy you had left with the false sense of security and you will pay a lot less for the items you win.<O
</O<O</OBottom Line:
<O
</O<O</ODon’t be an idiot. It doesn’t matter who is “winning” an auction during the days, hours, or even minutes before close. The only thing that matters is who has the highest bid at the END. So, take that itchy bidding trigger finger off your computer mouse until you have to make the final kill; otherwise, you are just going to shoot yourself in the foot.