Can somebody explain this eBay thing to me?

[Opie55]

When it comes to auction bidding strategy, I'm about as sophisticated as a potato. So I have a question.

Perillo, a Bentley/Lambo dealer near Chicago, has a 2022 Audi S5 convertible on its website for $63k. A bit overpriced, but whatever. So they put it on eBay in a reserve auction with a starting bid of $5k.

There were 2 bidders. One was bidding manually, and the second was auto bidding $100 above the other guy's bids. A full hour before auction end the manual bidder got to $15k and the auto bidder went to $15,100, and that was it.

What's going on there? I guess there is some strategy to starting low on an expensive item, but my question is really about where they ended. Why does someone only willing to pay $15k for a $60k item being sold by a sophisticated seller even bother? What's the point? I'm sure there is an answer, but my tater brain does not know what it is.

[swissfraser]

Someone was just hoping for a cheeky bargain, they probably had zero expectation that they'd win. As for the other bidder, ebay will automatically raise your bids for you up to a maximum price, so there was nothing sophisticated going on. The bidder obviously had set 15k as his maximum.

If there was no reserve price set then its worth making a cheeky bid on an item, it doesnt cost you anything to do so and now and again you get a nice little surprise when you win an auction.

[ruflife]

Numerous dealers also use it as advertising. Basically, you see the auction then go directly to their website to see what they are asking for the car. Ebay has auctions and classified "auctions" where you make an offer and directly contact the dealer. Not sure what the dealers pay to list but I'm sure it is highly discounted from what us normal people pay.

[Opie55]

Yeah, I can see doing that on a no reserve auction, but I have a harder time understanding it on a reserve auction. As you said, unless the bidder was insane he would expect to have zero chance of winning. I also would expect to have zero chance. So much so that I cannot imagine taking the time to place 6 or 7 bids to creep up to a whopping $15k. I figured there might be some fully rational behavior behind it, but not so much I guess. If nothing else, I guess it gives some idea of the level of interest in such cars, and why they sit unsold for long periods.

[Sonnycheeba3578]

I was constantly on ebay in the early 00s (sounds crazy...lol) looking for a bike (that i ended up getting)...but I had a great strategy...but I also worked graveyard. But I would always check the start and end time of the auction. Best thing to do is confirm the time the auction ends and be online a few mins before that. See what the high bid is and if it's less than what you're willing to pay...shoot a bid to see if it changes. If it does...prepare for youur highest bid. Watch the auction when its close to ending and try to snake it by bidding what you're willing to pay right before the auction ends. It has worked for me numerous times. U can also try and hit up the seller...see if they're willing to end the auction early for the right price. Some may...some may not...it's all a gamble. But that's how I got my bike..."asked the seller a question" about the bike and would they end early...and they did

[TGrits10]

Originally Posted by ruflife

Numerous dealers also use it as advertising. Basically, you see the auction then go directly to their website to see what they are asking for the car. Ebay has auctions and classified "auctions" where you make an offer and directly contact the dealer. Not sure what the dealers pay to list but I'm sure it is highly discounted from what us normal people pay.

This. Very few of the Ebay auctions actually go through to a sale. Rather, the buyer and seller agree to a sale outside of Ebay to reduce fees etc.

[Opie55]

Originally Posted by TGrits10

This. Very few of the Ebay auctions actually go through to a sale. Rather, the buyer and seller agree to a sale outside of Ebay to reduce fees etc.

I think especially if a car was being sold by an established dealer I would just naturally contact them directly w/o regard and thoughts about eBay fees, etc. That still doesn't really explain the $15k bidder though.