[Amps] Blowing off steam

[Don Havlicek]

eBay bidding goes like this:
If two people bid on an item .. the higher bidder will be listed as the 
HIGH bid .. but only at an increment above the lower bidder.  The 
increments depend on the price range .. at very low prices .. it's only 
50 cents .. then it moves to $1 .. then to $2.50 .. then $5.00 ... and 
higher increments for much higher prices.

Assume the starting price is $298 ... If you bid $315 ... your bid will 
be $298 ... until someone bids higher [increment at that point is $5] .. 
their minimum bid must be $303 ... let's say they bid $310 ... at that 
point .. they will be notified that 'you have been outbid by another 
bidder' ... and the mid price will be $315 [increment above their bid].

ETC.....
Don
N8DE

W0UN -- John Brosnahan wrote:
> At 12:35 PM 10/20/2004, Bill Turner wrote:
> 
>> On Wed, 20 Oct 2004 11:57:41 -0400, Will Matney wrote:
>>
>> >All in all, it makes me think about Jay Leno's "Jay Walking" skit. I
>> >didn't know there was that many folks out there that dense.
>>
>> _
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bidding will auto-increment on eBay.  So if two (or more) people set
> an upper limit the program will increment each one until it runs out
> of "limit".
> 
> In a recent case I put in a limit of $310 for an item that had a minimum
> bid of $298.  Since I was the only bidder on the item I got it for $298.
> The auto-increment program didn't have to do anything.
> 
> I am not positive of the details of how the auto increment works but I
> think it will work so that if someone puts in a $300 bid and I put in a
> $310 LIMIT bid and someone else puts in a $315 LIMIT bid then the third guy
> will get the item at $311.  But I am not sure if the computer will 
> increment
> my bid to $301 and then auto increment the other limit bid to $302 and then
> auto increment mine to $303 until it gets to the total final $311 or if 
> it is "smart"
> and just makes the jump to the top automatically.
> 
> So, from that perspective, it is not like an "in-person" auction exactly.
> This might explain how the bidding jumps up a number of times
> by the same people.   It may just be auto incrementing.
> 
> Under this scenario you just decide what is the maximum price you
> are willing to pay and the bidding will get you the item for the least
> amount of money that exceeds everyone else's idea of what the
> maximum they will pay.  If you get beat then it is because someone
> else was willing to pay more for it than you would.
> 
> BTW  I have only done a couple of eBay bids--lost one and won one--
> so I am NO expert.   But it seems like a pretty fair way to run things--
> because you set your own max that you are willing to pay.  There is
> the risk that you are bidding against a shill of some sort.   But you
> never have to pay more than you are willing to pay.   And "shills"
> are not unique to eBay.  I once bid on a lathe at a "live" (real people
> holding up their numbers) auction and was beat out by someone else
> when they went higher than I wanted to go.  But, amazingly, the item
> was RE-auctioned at the end of the sale and I bought it the second time.
> 
> It could have been a shill bidding against me--but maybe it was someone
> who exceeded his ability to pay by buying too much and just could not
> afford to pay for the item when it was time to settle.   But I assume it
> was a shill.  The good news is that the second time I got it for less 
> money.
> 
> --John   W0UN
> 
> 
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