the most agonizing 5 minutes
i am an ebay freak. there is no denying this. i have bought everything that you can possibly buy through our friendly little e-swap meet.
and now, i have a serious reason to feed the addiction. a record store to stock.
i have had my eye on several "used cd" lots for the last week or so. two of the bigger ones close today. needless to say, for the sake of my business, i have been glued to the computer screen for most of this sunny, gorgeous new england day.
well, the first one just closed and my heart is still racing.
there is a common practice amongst the more experienced ebay-ers called "sniping." "sniping" is simply this:
you lay low and watch an auction you are interested in...fighting the urge to bid. as the time runs down, you notice that one person has held the high bid for about 3 days and is probably comfortable with the fact that no one is trying to outbid them. then the auction gets to within minutes of closing. but, you hide a little longer. and then with some time less than 30 secs remaining (the closer you wait until "0" depends entirely on your own ability and e-savvy - it truly is a skill,) you place your max bid, toppling the once-confident newbie and watch him scramble to re-bid as time runs out on his dream purchase.
it's cruel. it's ruthless. and it's a blast.
however, i no longer "snipe" auctions because for every one of me, there are 4 or 5 more of me out there on the same auction. so, when we all snipe at the same time, the price just gets out of control and it's no longer worth it. the thrill of the kill is replaced by mundane "competition."
no, my new method is this: if i can, i place a bid with about 30 minutes remaining just to test the other guy's max bid. if i take the lead, great. then i wait and watch as people do or do not try to out-bid me in those waning minutes. now, i know full well that if anyone is stalking the auction, they will make their move within the final minute. so if nothing has happened by 5 'til, i up my max bid to just over what i want to pay, sit back and let the sweat start pouring.
4 minutes to go: nothing.
3 minutes: nothing. the anxiety starts to build.
2: STILL NOTHING!
1: someone bids. but it's not enough to top me. my stomach tightens and my heart is pounding. "i am not losing this thing" i think to myself.
30 seconds: all hell breaks loose. the bids start to sky rocket as the "snipers" kill each other off. "should i bite the bullet and raise the bid again?" "no. stay cool, man. stay cool"
0 seconds: silence
if i win, fantastic. if not, then someone obviously wanted it more or is much richer than i. either way, more power to them. more times than not, i win these though. like the first of my two today.
i won the first. i don't hold out too much hope for the second as it is already at the max i would pay, but for this one, i will muster up another $100 or so and revert back to my old days of hiding in the e-bushes with the rest of the jerks.
and now, i have a serious reason to feed the addiction. a record store to stock.
i have had my eye on several "used cd" lots for the last week or so. two of the bigger ones close today. needless to say, for the sake of my business, i have been glued to the computer screen for most of this sunny, gorgeous new england day.
well, the first one just closed and my heart is still racing.
there is a common practice amongst the more experienced ebay-ers called "sniping." "sniping" is simply this:
you lay low and watch an auction you are interested in...fighting the urge to bid. as the time runs down, you notice that one person has held the high bid for about 3 days and is probably comfortable with the fact that no one is trying to outbid them. then the auction gets to within minutes of closing. but, you hide a little longer. and then with some time less than 30 secs remaining (the closer you wait until "0" depends entirely on your own ability and e-savvy - it truly is a skill,) you place your max bid, toppling the once-confident newbie and watch him scramble to re-bid as time runs out on his dream purchase.
it's cruel. it's ruthless. and it's a blast.
however, i no longer "snipe" auctions because for every one of me, there are 4 or 5 more of me out there on the same auction. so, when we all snipe at the same time, the price just gets out of control and it's no longer worth it. the thrill of the kill is replaced by mundane "competition."
no, my new method is this: if i can, i place a bid with about 30 minutes remaining just to test the other guy's max bid. if i take the lead, great. then i wait and watch as people do or do not try to out-bid me in those waning minutes. now, i know full well that if anyone is stalking the auction, they will make their move within the final minute. so if nothing has happened by 5 'til, i up my max bid to just over what i want to pay, sit back and let the sweat start pouring.
4 minutes to go: nothing.
3 minutes: nothing. the anxiety starts to build.
2: STILL NOTHING!
1: someone bids. but it's not enough to top me. my stomach tightens and my heart is pounding. "i am not losing this thing" i think to myself.
30 seconds: all hell breaks loose. the bids start to sky rocket as the "snipers" kill each other off. "should i bite the bullet and raise the bid again?" "no. stay cool, man. stay cool"
0 seconds: silence
if i win, fantastic. if not, then someone obviously wanted it more or is much richer than i. either way, more power to them. more times than not, i win these though. like the first of my two today.
i won the first. i don't hold out too much hope for the second as it is already at the max i would pay, but for this one, i will muster up another $100 or so and revert back to my old days of hiding in the e-bushes with the rest of the jerks.
posted by cade at 3:23 PM
4 Comments:
incidentally. i won the second one as well. it was rather anti-climactic.
how can...?
you...
owning a record store is inherently cool...
yet...
you have these nerdling tendancies...
the many layers of CADE
fletch- nerd :: cool as yin :: yang. you can't have one without the other.
jamie- i only hate "buy it now" if i'm filling out what i want my max bid to be and someone buys from under me. that's not cool.
I nearly broke into a cold sweat just reading this. Hence, why I could never bid on e-bay. Too anxiety-ridden for me. I used to freak out as a kid over those games where the pieces all had to be assembled in the box before the buzzer went off and threw all the pieces out. Yes, I was a four year old with that much anxiety.
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