Destroy eBay Bid Snipers
To help combat the effect of bid sniping, I have compiled a list of six tactics that both new and experienced eBay users can employ to help combat the problem. These are common sense approaches to successful eBay bidding and each tactic here works to blunt or eliminate the effect of eBay bid snipers.
How do you beat bid snipers? You beat them to the punch by winning auctions before they take an interest in the item you want and you do this most effectively by using Buy-It-Now. Of course, you don’t know they have taken an interest in the item you’re bidding on until it’s too late so you should always follow general bidding guidelines that insure you bid reasonably and use eBay’s proxy bid system if you can’t find a suitable Buy-It-Now auction.
I also encourage you to signup for my free eBay Buying Success ecourse. In this ecourse you will learn how to employ advanced search and bidding methods to successfully destroy bid snipers and save as much as 50% and more on the listings you want on eBay. I incorporate the tactics below as well as some more advanced tactics and research strategies in my course and I also include some free software that will let you beat the bid snipers by totally avoiding their influence. Bid snipers will be deprived of the ability to even consider bidding when you employ the tactics in my eBay Buying Success ecourse. I guarantee after completing this short ecourse you will be able to find and buy the items you want on eBay and consistently save 20% - 50%. My ecourse is that effective.
Beat Those eBay Bid Snipers!
1. Research and understand the value of what you’re bidding on
Before you even think about looking at items to bid on, you first need to know what the average selling price for your item is on eBay. I recommend you use the free Mpire.com service to determine average sale prices for products. If your item is rare or collectible, you probably won’t be able to find any historical sale price information. If your item is more common, Mpire will tell you the average selling price as well as lots of other useful information including low and high selling prices. Based on this information you will get an idea of what the average person pays on eBay for a product.
2. Decide on your high bid for an item and stick to it
If your item is rare or collectible, this decision is subjective. It’s hard to put a price on the prestige of owning something or the pleasure you derive from displaying and sharing a rare treasure. It’s essentially what you are willing to pay to become the proud new owner of a rare or collectible item. If your item is more commodity-based, your decision is easier. You should be able to come up with an amount you are willing and able to pay. Your price should include a low and a high price.
3. Purchase using Buy-It-Now auctions
The most efficient way to avoid the entire bid sniping saga is to avoid ever allowing the bid snipers to see the item you want. The way to do this is to purchase using Buy-It-Now listed items. If you monitor eBay effectively and consistently, you will locate what you are looking for often saving a significant amount of money in the process. The real key to this tactic is constant monitoring of eBay listings. This can be very challenging but I have made the process much easier with the free software I provide as part of my eBay Buying Success ecourse. Give it a try and learn the secret that elite eBay buyers use every day.
4. Purchase using Fixed-Price Items
Another tactic is to purchase fixed-price items. These are similar to Buy-It-Now listings, but there is no bidding process. You pay what the asking price is. Generally the fixed priced listings don’t represent a bargain, but sometimes you can find decent prices. Bid sniping is impossible with fixed-price items.
5. Search for items using misspellings
Misspelled listings are the hidden treasures on eBay and there are many tens of thousands of misspelled titles on eBay everyday. Generate a list of common misspellings for the product you want to buy and then search eBay (titles only) using your list. The key to success with this tactic is continuous, diligent searching. Again, the free software in my free eBay Buying ecourse will take care of the searching for you. You can often avoid the bid snipers if you search comprehensively for misspellings. If you want someone else to do this misspellings search for you, sign-up for my free ecourse to learn more.
6. Don’t be afraid to search the other English language eBay sites
If you are an English-speaker, there are 4 busy eBay sites that you can search and purchase from: US, UK, Canada, and Australia. By searching the other eBay English-language sites you expand your potential search pool by as much as hundreds of thousands of listings. eBay bid sniping seems to be much less prevalent on the non-US eBay sites.
