Warden Callaway Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 I often search on eBay for gun parts. I have snagged a few hard to get parts at a good price. But they were priced "buy now". The last few have been auction items. Last week I found some old Marlin parts I could use. I watched them until 5:00 pm this evening and there were no bids. I had Mary bid. We had the high bid until 2 seconds of auction ending and was outbid by $2.50. This kind of thing has happened to me before. I figure there must be some kind of auto bid system that facilities this bidding. I've bought a couple of guns on Gunbroker that had a buy now price. I did place a bid on one shotgun on auction. It kept rejecting my bid as under the reserve. The price got to where I just said screw it and bought it through Buds Guns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Whiskers Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 I've been buying once fired brass and AA hulls on Gunbroker for years. I try to find one with a buy it now price unless that's an outrageous amount. There are people that have nothing better to do than sit there when it's within 2 or 3 minutes of the auction ending just so they can get the lowest next bid. If it has a reserve price, then you have to at least match that or go a tad higher. Otherwise it will keep rejecting your bid. Most of the guns sold there are by dealers....ok...obvious statement....but they buy the item at their cost then sell it for a tad lower than MSRP; just enough to draw folks in that have priced that item in a local sporting goods store. The biggest problem then is shipping and what the receiving FFL will charge you to do the paper work. Factoring that in, you'll generally get one about as cheap by just going through a local dealer or gun store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G W Wade Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Most auction sites do have an bidding system. The bidding party places their high bid and the site will automatically raise their bid by the minimum bid until their maximum has been reached or the other bidders drop out. Auction site will usually have this procedure explained in their procedure for bidding . GW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Brules Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 I bought 1000 new .38Special Starline cases on Gunbroker about 3 years ago for $50.00, shipped, BuyItNow price. Turns out the mother of an Afghan-deployed Marine was selling them for her deployed daughter who asked Mom to liquidate a bunch of her possessions. I sent her $215 for the brass, and for shipping. I got a nice letter from her dad, a retired Marine sergeant. He included in the box, 3 boxes of loaded .38 cartridges his daughter bought prior to deciding to reload her own. Dumb old me? I sure as heck didn't feel like it. Her dad's letter was very nice. I sure hope she made it back home okay. I buy stuff on eBay, mostly backup Win97 parts. Sometimes you can get good deals, but if you're serious about buying them (unless you lay in a large going-in bid), you have to haunt that particular auction, being ready to place a higher bid, in case someone tries to outbid you at the last minute. There's just some stuff you don't want to let get by, such as a brand new, unused, fully assembled factory Win97 Bolt and Carrier for about $35.00. I figured that auction would end at about $150.00. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Barleycorn, SASS #76982 Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 I think there is some misunderstanding about how Gunbroker auctions work. Any bid in the lat 15 minutes adds 15 minutes to the auction. eBay does not do this and thus you have sniping on eBay. If you bid a Gunbrker auction with one minute left it will reset to 15 minutes this will continue with each additional bid. It will also send you an email telling you you have been outbid so you have time to decide if you want to increase your bid or let it go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 I have had hit and miss luck with auctions. I got caught up in an Ebay auction for a set of S&W grips and bid more I should have. When I did get the grip panels they were garbage. I have gotten lucky with motorcycle parts on Ebay but I haven't tried buying a gun on any of the firearms sites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster Ron Wayne Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Most auction sites do have an bidding system. The bidding party places their high bid and the site will automatically raise their bid by the minimum bid until their maximum has been reached or the other bidders drop out. Auction site will usually have this procedure explained in their procedure for bidding . GW I think there is some misunderstanding about how Gunbroker auctions work. Any bid in the lat 15 minutes adds 15 minutes to the auction. eBay does not do this and thus you have sniping on eBay. If you bid a Gunbrker auction with one minute left it will reset to 15 minutes this will continue with each additional bid. It will also send you an email telling you you have been outbid so you have time to decide if you want to increase your bid or let it go. Everything is spelled out just like they have said . I do wish GB did not ad 15min after every bid ! I have got to the point I place my maximum bid on everything. Let the auto bid bump my bids for me . And wait for email to tell me if I won or lost the Action. I dont watch it any more. But I have got some very very good buys on both Ebay and GB ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowhouse Sam # 25171 Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 (edited) I buy worthless, outdated junk on GB and Ebay that hardly anyone else would bother with. Getting outbid is rarely a problem. Edited December 20, 2016 by Yellowhouse Sam # 25171 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedalia Dave Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 I do wish GB did not ad 15min after every bid ! I have got to the point I place my maximum bid on everything. Let the auto bid bump my bids for me . And wait for email to tell me if I won or lost the Action. I dont watch it any more. But I have got some very very good buys on both Ebay and GB ! Were it not for the 15 min rule on GB, you would see the sniping crap that occurs on Ebay. I for one like that feature on GB. I too place my Max and let the system do its thing. It is fun to watch the snipers try to out bid me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Dollar Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 I believe there are autobid services you can use with EBay but there are lots of folks (myself included) that just waits till the last few seconds then press bid. If it's something I really want and I'm available to watch the end, that's what I do. I win a lot that way, but I've lost too... especially if it goes higher then I want to spend. Which is why like Barlycorn said, GunBroker made it so you can't do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chili Ron Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Howdy, Ive bought things on auction sites that were near impossible to by local. I don't expect to always win but its worth a shot and sometimes a real bargain drops into my mailbox. If I miss a deal, I still have my money and just look for the next, sometimes better deal. Best CR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Three Foot Johnson Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 GB doesn't add 15 minutes for bids in the last 15 minutes, it RESETS the time to 15 minutes. If you bid at 10 minutes before the auction's end, it doesn't add 15 minutes and go to 25 minutes, it just resets it to 15 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyesa Horg Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Sometimes I think folks just get caught up in the bidding frenzy. The other day I was watching a Dillon SDB that was somewhat corroded and nasty looking start at $202, it finally went for $425 plus $53 shipping. The post above it was for a "Buy it Now" at $399 for a brand new one. Dillon is now selling them for $404. Go figer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Douglas Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 A short tutorial on how many people do Ebay sniping: They keep 2 windows open. The first window is the item itself which they watch until the last second. They used to constantly refresh this page as the last 5 minutes didn't use to have a live countdown. The 2nd window is their bid window. They keep it right at the "confirm bid" part of the process. When there are seconds left, usually 2-5, they click "confirm bid" on their second window. The faster their internet connection, the less time they can leave at the end of the auction to perform sniping. If the bid goes higher than they had anticipated while watching, they can go back on the 2nd page and increase the amount. Then they go back to the "confirm bid" and continue watching. When I was younger, I used to do this. Now, I just enter the maximum that I care to spend with shipping charges figured into that dollar amount. Everything I buy from an Ebay auction is always an even dollar amount (when there is a shipping charge). Even if I get bid up with the auto bid, I never spend more than I would normally want to as it can never bid more than my maximum amount. When sniping, it's just like any other auction frenzy where you can easily end up spending more than you would normally care to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Dollar Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 A short tutorial on how many people do Ebay sniping: They keep 2 windows open. The first window is the item itself which they watch until the last second. They used to constantly refresh this page as the last 5 minutes didn't use to have a live countdown. The 2nd window is their bid window. They keep it right at the "confirm bid" part of the process. When there are seconds left, usually 2-5, they click "confirm bid" on their second window. The faster their internet connection, the less time they can leave at the end of the auction to perform sniping. If the bid goes higher than they had anticipated while watching, they can go back on the 2nd page and increase the amount. Then they go back to the "confirm bid" and continue watching. When I was younger, I used to do this. Now, I just enter the maximum that I care to spend with shipping charges figured into that dollar amount. Everything I buy from an Ebay auction is always an even dollar amount (when there is a shipping charge). Even if I get bid up with the auto bid, I never spend more than I would normally want to as it can never bid more than my maximum amount. When sniping, it's just like any other auction frenzy where you can easily end up spending more than you would normally care to. Where you looking over my shoulder? that's exactly how I used to do it when I was buying a lot off eBay. Used to refurbish old tube radios. EBay is a great place for radio parts and some at very good prices. The only thing bad about putting your maximum bid up front is lots of people come by and test the waters so to speak. They keep bumping and bumping by just a dollar or two. Drives me crazy.... just bid. So I'd just sit and wait till the end if possible and snipe it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Douglas Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Where you looking over my shoulder? that's exactly how I used to do it when I was buying a lot off eBay. Used to refurbish old tube radios. EBay is a great place for radio parts and some at very good prices. The only thing bad about putting your maximum bid up front is lots of people come by and test the waters so to speak. They keep bumping and bumping by just a dollar or two. Drives me crazy.... just bid. So I'd just sit and wait till the end if possible and snipe it. HA! That's exactly how I used to do it. I do get sick of the testing the waters bids, but now that I've gone to this method, I don't spend as much. I might not get the first one I bid on, but I eventually always get what I want. It's far less frustrating this way too. No painful last-second losses The water testing bidders are probably hoping for an item that is bid barely above the starting bid - people hoping for a complete steal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warden Callaway Posted December 21, 2016 Author Share Posted December 21, 2016 I do much better dealing face to face and use these old fashioned coupons with Benjamin Franklin's picture on them. But there are a lot of thing that need a bigger world view to find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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