Every day, hapless bidders get beaten to the punch by auction snipers who jump in at the last minute. I know how annoying it can be, as I once had it happen to me three times in a row on the same item! The thing is that the only people who can help the poor bidders are us, the sellers.

The Problem.

Bidders will bid on an item and then wait for days until it finishes, only to have someone else outbid them at the last minute. In a traditional auction at a real auction house, this isn’t a problem at all, as the auction keeps going until everyone has bid as much as they want to, and the auctioneer double-checks with the classic phrase “going, going, gone”.

The problem on eBay is caused by the fixed length of time that eBay’s auctions last, and the fact that they aren’t extended significantly if someone places a new bid in the last few seconds of the auction. Imagine if a real auction house worked that way, letting people shout “50 cents more!” at the last second and win an item. It would simply be unfair, and many buyers think it’s unfair on eBay too.

The Solutions.

Until eBay decide to fix the problem (and by now it’s looking unlikely that they ever will), you’re the only one who can do anything for your buyers.

First off, you can encourage your buyers to use eBay’s proxy bidding system the way it was intended. The idea of the system is that they enter the maximum they’re willing to pay for an item and eBay places bids for them automatically up to that maximum. They’re not supposed to come back and bid an extra dollar every time they get outbid.

If your bidders are bidding high enough, then no sniper will even come along and beat them – because they will have set the maximum snipe level in their sniping software to less than the normal bidder’s maximum. Changing the way people use eBay is hard, though.

One alternative is to keep an eye on who’s bidding on your auction, and cancel bids from known snipers – but this requires you to be around right at the end of the auction to cancel their bids. You might also want to set your auction to end sometime when bidders will be around so that they can outbid snipers themselves. This is good business sense anyway – most of the bidding always takes place in the last few hours of an auction.

An easier way to thwart bid snipers is to offer ‘Second Chance’ sales to bidders who get outbid by a sniper at the last minute. This is good for you, and for them – they still get to buy the item they wanted, and you’ve just made two sales: one to the sniper and one to them.

Once you’ve sold your items, though, you might be upset to find that one of them gets returned for a refund. Our next email will show you how to turn these returns into profits!


See:
Copart.com Review
Auction.com Scam
10 Comments
 
 
In this article, we will discuss the car dealer auction, giving our readers an insight into what goes on at the car auctions for dealers.

The car dealer auction is available all over the world to hundreds of people. However, we have come to learn that they are most popular in the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

The procedures at the car dealer auction

There are normally set procedures what happen at the car auction, we will go through each stage so that people can get an understanding of what it is like at the car auction. To be honest, anyone can go to a car auction, there is no set format saying a car auction is for dealers only. However, in our experience, dealers of cars at the car dealer auction are the main people you will find at the auctions.

This is good news however for those wishing to get started as they can offer some insight from other dealers at the car dealer auction. If you are not a dealer and are just wishing to buy a bargain car, by all means, go and grab yourself a bargain. You may even find that you gain some interest in car auctions and may want to go again to pick up another good deal on a car to sell on for profits. This is how many dealers get started.

Test drive the cars on show

If you are bidding on cars, this will be your chance to test drive the cars on show. Generally, this part is only for dealers or those wanting to bid on one of the cars being put on auctioneer. It is up to you if you want to test drive one the cars available, however, if you are buying a car, we recommend that you test drive the cars you are interested in.

Bidding

This is where you will bid on the cars and try to outbid others at the car dealer auction. At this part of the auction, you will likely get a very good deal on a car, that’s assuming the auctioneer doesn’t put the prices at silly prices and there is no one there who is just going to blow spare cash.

Winning the car

When you win the car, you will be offered a method of payment and cut off dates as to when to pay, you will also be offered the keys to the car upon cleared payment.

See:
Foreclosure.com Reviews
Bidcactus.com Review
7 Comments
 
 
Are you a mini storage owner who is losing money due to customers who simply just won’t pay their bill. If so, did you know that you can host a public storage auction? Your state may have some restrictions on doing so, but a public auction should be an option.

One of the many pros or plus sides to hosting a self-storage auction is that you are able to recoup your losses. These auctions take place when bills are left unpaid, often for months on end. Since you are losing money, it can hurt your business. But, when you auction off the contents inside each unpaid storage unit, you can recoup your losses.

In addition to recouping your losses, there is always the possibility that you will make money. If a bidder pays $300 for the items inside a storage unit, but the unpaid bill is only $100, you stand to make a $200 profit. Of course, remember your expenses. You need to let the public know about your auction. This may involve buying signage or taking out a newspaper classified ad.

Mini storage auctions are easy to setup. In fact, it may be much easier than you originally thought. Why? Because you have the freedom to decide how it works. Do you want to handle taking the bids yourself or do you want to hire a third-party auction house? If you are auctioning off the contents inside whole storage bays, as opposed to a few bins, all you need to do is open the unit and start taking bids.

Another pro or plus side to hosting a public storage auction is that they are increasing in popularity. You are not the only person who can profit from these auctions. Many buyers resell what they bought on eBay, on Craigslist, at yard sales, and at flea markets. Although there are some risks involved, as buyers don’t always know what they are bidding on, storage auctions are an easy way to make money. For that reason, alone, you should see many bidders at your auction.

Although there are a number of pros to hosting a mini storage auction, there are a number of cons to doing so as well. Not all auctions are successful. Yes, they are increasing in popularity, but it depends on what you have to offer. People are less likely to attend if you only have one or two boxes to auction off. If you are a small storage owner or if most of your customers pay their bills, it may be best to wait.

The biggest and possibly most disturbing downside to hosting a public storage auction is disgruntled customers. You may have multiple insults hurled at you. Yes, your former customers were in the wrong. After all, they decided to let their bills go unpaid. Despite this important fact, it will still be “your fault.” To reduce the chances of an angry customer, give them multiple chances to reclaim their belongings by paying their bill.

As you can see, there are a number of pros and cons to hosting a mini storage auction. If you are unsure if an auction is right for you, attend one. See how high bids go and what the turnout is like. This will help you determine if you can recoup your losses and make a profit or if an auction would just be a waste of time.

See:
Quibids.com Review
Beezid.com Reviews

7 Comments
 

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