Should you worry about power bidders?
Yes-and-no…
Thanks to the risk-free buy it now options on all iBid products users can opt to buy an auction at any time while an auction is running.
When is the best time to use buy it now?
This is up to you really, but it may be better to show other bidders that you’re serious about winning and will bid until you have reached an item’s buy it now values before you use buy it now. All bids placed in the auction do not go towards buying it now but will be refunded back into your account if you buy an item with buying it now, giving you back an arsenal of bids to try and win more items.
Why is power bidding a strategy?
I know what you’re thinking.
Why would anyone want to spend more money on multiple occasions, especially when the object of iBid is to have fun and win items for less money? Right?
A power bidder likely won’t tell you, but if you watch auctions and find yourself bidding against them long enough, you will start to recognize who these bidders are. The “winsome” / “lose some,” and that’s just their mentality and their ultimate strategy.
Often I’ve seen where a power bidder wins high valued items such as iPads and laptops with just a few bids – we’re talking HUGE savings. Perhaps their opponents shy away from bidding against them because they were “cleaned out” by these bidders before and just don’t have the time, patience, or amount of bids available to go head-to-head with them again.
iBid is a very popular online auction site and therefore has a very large user base. Let’s just say there’s a time when the only bidders around, everyone else has met their nine items/week win limit, and the only bidders in a particular auction are ones who have gone against these power-bidders before and lost. Who ends up winning, sooner rather than later? While not possible to predict, the established, hardcore power bidder is usually likely to prevail.
What if a power bidder gets in a “bidding war” with another power bidder?
This is when two bidders who seem always to place a lot of bids are consistently bidding against each other.
Watch out, and get ready for what could be a very long battle to see who has more bid ammo and patience. Chances are, at this point, one of these power bidders will choose to buy it now, and the other may win.
Let’s just say the item they’re bidding for is one with a $1,000 value. Bidders will watch to see if either bidder or some will try a few bids with hopes of winning, waiting to see if either consistent bidder will drop and use buy it now to come in.