Somebody's life in a box on e-bay.....

[bel_jon68]

Bad luck, Tony

Madpants is right, unfortunately - why people can't just set their absolute maximum bid and let ebay bid automatically, I don't know - maybe they get a thrill out of 'playing dirty' and swiping something from someone else at the last minute!

I've just done a quick search for "ephemera" on ebay - there's a lot of interesting stuff to be had if you've got the cash...

Bel
 

[meles]

Well, I would not say playing dirty.

It's an auction, and people may bid when they wish and for how much, just like a real auction....

meles

[jamiecussans]

Yeah it is fair - you just have to place your max. bid and wait and see if it's enough. Doesn't make any difference if you bid 7 days or 7 seconds before it ends..a max. bid is a max. bid!

[Willow 4873]

Quite true Jamie

If you were standing in an auction room you would bid up to your max so it all depends on if you have the cash to start with

Wonder whats the longest time a bid has run for in an auction room?

Willow x

[bel_jon68]

OK, sorry, perhaps 'playing dirty' is a bit OTT , it's just tactics I suppose.
My point is that you can be sniped for a figure less than your maximum bid.  The automatic bidding system is slow enough to allow a snipe to creep in during the last few seconds of an auction and by time ebay is ready to up your bid, you've been outbid.

Great news if you're a seller though!!!!!    We know someone who's a happy bunny tonight!

[jamiecussans]

The only difference with bidding in an auction room is the bidding stages - usually £50 or £100 when the bidding reaches £500. So for that reason the bidding never lasts very long in auction rooms.

[Willow 4873]

True Jamie

Bet in never goes up in pennies like e-bay lol

Willow x

[jamiecussans]

Yeah that is why people bid in the last minute, to try and bid an extra couple of pounds more than the current high bidder and win the auction. Annoying when it happens but if you bid the maximum you're willing to spend then it's fair enough

[bel_jon68]

Willow

Longest auction room bid I've found so far is 74 hours of continuous bidding.

The world's longest eBay auction was listed on January 13 2000 and is set to expire on December 31 2030 coming up just short of 31 years.

(this from a website called
thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com)