Small Scale Military Headquarters

At the last second I lost an auction on the only model I really wanted, a Motorworks Ultimate Soldier Panzer III Ausf L in 1:32. I was the high bidder with 15 seconds left, then I added $5 to my bid, I was sure I had it on ice but I lost by $1.

My life sucks.

zzzippper wrote:At the last second I lost an auction on the only model I really wanted, a Motorworks Ultimate Soldier Panzer III Ausf L in 1:32. I was the high bidder with 15 seconds left, then I added $5 to my bid, I was sure I had it on ice but I lost by $1.

My life sucks.

That's the way Ebay works, if the increment is $1 at a time, you will always lose by $1. When I bid on something, I always calculate what my maximum that I will pay for an item is and bid that. If someone outbids me, then they wanted it worse than I did.

I know. I thought I had bid higher than anyone else would go. It's my own fault because I would have gone higher. When I upped my max bid for the last time with 15 seconds left to protect against any late comers I almost added an extra $5. Live and learn, I just hope I get another chance at a similar model.

The North African one?(Best of the Ls IMO) I had prob 5 NiB one time and the Russian one, with green camo on display.

picked them at Walmart for 15, sold most for 30. Same with my Opels and Sdkfz.3 Maultiers.

That one the Maultier was one of the best 21st pieces of ground equipment...and their 38(t) series of tanks and Marders IIIs IMO.

Hopefully after their 3rd III(r) Hobbymaster will make a ausf.H or PzKpfw.38(t) in 1/72.

If poker has taught me anything, IF you want to win, Buy the Pot.

One my first PzKpfw V G, Normandy "135" the bid was 10$(something GBPs) I put a bid in at the last hour, after I staked it at 9GBP/14USD.

Then I upped it to 75.00USD in 4 seperate bids(but since noone countered me after my first buy the pot bid of 9GBP) I got it for 9, but the fact I had my bids stacked, I prob scared off the casual buyer.

If you want to win you got to gamble. Just don't risk money you can't afford to lose on a toy as the girl says.but then I've seen here go bid-crazy on girl things and diecast cars(which she collects and know a hella lot more than me on that hobby)

Panzer_M wrote:The North African one?(Best of the Ls IMO) I had prob 5 NiB one time and the Russian one, with green camo on display.

picked them at Walmart for 15, sold most for 30. Same with my Opels and Sdkfz.3 Maultiers.

That one the Maultier was one of the best 21st pieces of ground equipment...and their 38(t) series of tanks and Marders IIIs IMO.

Hopefully after their 3rd III(r) Hobbymaster will make a ausf.H or PzKpfw.38(t) in 1/72.

Yep, the North African. As a consolation I won a Pz III in green paint with a shorter barrell, probably France campaign though I don't know what model.

I've already ordered the 21st Century Hetzer and 38(t).

I was all set to go all-in, I just had a brain fart and got cocky.

First, let me say I'm sorry you got beat out in the last seconds, it's happened to me many times. As others have said, that's just the way ebay is sometimes. If there's an item I really want, I usually decide what my absolute max bid is, and then put that bid in during the final seconds of the auction. This method has worked pretty well for me, but is by no means foolproof. For one thing, if the auction ends at 3 am. I won't be able to do that. Someone else may have also have the same idea, or has put in a higher "auto" bid. I generally prefer not to put in an early high or max "auto" bid, or bump up my high bid as the auction goes along, as I believe it tends to encourage more active bidding, and thus competition for the item. I usually just stand back and watch an auction play out, and then snipe it with a last seconds bid, and if someone beats me, then like the other guy said... they just wanted it more than I did..

Ostketten, yep we have the same "strategy". It just didn't pay off this time. I felt like a punch in the gut though because I thought I had it in the bag and it's the one I REALLY have been wanting.

Sorry but that's what happens. The guy could have really wanted it and put his max bid at $500. No matter what you bid he would have been a $1 more. There was an item on ebay that was connected with my dad during world war two. I had never seen it before and I WANTED it. The bid was $50 with 1 hour to go. I put a max of $200 and was winning with $51. 10 minutes before it ended I got nervous and put a max of $550 in. When it got to 30 seconds the amount started to fly up. It ended at over $300 when the bidders ran out of time. With that I have learned if there is something I want I figure the most I will pay for it and put that for my max bid. If I get it for less I really win.

JollyRoger wrote:Sorry but that's what happens. The guy could have really wanted it and put his max bid at $500. No matter what you bid he would have been a $1 more. There was an item on ebay that was connected with my dad during world war two. I had never seen it before and I WANTED it. The bid was $50 with 1 hour to go. I put a max of $200 and was winning with $51. 10 minutes before it ended I got nervous and put a max of $550 in. When it got to 30 seconds the amount started to fly up. It ended at over $300 when the bidders ran out of time. With that I have learned if there is something I want I figure the most I will pay for it and put that for my max bid. If I get it for less I really win.

What was the item in question?

In World War Two every Air Squadron and or Group would have what would be like a high school yearbook. My father was in the 90th bomb group. He brought home the Group's book. The Group was divided into 4 Squadrons. I didn't know each squadron also had their own book! His squadrons came up on ebay and just blew me away. In it was a pic of him and his crew that I had never seen before. Since then I have acquried 2 of the other squadrons and am just missing one.

Live and learn, zzzipper.

Again has been pointed out, if you REALLY want an item, figure out the maximum that you would pay[without buyers remorse], and put that bid in as late as possible.

If you do this with less than a minute to go, this is called "Sniping".Lots of people do it.I have won an item by sniping, but I have also lost due to sniping by somebody else.

Sometimes the other guy just wants it more than you.And you can see some crazy prices for items on Ebay.Someone will pay more for an item, that is available from a dealer.

I am sure that this model will turn up again.So you will have a second chance at it.

There is actually a "Sniping" website that you put your price into and at what time it is supposed to go in ( 3 seconds are the least I think). I was going to do it once, couldn't get it to work and then thought it was kind of crappy to do and never went back.

JollyRoger wrote:There is actually a "Sniping" website that you put your price into and at what time it is supposed to go in ( 3 seconds are the least I think). I was going to do it once, couldn't get it to work and then thought it was kind of crappy to do and never went back.

I know of these sniping programs.Just don't trust them enough to use them.Not the smartest computer guy, so haven't tried them.

On the other hand, the way the auction itself is set up, allow you to basically 'snipe" at the end.If you can't be around to see the last minutes, you just put in your absolute maximum bid at the last time you can bid.Plus you are first to bid this amount, so any tie goes to you.

It is best to hold off until the end, but at the end of the day, it is how much are you willing to spend.A sniping program will still not increase your maximum bid.

Sometimes the other guy just wants it more.Not much you can do about that.

Yea thats how it was with me with the book. I was willing to go $550. I probubly would have been upset if I lost it.

JollyRoger wrote:Yea thats how it was with me with the book. I was willing to go $550. I probubly would have been upset if I lost it.

Glad that you were able to get this fantastic piece of your dads history.That must be very special.

Hopefully, JollyRoger, you are able to find the last of four.

No no , I have 3 of the 4 squadrons books. All I need is one more. Like a needle in a haystack.

I've never understood the sniping thing. I just figure out how much I would spend, place my bid, and forget about it. Half the time I never even bother to look and see what the final bid is.

EnemyAce wrote:I've never understood the sniping thing. I just figure out how much I would spend, place my bid, and forget about it. Half the time I never even bother to look and see what the final bid is.

On a site like ebay sniping probably isn't as effective and another board such as gunbroker.com that has a 15 minute rule. If a higher bid is placed within 15 minutes of the auction closing it extends the closing of the bidding back to 15 minutes. In affect, you could have an auction that never ends.

JollyRoger wrote:In World War Two every Air Squadron and or Group would have what would be like a high school yearbook. My father was in the 90th bomb group. He brought home the Group's book. The Group was divided into 4 Squadrons. I didn't know each squadron also had their own book! His squadrons came up on ebay and just blew me away. In it was a pic of him and his crew that I had never seen before. Since then I have acquried 2 of the other squadrons and am just missing one.

If he was in the navy they would be called "cruise books."

Ebay is out for me, it seems everybody wants to use paypal, my paypal account got hacked, so as far as I go I will never use paypal again.
In their defense they did fix it, but I don't like the idea that my next transaction could go the same way.

hworth18 wrote:

zzzippper wrote:At the last second I lost an auction on the only model I really wanted, a Motorworks Ultimate Soldier Panzer III Ausf L in 1:32. I was the high bidder with 15 seconds left, then I added $5 to my bid, I was sure I had it on ice but I lost by $1.

My life sucks.

That's the way Ebay works, if the increment is $1 at a time, you will always lose by $1. When I bid on something, I always calculate what my maximum that I will pay for an item is and bid that. If someone outbids me, then they wanted it worse than I did.

i agree thats the best way. my wins went up when i started using that strategy

EnemyAce wrote:I've never understood the sniping thing. I just figure out how much I would spend, place my bid, and forget about it. Half the time I never even bother to look and see what the final bid is.

I snipe all the time as a general rule and have gotten many good deals this way, simply because the other bidders didn't put their maximum bid in from the beginning. I've had losing bidders contact me through Ebay mad that I came in and won the auction in the last couple seconds.

I don't know, to me it makes common sense to put in your maximum bid from the beginning, but a lot of people just don't do that. A lot of people also bid more than what they would have or even more than what an item costs new from a retailer because they get caught up in a bidding war which blurs their thinking. There have been a lot of stories in the media about this.

I've had losing bidders contact me through Ebay mad that I came in and won the auction in the last couple seconds.

I've never had that happen, but I'm sure there are couple out there that are less than pleased that I sniped off the item at the final bell. I mean, there is nothing illegal or dishonest about it.... it's a common strategy on ebay, and I've been both the victim and the beneficiary of it, so it's a two way street any way you look at it.

A lot of people also bid more than what they would have or even more than what an item costs new from a retailer because they get caught up in a bidding war which blurs their thinking.

And that is precisely why I prefer a last minute snipe as opposed to an early max bid, which IMO tends to generate more bids and thus more interest and competition for an item than there might ordinarily be. Some people will get it in their brain that they are gonna win come hell or high water, no matter what the cost, like it's a matter of pride or something...