Some auctions get hundreds of bids but some go much more slowly, getting only a small fraction of bids, worse, none at all for days. Auctions are generally much slower during the summer months than they are in the winter – and sales on eBay are slowing each year, as more sellers sign up than compared to buyers, with the hopes of gettin rich as quick as possible. It is actually the same with new SEO services hoping to get more customers by emphasizing more on webpage website design rather than thinking of ways to get more web traffic. A bit foolish, if you ask me.

Here are a number of ways that you can take advantage of slower auctions to get a good price.

 

Wait to Bid.

Because if you bid on an item, then everyone will think that you’re interested – and that might make them interested too. If you leave the item alone for quite some time will make then item less popular, thus keeping the price down so you can come at the last minute and get a great bargain.

 

Make an Offer.

If the seller is selling an item using ‘Buy it Now’ and it still hasn’t sold when the auction is about to end, use eBay’s ‘Best Offer’ service to make them an offer on it.. The chances are they’ve listed the item two or three times before, and they’ll be so annoyed at the prospect of re-listing it yet again that they’ll accept your offer just to get rid of the thing..

 

Conspire with Other Buyers.

You might not have thought of this, but if there are two auctions for the same item and only you and one other buyer are bidding, why not get together and work out a ‘you take this one and I’ll take that one’ deal? This stops you from raising the price on both auctions just to get one each. If you make a few friends, you can even work together on auctions long-term, taking it in turns to bid..

 

Be Snobbish.

Send the seller an email asking questions about the product and making it clear that you are a very discerning buyer and will only accept things of the highest quality. This will make them feel better about selling you their item for less.

 

Don’t Feel Guilty.

There are so many sellers on eBay now, to the point that you can easily find other items at lower prices. Long-term, this will probably force those sellers out of business, but that’s the way a market works – it’s supply and demand.

 

Buy in Bulk.

Sellers will have the same stock in a long time when auctions are low. If you offer to take ten things off their hands all at once then you can almost name your price – the chances are that they’ll fall over themselves to give you a good deal. If you come back again and buy another ten items then they’ll love you even more..

 

The longer you spend on eBay, the more experienced you’ll become – and the bigger the chances are that you’ll come across an auction for a very old item, and quite unexpected. Watch out for the next email. you’ll hear all about the strangest eBay items ever sold.

 

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