So, I go off and do something in another window, then pull up by eBay screen again. HUH? I did end up winning one of the six cards, but there was a flurry of bidding in the last minute or so. It looks like there were a good half-dozen people hanging on these auctions, as the same group came in and ran these up fast, with some of the cards going for EIGHT TIMES my max bid! As it ended up, three of the six cards went for WAY more that I would have bid, two went for bids that had I been "live" I might have tried to counter, and one that I won for a penny under my "placeholder" bid (as opposed to a penny which is what four of the cards were "going for" six minutes to close!).
I am amused, though, that there we so many folks "hovering" on the same auctions. While not every one of them bid on each card, there was a mix of about a half-dozen bidders who all swooped in within that last minute or so. I can imagine their confusion as the other bids stacked up (as many as 7 bids) and not only did they not win the cards for minimal bids, but the cards ended up going for a substantial chunk of "retail"!
As much as I, too, prefer to hold off on bidding until the last moment most of the time, I was so frustrated by ending up AFK when these closed (see a bitchy post a week or so back) that I've taken to putting in "placeholder" bids just in case I can't be there ... that way if I'm the only bidder, hey, I get it for a penny, and I still have room to counter versus what I'd have put in for a starting bid "live".
Yes, I know, as always ... "like you care!"
