A Guaranteed Way to (Almost) Always Win an eBay Auction




I’ll bet you dollars to donuts that you’ll be hard-pressed to encounter a person more impatient than me.Delayed gratification simply isn’t — and never was — my thing.But there is something I’ll somehow find the gumption to wait seven long, arduous days for: An eBay auction.Because you see, having the will to wait in the wings is the very first step to getting what you want.I play to win on eBay. And it’s extremely rare when I lose.I joined eBay back in 2002 — or 5,076 purchases ago — when I didn’t know jack shit about e-commerce. And I was equally — if not more — senseless when it came to auction protocol. If someone had spied on my first attempted eBay transaction in real-time, I likely would have evoked the same sense of pity one would bestow upon a fledgling during the pursuit of his first solo meal.

I had designs on a beat-up designer purse (my credit card was this close to being maxed out; I shouldn’t have been shopping at all.) Anyway, at nearly 4 a.m., when both fatigue and the blue din of my computer monitor were conspiring to make me cross-eyed, I found what I was looking for. And the listing checked all the boxes:I was absolutely convinced this bag would be mine.I’m the only person watching this action, I thought. I can’t lose!And so, I placed my bid just as the sun was coming up and then went to bed. I went about the next four days happy as a clam because I was secure in the knowledge that I’d win this purse. How hopelessly naïve I was.Fast-forward to the day the auction ended.I rushed home from work, settled down at my archaic PC, and retrieved my credit card from my wallet.