Buy It Quick with Buy It Now

Tired of waiting around for the end of an auction, only to find out you didn't have the winning bid? Well, there's a way to actually buy some items you see for auction without going through the bidding process. All you have to do is look for those auctions that have a Buy It Now (BIN) option.

Buy It Now is an option that some (but not all) sellers add to their auctions. With Buy It Now, the item is sold (and the auction ended) if the very first bidder places a bid for a specified price. (For this reason, some refer to Buy It Now auctions as "fixed-price" auctionseven though they're slightly different from eBay's real fixed-priced listings.)

Buying an item with Buy It Now is really simple. If you see an item identified with a Buy It Now price (as shown in Figure 23.3), just enter a bid at that price. You'll immediately be notified that you've won the auction, and the auction will be officially closed.

Figure 23.3. A Buy It Now auction.

Of course, you don't have to bid at the Buy It Now price. You can bid at a lower price and hope that you win the auction, which then proceeds normally. (The Buy It Now option disappears when the first bid is madeor, in a reserve price auction, when the reserve price is met.) But if you want the item nowand you're willing to pay the asking priceyou can use the Buy It Now option to make an immediate purchase.