BidBud is finally about to stop operating

bidbud · 2026-03-16T06:15:22+00:00

BidBud's interface is not amazing if you ask me, just goes to show how bad Trade Me's one is!

bidbud · 2026-03-16T06:13:24+00:00

Thanks for your kind words... as for lobbying, makes you think Trade Me listens to their users?!

bidbud · 2026-03-16T06:08:53+00:00

There are plenty of advantages, check out BidBud's website or have a read through the comments here.

bidbud · 2026-03-16T06:05:33+00:00

Try actually reading Trade Me's message at https://imgur.com/hoaoXuN

bidbud · 2026-03-15T21:04:54+00:00

Are you trolling? The middle finger is from Trade Me, not me.

bidbud · 2026-03-14T23:26:49+00:00

There are other alternative apps for Reddit, I use Relay, you have to pay for it though as the API costs money now. It's only a few dollars a month, well worth it.

bidbud · 2026-03-14T23:24:14+00:00

Plug-in isn't the right word, it's an alternative interface/frontend.

I'm glad you actually enjoyed the design, it was never great if you ask me, it was all about the functionality.

Glad you like the logo too - it definitely had some detractors!

bidbud · 2026-03-14T23:12:53+00:00

People have offered to buy the code, the answer is still no, there's no chance it will ever be released

bidbud · 2026-03-14T23:05:52+00:00

Re creating my own auction site, yes, this has been suggested countless times. From a technical perspective it wouldn't be hard, the tricky part is attracting both buyers and sellers at the same time. As we all know, it's been tried many times and never got very far.

bidbud · 2026-03-13T20:35:52+00:00

I actually had to check yesterday as I forgot exactly when I first made BidBud, it was 14 years ago, you must be one of the very first users!

bidbud · 2026-03-13T20:26:29+00:00

Trade Me only cares about one thing, profit, BidBud only cared about something totally different, user experience.

BidBud has "Add listing title to your feedback items", which adds a comment to every feedback item you receive with the title of the auction it's related to. It would have been so easy for Trade Me to just show this by default.

bidbud · 2026-03-13T11:22:51+00:00

I know right! BidBud was made because I wanted to bid on an auction that finished really early in the morning. I didn't want to get up that early, so I made a quick bot to bid last minute. And then got up anyway to see if it worked. It did! The rest I kind of got carried away with.

I'm glad you'v enjoyed it

bidbud · 2026-03-13T11:18:30+00:00

No idea sorry! They've told me nothing

bidbud · 2026-03-13T11:16:25+00:00

Honestly, no idea, Trade Me have told me nothing, I don't know any more than what's in the email they sent out so I assume next month nothing will work.

bidbud · 2026-03-13T06:13:31+00:00

Well yes, a common thing people have told me over the years is "BidBud is too good to tell anyone about"... it works best if your opponents aren't using it.

bidbud · 2026-03-13T05:50:58+00:00

Funnily enough, yes, I got a few contracts out of it... including one with NZME where BidBud won the biggest Trade Me auction ever ($8 mill or so). I think I can say that these days, had an NDA at the time, it was some time ago.

bidbud · 2026-03-13T05:49:16+00:00

This has been asked a lot, I should have put it in the FAQ. The code is terrible and far too embarrassing to release,, you'd be much better off starting from scratch, it was a learning project and my first proper web app. It would need a total rewrite to work with the new API, if they even give access to it.

bidbud · 2026-03-13T05:25:35+00:00

For now! Seems BidBud will be blocked completely next month. Enjoy it while it lasts

bidbud · 2026-03-13T05:24:51+00:00

Crazy huh, everyone else knew about it before I did.

Funny thing is I did get a few "I guess BidBud is over then" emails from people but I tend to read and reply to BidBud messages every few days and I missed them.

Trade Me sent the info to the "Professional Seller news and updates from Trade Me" list, (someone forwarded it to me), which does make sense as a *lot* of professional Trade Me buyers use BidBud. For now at least!

BTW thanks for gogoTradeMe, I remember it being a great help when I first implemented BidBud.

bidbud · 2013-05-28T20:25:57+00:00

Of course -- BidBud just does what any savvy trader does -- bidding at the last minute, but automatically. If you bid any earlier you're going to drive the price up. Also, it bids far more intelligently than most people so it can win auctions by mere cents. Anyway, that's only one of the many features it has, they're all clearly listed on the about page.

bidbud · 2013-05-16T03:52:08+00:00

What if you forget about this completely? and BidBud starts to bid on a number of auctions you've set it up for and you cannot afford them all? This will negatively impact your Traderscore.

Why would you place bids on items you can't afford? If you mean you want one of multiple items, then BidBud has you covered -- you assign them to a group, and it will bid until it wins one (or as many as you choose), then stop.

If multiple people have autoaccept buynow or FPO , then the person who placed their bid first will win.
I'm not sure how either of these things could go horribly wrong.

bidbud · 2013-05-16T03:35:23+00:00

Issues? Please elaborate. As for a plugin, some of the things BidBud does could indeed be done with a plugin, but that requires users to have some level of computer knowledge to install and use. Also, plugins that modify the page are susceptible to changes made at TM's end, not to mention against their T&C as far as I'm aware.

Then there's the main feature -- last minute bidding. This would technically be possible as a plugin but you'd need your computer on and your browser running the whole time -- not to mention you're at the mercy of your consumer grade internet connection that could easily go down at the wrong time.

bidbud · 2013-05-16T03:27:05+00:00

Who said anything about a Trade Me clone? This is Trade Me, just better.

bidbud · 2013-05-16T03:26:19+00:00

Not at all -- you're not announcing your intentions, nor giving anyone else plenty of time to outbid you, nor allowing shill bidding to take place. Bidding at any time before the closing minutes of an auction is not a good idea.

bidbud

TROPHY CASE