Ebay Snipers - How Common?

Hi Guys,

So I was just sniped on eBay to the tune of a 40% increase in the final prices paid for two CDs I was trying to buy. I was the unchallenged, high bidder on these for DAYS. I've only turned to ebay to buy stuff in the past few weeks. I had a couple of things sniped out from under me last week, so I knew to watch for it today. Thankfully work was busy this morning but had slowed down by the time my two auctions were ending so I could stay on top of things. I ended up paying WAY more than I wanted for these discs, but as a matter of principle I was determined to NOT allow the snipers be rewarded by getting my goods.

I'm really TICKED! I get the impression that this is pretty common (and that there are even services and programs to snipe) on eBay. Anyone willing to share their own experiences about this? I'm in misery-loves-company mode right now.

FWIW, my ebay ID is patrickc3010, so please add me to the list of Steve Hoffman Brothers in eBay Arms.

Thanks guys.
- Pat

 

eBay bidders are not a homogenous bunch. It depends on the type of item you are looking at, and it depends on what the opening bid amount is. But for CD's and LP's, I would guess that on desirable items 50% of the bids occur in the last hour. For really desirable items I would guess most of the bidding occurs in the last 5 minutes. Because of that there is no point in bidding early on. It will only drive up the price.

 

I mentioned this on another thread, but I don't understand the outrage over sniping. Someone outbid me by $50 on a mono White Album a few weeks ago when there was still a day left in the auction. Unlike you, I did not end up paying WAY more than my own self-imposed limit because "I was determined NOT to allow" this guy to be rewarded for outbidding me - I don't have $200 to drop on a single album right now, no matter how much I want it. Whether someone else bids $50 more than me for a record a day before the auction ends or 5 seconds before the auction ends is immaterial to me - he still is willing to pay more for it than I am - end of story.

 

Take a deep breath and repeat: sniping is a mirage. There's no difference between being outbid the first day and the last second. Someone is willing to pay more for it -- end of story.

Just place your real maximum bid earlier and relax. And remember, it ain't "your goods" until the auction is over.

 

What would be nice is if you could select an option whereby the end date / time of your auction was not posted.

Perhaps a note saying "This auction began at 3:05PM April 27, 2006 and will end no later than 3:05PM May 4, 2006, BUT may also end anywhere in between, so bid accordingly."

Both buyer and seller would be taking a gamble then.

Just a thought?

 

Hi John,

(I like your current avatar -- who is that?). Oh -- my final price was within my budget, and I really wanted the items I was bidding on. I don't know that I'm outraged -- eBay's such a capitalistic microcosm -- so much as startled that it happened. It's not like someone stole food out of my hands, but it does make me wonder what the etiquette/protocol is for bidding. I'm quite new to the eBay world, and I knew to expect people to move in on towards the end. It was just wild to see it actually happen!

So I guess it's common... hmmm.

 

That's a really cool idea!

 

A way to combat sniping, I've found, is to estimate the final price. Then big about $20 over that price. The sniping only works as it continues to bid in increments. They usually set the snip with about 5 sec left. SO it would take them too long to get up to your price.

 

Pat, I just enter the maximum amount I'm willing to pay and forget about the auction until Ebay sends me an end of auction notice. If you do it this way, you never spend more than you planned to spend regardless of the circumstances.

 

"...sniping is a mirage. sniping is a mirage... sniping is a mirage...

You're right, of course. See I knew you guys would understand.

 

doesnt get said much better than that. either way you look at it you will be beat if you dont bid enough. always bid your maximum at the end of the auction that your willing to pay.


I always find im always fighting another guy. if I win the auction I usually paid too much, if I dont let myself get into a bidding war the other guy usually steals it for next to nothing. thats what irks me.

rarely do I win an auction for a fair or even low price.

 

If you can't beat them...join them.

 

Don't sue me for plagiarism, John!

 

If I want something badly enough, I just decide how much I'm willing to pay for it, then wait until as close to the end of the auction as possible and put that bid in. If I don't win it, then I don't win it. I seldom make more than one bid.

 

It's been interesting to see how prices have stacked up lately between Amazon and between various auctions on eBay. I think I'll use BOTH of your strategies to prevent myself from ever getting in too deep on eBay.

Two of the things I was outbid on were actually good because they were kinda impulse bids in the first place.

I think I was startled because when I've bid on things and been uncontested (or nearly uncontested) it felt just like shopping in a really big, very well stocked used record store, but when those competing bids came in today it was a reality check: I'm not in a record store, I'm in a record store where other customers are permitted to wrestle your finds out of your hands, then challenge you to a duel to see who walks out of the store with the record!

 

Way back before the 'watch' function was in , I used to bid early and small to get an easy status on items. Now, it's watch and snipe.

It doesn't always work; eBay sells to the highest bidder at the close, so nothing has changed (except people's use of eBay). I used to think I was being 'stalked' by other buyers, but they were undoubtedly running similar searches to me and wanted the same items. Still do, in fact. Sniping is definitely the province of the pro buyer, and as a seller I have no problems with it. Knowing a good price for the item really helps with the overspending thing.

Sniping also prevents that adrenaline-fuelled bid-bid-bid thing. Did that for a while, but it was just too annoying. Set a max and wait for it to go in.

Sniping can be prevented easily; I used to buy on a (now dead) site that didn't close sales until 5 minutes after the last bid. While that prevented the last minute win, it also caused rampant price variations. I learned patience there. Bidding wars were the name of the game.

 

My thoughts exactly.

Sorry, but I don't agree. I think you'd stand a better chance if you bid as late as possible - provided the price hasn't gone beyond what you're willing to pay, of course.

 

Wait until the paranoia described by Mikey H kicks in. "Hey, that's the same clown that sniped my last auction. Is he stalking me?" It's just that someone interested in the same artists and genres is perusing the same auctions. And if he's a plastic surgeon or attorney banking six figures a year, well, what are ya gonna do?

It gets weird when two budders go at it over an item, driving it way above its normal auction price, and then there's an identical item below expiring later that neither has bid on.

 

I got out-sniped the other day on a Cat Stevens MFSL box and the only thing that bothered me was that I know it was a sniping service. I know because it beat me by the absolute minimum amount and did it in under 2 seconds. On top of that, my maximum was about $10 over the standing bid, meaning that using a step-by-step bid, this bidder had to place 10 $1 increments in under 2 seconds.

What I want to know is how these sniping services do this. I can't make that many bids in 2 seconds, how do they?

 

My two auctions were ending within minutes of each other today, and I was clicking between them as fast as I could. I *did* check to see if it was the same person. (Now I need to go home and listen to "Destroyer" by the Kinks.)

Thankfully I'm not a gambler by nature, but I am a shop-for-records-too-mucher! I suppose I'll learn to resist the temptations of eBay just like I had to learn how to tame my desire to buy like a fool when Amazon and other online retailers first popped up.

 

I always snipe. I never bid early.

Bidding early is a WASTE of time. An early bidder will NEVER win an auction for something that is properly described and desirable.

If there is something you really want, you "have to go to the mattress" with a high snipe bid, then cross your fingers. The problem arises when there is another sniper who also has a high snipe bid. Sometimes you will see:

Winning Sniper: $335.33
Losing Sniper: $333.33
Next Bidder: $84.35
Next Bidder: $75.00
etc

In this case, two snipers bid on something worth about $100 or so, but the item ended up selling for over $300 because of sniping. What this also will do is cause other eBay'ers who have the item to list it thinking that they will make $300 on their sale.

The reason you do not place the $333.33 bid early is that the next sniper will already know your maximum, and if he wants it that badly, will know how high to snipe.

Sniping is the way of life on eBay. You just have to face it.

I use www.esnipe.com, and I never have to worry about a thing! (Except how high my snipe will be)

 

Before getting too angry over the concept of "sniping", stop and consider the overall Ebay psychology. Everyone is looking for the good deal on Ebay, but the reality is that the winning bidder just paid more for that item than anyone else was willing to pay. The psychology leads you to beleive you've just snared a bargain, even though you've put out more money than anyone else would to buy the "good deal". Food for thought. Many "snipers" are nothing more than conscientious shoppers. Experienced Ebayers never bid early. You lay back and watch, study the incremental bid history and bid amounts, and create a strategy of when to bid and how to bid the least amount possible to win the auction. Why jump in at the last minute with a ten dollar bid if the average bid history indicates you can accomplish a win with two dollars? I've have yet to come across a malicious sniper who pulled a bid from under my feet out of spite. In every case of being sniped, a review of that snipers Ebay history has shown them to be highly rated, Ebay competent, conscientious shoppers, not criminals. If you want to overextend yourself financially on an Ebay bid just to prove a point or teach a sniper a lesson, you're going to end up losing a lot of money in the long run. Better to lick your wounds and jump back in with a better strategy next time.

 

As far as I know they just place your maximum bid in one go, a few seconds before the end of the auction, and that's it - no increments at all. Example: the highest bid just before the end of the auction is, say, $100, and the bid increments are $2; your maximum "snipe" bid is $150; the result is that you're the winning bidder at $102.

 

You need to look at the bid history to see how many were placed. Typically a bid is accepted every second or so, maximum. Any larger bid than yours will win by the bid increment. If you want to make incremental snipes (and I don't see any point to that, myself..) the services typically make one every two seconds. eBay has a requirement that you don't overload their interface.

Bids placed by any service are not guaranteed, either. Another thing to watch.

 

That is Miss January 1970, Jill Taylor.

Like you said above, eBay is just a microcosm of pure supply and demand capitalism - there is no "etiquette" involved - are you willing to pay more than the next guy? You win. No? You lose. Simple as that. Having said that, I have personally been lucky to encounter several nice sellers on eBay who delivered goods to me that were in even better condition than advertised. The feedback system is subject to abuse, I suppose, but it does help ensure that the nice guys out there get some recognition for their fair dealing.