Ebay Snipers - How Common?

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by pcain, Apr 27, 2006.

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  1. Tubeman

    Tubeman New Member In Memoriam

    Location:
    Texas
    I've bought over 500 hundred albums off eBay in the last few years and have always done it the same way every time, wait til 10 seconds before the end, put in my maximum bid and that's it, if I get it great, if I don't....another day.
     
  2. musicalbeds

    musicalbeds Strange but not a stranger

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    I just hate it when I go to snipe something, and my computer freezes or the 'net's busy that night etc. I've had that happen too many times, and seen the item sell for waaaaaaaay less than I would have paid..very frustrating.

    I know, I know..those services will do it and save me the trouble...but that's not as much fun, eh.
     
  3. RDK

    RDK Active Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    But why would a seller ever agree to that? A seller wants to get the highest bid possible, not enable buyers to get a better deal. And as long as bidders wait until the end of an auction to bid - and there are several legit reasons for doing this - it's in the best interest of the seller to list an end time. :confused:
     
  4. gillcup

    gillcup Senior Member

    Location:
    Raleigh, NC, USA
    The simple fact is that the high bidder always wins (unless there is a tie and then the earliest high bidder wins) regardless of when they place the bid. Just bid your true high bid and don't look at the auction until it's over. Most people who are frustrated by sniping usually underestimate what they are really willing to pay for an item and underbid. Once you learn how to determine how high you are really willing to pay, frustration levels go way down. If someone is willing to pay more than I am, they can have it.

    Mark
     
  5. mr mxyzptlk

    mr mxyzptlk New Member

    Location:
    Fifth Dimension
    Being the high bidder a week or a day or an hour before auction close is pretty meaningless. If it's a desirable item all the real action's in the last five minutes. Occasionally I'll have a couple of guys bid something up stupid-high with days left and the item will have gone higher than anyone else wants to bid so the early guy gets it... but not cheap. RDK is right, eBay exists to get the most possible money for the seller and of course for eBay, it's usually not a place for bargains on choice items. There is a service (auctionsniper or bidsniper?) - I've had a few auctions won by people using the service and it emails me telling me their customer won. I put items that look like possibilities to bid on on my watch list and most of them are too high by last day - so I never end up bidding.
     
  6. pcain

    pcain Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Minneapolis, MN
    This is fascinating stuff! If the last minute bidding is the name of the game, then so be it. I'll count myself as lucky for being able to get most of what I've wanted at reasonable prices. eBay did an okay job of suggesting that I should up my max bid as the auctions were coming to a close. The heart-pumping part of closing in on those last minutes of the auctions was actually kinda fun. The paying more than I had hoped (but really not more than I could/should have) was a bummer, but I'm already over it. I'm honored to have you guys explain the rules of the game.
     
  7. RicP

    RicP All Digital. All The Time.

    That's not how it works at all.


    Let's say the current bid on an item is $10 and bidding increments are -- for example -- $1.

    Now, your "maximum bid" is set at $16 as the auction is closing.

    In order for someone to outbid you, they only need to place one bid of $17 or more. There is no incremental bidding done in that case. eBay simply looks at the current max bid, adds the minimum increment and then sees if this new bid is higher than that number. If it is, then that number becomes the new "max bid."

    So the sniper did not in fact have to place "10 $1 increments in under 2 seconds" but rather only needed to place one bid that was greater than $10 higher than your max.

    There really needs to be a clear cut simple explanation on how eBay works posted somewhere. So many people are unaware of how the system works, and that leads to misunderstandings, aggravation and paranoia.
     
  8. Radiotron

    Radiotron Tube Designer

    Location:
    Montreal, Canada
    I'll say it again, eBay is not a flea market, it's a casino. How much are YOU willing to bid? Of course, eBay wants you to believe that it's all about having fun but all they care for is your money. They have shareholders to satisfy! All they can do to make you spend more they will and sniping is just one of the tools.
     
  9. bresna

    bresna Senior Member

    Location:
    York, Maine

    So all these esnipe programs do is place your max bid at the last second? Heck, I don't need to pay someone to do that! :D

    Whenever I sold items on eBay, I used to love the bidders who bid my items up early. I always knew a sniper would win if he/she wanted the item bad enough so when you go into that last minute and the price is above what you expected, it can only get better. :)

    Kevin
     
  10. Raf

    Raf Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    Indeed. As eBay buyers, what we should complain about is not so-called snipers, but bidders who jump in too early and jack the price up. Anyone wanna start an eBay Buyers Education Campaign? ;)
     
  11. J.A.W.

    J.A.W. Music Addict

    That's also what I said in post #23.

    And what if the auction ends in the middle of your night and you want the item really badly? :)
     
  12. bru87tr

    bru87tr 80’s rule

    Location:
    MA
    I actually dont let myself get caught up in bidding anymore. I do bid early so I dont forget about the auction, as my ISP is slow on getting me emails from ebay for some reason.

    if I win it at the minimum bid, cool! if I dont, cool too! if I want it bad enough I will bid higher.

    thing is.... just so I dont forget, I bid early. sometimes others forget and I win. just the case with a Van Halen 1984 Target Japan Disc. its Mint and it cost me $4.99 and no one else bid. it had a nice big picture of the target disc too. granted it doesnt always pan out that way and usually it doesnt, but I have got a few this way and been lucky here and there.

    like I said... I have been trying to control my bidding and have got better. If I get it cheap great , but I am not getting into bidding wars anymore. good thing about ebay ?????? there will always be another of the same item listed sooner or later. my thinking is I would rather try and get it dirt cheap than over pay anymore. I dont know why I ever let myself get caught up in ebay bidding. there are some serious addicts who dont care what they pay for an item and its not good for you.
     
  13. Drifter

    Drifter AAD survivor

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC, CA
    :confused: Since when can you see someone else's maximum bid before an auction is over?
     
  14. marcb

    marcb Senior Member

    Location:
    DC area
    Agreed. Think about it...if you're a seller, wouldn't you prefer to see lots of early bidding vs no early bidding? Psychology plays a role here and early bidding sets the bar and gets the competitive juices flowing.

    And also this is just a variation on the argument I made some time ago that folks posting alerts to the forum at large mostly serves to drive up prices and penalize those fellow forum members who are actively pursuing an item and are doing their research. While I got considerable diagreement at the time, I notice that the frequency of these "alerts" has diminished considerably over the last year or so.
     
  15. eelkiller

    eelkiller One of the great unwashed

    Location:
    Northern Ontario
    I rely on a sniping srvice because:

    1) I know what I am willing to pay and there is no enticement to get in a bidding war
    2) Shift work and travel without internet access causes problems with keeping track of and bidding on auctions.
     
  16. Kevin Sypolt

    Kevin Sypolt Senior Member

    Location:
    Wilmington, NC
    Yup, a bidding service is the ONLY way to go. I use bidnapper.com. No drama, no hassles. I put in what I am willing to spend. Approx. 4 seconds before the end, it submits the bid. If I win, great! If I lose, oh well.

    Kevin
     
  17. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    This has been my philosophy as well.
     
  18. dabl

    dabl Senior Member

    Location:
    Indianapolis, IN
    I use that service as well but since it adds ~$2 or so to the cost of any given item you win depending on how many 'snipes' you purchase, I prefer to only use it for purchases over $20, else I tend to rely on the free manual snipe method. Unless the auction does indeed end in the middle of my night.....
     
  19. JonUrban

    JonUrban SHF Member #497

    Location:
    Connecticut
    Suppose my max was going to be $123.12. The second bid is currently $44.00. My "winning" bid (at this time) would be $45.00. Now, the next guy to find my winning bid would just have to start bidding until he was the high bidder. This would reveal MY high bid. In many cases, people will do this, then cancel their bid pretending that it was a "mistake". My bid would now return to $45, but the other guy now can think about placing a bid over my still hidden but once revealed max bid!

    :agree:
     
  20. ivan_wemple

    ivan_wemple Senior Member

    Just to be clear, this is called... sniping.
     
  21. Raf

    Raf Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    No, it's called "bidding in an eBay auction." ;)

    I don't care what anyone calls it. It's how it's done on eBay. There's nothing wrong with it.
     
  22. -=Rudy=-

    -=Rudy=- ♪♫♪♫♫♪♪♫♪♪ Staff

    Location:
    US
    I see early bidding as "showing my hand", so I only snipe something I really want now.

    Keep in mind, though, that if two people place the same bid, the earlier bid takes precedence. (I don't know how that's possible, but it's in eBay's docs somewhere.) So I will sometimes put in a really early low bid just to get my name in the queue, then place a snipe bid at the maximum I want to pay. I use AuctionSniper, and I've won my share of items for a good price without overpaying. And since I'm forgetful, the sniper bids for me at the last minute. :D

    As a seller, I love snipers. Let 'em drive the price into insanity. :D
     
  23. ivan_wemple

    ivan_wemple Senior Member

    I agree with you that there's nothing wrong with it. This is how lots of us do it. It's called sniping.
     
  24. MikeyH

    MikeyH Stamper King

    Location:
    Berkeley, CA
    You also have an advantage, because you know what he did. Sometimes I play with these people by increasing my proxy bid by .01. That gives me two winning slots in the bid history at the same price. It makes them think I put another 20 or so on..

    It's nearly as much fun as a live auction sometimes.
     
  25. JonUrban

    JonUrban SHF Member #497

    Location:
    Connecticut
    Yes! eBay *CAN* be very entertaining as well!

    There is also "vindictive" bidding. I've seen it....

    A bidder has a "usual" high bid for an item, like $66.77. I've seen people who got sniped on something they wanted bid $66.67 on an item that they didn't want or already have, just to make the other guys high bid in effect, making him pay the max. :eek:

    eBay:
    Not for the timid! :agree:
     
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