Why Doesn’t EBay have its own Sniping Service?

PaulMaul

Why not the option of placing a proxy bid and specifying the time (or remaining auction time) the bid will be placed? Seems like it would be easy and more secure than having to supply your eBay credentials to third parties.

detroitfan2

Because eBay is a business and exists to make money. Sniping costs eBay money. Quite frankly, I'm still stunned they haven't implemented a "auction remains open until 10 minutes after the last bid was placed" strategy like auction houses and (essentially) live auctioneers do. It doesn't seem like it would be that hard to implement at all.

swish54

Because snipes take out the human element of bidding more after you see you're outbid, thus taking away money from Ebay. They're in the money making business and snipes don't make them money.

krisd3279

@swish54 said:
Because snipes take out the human element of bidding more after you see you're outbid, thus taking away money from Ebay. They're in the money making business and snipes don't make them money.

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PaulMaul

I understand the comments so far. On the other hand, most people are sniping already, and many who don’t likely don’t want to. In addition people like me (who are unwilling to give their eBay credentials to a third party) are refraining from bidding in some situations where they otherwise would. So I’m not sure how much of a difference it would make.

lawyer05

@detroitfan2 said:
Because eBay is a business and exists to make money. Sniping costs eBay money. Quite frankly, I'm still stunned they haven't implemented a "auction remains open until 10 minutes after the last bid was placed" strategy like auction houses and (essentially) live auctioneers do. It doesn't seem like it would be that hard to implement at all.

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PaulMaul

@detroitfan2 said:
Because eBay is a business and exists to make money. Sniping costs eBay money. Quite frankly, I'm still stunned they haven't implemented a "auction remains open until 10 minutes after the last bid was placed" strategy like auction houses and (essentially) live auctioneers do. It doesn't seem like it would be that hard to implement at all.

There’s a point of diminishing returns when you make bidding this inconvenient. A lot of people will refrain or forget to bid altogether if they can’t snipe. There are very few items important enough to me that I will sit around all afternoon waiting for bids ad nauseum.

ahopkins

I don't use a sniping service, and so I have a technical question. What if two people using the same sniping service set their snipe on the same item for, say, $152.00, and they both set it to snipe with 2 seconds remaining? Who gets the item? (In this scenario, let's say both snipe amounts are the highest.)

Or is the strategy to use a more specific dollar amount like $152.67 to avoid using the exact dollar amount as another sniper?

LarkinCollector

@ahopkins said:
I don't use a sniping service, and so I have a technical question. What if two people using the same sniping service set their snipe on the same item for, say, $152.00, and they both set it to snipe with 2 seconds remaining? Who gets the item? (In this scenario, let's say both snipe amounts are the highest.)

Or is the strategy to use a more specific dollar amount like $152.67 to avoid using the exact dollar amount as another sniper?

Whichever bid is received first if the exact same amount. That's one reason I use a bit longer before the end than most (5 sec vs 2-3) and use a more specific $$ amount also.

HighGradeLegends

@krisd3279 said:

@swish54 said:
Because snipes take out the human element of bidding more after you see you're outbid, thus taking away money from Ebay. They're in the money making business and snipes don't make them money.

This

That

krisd3279

@HighGradeLegends said:

@krisd3279 said:

@swish54 said:
Because snipes take out the human element of bidding more after you see you're outbid, thus taking away money from Ebay. They're in the money making business and snipes don't make them money.

This

That

+1

gemint

I always worry eBay will implement their own sniping service, charging a fee for it. Then they block 3rd parties from placing bids on their site resulting in the extinction of free sniping.

doubledragon

I enjoy the adrenaline rush of doing it myself. The thrill of jumping out of the bushes at the last second, and diving on top of everyone. I also just don't trust it. Something could go wrong or malfunction, resulting in a loss. I'd rather get in there and mix it up myself, especially if the auction is for a rare card. I know my right index finger won't malfunction.

grote15

@doubledragon said:
I enjoy the adrenaline rush of doing it myself. The thrill of jumping out of the bushes at the last second, and diving on top of everyone. I also just don't trust it. Something could go wrong or malfunction, resulting in a loss. I'd rather get in there and mix it up myself, especially if the auction is for a rare card. I know my right index finger won't malfunction.

Yeah, but you could lose internet connection or start buffering at that last second, too.

NGS428

@doubledragon said:
I enjoy the adrenaline rush of doing it myself. The thrill of jumping out of the bushes at the last second, and diving on top of everyone. I also just don't trust it. Something could go wrong or malfunction, resulting in a loss. I'd rather get in there and mix it up myself, especially if the auction is for a rare card. I know my right index finger won't malfunction.

I used to not snipe with a service, but once I started, I realized A. It is more reliable than placing my own bid and B. I set what I want to pay and let it bid for me, don’t get caught up in the emotion and bid more than you should. Once you try it (it is free) you will never go back.

It is a necessity if you have multiple items ending at the same time.

doubledragon

I just don't trust the snipe service. Didn't someone have gavelsnipe issues on the forum recently? It's just too risky. What if I lost a rare Joe Louis card because of a glitch or malfunction? A lot of his cards pop up at auctions very rarely. It's Just too risky for me, especially with the recent gavelsnipe ordeal.

mrmopar

Life is full of risks vs. rewards and one must determine their level of tolerance. I have had a few key snipes fail (free service) and was quite angry, but had nobody to blame but myself. More often than not, they come through though. I don't have to remember to be ready to hop online and often when it is inconvenient, like when I am at work, in the middle of the night, while you are at a function that requires your attention or when I am out of the area with no phone reception.

I too worry that 3rd party services will eventually be blocked and the only option becomes an additional ebay fee service.

It has been years since I manually sniped a bid for something I cared about, but I do remember the connection freezing up or buffering and me missing many more wins that way than through a failed snipe bid.

@doubledragon said:
I just don't trust the snipe service. Didn't someone have gavelsnipe issues on the forum recently? It's just too risky. What if I lost a rare Joe Louis card because of a glitch or malfunction? A lot of his cards pop up at auctions very rarely. It's Just too risky for me, especially with the recent gavelsnipe ordeal.

doubledragon

If I was getting married, and there was an auction for a 1937 Globo Gum Joe Louis card ending right in the middle of our vows, I would have to say, " reverend, you're gonna have to hold that thought for just a minute, I've got some sniping to do. My wife would understand, she knows Joe Louis comes first.😉

doubledragon

Now, it's 10:55 p.m. so I better go tuck my Joe Louis cards in and tell them goodnight, and then get to bed myself. Everybody get a great night sleep, and we'll continue our debates tomorrow.

-doubledragon

lawyer05

@grote15 said:

@doubledragon said:
I enjoy the adrenaline rush of doing it myself. The thrill of jumping out of the bushes at the last second, and diving on top of everyone. I also just don't trust it. Something could go wrong or malfunction, resulting in a loss. I'd rather get in there and mix it up myself, especially if the auction is for a rare card. I know my right index finger won't malfunction.

Yeah, but you could lose internet connection or start buffering at that last second, too.

@grote15 said:

@doubledragon said:
I enjoy the adrenaline rush of doing it myself. The thrill of jumping out of the bushes at the last second, and diving on top of everyone. I also just don't trust it. Something could go wrong or malfunction, resulting in a loss. I'd rather get in there and mix it up myself, especially if the auction is for a rare card. I know my right index finger won't malfunction.

Yeah, but you could lose internet connection or start buffering at that last second, too.

or get distracted like i always do