Help Any Suggestions
Stump
Posts: 927 ✭
There is a guy on ebay who keeps driving my bids up. I know some of you will say this is part of the auction, but this certain person earmarks the cards I am bidding on. He then bids a buck at a time to find out where my high bid is then bids the others up never winning but driving my price. This has been going on for 5 or 6 months and I have tryed to ignore it but he is really getting on my nerves. The reason he can do this is I bid on multiple auctions at the same time and he seems to only bid on the ones I am. Any suggestions would be helpful. If you are curious go to the bbcexchange auctions for the 1968' cards. Most of you know I have a set on the registry and I always try to upgrade. My ebay ID is Stump17 you will be able to figure out who the mad bidder is by going to bid history on any of the 68's I am bidding on. If you go to search and type in bbcexchange as the seller you will see. Maybe I am being childesh but this is starting to cheese me off.
Dave
Dave
Visit my site @ www.djjscards.com
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Comments
Vintage Baseball Cards
Sales and Ebay Consignment Service
email
Lloyd_Taylor_Vintage_Cards -- on Ebay
JEB.
I know it's already been said...but Esnipe.com works wonders...you put in your bid once (just like on EBAY)...then forget about it until it notifies you with the results. esnipe
There's no reason to put up with what you're going through.
Regards,
Alan
I have to agree with many of the others. Esnipe will solve this problem in a hurry. The guy bidding you up will never know you are going to bid until its too late. The fees ensipe charges is minimal with what you will save in your purchase of the cards.
I have never had it fail once on me and it allows me to spend alot of extra time doing others things instead of manually sniping . Once the bid is in there you never have to worry abou it
Randy
Billy
Dave
Dave
Welcome to the world of snipping ... I started about 1 month ago and absolutely love it a great tool and it will save you money as well. Now if you really want to have some fun how about returning the favor on your friend ? Do just one or two auctions , yes I know it is childish but it will make you feel better....
Dave,
I agree with Luxury Wines. Just 1 or 2, for fun.I use auctionstealer and it is a great tool.I have been really happy with the results.
Good Luck with your sniping!!
I must admit - Once in a while I will do this. (4 or 5 times a year maybe). The more someone pays for something, the less money they have for something else. Glad to hear you joined esnipe, it will save you a tone over time.
KKBB
Dave
I had finally had too many auctions lost in the last few seconds, I spent 10 minutes searching for a sniping tool. Found esnipe.com and have loved it since. I'm grandfathered on it, so I don't pay for any auctions under $25!
Good luck, Stump, sounds like you'll be ok with that new tool.
Mark
Good luck. You've got the tools you need and should start realizing lower final bids shortly. I don't use esnipe and I don't know what their fees are (I pay $5/Month for my service), but, in my experience, I usually break even after 1 or 2 auctions. I see you beat me on at least one of the '75 Topps auctions today. That's the way it should be. I sniped at the last second with a bid I was comfortable with, you placed your original high bid at what you were comfortable with, and you won. No BS trying to see how high you were willing to go. For all I know, you would have outbid me if I had gone $10 higher. We'll never know, but running up the bids for no reason is crazy. No one wins that way.
Keep an eye on the guy that was doing this. I'd be curious to see if he continues to bid on '68 & '69 cards, or if he really was just out to get you.
JEB.
Yawie has a good point. Put a different twist on it though. Bid on stuff you don't want, and instead of your normal higher bids, place bids a couple dollars over the starting bid. See if this guy ends up beating your bid but letting someone else win.
JEB.
Jeb if it was the 75 nines you were refering to I did win some. I think maybe 27. I have been messing with this set s little but concentrating on the 69. I seem to have hit a little road block with the 69's. I am now about 72% (I still have cards to enter) but the going is slow. That is why I have entered the 75 arena. I just bought 600 got them Saturday and I think I might get 100-125 nines.I will submit before the deadline. Its alot of work I am working on a 500-700 card submission. I am running out of time as I have about 350 listed so far. I will get most in the mail by the 15th. Anyway I look forward to the esnipe. I tested it out on a 69 bench. Lost the auction but it was pretty slick. I am satisfied with the results.
Dave
I too use esnipe and 98% of the time it is wonderful!!! But... there is that 2% of the time where I come home and see that the high bid on a 72 PSA 9 is $28, when I know that I had a $48 snipe set up. And sure enough - I go into esnipe and find a message stating either "missed close of auction" (even though its set to go off 12 seconds before close" or "systems error" or some other innoucous message. So, my advice to you is to use it liberally. But, when you have an auction that you really, REALLY HAVE TO HAVE then use esnipe as a backup and stick in a slightly smaller bid yourself in the last minute.
Sets - 1970, 1971 and 1972
Always looking for 1972 O-PEE-CHEE Baseball in PSA 9 or 10!
lynnfrank@earthlink.net
outerbankyank on eBay!
Welcome to the world of sniping. I have found too many people similar to the one you describe, and have been a dedicated sniper for over a year and a half now. Esnipe has worked for me about 99.5% of the time -- with no issues in probably eight or nine months. Plus -- I think some of the issues that have arisen have been caused by my setting the sniping time too low (3 seconds) rather than system-wide problems. Though I still bid on cards I want as soon as I see them -- I only snipe on about 15% of what I bid on, so I think it would be very difficult for any person to know which cards I plan to seriously track and hope to win. Also, to this end, I have kept one of my Registry sets hidden as I believe that there are one or two unscrupulous dealers out there who may shill a card up if they knew I needed it.
MS
Chris
EBAY WANTS the auctions run up...I can't see why they would do anything.
Also, your premise is that because of sniping...cards sell for less than what they would normally sell for. I don't think this is necessarily the case. I see all kinds of auctions with abnormally high closing bids from 2 rival snipers.
Regards,
Alan
Chris
To address some of your issues: I do not think sniping necessarily detours the casual bidder. In fact, I would say that the vast majority of items that sell on Ebay probably sell to people who do not engage in any sort of sniping. Quite a few of the items I purchase on Ebay are from direct bids one or many days before the auction end.
However, I think that sniping becomes a definite factor for two special kinds of auctions (and I will stick to sports cards for this sake of this board): high-dollar cards and low-population cards (or a combination of the two). When cards such as that are out there, sniping should almost be an expected part of the auction. Anyone who has experience on Ebay will probably realize this. Whereas three years ago some would sacrifice time with their families or work to manually snipe auctions, now they simply have an automated format by which to accomplish the same goal. You say that if someone runs you up on Ebay, you should take action? Honestly, what action can be taken? Especially from a legal perspective? None, really. Unless you can definitely prove it was a shill, you are still getting your card for a price you indicated you were willing to pay for it. Sniping does not reduce the profits of the seller -- unless there is a shill involved. In any efficient auction mechanism, you are simply paying one increment higher than the last bidder. If there are multiple snipers, you will pay a lot of money. If there is only one sniper and a lot of last-hour bidding, you still pay a lot of money. As a seller, I don't see any problem with sniping. I think that most cards sell for close to what they are worth (with a variety of factors affecting that....). That being said, I like to see when and if two snipers outbid each other for a rare or hard to find card. Is it really any different than some of those Mastro auction items that do not close until 6 a.m. the following morning? Probably not. The bottom line is that there are way too many people out there that know, for example, that I pay significant prices for certain Mike Schmidt and 1955 Bowman baseball cards -- prices that probably make the market as opposed to following the market. To the extent that I can effectively hide a) if I even need the card or b) how much I am willing to pay for the card, it truly affects another's ability to shill up my bids without the risk of getting caught.
Heck -- have you ever seen a 1/1 PSA 9 card you want -- and knowing that you are not going to snipe the card, you simply bid on it what you think it is worth? Then you get outbid, and decide to bid again. And again, and again. It doesn't happen to me often, but it happens. From a bidder's perspective, I do not want to be on the other side of that situation and would rather hide my bid amounts until the auction end, if at all possible.
Well put. So if I’m hearing you correctly you are saying that for high-dollar cards and low-population cards sniping should be expected. You forgot if you REALY, REALY want a card.
From the people who do snipe. What percentage of you bidding is done with sniping? Do you do all or do you pick and choose what you snipe?
Chris
A perfect analysis of the need and benefits of sniping .
Chris
Ask your fellow 70 Topps collector Chris Renaud if there is benefits to sniping . I think he will agree there is
No matter what the item is, and this sounds evil, but if I see the bidders and the high bidders all have low feedback (ie. they are new to ebay), I snipe as well, knowing they are either not watching the auction, or are staying up late at night refreshing their browsers. I've received several "FU" emails from the second highest bidder. Oh well. May they too learn the benefits of esnipe.
I have an auction up on Ebay now that has 2 bids. It ends tonight, and I expect by the time it ends, there will be 5-7 bids on it. I've received several emails about the item, and some offline offers. So, I know the interest is there, but it will be there in the last 10 seconds of the auction. And, I'm fine with that.
Mark
From the sellers side… when you have an auction and there is no action. If you end it early with the first ‘off line’ offer, you risk not getting that flurry of snipes. When you do end it early someone complains. If you let the auction finish. The final bid being less than that ‘off line’ offer. Is there any comfort level for the seller? Should there be?
Chris
I measure action by the number of hits...not the number of bids. If you attach a counter to the auction...you can gauge the interest. Usually, if enough people are willing to look...then odds are you're in pretty good shape.
Regards,
Alan
I actually have done quite a few esnipe bids on 1970 Topps PSA 9's in the last few months. I just don't win very many of them. But, for me - the sniping allows me to not arouse attention to what I buy or how much I might spend in my own house. No longer do I say "Honey - I'll go to bed a little later - I have a couple of auctions that I want to try for" or have to disappear while watching TV during the evening. Before eSnipe, if there were a lot of auctions that I was interested in during a couple week span, it wouldn't take much before I started getting grilled on what I was buying, how much I was spending, was it a good deal, so on and so forth.
Sets - 1970, 1971 and 1972
Always looking for 1972 O-PEE-CHEE Baseball in PSA 9 or 10!
lynnfrank@earthlink.net
outerbankyank on eBay!
Chris -- simply put, sellers really should not be ending auctions early in any but a few extreme circumstances. If you put up a card for auction, you should let it stand. If you are afraid it won't generate the bidding levels you want, you should put a reserve in. The whole auction format is, by its very nature, one of risk and reward. Sure, there have been many times that I have had items sell for less than I would have liked -- but then there are the times where my BIN's are evaporated by a low-ball bid only to have the card in question end up selling for over double what my BIN was. Sellers can determine their own comfort level with BIN's, reserves and opening bids. After that, there really should be no additional setups in place to offer them comfort. It's an auction for crying' out loud!
<< <i>sniping allows me to not arouse attention to what I buy or how much I might spend in my own house >>
lol – this is the best reason for sniping that I have heard and I do understand what you are saying.
Mikeschmidt – I understand the whole auctions and sellers thing. I have resisted the temptation of ending auctions early as i'm sure we all have. Some to my benefit some not. Even for registry members.
To go back to where I started. Is sniping good for auctions?
Chris
I know what you are going through. How is this for size? I am being treated the same way that you are. The only difference is that it is someone who responds on this message board pretty frequently. I have tried to make amend with this person, but he refuses to do so. I don't quite understand his behavior, however this is very childish. What I do now to avoid this is bid on items that I really don't care to win with small increments. That way he ends up being high bidder. Secondly, I only bid at the last second for items I really want. Thirdly, and most importantly. I never let anyone know which cards I need to complete my sets...... SET REGISTRY. I would love to share with everyone my progress and accomplishments, however when you have people out there that harrass you in this form, it is not worth it.
Leo/1954
Vintage Baseball Cards
Sales and Ebay Consignment Service
email
Lloyd_Taylor_Vintage_Cards -- on Ebay
Frank,
What kind of barbacue sauce does your wife use when she is grilling?
Marc,
You are right on with your analysis.
Chris,
I see your point but I think that with todays competitive bidders,sniping has become enivetable.I no longer have to spend time at the computer waiting for the last few seconds or try to rush home to place that last bid.I also can win auctions that end when I am at work or doing things with my family.I probably only snipe 10% of the time or less.There are a lot of unscrupulous people out there that make sniping almost a necessity at times.It sure does cut down on shill bidding.
I think also that most of the guys on this board have seen the need for sniping and use it only for unselfish reasons and not to corner the market on anything.
Vic
Dave
I think a little payback is in order to the guy that was running up your auctions. I have a plan!!!! Let's discuss offline...cowart@mindspring.com or PM me.
Regards,
Alan
On the subject of sniping (I will not try to make a pun on my family name here) I now snipe on every single auction for the following two reasons:
First, I was definitely being abused by a few people (not Chris KK) in the 1970-1 card race when they saw my name they would bid me up knowing that I might pay a high price for the card. In order to keep this strategy effective, I do not always snipe bid on all of cards I need because I am sometimes afraid someone will try to guess what I might snipe bid on and run up the bid before I snipe, although this is much riskier to the shill bidder than before in just tracking my name and bidding me up.
Second, the sniping services are wonderful for organizing my bids. I can take some time out of my day once or twice a week and enter every bid into the computer and then just not worry about it. I remember before when I was on business trips having to call up friends or my mom and tell them when and how much to bid and it was a real inconvenience.
Third, for me, although auctions can be fun, the point is to get the card, not how to get the card.
So as people guess I think that sniping is not just clever, it is practical.
please accept my apologies, I meant no disrespect to you by spelling your name incorrectly. when I get defensive I type fast and not accurate.
Everyone,
I know sniping makes sense for the right reasons, I just wanted to bring up the point that when using a tool it's not always beneficial for everyone.
Chris
Chris R-- I know what you mean. Everyone who went up against me knew I was aggressive and I guess I peeved some people off. I guess I was a little slow but I couldn't figure out why the auctions I won were always higher than the others even though the pops were the same. I know why now.
Dave
<< <i>Dave,
I think a little payback is in order to the guy that was running up your auctions. I have a plan!!!! Let's discuss offline...cowart@mindspring.com or PM me. >>
I've already started!
Mark
Dave
Dave
Perhaps it is valuable to think about what an Ebay auction is, and what it isn't. The first thing to realize is that it is not an auction at all. An auction by definition continues until the last bid is in. Ebay ends at a specified time, measured to the second. Can you imagine if you went to an auction, and the auctioneer closed the bidding in the middle because time ran out, even though there were plenty of willing bidders still wanting to bid? If EBay truly wanted an auction format, they would make it so that the auction stayed open until a certain time period after the last bid.
What an Ebay auction actually is is a sealed bid format, with the winner paying a small increment over the second highest bidder. That is, the winner is whoever places the highest bid within a designated time. Since this is equivalent to a sealed bid, and there is no advantage to bidding early, then it makes no sense to reveal your bid before the end. This just allows shill bidders and people like Stump's nemesis to run you up, without any intention of winning the item. Sniping doesn't lose anyone any items or money, except if there are people who shill bid, or there are those who don't bid their highest bid before the close. No one can take an item away from you with a snipe unless they bid more than your maximum. Likewise, the seller gets the price of just above the second highest bidder. If the 2nd bidder didn't bid his max, then perhaps the seller lost, but ebay makes it very clear that you should bid your maximum amount if you want to win.
So I don't think that sniping does anyone any harm. If Ebay really wanted an auction, they would do as I mentioned above. If they don't, then every bidder should do what is best for himself.
I totally agree with Buckwheat that ebay's auction format is more similar to a sealed bid and there is no reason to bid early. The only time I will bid early is to just watch an auction if I have run out of room on my ebay "Items I'm Watching" list.
As a seller I could care less whether or not you snipe my auctions. I know that most of my bidders will bid at the end of the auction.
A little tip for those who do not snipe: If you bid a lot (specifically on graded cards), vary your high bids. I am thinking of two particular bidders that I go up against who place the same high bid for every PSA 8 that comes up. If I want that card, I will beat you by the minimum bid increment every single time.
JEB.
<< <i>Thirdly, and most importantly. I never let anyone know which cards I need to complete my sets...... SET REGISTRY. I would love to share with everyone my progress and accomplishments, however when you have people out there that harrass you in this form, it is not worth it.
Leo/1954 >>
Leo,
You need to start sniping and make your sets viewable on the registry. Sniping will easily solve your problems, especially with highly collectible vintage cards such as these. I wish PSA would eliminate the option to hide sets. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who has a registered set that is not viewable is not a member of the set registry. I don't think these sets should even be counted in the current or all time lists. There is absolutely no reason for this. Take a look at my registered sets. I even go a step further. I've got a scan (front and back of card, no less) for every card that I have registered (1000 or so PSA graded cards + or -). I do this for every card whether it is a PSA 5 or a PSA 10 and I wish more would do this. It is a great resource for everyone. This is what the set registry was meant to be. A place where collectors with similar interests can view the accomplishments of others, as well as gain knowledge about the hobby. You obviously just consider this to be a competition between a few individuals.
I understand your frustration with being outbid or having bids run up by your nemesis, but don't take it out on the majority of set registry members. Start sniping or have the cojones to place your high bid up front. And show everyone your accomplishments.
Sorry if I offended anyone. But I'm hoping that other members here agree with me.
JEB.
I wish that I had thought to post these last three posts!!
I agree 110% with what these posts say.Buckwheat and Virtualizard have summed up this thread with some very solid,compelling points.
Good Job, Guys!!!
Chris,
Good thread,with plenty of thought provoking input.
Thanks !!!!
Well I see that your sniping skills are tuning up nicely!!!
(IT'S NOT NICE TO SNIPE KING KELLOGG.....)...
Thats OK, just like tonight...You win a few, you lose a few...
PM me on this guy that's hasseling you. Maybe I'll just send Prince Guido over to have a little chat about economics.....
Take care...
Larry
email....emards4457@msn.com
CHEERS!!
A few things about sniping - I have to disagree with those who say sniping does not lower final prices... I think it does... For several reasons:
1.) Most Run-ups in Price are for auctions when you have 2 or 3 bidders who really want the card. The bidding starts early and heavy and sometimes it really becomes a game top this.... People get caught up in the heat of the moment and get emotional and may bid $5,$10, or hundreds of dollars more than they intended to. A snipe is more calculated and takes this emotion or egotism out of the bidding process.
2.) It virtually removes the opportunity for shill bidding.. We have all seen it happen and I am sure it happens more often than we catch or imagine it, it is just too easy to do find 3-4 or freinds and away we go....
3.) It keeps people from shadowing you ID and stealing cards from you at the last minute.... Or putting in vengance bids at the last minute.
That being said I started snipping about 98% of my auctions about 3-4 weeks (ESNipe) I t saves me money and as Chris Renaud (AKA THE FOX) pointed out it is a wonderful orginizational tool.
Just A few thoughts from me....