Question for the snipers: Should eBay help you snipe?

MrEureka

Assuming that eBay would do this, which I doubt, would you like eBay to provide a feature where you could snipe automatically without third party software?

On the one hand, it would make your life easier and eliminate misfires, i.e., too-late snipes. On the other hand, an increasing number of snipers might erode your current advantage.

cosmicdebris

. eBay should not. Too much conflict of interest for me.

airplanenut

No--first off, it's not in their best interest. A bidding war that lasts days is much more beneficial than one or two people placing a last-second bid.

Secondly, it's a strategy--if you want to win, get the software or get good at sniping. Sniping is a way to get an item as cheaply as possible and take it at the last second... ebay doesn't want you doing that, and I don't want others doing that

Jeremy

Steve27

They already do enough.

WaterSport

Just leave it alone..Ebay has already made TOO many changes!

WS

edsiajb

For some time now eBay has been looking for ways to PREVENT sniping. They have considered an automatic extension feature that would add five minutes past the most recent bid and therefore extend the closing time. I hope they never do that but they might.

hojodojonono

I don't see how Ebay would be hurt getting involved in the sniping business. Somebody interested in sniping is going to hook up with somebody to do it. The last minute or hour Ebay technical problems that don't allow anybody's final bids to be placed are disastrous for sellers. If Ebay had a snipe system then bids would still be in their system if an auction closed during technical problems. When the system comes back up it'd process all the bids that should've been placed for the closed auctions, and the item sells for a higher price. If all the third party sniping companies filed and stored your snipes with Ebay days before, there'd never be problems with your snipes not going through due to interent traffic or Ebay issues. Ebay's system comes back on and the snipe bids are all figured in.

Theop

<< <i>For some time now eBay has been looking for ways to PREVENT sniping. They have considered an automatic extension feature that would add five minutes past the most recent bid and therefore extend the closing time. I hope they never do that but they might. >>



As a seller, I would be in favor of this strategy. It really is a no-brainer.
Isn't this how any other "real" auction would work? You keep taking higher bids until the highest amount is reached, not until some arbitary time point.

I remember a time when many online computer auctions (DealTime, uBid, Egghead) did this. The auction would run 5 minutes after the last bid was placed, until no more bids would come in.

For ebay, this would also be good since it could potentially raise final values and thus raise their fees.

The only downside would be for buyers and especially those snipers.

airplanenut

<< <i>I don't see how Ebay would be hurt getting involved in the sniping business. >>

Try to see it this way:

Jim and Joe both want a certain item. Initially, Joe wants to bid $100 for it as his max, and Jim $110. There are two options:

A- Joe bids $100 with 4 days to go. That same day, Jim bids $110 and takes the lead. Joe takes a day and realizes he really wants that item, and bids $120. Jim thinks about it and decides he, too, really wants the item and bids $130. A bidding war between the two starts, and the item closes at $150. $40 more for the seller, more fees for eBay.

B- With 7 seconds left, Joe bids $100. Jim bids $110 with 5 seconds left. Before Joe can refresh his screen, the auction is over and Jim wins at $102.50.

When people bid early, they are far more likely to enter a bidding war, thus raise the prices--that's good for both the seller and eBay. Since eBay fees are based on closing costs, they want to do whatever possible to get the cost as high as possible--sniping won't achieve that.

Jeremy