What's wrong with sniping?

Alfiewt

I sniped a few mattingly PSA 10s today and got the the following email from a fellow ebayer today:

Why don't you bid like a real man instead of SNIPING!?!? Are you that afraid of losing? That is such a lame thing to do!

I sent a polite responce. Anyone here have a problem with sniping? As far as I am concerned, sniping is the only way to bid on ebay.

maxXposure

the person that sent you that email is a complete idiot! they are obviously just upset that they didnt bid high enough themselves!.. you shouldve responded with something like:

"Why did you take the time to email me after you lost? Are you THAT upset that you were too much of a cheapskate to win the auction?"

MorrellMan

theBobs

nothing

Cyphilissb

i haven't placed a traditional bid with the intention of winning for at least three years

baseballcardsonly

If you want to win "snipe"

If you don't bid early and watch someone "snipe" you!


Just a sore loser.

I wouldn't have the nerve to email someone like that.

Next email he will tell you that he and his ball are going home!!!!


Mark, yes I snipe and I'm damn proud of it!

minibeers

For baseball cards, I snipe with no regard to people's feelings.

For mini beer bottles, I make a point to bid at least once early and then I snipe later. The reason I do this is the mini beer bottle hobby is about 50 people and I don't want to piss off those who might be able to help me with a trade or something else on my want list. I figure if I bid early I'm saying "FAIR WARNING." If someone in this hobby gets mad at me for it then at least I feel I let them know I was interested and that they shouldn't be surprised at a snipe by me later on.

Again, with cards, I don't care. Too many collectors to worry about.

hope this makes sense

minibeers

calleocho

thats hilarious!

WinPitcher

snipe is fair and honest, losers that cry about it do not understand the way ebay works.

KING KELLOGG

Nothing wrong with the 'ole snipe......


I always use it!!



Larry

Axtell

He didn't want the card bad enough if he allowed himself to get sniped.

I would have responded not all of us have all day to lay around and watch auctions end...

maxXposure

plain & simple - you bid more than he did.. the guys pockets werent deep enough.. if he wouldve put enough money on the card, HE WOULDVE WON IT!! he should be upset with his employer for not paying him a high enough salary to win the damn card!

Vargha

There's nothing wrong with sniping. Was it a Hostess Twinkies card by any chance? Some people get really upset about those.

DirtyHarry

All's fair in love, war and sniping.

maxXposure

<< <i>There's nothing wrong with sniping. Was it a Hostess Twinkies card by any chance? Some people get really upset about those. >>



i collect Hostess Twinkie cards.. didnt they go bankrupt?

iamthegreatcornholio

<< <i>There's nothing wrong with sniping. Was it a Hostess Twinkies card by any chance? Some people get really upset about those. >>



Yes they do

There is nothing wrong with sniping, but there is something wrong with being a sore loser. Once I got an email from a guy accusing me of being an "auction pirate" for my sniping. I think pirates are cool, but I wouldn't wear a puffy shirt.

Brian

Axtell

<< <i>

<< <i>There's nothing wrong with sniping. Was it a Hostess Twinkies card by any chance? Some people get really upset about those. >>



Yes they do

There is nothing wrong with sniping, but there is something wrong with being a sore loser. Once I got an email from a guy accusing me of being an "auction pirate" for my sniping. I think pirates are cool, but I wouldn't wear a puffy shirt.

Brian >>



What about an eyepatch and talk like a pirate?

tripoli

There's nothing wrong with sniping. It doesn't matter WHEN you place your bid, if you bid the maximum you are willing to pay for an item, then you either win it or you don't. AND sniping has nothing to do with that equation.

I used to think I had an advantage over guys with a dial up connection, so how is that any different?

ctsoxfan

I think all the responses are your proof - sniping is almost standard practice these days.

baseballcardsonly

As I said before, I do snipe....

But as a buyer, not a seller. I can't understand why auctions are placed for such long periods of time.

I would say that 80% of the "action" is in the last few minutes of the auction, but yet sellers place these things for 7-9 days and they just sit most of the time w/little to no action by the serious buyers

I personally think auctions should be no longer than 2 days.

That is more than enough time for people to locate what they want and bid. If auction didn't last so long, I don't think most people would get as mad when they do get sniped if they had only watched the auctions for a couple of days.

I myself check every day the "new items listed" of the sets I'm currently working on. So right now everyday I check 1958 topps, 1962 topps stamps and 1970 Kelloggs and look for new auctions that I need and then place them in the "items I'm watching" folder.

But if you locate a card that you want and keep watching it for 9 days hoping you have enough money and a fast enough computer to bid quickly and then your dream card goes from $23.56 to $407.23 in about 30 seconds, and you are out bid for .13 cents, you tend to get pissed.

I myself only collect, so sometimes I pass up cards that I would "settle" for if I though the example I really wanted wouldn't get out of hand with snipers. So I take my chances and don't bid on 1 that would work for my set and wait 8 days for the cherry example I really wanted and then get sniped and end up with nothing, that is when I get pissed.

So the short of it is, don't allow these auctions to sit on ebay for 9 days. Have them for a max of 48 hours.
Because most of the people complaining about sniping are newbies and they bid on the card they want and watch for 9 days the bid hold up only to crushed in the last 30 seconds. Then they get mad.

Just my .02!

Mark
ebay (bbcards4me)

WinPitcher

newbies soon become oldies and learn how the game is played

dude

eBay's official position on sniping is that they are against it. Their position is that it violatates the spirit of what an auction is - letting all people bid up an item to it's maximum value. Ever go to a live auction with an auctioneer and watch someone snipe something? Of course not, you can't.

As a seller, I don't like sniping.

As a buyer, I always snipe.

The two problems with sniping is that if you don't get the high bid or make a mistake with your bid, you have no second chances.

WinPitcher

ebay is not a traditional auction, it is a time limit avenue, with that said if ebay is so against it then all they would have to do is simply add a minute to each auction that has a snipe bid ala yahoo.

dan u really do not like snipe bids as a seller? i find that hard to believe as the price u realise only goes up with each snipe.

also im sure at live auctions many buyers wait till the end and snipe there as well.

VMFA115

Steve D said it for me...

1. For my first three months (a newbie) I did not snipe...
2. When I figured out why I was losing so many bid I thought sniping was so wrong...
3. Fourth month into the fray I learned how to snipe...
4. Now I win or lose within my control by my snipe.
The highest bidder wins.....period.

Dave C.

Remobolan

Go Big Or Stay At Home!

helionaut

I got a note like that once. I wrote back and said if he was a real man, he'd have bid more money.

The fact that there's a hard time limit encourages sniping. ebay might have language discouraging it because if everyone bid their absolute max, it'd just mean more money for ebay.

dude

dan u really do not like snipe bids as a seller? i find that hard to believe as the price u realise only goes up with each snipe

Part of your statement is true - ("price u realise only goes up with each snipe"), but one of the main reasons for sniping is to prevent counterbidding which in turn keeps prices down. Let's face it, as bidders we hate the 10 minute rule imposed by auction houses such as Mastro. Why do they do it? To maximize sales of course.

67standup

In regard to the term "sniping", do most of you use it to mean the sole use of electronic services - Esnipe, Powersnipe, etc. - to counterbid at the last moment, or is watching the auction clock and manually placing a bid also considered "sniping?"

maxXposure

<< <i> but one of the main reasons for sniping is to prevent counterbidding which in turn keeps prices down. >>



correct..

WinPitcher

i manually snipe

magellan

<< <i>Have them for a max of 48 hours. >>



Although I'm a 100% born sniper, I do disagree with that point Mark. Oftentimes I'm away for the weekend and by choice have no computer access, there are also other times when people do not have a chance to see an auction within a 48 hour timeframe. Perhaps something like 5 days would be ok. I see quite a few of the large sellers using that format.

Axtell

I think the rationale many sellers (myself included) run auctions more than say 5 days is to get maximum exposure for their goods. Yeah, most action takes place in the last few hours, but the longer that item is up, the more people are going to see it. Not everyone checks ebay daily (like myself and many others do), so the longer auctions let more people see it.

I love sniping...both as a buyer and a seller. It's kinda tense, though, waiting for one of your auctions to end and see the flurry of bids right at the end.

bedardsavard18

Auction times of 7 days are needed obviously because not every one lives on ebay like some of us geeks.
Also the majority of us card buyers are frugal with our money and that leads to the results that we know what the value of a card is. So bid accordingly if you get out sniped great new high prices benefit anyone with a card collection when you choose to sell. These are all obvious points to me why spend 1000.00 dollars on a card only to see the value cut in half over 20 years does it not make sense to bid accordingly on all cards of interest this is healthy for the card market more demand means more interest I don't think there is one of us who would spent 500.00 dollars on merchandise if there were no other buyers of that particular product. If people see there is interest it justifies there habit makes there indulgence acceptable not only to themselves but anyone involved with there lives. Just food for thought this is a great thread.

WinPitcher

why spend 1000.00 dollars on a card only to see the value cut in half over 20 years


in the case of the 61 houk 20 months....

jrdolan

Somebody asked if there's a difference between using software or a service to snipe, or doing it manually in the final moments of an auction. I don't see any difference. Bidding at the last minute is bidding at the last minute. eBay allows us to do it, so I don't feel bad about doing it.

What would be interesting is if EVERYBODY sniped. Then you'd have thousands of auctions going bidless until the last 10 seconds. What would that do to the equillibrium of eBay!

interchanges

As collectors, we are used to sniping and must come to expect it.

I usually get gas from other people when I esnipe non-collectible items, those cats aren't used to it and they get pissed!

JimNJ

I learned about sniping several years ago reading this message board. I think sniping is a valuable service. Its nice to program bids when auctions are going to end at a time when I'm at work or not by the computer. I still enjoy live bidding and snipers can be beat if you bid high enough. While it can be frustrating to get sniped, it simply comes down to this: Who ever is willing to pay the most wins.

BugOnTheRug

<< <i>Why don't you bid like a real man instead of SNIPING!?!? Are you that afraid of losing? That is such a lame thing to do! >>



My 1-year old whines less than this bozo........chalk one up to the boneheads of the world.

BOTR

jimtb

If you want the card, and you don't want someone else placing 25 bids, driving up the price a buck at a time, then you gotta snipe. I'm guessing the guy who sent this email has already subscribed to a service by now.

jmullen

I've said this multiple times before, but if everyone sniped then the prices realized would actually be higher. I spent a whole summer learning about advanced auction thoery and its a fact.

interchanges

wouldn't that depend on people's spending habits?

WinPitcher

from what i hear those that snipe eat quiche as well

jmullen

People's spending habits with respect to how much they want an item will primarily remain the same (its not like sniping changed a PSA 9 Mantle to a PSA 10 one). Sniping, however, generates a sealed bid type auction. I don't have the time to get into right now, but the most profitable type of auction is a second-price sealed bid auction (where the highest bidder pays the second highest amount). Even though it sounds weird ... it is a fact (which I can explain in more detail how it works if anyone wants, but not right now).

Jeff

Buccaneer

In the few eBay purchases I have made, I didn't snipe. Nor do I plan on auto snipping in the future. If I'm not going to be around at the end, I place a bid for the maximum that I am willing to pay and check back when I can. I have never lost a chance at buying a card on eBay because I "didn't bid enough". Nearly all of the auctions that I have lost (much more that I won), there was an auto snipe bid at the end. All it meant was that someone was willing to pay $5-25 more than I would for that card(s). Nothing wrong that.

gmoneystyles

I agree with Minibeers. There is only a few people who generally bid on the bowmans, and I put in a low bid early to mark my territory.

Buccaneer

Ok, I took the advice of others here and set myself up with a 14-day account with e-snipe. However, I chose the wrong target apparently. A nice 1965 Mays PSA 7 (SMR $130) was sitting at $95. My sniped bid of around $125 went off perfectly, only to be superseded in the next split seconds by snipes that were $30-40 more. I can see the value of sniping - I just have to want to pay more for certain cards.

thefootballcardstore

I bet getting that email made victory even sweeter.

Jeremy

jrdolan

<< <i>My sniped bid of around $125 went off perfectly, only to be superseded in the next split seconds by snipes that were $30-40 more. >>


The thing to remember about snipes is that you aren't the only one doing it, especially on high-demand cards. Snipe at the highest price you're willing to pay (regardless of SMR, which is FAR off the market on some cards) and if somebody snipes higher, shrug and keep shopping. Another one will come along and you might get it cheaper because now there's one less rival bidder.

magellan

If that was a bbcexchange auction, you outbid me Steve. I didn't think that particular card was worth more than SMR.

Dave

Buccaneer

<< <i>If that was a bbcexchange auction, you outbid me Steve. I didn't think that particular card was worth more than SMR.

Dave >>



No, this was the one ended on Sunday and sold by kshoser.

I took a look at the last 6 1965 Mays PSA7 that were sold on ebay and the hammer prices were as thus:

$81
$127
$81
$92
$82
$80

The auction in question did have a card that was at least a little better centered than the others (which was why I was willing to pay near SMR for it) but I was just surprised to see it go for quite a bit higher than what the others have sold for, esp since someone had actually set up a snipe for about $155 and at least $161.

FB

What a lame email from a LOSER!!!

You should have asked him - if he wanted the card so badly, why didn't he bid higher!?!?! Or was it that he just wasn't that bright?

Sounds like the guy needed a nap pretty bad... 1-2-3 CRY!!!!!

Snipe away! Its not lame - its smart AND cost effective! If he had laid your bid out there - the card would have cost you more just because some newbie ran you up. You taught him a vauable lesson. Cryboy should be thanking you!