This is why I snipe

iamthegreatcornholio

link I had this on my watch list, but didn't bid since I have one. Does the bidding style of the under bidder drive you non-snipers nuts - or do I have too much free time? Especially the last bid since he bid with 19 seconds left, and strung the high bidder to his exact max, and then walked away. I guess sellers like this, but if the high bidder sniped, I bet he woulda had it for $9.50

jrdolan

I used to wonder why people go nuts bidding on things right out of the gate. Don't they understand they can bid in the last hour or even the last minute? Are they announcing to the market: I want this item no matter what it takes. Great for the seller, not so good for the eventual buyer, you'd think.

Then I remember that one bidding strategy is to get the price up to a high level at the start, in the belief that it will get there anyway, and with the hope that this tactic will weed out the bottom-feeders and maybe discourage the serious bidders as well. It's sort of like forcing the seller to have a high starting bid, which can depress the final hammer price.

Besides that, I saw a statistic somewhere that only a small fraction of bidders on eBay engage in sniping, either manually or with a service or software. Most people don't plan to be at their computer when the auction ends for the object of their desire, so the night before or that afternoon they place their proxy bids and go bowling. Whether snipers have a big advantage over those folks is a whole other argument, but anyway I believe that's why sometimes bidding seems to run illogically high early in the process.

iamthegreatcornholio

I agree with your assessment, but when I bid on something like a dvd with a lot of newbies, I feel bad when I see they were winning it for 6 days 22 hours until I sniped it, I feel a lot better of course when I get the item On some stuff I don't think starting it off high really affects it - most of my starting bids are a little less than what a similar one sold for and I usually get at least an opening bid - it does keep away bottom feeders though.

detroitfan2

<<I guess sellers like this, but if the high bidder sniped, I bet he woulda had it for $9.50

OK, I feel like I'm of at least average intelligence. I've been bidding on ebay since 2001. To this day, I don't understand the sniping thing, and perhaps I never will. When I (a non-sniper) look at this auction's bids, what I see is that not only would the winning bidder (also a non-sniper) not have won this auction for $9.50 had he sniped, he would not have won the auction for what he wanted to pay ($15.00). If he waits to the last minute and snipes $15, he wins nothing.

Now on the other hand, I always get a little suspicious when I see some bidding in the end which drives the winning bid up exactly to the "current" leader's maximum bid. I always wonder about shill bidding in this case.

Here's some questions for you snipers. I lose many many auctions in the last 5 seconds. My first question is, how can you be sure that your bid will actually be placed in time? My next question is, how do you know how much to snipe? Do you still enter the amount that you would've entered if you had bid on the first day and hope that it all works out?

iamthegreatcornholio

detroitfan2, imo there's numerous bidding styles - you can simply place your max bid and walk away (as the high bidder did). However, another style is the guy who doesn't know how much to spend. He places a bid, and it says he's not the winner, he places another - same story, 5 bids later he gets tired and walks away. This behavior is what drove myself and many others to sniping. That's the first thing sniping's about - saving money. If you can win items for your max - that's good, but if you can win them for less even better. I know my bids will go through because I place them "manually" with 5-10 sec left. I look at the high bidder, and then check my little book to see what change they usually end their bid with (to try to ensure I don't lose by pennies).

Brian

RipublicaninMass

Than there is this A-hole, please snipe him if there is anything you like!
lastminutebiddersuck

iamthegreatcornholio

<< <i>Than there is this A-hole, please snipe him if there is anything you like! >>



He should have a "me" page to tell us how he really feels

Brian

lawnmowerman

<< <i>

Here's some questions for you snipers. I lose many many auctions in the last 5 seconds. My first question is, how can you be sure that your bid will actually be placed in time? My next question is, how do you know how much to snipe? Do you still enter the amount that you would've entered if you had bid on the first day and hope that it all works out? >>

What I do is refresh the page untill appr 23 seconds left. Then I count down from there untill there is 3-5 seconds left and submit my bid. I never had a problem getting any of my bids in. The amount I enter is my max what I am willing to pay for the card. If I win then great. I place my max bid with only seconds left so that eliminates any impulse bidding if I dont become the high bidder.

Matt

Mac53

Matt--I do the same thing, but I've got a big clock on the wall of my office with a second hand that I can watch for timing. I decide what I want to pay and challenge myself to get the bid in 5 seconds or less. If it's not high enough, I don't have to worry about getting wrapped up in emotional over-bidding which I probably would do otherwise.

stevek

>>> I used to wonder why people go nuts bidding on things right out of the gate. Don't they understand they can bid in the last hour or even the last minute? Are they announcing to the market: I want this item no matter what it takes. Great for the seller, not so good for the eventual buyer, you'd think. <<<

Well, I do it both ways, bid heavy early and don't bid at all until the last few seconds. The end bidding strategy is obvious. The bid heavy early strategy just as a feeling on certain types of items is to maybe "scare away" some potential bidders. Very rarely really works but sometimes I think it might have worked - maybe it was just a coicidence that I got a good buy by bidding heavy early - but who really knows what other ebay bidders are thinking? - LOL

Steve

NBAFan

I usually always place a bid early on an auction. If it is something I truely want, I'll place a decent size bid, but well under my max, knowing the above will happen and people with either jack it up or outbid me. I do this, because I don't want the seller to end up pulling the auction or selling it outside of ebay, so if there is interest then they will keep it running. I'll place one or two more bids before it ends also.

As a seller if I have a rare item, days pass and no one bids, I have no problem pulling it and just hold on to it instead of the whole sniping game. I'll even end an auction early and sell to the high bidder at their current bid to throw a wrench into it also.

kingraider75

I just bid on an item whenever I see it. If it's 2 minutes before it ends fine, if it's 7 days before fine too. There aren't too many items out there that I MUST have, so I don't worry about it, if I miss out on an item. I tend to lose about 95% of the auctions I bid on.

Buccaneer

<< <i>

<< <i>

Here's some questions for you snipers. I lose many many auctions in the last 5 seconds. My first question is, how can you be sure that your bid will actually be placed in time? My next question is, how do you know how much to snipe? Do you still enter the amount that you would've entered if you had bid on the first day and hope that it all works out? >>

What I do is refresh the page untill appr 23 seconds left. Then I count down from there untill there is 3-5 seconds left and submit my bid. I never had a problem getting any of my bids in. The amount I enter is my max what I am willing to pay for the card. If I win then great. I place my max bid with only seconds left so that eliminates any impulse bidding if I dont become the high bidder.

Matt >>



There is no difference than this (manually sniping) and automatic snipping. For many of us snipers, we are not around when the auction ends (and on more than one occassion, usually forget when an auction ends). In looking at my e-snipe bidding history (probably around 150 listings), about 90% of my wins are under my max bid). I believe that if I had not siped with seconds left, I would not have saved as much money as I have.

Stone193

I just recently signed up for a free snipe service just see what's up - and I really like the fact that I don't have to sit at the computer waiting till the auction ends.

Plus, I have a tendency to forget - I'm not bidding on much right now but for those who are interested in multiple auctions, sniping is a real cheap babysitter!

mike

detroitfan2

OK guys, now I think I'm beginning to understand the "snipe" concept. It makes more sense that if you place your bid in the last minute, you have a better chance of getting the item for less than if you place your max bid on day 1.

It's been a while since I've sold much, and I've never sold much of considerable value, but I think I would have a heart attack if I was a seller with some decent stuff. I can't believe how many auctions I've been winning for say $200 with 30 seconds left only to have the final price be over $400. Like I said, if I'm the seller, I'm losing years off my life watching this kind of stuff.

And finally, working at a very large corporation which always seems to have throughput issues with its network, I have to say I'm very impressed with ebay's server / bid accepter / whatever the heck you call it that's able to sort through several bids in the final seconds of an auction and determine a winner.

goudeygold

you never know as a seller and it can be maddening. for the most part your not going to get hosed on popular stuff, but I did see a PSA 5 sport king common sell for $5. I of course missed the end of the auction and registered with justsnipe.com the next day. If I really want it, I set the snipe. best thing about it, justsnipe gives you 5 free snipes a month and thats plenty for me.

GG

WinPitcher

GG I think it is 5 a week not 5 a month.

jrdolan

<< <i>As a seller if I have a rare item, days pass and no one bids, I have no problem pulling it and just hold on to it instead of the whole sniping game. I'll even end an auction early and sell to the high bidder at their current bid to throw a wrench into it also. >>


You'd rather make less on the sale than have a last-minute bidder win your item? Bidding at the last minute is within eBay rules, just as much as (if not more than) ending your auction early.

winpitcher and GG .... justsnipe is $5 a month unlimited. Or if you don't buy much, 5 free a week as GG says.

NBAFan

Yes I would rather sell it for less and let the person who bid on it 3 days before the auction ended than wait and allow a bidder to come later on and outbid the person at the last second. I don't do it all the time, but sometimes you need to stir things up. I also will cancel the auction and end it early if there are no bidders. I could care less if there are 50 watchers on the item.

iamthegreatcornholio

<< <i>Yes I would rather sell it for less and let the person who bid on it 3 days before the auction ended than wait and allow a bidder to come later on and outbid the person at the last second. I don't do it all the time, but sometimes you need to stir things up. I also will cancel the auction and end it early if there are no bidders. I could care less if there are 50 watchers on the item. >>



Just when I thought I heard it all

Brian

jrdolan

<< <i>Yes I would rather sell it for less and let the person who bid on it 3 days before the auction ended than wait and allow a bidder to come later on and outbid the person at the last second. >>


And here I was, praying for more bidders to jump into my auctions at the last minute and make my day. I never heard of a seller hoping against that, in fact trying to prevent it. Well, to each his own.