Yes it is ethical and I use it as a buyer and as a seller. Last week I beat out another bidder by 1 cent on the snipe of a Eighty dollar coin. About a month ago one of my auctions went from $86.50 to $294.50 in five seconds. You win some and you lose some all part of the game.
And if anybody needs a good program click on the link and I can get some more free snipes. AuctionSniper.com
<< <i>why do you think in live auctions the auctioneer says "fair warning, fair warning". >>
Because it is a different TYPE of auction from what eBay runs.
There are many types of auctions and all of them are "real" auctions. Your "live" auction ends when a higher bid can't be solicited.
What eBay runs is like a mailbid auction where the auction ends at a known preset time and the highest bid received before that time wins. (The only difference from a commonly encountered mailbid auction is that you can see what the high bid is and you can bid again if your previous bid is beaten. To be exactly like a standard Mailbid you would be required to submit your max bid and only be allowed to bid once.)
A similar auction is a "candle" auction which is similar to the mailbid type except the actual ending time is not known beforehand. (This got it's name from the way it was run. A thin candle would be pierced at some point with a pin and then lit. When the candle burned down to the pin it would go out. The last bid received before the candle went out wins. You knew about when it would end which encouraged waiting, but you didn't know exactly when it would end and it would do so suddenly.)
There are at least two auction types that I have seen called Dutch auctions. One is like eBays Dutch auction, and the other is a reducing auction were the solicited bid starts out very high and then starts reducing until someone bids. First bid wins.
If you think of eBay as a mass of mailbid auctions then you see that sniping is perfectly valid and ethical.
Nothing wrong with sniping at all, your just plunking down your maximum at the last few seconds. Someone else could have a higher maximum than you and thats just the way it goes. If the item is marketed correctly, then it will attract enough snipers to make it worth the sellers while. If its common stuff that nobody wants then don't put it up starting at $.99 !
I decided to change calling the bathroom the John and renamed it the Jim. I feel so much better saying I went to the Jim this morning.
What is the alternitive, bidding against yourself plus everyone else? From my viewpoint: Bid once, bid reasonable, and bid during the last few seconds.
As a seller I don't like snipping. I get at least one email a month from a buyer complaining about not being able to get one more bid in after being snipped. Ebay and I lose money because buyers like this are not able to get another bid in. The software to implement the extension of an auction for 30 more seconds if a bid is received in the last 15 to 30 seconds is not a stretch. As a seller I would be willing to pay an additional fee for this option, as I know bidding wars would break out and I would recoup much more than the fee charged in some of my auctions.
I have spoken directly with Bill Cobb (president of eBay North America) on this issue at a conference I recently attended, and to be frank have not gotten a straight answer. Extending auctions benefits sellers by realizing higher end prices, benefits eBay by FVF being higher because of higher sales price, benefits eBay if they charge a fee for the option. Benefits buyers that would place one more bid but run out of time. The only people it hurts are the snipers and the companies that offer snipping software or services. Bill Cobb basically told me that they are considering this, but worry about changing the “culture of eBay.” There is another thread here or on one of the other message boards I follow that made the argument that eBay does not want to be a seller of high end collectibles and has decided to concentrate on being the site for the mom and pop shop or individual. Not providing extensions of auctions supports this argument in my opinion.
As a buyer I like snipping as I often get very good deals as the manual bidders hold off on bidding to the last 30 seconds and I snipe with about 4 seconds left giving other bidders very little time to get another bid in. Of course, my snipe is often out snipped by another bidder. I would still use my snipping software if auctions were extended, but would understand that the software would not be as effective as it is now.
If I had to choose, without a doubt, I would vote for extension of auctions, but don't think it will happen anytime soon.
Sniping wouldnt fall under the category of ethical or unethical, at least I wouldn't think.
maybe practical or impractical.
It would be practical to snipe an item that has zero bids with a low start and no reserve price and only a short time left in the auction. It would be impractical to try and snipe something that has several bids and is jacked up in price by the activity of the auction or the interest in the piece...., those auctions are seldom sniped.
Sniping is a fun way to play in ebay, but not always the most practical way to win. Snipers most often win coins that they could just as easily do without, too.
Most savvy players know when to snipe and it sure doesn't hurt anyone, as a matter of fact, for most of us I would suspect it is quite exhilarating.
I snipe because I don't want to sit in front of this computer waiting for an auction to end. I have two snipes in tonight and am going out for Chinese.
A bad idea for those who have enjoyed the benefits last minute rips. But as far as creating a more competative bidding process and getting the best price for the seller, it really is much better idea than what is current.
Sometimes you need to understand that what is best for you is not what is best for the majority.
Always bid the most you are willing to pay for a lot, no more and no less. Sniping that bid only prevents traditional bidding, tit-for-tat, from ratcheting up and possibly exceeding your bid. But if everyone just did this, snipe their max bid, it would be much more like a sealed mail bid auction.
The one place where sniping is not always so efficient is the one place where I think it is most appropriate: Teletrade. In a tradiotional auction, you can draw the line on your bidding if you have won so many lots that your budget is exhausted. Not so on Teletrade. You can put bids in on dozens of lots all ending simultaneously. You might lose them all, win them all, or anything in between. As a fair trade for the "win them all" risk, minimizing your bid through a snipe is an acceptable efficiency in my book, though I see no ethical problem in general anyway.
<< <i>...and do you expect that you can build long-lasting relationships with sellers/auctioneers if you practice sniping their auctions? >>
I assume you're referring to eBay when you question the practice of sniping. The eBay auction format encourages sniping, so how can it be unethical? Before eBay got to be the behemoth that it is, other auction sites kept bidding open as long as there was bidding activity within a certain time frame, like a REAL auction.
Do I think I will build long lasting relationships with sellers? No, not really unless the seller offers alot of the types of coins I'm looking to buy. Now, I've made a number of friendships with fellow collectors via eBay.
There is a LOT of that here on the boards and Lucy appears to be good at it.
Isn't the BIN on eBay a form of sniping?
In my experience in order to be successful at sniping and winning one has to bid strong money. This means that in most cases that you will likely not get good stuff cheap on eBay and therefore this is a good thing for the sellers. Perhaps eBay shud experiment with adding the extra overtime after the last regular time bid. If they ever decide to implement it I hope they make that feature optional on the part of the seller. If a seller would choose to use the "extra" time I would probly ignore his listing just like those diehards of you who won't bid where a seller does't take PayPal.
<< <i>Mike:What good is a snipe bid if there are no bids in the first place.If you are the lone bidder you win anyway. SilverandVinyl >>
How do you know there aren't other snipers? You may not be the only bidder.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Why would a seller have a problem with someone else bidding on thier auction in the last few seconds (sniping)? If the sniper didn't bid, then the auction would have closed at a cheaper price. I thought if someone was trying to sell something on eBay, they would want the highest price possible. On the other hand, another buyer might be unhappy with someone sniping, but to bad, they should have bid higher in the first place.
<< <i>Do you think it would help or hurt the capital markets if every broker/trader entered their bid/buy order at 3:59:56 PM Eastern Time? >>
Unfortunately, that model doesn't hold water.
Traders can make money as many times as they can trade while markets are open. If they enter all their orders at four seconds before market close, they'd only perform transactions once per day. Those traders would be losing money to the other traders trading many times per day. With ebay, there is only one transaction, and it doesn't take place until the end of bidding. You can't draw a straight line between the two.
Sniping an ebay auction protects the buyer from shill bidding and hides their interest in the item until it's truly necessary to reveal it. Bidding early when sniping is available is advertisting that you want X item for at least Y dollars and invites someone to make money off of your disclosure.
People seem to hate sniping because they feel "entitled" to the item more than the sniper. I certainly felt that way for a time. If ebay were to eliminate sniping by introducing auction extensions, I'd still bid, but I'd probably win less and therefore spend less.
As to whether it permitting or ending sniping hurts ebay, I think it'd be a wash. It would change bidding patterns but prices would still approximate what people are willing to pay. Prices might go up as desperate buyers keep the auction going for a few more minutes, but snipe-induced price rises at the end of bidding would decrease.
another buyer might be unhappy with someone sniping
The only people unhappy with sniping are those either who do not bid their maximum or do not know the value of the product(s) in the the auction.
Is it unethical if I know a valuable coin is low priced at auction, and I do not come on this board and proclaim publicly my interest and intention to bid?
Another reason that I snipe is that the rising amount of shills that are coming out of the woodwork. I let them do the work of hitting the reserve (if one) then I set my snipe according to the following criteria:
1. TPG 2. Strike,luster 3. rarity of the VAM 4. price.
This is a very dumb ass thread. - Laura Sperber - Tuesday January 09, 2007 11:16 AM
Hell, I don't need to exercise.....I get enough just pushing my luck.
<< <i>As a seller I don't like snipping. I get at least one email a month from a buyer complaining about not being able to get one more bid in after being snipped. Ebay and I lose money because buyers like this are not able to get another bid in. >>
Do you think that if the people writing those emails had not been sniped they would have, out of the goodness of their hearts, have paid you more money that what Ebay showed as the high bid before the snipe occured? I don't think so. So the sniper actually resulted in you getting MORE money than you would have otherwise. And even if the underbidder HAD been able to bid again there is no guarantee to he would have won the coin. And he would have just been the sniper that he is railing against. If the underbidder had just bid a higher max bid you would have gotten more money as well. Maybe you should email back to them that they should have bid more in the first place. Possible ebay sould not allow proxy bidding? What ever you bid, that is your bid. No reduction to just an increment over the previous high bid. What do you think THAT would do to the bidding? Do you think that would result in better higher prices for sellers? No, I don't think so either.
What you want is a different type of auction, a "live auction" type instead of a mailbid type. That could be fun, the auction sniper programs would have to change. Instead of placing a max bid a few seconds before the end, it would place a one increment bid and then check back 5 minutes later and if needed place another one increment bid and so on. The seller may not get any more money, but his auction may not end for hours and hours after it was scheduled to.
A bad idea for those who have enjoyed the benefits last minute rips. But as far as creating a more competative bidding process and getting the best price for the seller, it really is much better idea than what is current.
Sometimes you need to understand that what is best for you is not what is best for the majority. >>
What's best for the majority? Well, clearly you are defining the majority as sellers so I'll let you in on a little secret: I sell on eBay many magnitudes more than I buy on eBay.
The answer is to eliminate the bids that do not represent a bidder's highest price.
The answer is not to eliminate sniping, but rather to allow only *one* bid per bidder on an auction. If everyone knows they got only one shot, everyone bids higher no matter what time is left in the auction.
Ebay should allow scheduled sniping for a small fee (10 cents applies your bid 1 minute before the auction ends and 25 cents applies it at the close of the auction). The listing should show a count of 'scheduled bids' so that people will know that others are seriously interested in the auction. I don't know how many times I've wanted to bid on an item, but the time got away from me or I was not available when the auction ended -- and I missed it. If you don't snipe - you just enter a fair price for the item as your high bid - 9 times out of 10 the other guy gets it at the next available bid increment. I think scheduling bids would make eBay plenty of extra dough and if it were available, I know I'd use it.
<< <i>Ebay should allow scheduled sniping for a small fee (10 cents applies your bid 1 minute before the auction ends and 25 cents applies it at the close of the auction). The listing should show a count of 'scheduled bids' so that people will know that others are seriously interested in the auction. I don't know how many times I've wanted to bid on an item, but the time got away from me or I was not available when the auction ended -- and I missed it. If you don't snipe - you just enter a fair price for the item as your high bid - 9 times out of 10 the other guy gets it at the next available bid increment. I think scheduling bids would make eBay plenty of extra dough and if it were available, I know I'd use it. >>
There are plenty of companies that already do this. You pay them like 2% of the final price of the auction (if you win) and you can program in your snipes.
If you want to do it for free, just sync a clock to Ebay time and place them manually. Thats what I do and I consistently get 1-4 second snipes.
It helps sellers. My snipe will result in seller receiving more then if I had not sniped. Doesn't matter if my snipe is successful or not, he gets more (or the same if my snipe has no effect.)
Doesn't hurt other bidders, any more then not winning any other auction by not being the higher bidder.
I am under no obligation to bid for anything, and certainly no more obligated to pay as high as I might be willing to , just as the seller is not obligated to sell for the least he is willing to.
In fact, in life I try and sell my excess for as much as possible, and buy my wants for as little as possible. Basic economics. Does anybody go in a store and offer more for something then the asking price, because the value it higher?
i have yet to bid on a coin on ebay, but i asure you i am a master sniper. i get 95-98% of the items that i bid on ebay. i don't use special software. i do it manualy. How? what i have found is most of the time on a item that is way under bid the last few minutes, the people only bid a couple bucks more than the highest bid. Tis easy to snipe em. If a item is worth a $100 to me and the bid is $35 i am going to enter a snipe bid of a $100 and usualy get it for way less like maybe $48. All you folks that think snipping isn't right should enter your highest bid. my .02. RANT OFF. i may or my not start going after coins. i have been away from the hoby for about 18 yrs now. I can not deceide as to if i am going to continue or if i am going to dump what i have. If i dump...PLEASE all snippers are welcome. Bill
<< <i>Another reason that I snipe is that the rising amount of shills that are coming out of the woodwork. I let them do the work of hitting the reserve (if one) then I set my snipe according to the following criteria: >>
The shill already knows the reserve amount and WILL NOT hit it.
A bid placed during the closing seconds of an auction is as valid as one placed in the opening seconds...it is the HIGH bid that wins, not necessarily the LAST bid. If an "early" bidder is unhappy because he lost an auction to a "sniper," it just means he really didn't bid his "max." Whose fault is that? Certanly not the sniper's. - Preussen
"Illegitimis non carborundum" -General Joseph Stilwell. See my auctions
"My friends who see my collection sometimes ask what something costs. I tell them and they are in awe at my stupidity." (Baccaruda, 12/03).I find it hard to believe that he (Trump) rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world. (Putin 1/17) Gone but not forgotten. IGWT, Speedy, Bear, BigE, HokieFore, John Burns, Russ, TahoeDale, Dahlonega, Astrorat, Stewart Blay, Oldhoopster, Broadstruck, Ricko, Big Moose, Cardinal.
Comments
Last week I beat out another bidder by 1 cent on the snipe of a Eighty dollar coin.
About a month ago one of my auctions went from $86.50 to $294.50 in five seconds.
You win some and you lose some all part of the game.
And if anybody needs a good program click on the link and I can get some more free snipes.
AuctionSniper.com
Yes it is ethical
The only problem it causes is; no one seems to bid early any more.
<< <i>And if anybody needs a good program click on the link and I can get some more free snipes. >>
Or, if you want all the features of that program but want to pay less money, try PhantomBidder (I get no free snipes for this plug).
<< <i>why do you think in live auctions the auctioneer says "fair warning, fair warning". >>
Because it is a different TYPE of auction from what eBay runs.
There are many types of auctions and all of them are "real" auctions. Your "live" auction ends when a higher bid can't be solicited.
What eBay runs is like a mailbid auction where the auction ends at a known preset time and the highest bid received before that time wins. (The only difference from a commonly encountered mailbid auction is that you can see what the high bid is and you can bid again if your previous bid is beaten. To be exactly like a standard Mailbid you would be required to submit your max bid and only be allowed to bid once.)
A similar auction is a "candle" auction which is similar to the mailbid type except the actual ending time is not known beforehand. (This got it's name from the way it was run. A thin candle would be pierced at some point with a pin and then lit. When the candle burned down to the pin it would go out. The last bid received before the candle went out wins. You knew about when it would end which encouraged waiting, but you didn't know exactly when it would end and it would do so suddenly.)
There are at least two auction types that I have seen called Dutch auctions. One is like eBays Dutch auction, and the other is a reducing auction were the solicited bid starts out very high and then starts reducing until someone bids. First bid wins.
If you think of eBay as a mass of mailbid auctions then you see that sniping is perfectly valid and ethical.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
<< <i>Is "sniping" ethical >>
What an inane question.
The name is LEE!
<< <i>Is "sniping" ethical?? >>
What is the alternitive, bidding against yourself plus everyone else? From my viewpoint: Bid once, bid reasonable, and bid during the last few seconds.
Tim
I have spoken directly with Bill Cobb (president of eBay North America) on this issue at a conference I recently attended, and to be frank have not gotten a straight answer. Extending auctions benefits sellers by realizing higher end prices, benefits eBay by FVF being higher because of higher sales price, benefits eBay if they charge a fee for the option. Benefits buyers that would place one more bid but run out of time. The only people it hurts are the snipers and the companies that offer snipping software or services. Bill Cobb basically told me that they are considering this, but worry about changing the “culture of eBay.” There is another thread here or on one of the other message boards I follow that made the argument that eBay does not want to be a seller of high end collectibles and has decided to concentrate on being the site for the mom and pop shop or individual. Not providing extensions of auctions supports this argument in my opinion.
As a buyer I like snipping as I often get very good deals as the manual bidders hold off on bidding to the last 30 seconds and I snipe with about 4 seconds left giving other bidders very little time to get another bid in. Of course, my snipe is often out snipped by another bidder. I would still use my snipping software if auctions were extended, but would understand that the software would not be as effective as it is now.
If I had to choose, without a doubt, I would vote for extension of auctions, but don't think it will happen anytime soon.
Michael
Maybe, but buyers currently are not too kind to Reserve "auctions." It would interesting to see bidding activity on anti-snipe auctions.....
Michael
maybe practical or impractical.
It would be practical to snipe an item that has zero bids with a low start and no reserve price and only a short time left in the auction.
It would be impractical to try and snipe something that has several bids and is jacked up in price by the activity of the auction or the interest in the piece...., those auctions are seldom sniped.
Sniping is a fun way to play in ebay, but not always the most practical way to win. Snipers most often win coins that they could just as easily do without, too.
Most savvy players know when to snipe and it sure doesn't hurt anyone, as a matter of fact, for most of us I would suspect it is quite exhilarating.
Thanks to all for all the wonderful and illuminating feedback on this topic
<< <i>
<< <i>...and do you expect that you can build long-lasting relationships with sellers/auctioneers if you practice sniping their auctions? >>
if there is a coin i must have, anything is ethical, including casteration. >>
<< <i>The software to implement the extension of an auction for 30 more seconds if a bid is received in the last 15 to 30 seconds is not a stretch. >>
Not a stretch. Just a bad idea.
Russ, NCNE
<< <i>Not a stretch. Just a bad idea.
>>
A bad idea for those who have enjoyed the benefits last minute rips. But as far as creating a more competative bidding process and getting the best price for the seller, it really is much better idea than what is current.
Sometimes you need to understand that what is best for you is not what is best for the majority.
The one place where sniping is not always so efficient is the one place where I think it is most appropriate: Teletrade. In a tradiotional auction, you can draw the line on your bidding if you have won so many lots that your budget is exhausted. Not so on Teletrade. You can put bids in on dozens of lots all ending simultaneously. You might lose them all, win them all, or anything in between. As a fair trade for the "win them all" risk, minimizing your bid through a snipe is an acceptable efficiency in my book, though I see no ethical problem in general anyway.
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SSDC - Life Member
ANA - Pay As I Go Member
SilverandVinyl
<< <i>...and do you expect that you can build long-lasting relationships with sellers/auctioneers if you practice sniping their auctions? >>
I assume you're referring to eBay when you question the practice of sniping. The eBay auction format encourages sniping, so how can it be unethical? Before eBay got to be the behemoth that it is, other auction sites kept bidding open as long as there was bidding activity within a certain time frame, like a REAL auction.
Do I think I will build long lasting relationships with sellers? No, not really unless the seller offers alot of the types of coins I'm looking to buy. Now, I've made a number of friendships with fellow collectors via eBay.
Semper ubi sub ubi
<< <i>As a seller I don't like snipping. >>
There is a LOT of that here on the boards and Lucy appears to be good at it.
Isn't the BIN on eBay a form of sniping?
In my experience in order to be successful at sniping and winning one has to bid strong money. This means that in most cases that you will likely not get good stuff cheap on eBay and therefore this is a good thing for the sellers.
Perhaps eBay shud experiment with adding the extra overtime after the last regular time bid. If they ever decide to implement it I hope they make that feature optional on the part of the seller. If a seller would choose to use the "extra" time I would probly ignore his listing just like those diehards of you who won't bid where a seller does't take PayPal.
<< <i>Mike:What good is a snipe bid if there are no bids in the first place.If you are the lone bidder you win anyway.
SilverandVinyl >>
How do you know there aren't other snipers? You may not be the only bidder.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I snipe.I snipe.I snipe.I snipe.I snipe.
I snipe.I snipe.I snipe.I snipe.I snipe.
That means I spend (spent..for now
If I had to participate in auctions with the extension....
No bid.No bid.No bid.No bid.No bid.
No bid.No bid.No bid.No bid.No bid.
No bid.No bid.No bid.No bid.No bid.
Of course I'll still bid on a coin with a realistic "Buy it Now" price as well.
Those who don't like my money can block me as a buyer. Better do it fast though...
My eBay/Yahoo auction name is TJ4FA
PS. I have bought several hundred coins on EBAY and not one seller has negg'ed me for bid sniping. In fact I think they are quite happy!!
If I only had a dollar for every VAM I have...err...nevermind...I do!!
My "Fun With 21D" Die State Collection - QX5 Pics Attached
-----
Proud Owner of
2 –DAMMIT BOY!!! ® Awards
If you bid early Joe/Jane Ripuoff can peek at your top bid.
They know how to use the bid retraction feature to see what your top bid is.
Look at the bid retractions on your Ripuoff list. I have seen an eBay user with 18 in 6 mos.
This is what eBay needs to fix! IMHO. BOOK
My grandchildren. The heirs to my collection! (Just not to soon I hope)
Tim
<< <i>Do you think it would help or hurt the capital markets if every broker/trader entered their bid/buy order at 3:59:56 PM Eastern Time? >>
Unfortunately, that model doesn't hold water.
Traders can make money as many times as they can trade while markets are open. If they enter all their orders at four seconds before market close, they'd only perform transactions once per day. Those traders would be losing money to the other traders trading many times per day. With ebay, there is only one transaction, and it doesn't take place until the end of bidding. You can't draw a straight line between the two.
Sniping an ebay auction protects the buyer from shill bidding and hides their interest in the item until it's truly necessary to reveal it. Bidding early when sniping is available is advertisting that you want X item for at least Y dollars and invites someone to make money off of your disclosure.
People seem to hate sniping because they feel "entitled" to the item more than the sniper. I certainly felt that way for a time. If ebay were to eliminate sniping by introducing auction extensions, I'd still bid, but I'd probably win less and therefore spend less.
As to whether it permitting or ending sniping hurts ebay, I think it'd be a wash. It would change bidding patterns but prices would still approximate what people are willing to pay. Prices might go up as desperate buyers keep the auction going for a few more minutes, but snipe-induced price rises at the end of bidding would decrease.
The only people unhappy with sniping are those either who do not bid their maximum or do not know the value of the product(s) in the the auction.
Is it unethical if I know a valuable coin is low priced at auction, and I do not come on this board and proclaim publicly my interest and intention to bid?
1. TPG
2. Strike,luster
3. rarity of the VAM
4. price.
Hell, I don't need to exercise.....I get enough just pushing my luck.
<< <i>If you bid early Joe/Jane Ripuoff can peek at your top bid. >>
It also tells the world that you ARE INTERESTED in that particular item which is just about the dumbest thing you can do.
<< <i>As a seller I don't like snipping. I get at least one email a month from a buyer complaining about not being able to get one more bid in after being snipped. Ebay and I lose money because buyers like this are not able to get another bid in. >>
Do you think that if the people writing those emails had not been sniped they would have, out of the goodness of their hearts, have paid you more money that what Ebay showed as the high bid before the snipe occured? I don't think so. So the sniper actually resulted in you getting MORE money than you would have otherwise. And even if the underbidder HAD been able to bid again there is no guarantee to he would have won the coin. And he would have just been the sniper that he is railing against. If the underbidder had just bid a higher max bid you would have gotten more money as well. Maybe you should email back to them that they should have bid more in the first place. Possible ebay sould not allow proxy bidding? What ever you bid, that is your bid. No reduction to just an increment over the previous high bid. What do you think THAT would do to the bidding? Do you think that would result in better higher prices for sellers? No, I don't think so either.
What you want is a different type of auction, a "live auction" type instead of a mailbid type. That could be fun, the auction sniper programs would have to change. Instead of placing a max bid a few seconds before the end, it would place a one increment bid and then check back 5 minutes later and if needed place another one increment bid and so on. The seller may not get any more money, but his auction may not end for hours and hours after it was scheduled to.
No one is going to sit there for an hour waiting on a commodity or garage sale auction to end.
<< <i><< Not a stretch. Just a bad idea.>>
A bad idea for those who have enjoyed the benefits last minute rips. But as far as creating a more competative bidding process and getting the best price for the seller, it really is much better idea than what is current.
Sometimes you need to understand that what is best for you is not what is best for the majority. >>
What's best for the majority? Well, clearly you are defining the majority as sellers so I'll let you in on a little secret: I sell on eBay many magnitudes more than I buy on eBay.
Eliminating sniping is still a stupid idea.
Russ, NCNE
The answer is to eliminate the bids that do not represent a bidder's highest price.
The answer is not to eliminate sniping, but rather to allow only *one* bid per bidder on an auction. If everyone knows they got only one shot, everyone bids higher no matter what time is left in the auction.
<< <i>
<< <i>...and do you expect that you can build long-lasting relationships with sellers/auctioneers if you practice sniping their auctions? >>
if there is a coin i must have, anything is ethical, including casteration. >>
Remind me not show you the cool toned Mercs I own
“It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.” Mark Twain
Newmismatist
KR
<< <i>Ebay should allow scheduled sniping for a small fee (10 cents applies your bid 1 minute before the auction ends and 25 cents applies it at the close of the auction). The listing should show a count of 'scheduled bids' so that people will know that others are seriously interested in the auction. I don't know how many times I've wanted to bid on an item, but the time got away from me or I was not available when the auction ended -- and I missed it. If you don't snipe - you just enter a fair price for the item as your high bid - 9 times out of 10 the other guy gets it at the next available bid increment. I think scheduling bids would make eBay plenty of extra dough and if it were available, I know I'd use it. >>
There are plenty of companies that already do this. You pay them like 2% of the final price of the auction (if you win) and you can program in your snipes.
If you want to do it for free, just sync a clock to Ebay time and place them manually. Thats what I do and I consistently get 1-4 second snipes.
It helps sellers. My snipe will result in seller receiving more then if I had not sniped. Doesn't matter if my
snipe is successful or not, he gets more (or the same if my snipe has no effect.)
Doesn't hurt other bidders, any more then not winning any other auction by not being the higher bidder.
I am under no obligation to bid for anything, and certainly no more obligated to pay as high as I might be willing to , just as the seller is not obligated to sell for the least he is willing to.
In fact, in life I try and sell my excess for as much as possible, and buy my wants for as little as possible. Basic economics. Does anybody go in a store and offer more for something then the asking price, because the value it higher?
i bid on ebay. i don't use special software. i do it manualy. How? what i have found is most of the time on a item that is way under bid the last few minutes, the people only bid a couple bucks more than the highest bid. Tis easy to snipe em. If a item is worth a $100 to me and the bid is $35 i am going to enter a snipe bid of a $100 and usualy get it for way less like maybe $48.
All you folks that think snipping isn't right should enter your highest bid.
my .02. RANT OFF.
i may or my not start going after coins. i have been away from the hoby for about 18 yrs now.
I can not deceide as to if i am going to continue or if i am going to dump what i have.
If i dump...PLEASE all snippers are welcome.
Bill
<< <i>Is "sniping" ethical? >>
Is a frog's ass watertight?
Are the Kennedys gun shy?
Not only is it ethical, it's damn near required!
<< <i>
<< <i>Is "sniping" ethical? >>
Is a frog's ass watertight?
Are the Kennedys gun shy?
Not only is it ethical, it's damn near required!
you go daddy-o!
"Senorita HepKitty"
"I want a real cool Kitty from Hepcat City, to stay in step with me" - Bill Carter
<< <i>Another reason that I snipe is that the rising amount of shills that are coming out of the woodwork. I let them do the work of hitting the reserve (if one) then I set my snipe according to the following criteria: >>
The shill already knows the reserve amount and WILL NOT hit it.
Yes, and not sniping is stupid.
and the high bidder SHOULD be the winner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lafayette Grading Set