To those of you that snipe..

[punkoffgirl]

Do you use sniping software?

If you do, which one do you use? What are it's advantages/disadvantages?
Do you have to pay a fee, or is it free?
Have you ever run into problems using it (ie- it didn't bid when it was supposed to)?

I never realized how many programs there were out there until I did a search earlier tonight. It's nuts! One had a free version that offered 5 snipes/week, bidding ABOUT 8 seconds before auction end, and a pay version for $5 a month, unlimited snipes, bidding at about 5 seconds before auction end. I didn't know there were so many options!

[MarioAllStar2600]

Its a fee. I wanted to get one, but didnt feel like paying the fee. I was using a trial but they wanted my password, and I wasn't sure how reliable the company was.

[Achika]

I um....just started using the free trials....then switched to a different company :D

Anyhow, I'm looking for a new one to jump to, but I was using Bid Slammer with good results on all 3 of my free snipes.

[NE146]

There are lots of good ones out there. Personally, I use Auction Sentry. Cost about 15 bucks or so for download if I remember correctly (it's been a while). It's software that resides on your pc and I have sniped many auctions with it.. so it works great imho.

It has failed once or twice however. Once it was because I didn't update it and Ebay had altered their auction system. The other time my connection was down :P

http://www.auctionsentry.com

[spoon]

I don't use a program. Although, I have checked into a few that lookd promisingt. I am a cheapskate that would only use the free trial of the program anyhow.

I have dial up and have only missed sniping two auctions because of it in three years. :o

[Ed Oscuro]

I hear tell that some Web Sites have this function for a price. :o

[chaoticjelly]

I use esnipe.

I'm not sure how much it costs really, I signed up when it was in its infancy. My account is grandfathered for free auction snipes under $25.

I do most of my bidding in the UK though, on UK ebay and it costs a flat rate fee of 100 bid points (1 bidpoint = 1 cent), for US auctions it costs 1 bidpoint per $1 I think !!?

Anyway, yeah, it's great, you can snipe about 4 seconds from the end LOL

[LazingBlazers]

I use a clock that makes noise, and I count... when I have the time. If not, I just take my chances without sniping. It's really not that hard to get a manual snipe at 2 seconds left. Just start counting as soon as the screen starts to load... even if it's not fully up yet. When the time left appears, that's how much time you had left when you first started counting.

[anagrama]

Strictly by hand. It's much more fun that way.

[SoulBlazer]

Same here. Besides, I'm on a cable modem. :D

[Balloon Fight]

I um....just started using the free trials....then switched to a different company :D

Anyhow, I'm looking for a new one to jump to, but I was using Bid Slammer with good results on all 3 of my free snipes.

Same here. I started using ezsnipe, then i switched to another one. Im not going to pay $15 when i could get some new games for that much.

[punkoffgirl]

Strictly by hand. It's much more fun that way.

That's really not what I was asking, but thanks for contributing!

I'm just curious because I know zip about sniping programs. I did a goole search for them last night, and there are ZILLIONS of them out there. It just seems sketchy, because they need your eBay log in & password (obviously). I'm surprised you never hear about anything like this being a scam, you know?

[NE146]

It just seems sketchy, because they need your eBay log in & password (obviously). I'm surprised you never hear about anything like this being a scam, you know?

Which is why I chose to use a standalone app. I didn't like the idea of giving my username/pass to a third party, although I'm sure the majority of them are legit.

As far as it being fun, to be quite honest I don't think about bidding as fun or a game or anything. My whole vantage point is.. I see something I want to bid on, so I enter in my snipe bid and set it and forget it. Takes literally all of 10 seconds. For most items (unless it's something I REALLY give a shit about) I don't even think about it until I get an email 7 days later that tells me whether my bid (well... my snipe bid) was successful or not. When I win it's usually a.. "oh yeah I put a bid for this item!.. guess I won" :P

p.s. I think I win about 35% of my snipe bids. Usually my bids just aren't high enough since I'm a cheapskate LOL

[scottz29]

if you're going to go with sniping software (which is much easier to set up and use, imho) AuctionSentry is definitely the way to go. I've won dozens of auctions with it, it's extremely accurate, reliable, easy to use and highly configurable. i've gotten brave and set the snipe time for 1 second before the auction ends, and my bid always goes in (provided i'm not outbid before that). it's also loaded with other features, yet it remains simple to use if you just want to use it for sniping.

also, it's updated on a regular basis, so when ebay makes a change to the site that may prevent the software from working, the guy is on top of it right away, and the software can automatically check for an update when you start it (recommended).

i am in no way affiliated with the author of this program. i just love it, it works for me, and i wouldn't think of using anything else.

www.auctionsentry.com

[digitalpress]

I've been using www.esnipe.com.

[punkoffgirl]

So it doesn't sound like anyone's really run into any problems with the sniping programs they've used. That's a good sign!
It appears there are two different types? (Correct me if I'm wrong!)
One is software that you download and need to have your computer running & online for it to work, correct?
Another appears to be entirely web-based, you enter your bids online, but don't need to have your computer running or online at the end of the auction, because everything takes place on the program's servers?
It looks like all of the programs have a free trial period at least. I found one that had an two levels of service, one that was free, but with a very limited number of snipes and a longer amt of time before the end of the auction when the bid was placed (8 seconds, I believe), and the other level was a one-time fee, unlimited snipes, and 4 seconds before the auction end.
Others appear to be of varying fee scales. A couple people mentioned esnipe, where the fee depends on the final value of the auction, but you're not charged at all if you don't win. Others are one time fees, and others are monthly fees. Hmm. All very interesting :)

[MarioAllStar2600]

What happens when a sniping program goes up against a sniping program?

[NE146]

What happens when a sniping program goes up against a sniping program?

What about it. They simply both bid.

What happens when 50 manually-sniping people and 20 sniping programs go up against each other on one item? Well again, they just all bid. Easy :P

[digitalpress]

What happens when a sniping program goes up against a sniping program?

Legend has it that if both sniping programs bid at precisely the same nanosecond it triggers a series of events that end in the destruction of the planet! There are two schools of philosophy on this subject. Everyone else in the world says it isn't so, and I say that it is.

Hope this was helpful.

[Buyatari]

What an experiment that would be.

I say we do it.

Get some random game and set a very high price

Say $100.00 for a SMB/DK cart.

Start the bidding at $0.01 and have as many people as possible snipe with exactly $100.00 at the same second. See which snipping programs snipe the exact second they are supposed to and which one comes out on top.

Adam

[petewhitley]

eSnipe is ridiculously cheap to use (I paid $5 once and I'm still sniping) and you don't have to worry about your connection or any of that garbage. I wouldn't even think of changing at this point.

[GunPanther]

I hate all of you ebay users that utilize auction sniping software.

You guys totally take away the whole idea of 'bidding' in an auction.

Have I been sniped in auctions? Many times.


That's why I hate all of you 'cheaters'.

Then again, most of the items I bid on usually come to me a couple of days/weeks later at an even cheaper price. LOL




errrrgh....

Computer technology today simplifies so many things. :roll:






GunPanther :2gunfire:

[bjk7382]

I use www.esnipe.com and I use it for anything that I think will get a lot of bids. I don't want to drive the price up when I can get it for cheap at the end of the auction.

The fee is only .25 cents per auction win and nothing if you don't win the auction. Very modest in my opinion.

@GunPanther - "If you can beat em', Join em" :D

[GunPanther]

"if you can't beat em', join em'"

Or you can just blow the whole damned place up. Including yourself. :onfire: lmao


yes, i would be a "Scorched Earth" tank. :>


and yes. I do have a "Scorched Earth" outlook on things.






GunPanther :2gunfire:

[NE146]

snipers get beat all the time. I know I do :P