Who here is a good eBay sniper?

[Mattiekrome]

Just wondering what method you snipers use. I use to have this auction software a couple years ago with a snipe option in it, but didnt really ever figure out how to use it. Do you snipe by hand or do you use a program to get those last second bids in? I'm tired of getting sniped :evil:

[Nesmaster]

i snipe manually, with under 10 seconds left

[number6]

I use www.esnipe.com and I very rarely lose an auction I really want to win. The cost of using esnipe is money well spent in my opinion.

[stuffedmonkey]

There is a Mac program called J-Bidwatcher - nice little freeware. It is accurate to within plus or minus a second - so I set my snipe time to 3 seconds before an auction ends :)

[Dr. Morbis]

Any auction that I really want, I put in a manual snipe with about 3 seconds to go. Having highspeed internet is a must, as I usually refresh every 15 seconds or so in the last minute. My success rate with manual snipes is like 98% and I always have a drop-dead price that I won't go above heading into it so if someone max's that out in the final minutes, I walk away from that auction.

[briguy578]

I use esnipe as well. The big advantage with it is you don't end up overbidding on something in the heat of the moment. You just put in what you are willing to pay for it and wait. If I don't get it with esnipe my reaction is usually much calmer then it would be if I were trying it manually: example:

Manually:

Grr! lost by 50 cents! if only I had bid higher....

Esnipe:

Woah, that sold for a lot more then I thought it was worth....

[Ed Oscuro]

i snipe manually, with under 10 seconds left
That would screw me up. I'm on broadband, but last night it was laggin' like nobody's business. I missed out on a MINT copy of Assault Suits Valken II for the Saturn...it went for $12 and small change! Gah. I would've at least bumped it up to $20. Same for a copy of Battle Golfer Yui...oh, the pain... >_<

[Emily]

I snipe in the last 3 seconds manually, aswell.

[Nesmaster]

i snipe manually, with under 10 seconds left
That would screw me up. I'm on broadband, but last night it was laggin' like nobody's business. I missed out on a MINT copy of Assault Suits Valken II for the Saturn...it went for $12 and small change! Gah. I would've at least bumped it up to $20. Same for a copy of Battle Golfer Yui...oh, the pain... >_<

i dont have to worry, ive got cable :D

[Iron Draggon]

I snipe manually, but I'm getting to where I don't trust sniping anymore. I recently lost an item that I really wanted due to an unusual amount of lag time, even though I do have cable internet, and I only miraculously was still able to get it, because the winner didn't pay for it. Also, I've been having alot of trouble with the internet lately too. We keep losing power and the internet keeps going down. I was planning to snipe something this morning, but last night we lost the internet again. So as soon as it came back on this morning, I just placed a proxy bid on it to be safe. I wanted to at least make sure that I got my bid in on it, in case we lose the internet again. It's raining here right now, so the chances of us losing the internet again before the auction ends are just too high for me. I hate to place a bid so early, because there's still about 3 hours left to go, but I don't wanna be kicking myself 3 hours from now if the internet goes down again, asking myself why I didn't place a bid when I had the chance. That's what I kept asking myself on the item that I lost recently, why didn't I place my bid sooner when I had the chance? I was very lucky to still get that item anyway, but I don't think that I'm lucky enough for things to always work out in my favor like that. And I don't trust sniping programs or services, they aren't always reliable either.

[Iron Draggon]

i snipe manually, with under 10 seconds left
That would screw me up. I'm on broadband, but last night it was laggin' like nobody's business. I missed out on a MINT copy of Assault Suits Valken II for the Saturn...it went for $12 and small change! Gah. I would've at least bumped it up to $20. Same for a copy of Battle Golfer Yui...oh, the pain... >_<

Sorry for the double post here, but do you mean Assault Suit Valken 2 for the Playstation, or Assault Suit Leynos 2 for the Saturn? Because you just described a game that doesn't exist on the platform you said it was for.

[drummy]

I use SnipeMonkey. You just set it to snipe 5 seconds before the auction ends, because it takes about 3 seconds for it to snip. I personally like it.

[anagrama]

It's much more fun by hand :) I try to get in the last 5 seconds or so, but if I'm noticing any lag while refreshing I'll stick it in earlier.

[Mattiekrome]

I am giving that esnipe a try right now. I'll let ya know how it goes :hmm:

[shvnsth]

im trying spinemonkey, and its pretty sweet in concept, and prob cheaper over time than esnipe. ill lmk how well it works in about an hour

[stuffedmonkey]

If anyone is interested, jbidwatcher is free - at www.jbidwatcher.com. It's an open source Java app - claims to work on Windows, Linux and Macintosh. I can vouch that it works well on macs.

I would manually snipe more, but I hate being glued to the computer. Hard to tell the wife you can't go out to dinner because an auction for a game you really want ends in 45 minutes :) Just set it to snipe and come back later.

[Promophile]

I like alot of people use Auction Sentry. Its a one time price of 15 dollars. you get unlimited upgrades, pofit tracking, and alot of other stuff. Bad part is you need to have your computer running, but I have cable so its no problem for me.

[shvnsth]

are there any sniping programs that don't requiere you to have your computer on?

[charitycasegreg]

I dont use sniping programs but I bid within the last 2-8 seconds and win up to my max bid. The only time I lose is when someone else snipes a higher max bid, but I always put up to what I'll pay in case this happens.

So yes, I would say I am a good sniper.

[Zing]

are there any sniping programs that don't requiere you to have your computer on?

Web based services like the mentioned eSnipe are what you are asking for. The best part is that they are accessable from any computer with internet access.

I use AuctionSniper (http://www.auctionsniper.com/) and have had no problems. The small amount of money I have given them has saved me hundreds of dollars. I was able to continue my sniping even while on honeymoon in Hawaii. :)

[suppafly]

I use www.esnipe.com and I very rarely lose an auction I really want to win. The cost of using esnipe is money well spent in my opinion.

I second this thought. Esnipe is great and very cheap too

[shvnsth]

man, frig snipemonkey. it only works when your computer is on, and sometimes it doesn't place the friggin bids. i lost a sealed arc the lad collection for $50 because of it. i am now using esnipe.com and it works a lot better, plus you do not have to have your computer on all the time.

go with esnipe.com

[Scavenger4]

I usually gauge how my connection is fairing for that day and bid with 2-5 seconds left to go with my max willing to pay bid. Only time I lose is when someone has a higher bid then I'm willing to pay.

Esnipe does look cheap and wouldn't require me staying up to wee hours of the night. Cheap too =) might have to give them a try.

[Gemini-Phoenix]

I use HammerSnipe. It's a small cost to pay each month so long as it helps me win stuff! It also means that I don't have to actually bid at any point - I often get things a lot cheaper than usual, so the extra cost is absorbed by the amount I actually save!