eBay snipe killer..

[Mayhem]

thats ludicrous. the problem with "chipping away" at a high bid is, they might bid more as its blind bidding on ebay and end up having to buy the item... do you seriously think somone with no intrest in an item would do this...just for fun.

And then they just retract their last bid...

(before 12 hours to go I believe)

[Griking]

my advice to sellers as I have done, if I have an item coming close to last day with a low start, no bidders all watchers and an item you just know is going to sell.. annoy the watchers by changing the start price to reflect its true value.. they had thier chance to put a bid in while it was low.

Been there, done that. I go so far as to say in the auction description that I don't care for snipers and that I reserve the right to raise the minumum and "buy it now" bids in the last few days or hours if I feel like it. If you want to lock in the minimum bid price then do it while you can.

[bargora]

Hey Griking. Thanks for reminding me that I need to put a lowball bid down when I'm watching an auction to pin down the seller prior to making my last-minute snipe shot.

The reason sniping works is because bidders who DON'T snipe can't take into account the auction going for fifty cents over their final bid. I may establish $50 as the maximum reasonable amount that I am willing to pay, but (with the exception of current retail prices) there is no fixed value beyond which even a dime over is senseless. For that reason, if I'm given the option of adding fifty cents to my "maximum", I'll take it. And if I am outbid by fifty cents, I'm willing to bid again..to a certain extent.
But you are assuming that someone is going to outbid you by only fifty cents. It is highly unlikely that I would by chance enter a maximum bid that is fifty cents higher than your maximum. Unless you and I are both idiots who ignore the whole "proxy bid" concept and enter max bids only one bid increment higher than the current bid.

The simple fact that software exists to enable sniping demonstrates how it is not a natural function of a free market that ebay aspires to be.
That's just a silly thing to say about a software-enabled auction site.

[esquire]

thats ludicrous. the problem with "chipping away" at a high bid is, they might bid more as its blind bidding on ebay and end up having to buy the item... do you seriously think somone with no intrest in an item would do this...just for fun.

Umm, obviously you haven't been on ebay that long. There are all kinds of dirty tricks people play on each other, whether its another bidder, or by the seller using a ghost account or a friend's ebay id. Oh, and I never said that someone with no interest in the item would do that. I said someone who has no intention of ending up being the high bidder would do that. Here's a perfect example:

John Doe wants to buy a rare game he finds on ebay, but he notices that several ebayers have gotten into a bidding war over the item. As a result of the bidding war, the (noob) high bidder has placed multiple consecutive proxies, like this:

noob1 (0) $50 - actually $100
noob1 (0) $50 - actually $75
noob1 (0) $50
noob2 (0) $49
noob1 (0) $48
noob2 (0) $47
noob1 (0) $46
noob2 (0) $45
noob1 (0) $44
noob2 (0) $43
......

Now John doesn't want to pay more than $50 for the game. John however decides to drive up the price by shipping away at the high bidders proxies. Why? Maybe John wants to find out their high bid. Maybe he's shill bidding for the seller. Maybe John is just a prick. So John begins to place bids, making sure he doesn't bid more than the last proxy. Now the high bidder ends up paying $100 (his high proxy) as opposed to $50. Now granted, the high bidder was willing to pay $100, but for John drving up the auction value with no intention on winning the item, noob1 may have been able to get the item for $50 instead.


snipe bidding is just wrong, how many times have you placed a reasonable bid on an item and sat as the high bidder for a week, just to loose it to some sniper, who although had bid more, has not given you the chance to reconsidder in the way that they considered your bid. its unfair.

This isn't Billboard's Top 100 where you win for staying on top for the longest period of time. The only high bid that matters is the one at the end. So what if someone snipes and outbids you with 5 seconds to go. How is that any different from someone manually enterin a bid that is higher than yours (which you sat as high bidder for 6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes and 55 seconds) ? The bottom line is that someone else is willing to pay more $ than you. If you really wanted it, you should have entered a higher proxy. Life is not fair. :bawling:


my advice to sellers as I have done, if I have an item coming close to last day with a low start, no bidders all watchers and an item you just know is going to sell.. annoy the watchers by changing the start price to reflect its true value.. they had thier chance to put a bid in while it was low.

Yeah, that's exactly what you want to do - discourage people from bidding on your items, while at the same time increasing your ebay fees. It's no wonder that you are not a successful businessman. :roll:

[Cmosfm]

I remember one time, I was REALLY bored at work, someone had a Sega CD auction running with a reserve of 100.00.

I placed a minimum bid of .50, then I bid 1.00, then I bid 1.50....and so one and so forth until I got to 99.50

LOL

[NintendoMan]

Here's a good idea another auction website does that I think eBay should adpot:

"When a bid is submitted in the final 3 minutes of an auction the website automatically extends the auction closing time by 3 minutes in order to prevent auction sniping - the practice of placing a bid just as an auction is about to close. The auction will be extended as many times as necessary until there are no bids (manual or proxy) in the last 3 minutes before closing. The automatic auction extension benefits buyers because it gives you more time to respond with a new bid, rather than losing the assets to a sniper."

Sorry, but I think that is a fucking stupid idea if ebay did that. It's just too bad if you get sniped, it's the high bidders own fault if they don't feel like putting in another bid at the last few seconds. Also, this would just mean auctions would for the most part go ALOT ALOT higher.

[NintendoMan]

snipe bidding is just wrong, how many times have you placed a reasonable bid on an item and sat as the high bidder for a week, just to loose it to some sniper, who although had bid more, has not given you the chance to reconsidder in the way that they considered your bid. its unfair.

This isn't Billboard's Top 100 where you win for staying on top for the longest period of time. The only high bid that matters is the one at the end. So what if someone snipes and outbids you with 5 seconds to go. How is that any different from someone manually enterin a bid that is higher than yours (which you sat as high bidder for 6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes and 55 seconds) ? The bottom line is that someone else is willing to pay more $ than you. If you really wanted it, you should have entered a higher proxy. Life is not fair. :bawling:

Sorry lurpak, I don't mean anything by this but I think your thinking about bidding and ebay in general is crazy. You know, ebay is an auction site with people trying to make money. yes, I know things go for obsene amounts, and it's not fair for people that have more money than me, which almost everyone probably does. Therefore I usually lose out on higher end auctions on ebay.
Sniper is a usual thing on ebay, and whoever is against it must have lots of money, or is just too damn lazy for some reason to put a bid in at the last few seconds.

[NintendoMan]

No, Sniping is what makes eBay so fucking annoying. I'll never forgive the bastard that sniped my World of Nintendo globe. God damn mofo. :angry:

Damn, you really are angry at that! You mention it all the time. But really, there are a couple of things that I got sniped on that I wanted to cry on, but it's my own fault for not sniping myself, and just relying on being the highest bidder at the final moments.

But I myself am not afraid to admit that I LOVE sniping! Won many items like that!

[Push Upstairs]

my advice to sellers as I have done, if I have an item coming close to last day with a low start, no bidders all watchers and an item you just know is going to sell.. annoy the watchers by changing the start price to reflect its true value.. they had thier chance to put a bid in while it was low.

That is so deliciously evil that it is pure genius! :devilish:

[Jasoco]

No, Sniping is what makes eBay so fucking annoying. I'll never forgive the bastard that sniped my World of Nintendo globe. God damn mofo. :angry:

Damn, you really are angry at that! You mention it all the time. But really, there are a couple of things that I got sniped on that I wanted to cry on, but it's my own fault for not sniping myself, and just relying on being the highest bidder at the final moments.I COULDN'T SNIPE! I literally bid at 45 seconds to go. The bastard bid LITERALLY within the last 10 seconds. If we were in an auction house instead of on the internet, I'd be in Prison for Assault and Battery right now. LOL

Nedless to say, I was pretty happy when I just KNEW there was NO WAY any HUMAN could bid after me, and pretty heart broken when I found it was all in vein. You NEVER see the same thing on eBay anymore! And certainly not for $45.

[TurboGenesis]

If I am against anything with sniping its sniping programs. I do my sniping the good ol fashion way. I sit there at the final seconds and go at it. If I am not able to be there at the auction close I set high proxy bids and sometimes I end up paying more or loosing it entirely. One time I had a proxy bid on Cotton for Duo at $135 and ended up paying $89. I had been high bidder for several days at $25 and sinpers raised me to $89 and the game may not be worth it.

Ebay prices are sometimes high since there are people willing to pay alot of money for things. I have bid on like 30 Suikoden II's with proxy's around $77-137 and lost everyone of them. The only one I won was for $119 and then the seller never shipped (paypal recovered my $). Is Suikoden really worth $100+ go look on ebay and it sure is while there are like 10 on there right now and every week. I think I'll go bid on somemore.

People snipe to save $. Its like this. Find item, watch it, wait til last 10 sec to place first bid, win item for cheap. If you bid early for something you want then your really just driving the price up on your self as other bidders will raise the price over yours so on and so forth. Anyways I guess I said enough for now.

[NESVIDIOT]

The best snipes are on the noob bidders who always bid an even number like 20.00. I beat another bidder once by .02 on a game in the last 10 seconds.The game was at 13.00 and I put in a bid at 20.02 and took it. Not knowing what his max was, I was delighted to see I had won, not by 1 dollar, like proxy would have been, but by a mere 2 cents- those are truely the best snipes! LOL

[NintendoMan]

The bastard bid LITERALLY within the last 10 seconds. If we were in an auction house instead of on the internet, I'd be in Prison for Assault and Battery right now.
Nedless to say, I was pretty happy when I just KNEW there was NO WAY any HUMAN could bid after me, and pretty heart broken when I found it was all in vein. You NEVER see the same thing on eBay anymore! And certainly not for $45.

LOL LOL

Yeah, it sucks when you could have won something and for so cheap too. There are a few items that I lost on that are like $100+ now, which really pisses me off cause I know I will never see those items in my house at least.

[NintendoMan]

People snipe to save $. Its like this. Find item, watch it, wait til last 10 sec to place first bid, win item for cheap. If you bid early for something you want then your really just driving the price up on your self as other bidders will raise the price over yours so on and so forth.

Exactly, well and too win the item too.
If you just keep putting in bids, you'll mindlessly be higher and highering the price on the auction, for no reason.

[anagrama]

I COULDN'T SNIPE! I literally bid at 45 seconds to go. The bastard bid LITERALLY within the last 10 seconds.

Why "couldn't" you snipe if you were there for the end of the auction?
Even when I was on dial-up, I could place a bid in the last 6 seconds every time.

You really should just accept that someone was willing to pay more than you. And if you were actually willing to spend more than you bid, you should have bid that in the first place. It's that simple. Now stop whinging about it.

[yuppicide]

I think what would happen eventually is that snipe services would change their service based on what auction site you are bidding at. So, say you are bidding at the site that extends the auction by 3 mins if the auction is ended, then the snipe site would watch for that also.

[Griking]

I think what would happen eventually is that snipe services would change their service based on what auction site you are bidding at. So, say you are bidding at the site that extends the auction by 3 mins if the auction is ended, then the snipe site would watch for that also.

Which is fine by me as a seller. I can only wish that every sniping program out there makes a bid on one of my auction every three minutes. Ultimately it becomes a worthless service for a buyer however because they're still getting into a bidding war, its just not starting until the final three minutes of the auction and then into all of the extensions.

[esquire]

I can see bidders who lose auctions to snipers whining about sniping, but why are some of you sellers complaining about it? It's no different if someone waits until the last minute to manually place a bid.

[Dr. Morbis]

my advice to sellers as I have done, if I have an item coming close to last day with a low start, no bidders all watchers and an item you just know is going to sell.. annoy the watchers by changing the start price to reflect its true value.. they had thier chance to put a bid in while it was low.

Been there, done that. I go so far as to say in the auction description that I don't care for snipers and that I reserve the right to raise the minumum and "buy it now" bids in the last few days or hours if I feel like it. If you want to lock in the minimum bid price then do it while you can.
That in no way prevents sniping. My common practice when I find an item I want to "watch" is to put in the minimum bid when I see it. So if the starting bid is $0.99, then I'll put in a MAX bid of $0.99. That is my way of watching items, and it takes away the price raising options from the seller. Then I go back to the item in the last few minutes and (providing it hasn't already topped my predetermined bid amount) put in a snipe bid with about 2-3 seconds to go. My success rate with this method is like 99%.

FWIW, I think that 3 minute extension rule would be great for sellers and absolutely horrible for buyers. Since the great thing about eBay is that you can buy items that would be otherwise incredibly difficult to come by, I would be dead-set against such a change.