Bidders: Are you a sniper?

[Steven]

Or do you bid whenever you feel like it or can make it to a computer?

I know some folks have better things to do than babysit auctions to snipe. But in honesty, the best "bidding policy" is a "1 shot only max" snipe. I don't see why you should make any other bid -- if you can help it.

Last weekend I punched in a bid with 14 seconds to go... this other guy bidded with 8 to go... I was still on top... and then he beat me with 0 (not even 1, but 0!) seconds to go. That was unbelievable, and I sent him a "props" message. I seen 1 second snipes before -- 0 seconds? Seriously, it was 16:48:48 (or whatever) and the auction ended at 16:48:48! I didn't even knew that was possible!

I gave him props.

14 seconds in eBay is an eternity... believe me :P

[NE146]

Well sure.. I guess. Although I just use a program for it (Auction Sentry).

Basically it just goes like this. I see an auction, I enter it in (and thus it "watches" it.. no need to use ebay's function), then I enter in my bid! That's it. I got it set to actually enter that bid with 4 seconds to go

I never really look back after that. Maybe a day or two later I check back in it and find out if I won or lost an auction. You can't get more simpler than that :P

[Steven]

Well sure.. I guess. Although I just use a program for it (Auction Sentry).

I'm guessing there's a fee for Auction Sentry?

[NE146]

Yeah I think it's like $35.. but of course, in this day and age you might be able to find a "free" *cough* version. http://www.auctionsentry.com

There are tons of other sniping programs out there though.. auction sentry requires you to have your computer on, so many people prefer the online ones. I'm sure many others here have an opinion of what they think are the best.

[kevin_psx]

the best "bidding policy" is a "1 shot only max" snipe. I don't see why you should make any other bid -- if you can help it.
Right. Early bids just encourage other buyers to enter a bidding war that drives up the price.

Last minute bids avoid a war & keep price lower.

[Vroomfunkel]

Why on earth would anyone bid any other way, unless to deliberately push the price up?

[Vectorman0]

Unless I am killing a BIN, I will usually wait until the last minute or so and just manually snipe it at around 30 seconds. If I'm not around when the auction ends, I will usually just place a bid beforehand. It's weird, but timing usually works out just fine.

[Felixthegamer]

I usually go for the BIN auctions. As for other auctions, it depends on how many bids and how much the price is and how many days are left. I may not wait until the last minute, but I do wait until the last day

[Kitsune Sniper]

*stares at username* LOL

I try to snipe sometimes, but I only do it manually, not with programs or sites helping me out. I rarely buy on eBay these days, I only sell. ;D

[NintenDk]

Last minute bids avoid a war & keep price lower.

right sounds true but there some people whose brain this little tidbit of information will break if you try and explain it like that and they just go acting incredulous in response to you no matter how blunt you are. :eek 2:

[Insaneclown]

I will not give out my secret.

[Buyatari]

I snipe when I want the item. I found it better if people don't suspect I want it.

[boatofcar]

I always snipe.

[ProgrammingAce]

I've never sniped, but it doesn't really bother me when other people do. I put in my max bid and let it roll.

[c0ldb33r]

Usually I snipe. Especially if it's something I'm really interested in.

For the more casual items, you know... you're browsing and think, "hey... it'd be cool to have that", I just bid what I think it's worth and leave it.

I bid on two items last week the casual method, one was a carrying case for a gamegear (I lost) and the other was Shining Force: Sword of Hajya for the gamegear (I won!)

Although, if I REALLY wanted the carrying case, I would have sniped.

[Steven]

I will not give out my secret.

sorry buddy, I already tapped into your house last night, found the "How to be an leeeet! eBay sniper!" journal, and have photocopied the pages.

You've been exposed :P ;)

[NinjaJoey23]

Since I am on a university internet connection, sniping can be difficult. Sometimes pages load smoothly and quickly, other times not so much. Therefore, a last second snipe sometime doesn't go through.

Instead, I usually enter an amount about 5 minutes before the auction ends, and if I want the item enough, make it high enough so that even if someone tries to snipe me, they won't win it.

It's been effective in the past.

[Insaneclown]

Sssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...Steve......

[unwinddesign]

Yes. I used to manually snipe, but it's so much easier to set a snipe rather than wait/bid early. Plus, if you decide an hour prior to the auction closing that you no longer want the item, you can just delete your snipe. No running around trying to get bids cancelled.

I use BidNip (www.bidnip.com).

Although occasionally I will hit up an early (non sniping) bid on a cheap CD or something like that.

[tornadostormxl]

are these programs safe i am afraid to use them because they may take your ebay password and take your bank info and stuff can they do this?

[InsaneDavid]

Depends, I usually read into bids by bidding in certian values to get a tell of what the high proxy is, then watch the page counter to see how many hits the page is getting toward the end. Usually I toss a couple bucks higher than the proxy I figured out in the last hour and win no problem. Of course you have to know when to coax the high bidder's proxy up to the limit without them thinking anything of it.

However when I do snipe, like snipe as in bidding JUST enough to win at the last moment and not putting in ungodly sums of money hoping that it won't go all the way to the max, I use auctionsniper. Also is great when I'm away as insurance although I usually get back and pull the autosnipe and bid on my own.

Auctionsniper is free, click here to check it out (http://www.auctionsniper.com/). You get three free snipes when you sign up, you only lose them if you win the auction. I've been chaining free snipes for almost two years now as you get three free snipes for every referral you have try it under you. PLEASE put my eBay ID, thelaststarfighter, in as your referrer. It's the best snipe solution for eBay, has everything any of the other snipe services do but it's fast and efficient. Oh yeah, and free. :)



Well sure.. I guess. Although I just use a program for it (Auction Sentry).

I'm guessing there's a fee for Auction Sentry?

Use Auctionsniper, free and LEGAL.


are these programs safe i am afraid to use them because they may take your ebay password and take your bank info and stuff can they do this?

Dunno about the others but Auctionsniper is, they don't take any bank info, just your eBay userID and password so it can place your bid. I've never had one glitch, error, problem or fee since I've started using it. Remember, put thelaststarfighter as your referrer. :)

[jajaja]

I always snipe so to say. I dont want to start a bidwar or something to push the price up damn high. I always manualy snipe tho, im not using one of those automatic programs. Very rarely i put in a max bid on something days before it ends, but only on stuff i dont mind losing.

[genocidalrobot]

I've been using Auction Sentry for over a year. It's $15 for the basic version which works just fine for sniping. I think there is a deluxe version but its more for profit-tracking on your own auctions.

I have no problems with sniping. I can go months & not buy anything on ebay & then suddenly I have a month or two where I splurge. It's nice to be able to just set up the bid & not worry about refreshing the page every minute from 5 minutes before the auction ends.

It works out well since I can't be on the computer every time there is an item ending that I want. And if somebody outsnipes me, thats fine.

[ZidanaX]

I use Bid-o-Matic. Works great for me, although you have to keep your computer on.

[Sega_Seller]

If you want a cheap sniper use bidnip.com.It is like $10 for 50 snipes.

It is the best deal I have found.

[kevin_psx]

So the sniping programs are: Which is best?

Auction Sentry = $15 fee
BidNip = $10
Bid-o-Matic = ???
Auctionsniper, free
(other)


Last minute bids avoid a war & keep price lower. there some people whose brain this little tidbit of information will break if you try and explain it like that. And they just go acting incredulous in response to you no matter how blunt you are. :eek 2: With IQ = 80? LOL

Seems a no-brainer. I want Grand theft Vice City for $10, and bid $10.00--> that encourages "the others" to bid $10.50. So I bid $11.00 and they bid $11.50. So I bid $12.00........ The price war inflated the price $2 dollars! Or more.

If I wait 'til the last 30 seconds, and bid $10.00 I will win at $10.00, because "the others" don't have enough time to outbid me. No war = lower final price.



(I Actually bid odd values like $10.07. But simpified to make my point)

[Damaramu]

Yup.

For stuff I really want, I always snipe, usually when theres 5-10 seconds left. And always manually.

It's how I won an Atari 5200 lot a few days ago; snuck in with 5 seconds to go. Of course, Firefox and tabbed browsing helped out a lot. :D

[Bad Dog]

Sometimes i snipe but not very often. ;)