Quote Originally Posted by jperryss View Post
What part of this are you not understanding? Highest bid wins. Sniping doesn't change that. If an auction is at $20, and you put in a max bid of $40, and then I snipe with $35, you still win.

The only overall affect sniping has on prices is maybe keeping them lower by reducing the possibility of "gotta have it" bidding wars.

In my last example, suppose my max bid is $45. I snipe the auction at the last second and beat your $40 max bid to win. What's the issue? If I'd put that bid an hour earlier, you might have gone in and put in a $50 max bid, even though you already told yourself $40 was your max bid. It's stupid! But everyone does it. Sniping avoids that completely.

Make sense?
Look I can't help your willing to ignore one simple concept, but that's not my problem. Yes in theory you're right, you set your max bid, that's it and in theory whoever snipes the most they are willing to pay most likely (given no page, internet or otherwise hiccups) should get it. Ever gone to or watched a true auction? They don't just wheel an item up on stage and tell people they can flash those little numbered cards exactly until 6:38:44PST and that's it. You bid until you're done. And often you'll see people who hesitate, perhaps talk it over with a signficant other or partner, then throw another bid on the pile again. In ebayland you can't do that. It's one and done on the nose, last snipe in before the millisecond the clock hits zero wins. That's exactly why sniping is asinine and ebay would be better off with true bidding to completion. I know I'm not alone on it, over at NA a good many of the site hosted auctions go until the bids are truly done with minute or two extensions. Sniping solves nothing, it just creates another problem situation.