eBay Sniping

[Cap'n Cook]

ditto. Bid what your willing to pay in the last few seconds. I usually have the bid typed it , wait until its 16 seconds , click place bid. Then count ten seconds and click confirm bid. By the time it loads and confirms theres about 3 seconds left and by the time the other bidders know it , its already to late.

Exactly.

I tend to do the same and set the stopwatch on my mobile for the last minute, then confirm with about 5 seconds left on it. Goes through with less than 2 seconds to go, which is toooo late.


How I secure most rare pieces I need, including my grail TDK promo shirt.

 

[ChrisMc73]

The $1 thing is what always bothers me. Of course I would be willing to pay $1 over my max! The only reason you would lose out on an item for one lousy dollar is because you were sniped, not because you weren't willing to shell out one more additional dollar. I personally do bid on things at the last minute as well, without any software or anything. Sometimes I still lose out to other snipers out there, and sometimes I may not reach the opposing bidder's max bid. Ultimately what I've learned from Ebay is not to depend on it too much for items and be willing to let things go. Most of the time, the item will come back and you will have another chance to get it.

This is the most logical post so far...and how I feel 100%.

 

[Skiman]

Its legal and there are websites you can register at to do it. I'm not sure about programs for it, but I wouldn't doubt it.

I wrote my own app to manage the eBay keys strokes in order to submit a payment or bid, it's actually timed and I used Windows Scheduled Task Manager to execute the shell script at a certain time. All you have to do is leave the app on top of the eBay page of the auction!

Write that down, nuff said bunny bread, did I DO.... THAT>>>>>!!!

True story!

 

[Cap'n Cook]

This is the most logical post so far...and how I feel 100%.

But if you were still willing to pay that dollar, you should put in your MAXIMUM bid to begin with if you don't intend to snipe.

As someone posted, the sniper still has a max bid they are willing to spend themselves. They obviously want it more than you/have more expendable cash if they beat you.

Simple as.

 

[ChrisMc73]

I wrote my own app to manage the eBay keys strokes in order to submit a payment or bid, it's actually timed and I used Windows Scheduled Task Manager to execute the shell script at a certain time. All you have to do is leave the app on top of the eBay page of the auction!

Write that down, nuff said bunny bread, did I DO.... THAT>>>>>!!!

True story!

Oh yeah, how is your PC's time synced up with the ebay auction end time?

 

[Darth Cruel]

Sniping is the only way it makes sense to me to bid on ebay. To me, it makes no sense to make a bid well before the end of the auction for two reasons.

1) It gives everyone an advance look at what you will pay for an item which gives them the opportunity to decide to pay just enough more than you to get that item.

2) It gives you time to second guess yourself and pay more than you would want to for an item if you get outbid long before the auction is over.

I look for an item that I want. I decide what it is worth to me to have it. I watch the auction until the last 30 seconds. I put in a max bid. I win it or I lose it.

The auction premise is nothing more than a psychological trick to squeeze every possible penny out of people for an item.

 

[Skiman]

Oh yeah, how is your PC's time synced up with the ebay auction end time?

You can grab it from the source page as well, it can be embedded inside the browser also on FF as a plugin.

 

[ChrisMc73]

Sniping is the only way it makes sense to me to bid on ebay. To me, it makes no sense to make a bid well before the end of the auction for two reasons.

1) It gives everyone an advance look at what you will pay for an item which gives them the opportunity to decide to pay just enough more than you to get that item.

2) It gives you time to second guess yourself and pay more than you would want to for an item if you get outbid long before the auction is over.

I look for an item that I want. I decide what it is worth to me to have it. I watch the auction until the last 30 seconds. I put in a max bid. I win it or I lose it.

The auction premise is nothing more than a psychological trick to squeeze every possible penny out of people for an item.

Another one that makes sense, so my method has been wrong, I'll just change...and be more proactive near the end.

 

[ProgMatinee]

if everyone sniped, items would sell for like 50% less I bet.

 

[SixMillionDollarMan Guy]

Oh and the winning bid...$51.00...$1 more than my max...something sure stinks.

I don't have the time nor patience, nor ability to do what sniper software can do, like bidding 8 seconds before an auction ends...I don't know how to do that manually...with my finger and mouse? I can't see a second to second timer for the auction item, can you?

You do understand that eBay maximium bid goes up in increments of $1 for items that haven't reached $100 yet? In your example, if you had a max bid of $50 and let's say someone sniped you with a max bid of $65, that person will win it for $51 or a $1 above your bid.

As far as the timer goes, I don't see why you're not seeing it. I believe last spring/summer eBay instituted a timer right down to the seconds right above the place bid box. The timer turns on in red with 1 hour remaining in the auction.

 

[ProgMatinee]

i'm not complaining about sniping, but the people here saying "you should have upped your max" as a weapon against sniping aren't using that logic themselves. If they were they wouldn't be sniping.

Therefore since they use it there is OBVIOUSLY an advantage to sniping that is not simply explained by "just up your bid".

Sniping IS a tool to prevent being outbid because you can sit till the timer is up and make the most informed decision.

Again, I'm not condemning it, but don't pretend that its not a very strong strategy to getting the item for the cheapest possible. By sniping, you essentially remove yourself from the demand side of the economic model until the end. Totally fair, but lets not play ignorant to the benefits.

 

[LChinoz]

You do understand that eBay maximium bid goes up in increments of $1 for items that haven't reached $100 yet? In your example, if you had a max bid of $50 and let's say someone sniped you with a max bid of $65, that person will win it for $51 or a $1 above your bid.

As far as the timer goes, I don't see why you're not seeing it. I believe last spring/summer eBay instituted a timer right down to the seconds right above the place bid box. The timer turns on in red with 1 hour remaining in the auction.

Sometimes the timer is down for me though, it will still be red when it is less than an hour left, but it does not go down without refreshing. It has only happened twice though in the last 8 months.

 

[Voorhees27]

if everyone sniped, items would sell for like 50% less I bet.

I agree with this. You'd think by now everyone would have caught on to sniping but nope. Alotta newbs out there. Hey, as a seller (very rare) i'm not complaining.

 

[LChinoz]

i'm not complaining about sniping, but the people here saying "you should have upped your max" as a weapon against sniping aren't using that logic. If they were they wouldn't be sniping.

Therefore since they use it there is OBVIOUSLY an advantage to sniping that is not simply explained by "just up your bid".

My main reason for sniping is so that the item's price does not get super jacked up as the days of an auction go by. Some people just like being the high bidder, and some eBay newb may just keep trying to beat some other high bid that was put in and then the price just get's insanely high. Sniping is a way top keep the price as low as possible.

 

[SixMillionDollarMan Guy]

Sometimes the timer is down for me though, it will still be red when it is less than an hour left, but it does not go down without refreshing. It has only happened twice though in the last 8 months.

Funny, that just happened to me for the first time two weeks ago.

I had to go back to the old stop watch method of days gone by.

 

[gypsycatcha]

If there is something i really want, i use the sniper and purchase the priority service. Why risk something u have had ur eye on for days only for your pc to crash or something. So much easier and u can save money by not getting in a bidding war.

 

[SixMillionDollarMan Guy]

Any good links someone can provide for sniping services?

 

[LChinoz]

Funny, that just happened to me for the first time two weeks ago.

I had to go back to the old stop watch method of days gone by.

That method sucks . I once did that and when I placed my bid "Bidding has ended on this item." NOOOOOOOOOO

 

[SixMillionDollarMan Guy]

Actually, I must have gotten lucky. Worked for me every time.

Though, I do love the new system.

 

[Darth Snoopy]

I had no idea people used 'tools' for this sort of thing. Hilarious.

I manually snipe within the last few seconds.

Ditto!