I've been sniped!!!

[SLIM]

i use eban quite a bit , and i always place my bids in the last seconds ..this is the only way to go about it if you really want the item , putting in bids long before hand only puts the price up higher.... watch the auction in my ebay and then strike in the last minute...avoids disapointment guys


slim

[graf]

This is exactly how I feel on the subject- your potential competitors can search by bidder and others may know who you are & your level of experience in your field, many may feel more comfortable with an item if they see you bidding on it and bid stronger, not to even mention get caught up in some emotional bidding which may put the item out of your range...

In the end I set my max (I am willing to pay) through a sniper service and forget about the item- there is no worrying or hand wringing as the max is set & the rest is up to the service I pay to "do my bidding".

Sometimes I win & sometimes another wanted it more but as I set my max in a snipe I have don't have any second guessing- the key is to set your "max" and forget about it.

After you have had enough bad sniping experiences, you will find that it is better to join than fight. There are free sniping programs to be had and they work great. Sniping is no guarantee, but I do think that it helps in those cases where someone else is trying to get a bargain and when they find they have been outbid it is too late to take another stab at it. The main reason I snipe is that I don't want to put in my bid and have everyone who knows my ebay name to be checking out what I am bidding on. Putting an early bid in is like advertising the item you are interested in. So for things that I am really serious about, I always snipe.

CM

[Tim Tezer]

I would have to concur on the "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" sentiment. I mostly sell on Ebay, and rarely buy, and I realize that sniping means lower prices when the item sells. However, sniping is a fact of life on Ebay. Some other sites have a system that automatically extends the auction if there is a last-minute bid, but Ebay simply does not and that's the reality of it. If you want to improve your chances of winning, I would suggest signing up for one of the sniping services. If you want to maximize your chances of winning, put in the highest amount you're willing to pay, and then be satisfied with the result no matter what the outcome.

Tim

[Darrell]

If you want to maximize your chances of winning, put in the highest amount you're willing to pay, and then be satisfied with the result no matter what the outcome.

Tim

BINGO

[mravery]

Hello All,

The main advantage to 'sniping' is to save you from the 'nickle-dime' bidders that will bid in small amounts until they bypass your bid. I recently bought a Jap Sword (which ended around 1AM and I didnt want to stay up till then to bid) while the current bid was $1050. I threw $1775 at it and went to bed..... the high bidder with the $1050 bid came back and made $50 bids until he finally gave up at $1750. If I had sniped it.. it would have saved me $700......

On the other hand I recently stayed up till 2.30 to bid on a spike helmet..... 15 seconds before the end I threw $2000 at it..... (the bid before mine was $1100). By the time I refreshed I had won it at $1850 as 4 other 'snipers' came in within the last 10 seconds.

I won those two.. but there have also been many times where I tried to snipe and didn't beat the high bidder....

It's just how the game is played.

Cheers
Mark

[Anthony Grisanti]

I'm with Graf as well. I look at the bidders particularly on higher end items...i recognize some as legit and feel good about at least tracking it and bidding. Although some of these guys have DEEP pockets and I know I may get hammered because mine are shallow...it's worth a shot.
And yes..the game is the game...but what concerns me is when I see auctions with retracted bids...I can't help but feel like someone bid up a ridiculous price to see where the last high bidder stopped (or get an idea), retracts the bid for whatever reason...and comes in at the end and snipes it with basic knowledge of the high bidder's limit...or I may just be paranoid.
But in the end the game is what it is and we either go big or stay home if it's something we want.

[ramon]

The eBay Soap Box Community discussion board is replete with Sniper discussions. This thread's OP has in common the same characteristics of all anti sniper bleaters.

It's not fair to snipe!! If he were a gunfighter laying on the ground dying, his last words would be he shot faster and more accurately than I did. He didn't fight fair!!!

The whining betrays a lack of understanding of the bid process. Unless and until eBay changes their bidding model, you need to adapt your bidding style to compete effectively. As was mentioned above a couple of times bid as often as you like, but in the end bid the maximum you're willing to pay. Incremental bidding generally will be unsuccessful /

I snipe and I snipe very well. I often snipe under the 3 seconds to go mark. I have received eBay derived messages from those whom I beat out moaning and groaning how unfair I was. Well, boo hoo.

There is no sympathy here for the OP.

Ramon

[Motorhead]

If you don't win an auction it's simpy you haven't bid enough! I'm my own sniper,I place my bid always in the last 2 or 3 seconds and I make shure that I bid up to my personal limit .That's all-and I win 99% of my auctions.
Micha

[barnstormer]

It is also a great feeling to place a snipe bid for say $700 and you get the item for $300. It offsets a lot of the disappontment from the ones you lose for a dollar or five..to another snipe bid. When you bid your max limit, there is no handwringing and moaning that "I think I would have gone another big increment higher, if I had known what the other bids were." If I bid my max and lose, I am content to feel that someone else paid more than it was worth to ME. So I just look for something else that I will be happy to get.
Before the Internet & Ebay, I used to write 20-50 letters, have them take a month or so to go to Europe & back. weeks to take photos & get them developed and get one item for 20-50 letters. I also placed occassional magazine classified ads in the Wanted sections for some 35-75 dollars each, that reached a couple hundred people with similar interests, if I was Lucky! When you are bidding on Ebay rarities, chances are they are items that NEVER would have been advertised or offered to you, or available without months and years of searching. If I have to play by Ebay rules-Believe me! I'm thrilled at the opportunities. Optimism abounds...to us older folks..

[GLM]

Has anyone noticed the eBay Time link at the bottom of the pages? There is a very good reason for that if you're one who likes sniping and want to synchronize your PC clock with that of eBay. Some of us like to see just how long we can wait before hitting the bid button. For me, it's the adrenaline rush of seeing if I can wait until the last 1 or 2 seconds of an auction before hitting that button. Try counting one mississippi...two mississippi for ten, fifteen seconds and see if you can get it down to winning something you want in the last one or two seconds of an auction. It's a whole new game and a whole bunch of fun! But then, if it's something you really can't live without, then go right ahead and bid it up by $100. a day for seven days. Those sellers who use shill bidders just love that! And, as it's already been said, the last second of an auction is just as legitimate as the first second.

Gary

[Claudius]

Gentleman...thank you for your responses

Hello again,

I've been away from my computer for the last three days and not, as one could guess, pouting.

I have read all of the responses and considered them carefully. Than you for your comments. While it appears there are those that are for and against sniping, in general there is a consensus that "that's the way the ebay game is played, live with it or cry in vain." A true statement. But so is "Nothing stays the same except Change" One day, ebay may change the way it’s auctions are conducted and then the process will be a fair bidding process.

When I was out bid the first time on the lot, I actually did reset it at my max. bid. But then, what is someone's max bid?

Mravery, on your helmet that you placed a $2000 bid. You won it, but what if someone would have bid $2005? Would you have bid $2010? I would think so. So you max bid moved to $2010. or maybe more as bidding would have progressed. I go to in person auctions and I've learned from myself that a max bid is actually a range.

Ramon, you expound, "but in the end bid the maximum you're willing to pay", if that was perfectly true, then you wouldn’t need to snipe.

But sniping isn't about last minute, maximum bidding. It's making sure a sniper's bid is the last bid and there is no response. A sniper's bid isn't bidding to his max. bid. It’s bidding $1 over SOMEONE else's max. bid. You're biding on someone else's max. bid and going just above it. "If it worth $2000, it's probably worth $2005". This is a kind of theft. It’s a theft of information. You don’t know what the other guy’s bid is, but you know you’re $5.00 over and the other guy will have no time to respond. BANG BANG….

The gunfighter laying on the ground dying isn't complaining that the other guy shot faster and more accurately. It's because when the gunfighters drew there guns, the other guy got to know when his opponent was going to draw and then drew his 1 sec. before.

If this were the commercial construction bidding process, sniping would be illegal. However this isn't construction bidding, but the resonsin it's a one-side bidding process are the same.

BTW: Dear Regular 122: With what you have shown me, I am glad that Hemmingwaylover got my lot. I hate it when groups are broken up and I 'm pleased that if I couldn’t have it, that he can put it back together as part of a group.

Gentleman, thank you again for your input.

-Claudius
(a little wiser)

[regular122]

BTW: Dear Regular 122: With what you have shown me, I am glad that Hemmingwaylover got my lot. I hate it when groups are broken up and I 'm pleased that if I couldn’t have it, that he can put it back together as part of a group.

Claudius. I knew you would feel that way. That's why I showed you the other link because that was a great group. You, Stogieman Rick, me and several others bid on that group but thankfully it stayed together--albeit through a snipe! But it is best just the same. Steve

[Baronvlad]

I think with the use of snipers on ebay, items are being sold for much higher than they are actually worth, as people pile on a wee bit extra to ensure they get it, as all the snipers hit in the last seconds its the seller which wins. I dont think many of the items are worth what theyu are being sold for - its getting harder and harder to get a bargain

[Tim Tezer]

I think with the use of snipers on ebay, items are being sold for much higher than they are actually worth, as people pile on a wee bit extra to ensure they get it, as all the snipers hit in the last seconds its the seller which wins. I dont think many of the items are worth what theyu are being sold for - its getting harder and harder to get a bargain

I would agree that many things on Ebay are selling for crazy money, but I don't think the sniping programs are the cause of it. If anything, sniping prevents the prices from escalating beforehand.

The main reason for the high prices, IMHO, is there are a lot of people who don't go to shows, don't know the dealers, don't have any involvement with other collectors, and they either don't know what stuff is worth, or they don't know where else to get it. But Ebay is always there, always feeding the compulsive shoppers. Ebay is the opium of the masses.

Tim

[LeeM]

Couldn’t resist putting my 2 cents in. A couple of years ago I was bidding on a helmet. I put in my maximum bid. 5 minutes before the auction ended, someone starts bidding at $5 increments. Was at $60 before he started and ended up at $95. I still won the auction, but began to realize that bidding early definitely had it’s drawbacks. From that time on, I always use a sniping program. It’s great. Basically a fire and forget weapon. I always determine what I call a “no regret” bid (no regrets if you don’t win because it was more than you wanted to pay and no regret or buyers remorse if you do get it). Sniping programs also help you from getting caught up in a last minute bidding war. The best thing about them is you can enter your bid and not have to worry about when the auction ends. I generally don’t have a large amount of time to spend at the computer watching auctions. Like I said, just my 2 cents.
<O</O
Regards,
<O</O
Lee