eBay Auction Sniping

[jeeperman]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

Starting at zero with no reserve would be a no reserve auction.
It is what it is.

 

[skargo]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

Starting at zero with no reserve would be a no reserve auction.
It is what it is.

Do you not understand the concept of opening bid? I've been selling stuff on Ebay for 10 years now, and I always set an opening bid.

For example, I just sold 3 G scale train cars. The opening bid was $10, and it was a no reserve auction. If I would have gotten 10.01, I'd have been happy. I got much more though

I have tried it with an opening bid of .01 but you get 8 million mouth breathers bidding a quarter or whatever until it gets up where it would be anyway. They are just skimming hoping no one will notice the auction and they can steal a deal.

 

[piper_chuck]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

Starting at zero with no reserve would be a no reserve auction.
It is what it is.

As would starting at $100, or $1000, or $1000000 with no reserve. A no reserve auction is just that, an auction with no reserve. The starting price is not a reserve.

 

[jeeperman]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

If a seller lists an item with an opening bid requirement of $100 it has the same effect of placing a reserve of $100 on the item.

Either way the item does not sell for $99 dollars does it?
Does it?
Does it?

No it does not.

 

[skargo]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

 

[piper_chuck]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

If a seller lists an item with an opening bid requirement of $100 it has the same effect of placing a reserve of $100 on the item.

Either way the item does not sell for $99 dollars does it?
Does it?
Does it?

No it does not.

No, it doesn't, but once again, what you describe is not a reserve in eBay or other auction terminology.

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

Now I don't feel so bad. I use to get so frustrated when it came down to a few seconds and win the bid and find out that at the last second I lost it. Now I understand why I would spend hours and even days on auctions on items that I really wanted only to lose them in way that would leave me scratching my head for days. I didn't know that there were such programs out there. And I have to say, I don't think I'm overly thrilled about that. That would be the equivalent of standing in a long bank line waiting to withdraw money on a friday afternoon only to have someone jump in line ahead of you, then watch the tellers close their wickets. Now I know I'm grasping at straws on that example but I think I make my point.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

Now I know I'm grasping at straws on that example but I think I make my point.

If your bid was higher than the sniper's, you would have won the auction...and that is a fact. Bid what you are willing to spend or don't bid. It's your option to use a sniping program or not to do it.

 

[skargo]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

If your bid was higher than the sniper's, you would have won the auction...and that is a fact. Bid what you are willing to spend or don't bid. It's your option to use a sniping program or not to do it.

Exactamundo. Not sure why people are surprised when they get outbid. Bid what you are willing to pay, if someone bids higher by sniping or otherwise, that's how auctions work!

Sniping is not unsportsmanlike, or unethical, or any other "un" word, it's no different than someone sitting there as the auction winds down, and hitting refresh furiously and putting in last minute bids.

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

Title of this thread needs to be changed to "Ebay Tutorial".

What will ebay be like when everyone is using a snipe tool?

I like Gunbroker.com - bids made in the final seconds reset the clock for 15 minutes.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

What will ebay be like when everyone is using a snipe tool?.

Basically, it would look like closed bid auction where everyone puts in their bids and the highest one gets it. The reason Ebay doesn't use that method is that prices will end up being lower. Back when I used to buy and sell cars in college, that is the way the auctions were that I used.

 

[Thajeffski]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

I always manually snipe and haven't lost yet.

I

 

[45Auto]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

I always manually snipe and haven't lost yet.

Only way that can be true is because no one using an auction sniper wants anything you've ever bid on!

 

[piper_chuck]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

Sniping is not unsportsmanlike, or unethical, or any other "un" word, it's no different than someone sitting there as the auction winds down, and hitting refresh furiously and putting in last minute bids.

Yup. In fact, bidding in the last few seconds is sniping, with or without a tool to automate it.

 

[piper_chuck]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

Only way that can be true is because no one using an auction sniper wants anything you've ever bid on!

Whether others chose to use a sniper or not doesn't matter. What did matter is nobody else bid more, with or without sniping.

 

[piper_chuck]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

Title of this thread needs to be changed to "Ebay Tutorial".

What will ebay be like when everyone is using a snipe tool?

Not much different than it is now. The final price on a significant number of auctions rises quite a bit in the final few seconds.

 

[skargo]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

And BTW, I don't use no reserve ads to save money on the listing. The stuff I Ebay I usually get really cheap, or they are consigned items. I set my opening bid WAY below what similar items are going for, this sometimes creates excitement and pulls in multiple bidders.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

The only reason I put a reserve on an item is so that the "Buy it Now" lasts longer. For example, if you put an item up with a starting bid of $0.99 with a "Buy it Now" of $50 and someone makes one bid, the "Buy it Now" goes away. If for the same item, you put a reserve of $9.99, the buy it now stays active until the bidding gets above the reserve price. My experience is that the "Buy it Now" will occur early in the auction in the first few days if it is going to happen.

$9.99 for a reserve is pretty cheap.