eBay Auction Sniping

[ezmobee]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

Imagine the chaos if an auction time could end say +-2 hours of the stated time, or, if there was a setting that any bids came in at the last 10 second it extended the auction by 2 hrs.

There were auction sites that used to work this way (or still do). One I remember in particular was onsale.com which was around back when ebay was just starting to get big.

 

[madgadget]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

On the one hand you're complaining about having to wait a week for your item to sell and on the other you're advocating a change that could extend the auction indefinitely?

People "willing to pay more" already have a week to do so. It's not the snipers fault if others fail to bid their max.

I never said indefinitely. Perhaps I should have clarified that it should happen once per auction.

My point is (and I consider myself very experienced with ebay) that it does not work in the sellers favour the way things work now.

It may be that the way the system works is the best way it can work, then again it may not be, but I was throwing out a suggestion that would cause quite some chaos and render snipes a bit useless. Again this may be good and bad, As if you have lots of snipes aimed at one bid it makes no difference to doing it by hand. Which again is why I don't use snipes.

People have been commenting on how using a snipe doesn't leave anyone any time, that's correct including those who use the snipes, which is fine as long as you bid as much as you wish to. The only place where they offer an advantage is where you can place a bid when you other wise would not be available to do so personally.

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

I am not a frequent ebay user.
If you have entered a maximum bid of say $60- in an eBay auction, if there is a last minute flurry of bids, can the auction end at say, $50-, or is your $60- bid always in play?

 

[piper_chuck]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

I am not a frequent ebay user.
If you have entered a maximum bid of say $60- in an eBay auction, if there is a last minute flurry of bids, can the auction end at say, $50-, or is your $60- bid always in play?

Yes, the auction can end at $50. Ebay will only increase your bid to the max if someone bids close, but not above it.

 

[cougar1985]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

I am not a frequent ebay user.
If you have entered a maximum bid of say $60- in an eBay auction, if there is a last minute flurry of bids, can the auction end at say, $50-, or is your $60- bid always in play?

your 60 ebay will increase the bid by increaments up to 60 as far as i understand it .ive never lost out to somebody under my max .

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

I meant can the auction close at $50- and you not win?

 

[cougar1985]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

I meant can the auction close at $50- and you not win?

i cant see how tim,what would be the point of having a max bid if you lost out to somebody that only bid 50 to your max of 60?actually i suppose its possible if the bid was put in at the last second but then you might also have a case with ebay that your bid should prevaile and not some last minute snipers that won at the last sec and ebay didnt update yours though ive never had it happen to me as i think if they dont bid above your max your bid is high bid.

 

[piper_chuck]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

I never said indefinitely. Perhaps I should have clarified that it should happen once per auction.

So, what happens in the final seconds of the extra time you advocate? Do us snipers have to stick around for an additional 2 hours to see what happened?

My point is (and I consider myself very experienced with ebay) that it does not work in the sellers favour the way things work now.

Ebay does lots of things that are not in the seller's favor. One thing all sellers need to remember is without BUYERS, there would be no ebay.

It may be that the way the system works is the best way it can work, then again it may not be, but I was throwing out a suggestion that would cause quite some chaos and render snipes a bit useless. Again this may be good and bad, As if you have lots of snipes aimed at one bid it makes no difference to doing it by hand. Which again is why I don't use snipes.

While it's fun to think of such things, as a buyer, or seller such a thing would be a PITA. My wife sells lots on eBay. She is always online at the closing so she can send an invoice to the buyer as soon as the auction ends. Potentially having to wait around a couple more hours would be quite inconvenient. As a buyer I have little sympathy for someone who doesn't just enter their maximum bid and let the chiips fall where they may. Giving such people a second chance, by extending the deadline, would put me off eBay.

People have been commenting on how using a snipe doesn't leave anyone any time, that's correct including those who use the snipes, which is fine as long as you bid as much as you wish to. The only place where they offer an advantage is where you can place a bid when you other wise would not be available to do so personally.

Don't forget, the term "snipe" applies to both automated and manually entered last seconds bids.

 

[piper_chuck]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

I meant can the auction close at $50- and you not win?

Nope, you would win.

 

[j_martin]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

I consider sniping unsportsmanlike.

So what don't you consider unsportsmanlike?

Ebay is damn annoying really. I hate as a seller having to wait 6 days, 59 minutes and 50 seconds to see what kind of price an auction item is going to get.

Imagine the chaos if an auction time could end say +-2 hours of the stated time, or, if there was a setting that any bids came in at the last 10 second it extended the auction by 2 hrs.

That would be so funny, and would mean that all these snipes wouldn't work, and those willing to pay more would have the time to do so...

That would be a great idea...

Actually, most commercial auctions run like that. Just like at a real auction, the bidding starts, and if there's no bid for 10 minutes, it is closed. It will go till the item is sold to the highest bidder. You should see the pressure on the IT guy (me) when the 3 supervisors with poor computing skills in the room make a mistake or 2, or worse yet the IP connection resets, making things stand still for 30 seconds.

Ahhh, that explains why I always get out bid at the last second. Those that use sniper programs should be ashamed. That being said I will try one now.

No longer taking a knife to a gun fight?

 

[j_martin]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

Here's some bidding item's I've noticed.

Buyer A has bid $30.
Buyer B has bid $40 dollars.
Minimum bid increment is $1

Buyer B is winning with 31 dollars

Buyer C bids $35
Buyer B is winning at $36

Buyer C bids 41.01
Buyer C now is winning with 41.01

If buyer C had bid $40.00, buyer B would win at $40.00

Highest bid wins. If a tie, earliest wins. Minimum bid is set amount above the winning amount. You don't know what the winning bidder's max bid is, so you are not held to that, thus the .01 cent win. I've won many like that. Mostly small stuff commodity items like CD blanks.

hope it helps
John

 

[bruceb58]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

If everyone used snipe bidding, the item would go for the max bid that anyone of the snipe bidders would be willing to pay. Actually, makes it more like a blind auction which I would prefer anyway.

The best thing about a program like esnipe is the bidgroups. Let's say you have your eye on 5 identical items up for sale. With Ebay, you pretty much have to bid on the one that ends soonest and then bid on the following one if your bid isn't the highest. You can't bid on all since you really can't cancel your bids. With Esnipe, you have thee option to make a bidgroup that puts bid on all the items. When you win one of them, it cancels all the future snipe bids on the other items. This is especially useful if the auctions are close together and at times where you wouldn't have time to see that you lost oone and then bid on the next.

 

[j_martin]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

If everyone used snipe bidding, the item would go for the max bid that anyone of the snipe bidders would be willing to pay. Actually, makes it more like a blind auction which I would prefer anyway.

The best thing about a program like esnipe is the bidgroups. Let's say you have your eye on 5 identical items up for sale. With Ebay, you pretty much have to bid on the one that ends soonest and then bid on the following one if your bid isn't the highest. You can't bid on all since you really can't cancel your bids. With Esnipe, you have thee option to make a bidgroup that puts bid on all the items. When you win one of them, it cancels all the future snipe bids on the other items. This is especially useful if the auctions are close together and at times where you wouldn't have time to see that you lost oone and then bid on the next.

It comes in real handy when someone puts up a bunch of identical items with a short time between them. I've seen it as low as 10 seconds. Personally I wouldn't do that if I was selling. I'd space them out days, or at least hours.
Anyway, if you want one or two of them, you can set up a bid group that bids what you'd pay and quits when you get your quantity. Works well.

John

 

[alumi numb]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

hee, hee, hee and you guys didn't even see it.
bought a lesharo motorhome, actual value aroud $5000 to $6000 for $200 no reserve.
don't think he was happy, yes $200.
didn't run and all it needed was a lift pump and new fuel plus return line.

 

[skargo]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

Ebay is damn annoying really. I hate as a seller having to wait 6 days, 59 minutes and 50 seconds to see what kind of price an auction item is going to get.

Imagine the chaos if an auction time could end say +-2 hours of the stated time, or, if there was a setting that any bids came in at the last 10 second it extended the auction by 2 hrs.

That would be so funny, and would mean that all these snipes wouldn't work, and those willing to pay more would have the time to do so...

That would be a great idea...

I buy a lot of merchandise on liquidation.com, and it works similarly to this. Late bids extend the auction in other words.

 

[skargo]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

hee, hee, hee and you guys didn't even see it.
bought a lesharo motorhome, actual value aroud $5000 to $6000 for $200 no reserve.
don't think he was happy, yes $200.
didn't run and all it needed was a lift pump and new fuel plus return line.

Got a link for that?

 

[mscher]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

I meant can the auction close at $50- and you not win?

No.

If you have a $60 max bix and the next higest bid is $50, you will win the item for whatever the next bid increment is, say $51.45

 

[mscher]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

Agree with JB. Mrs Ken does all our "last second bidding" and has a great success rate.

This action is considered "manual" sniping.

 

[mscher]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

I consider sniping unsportsmanlike.

Bidders have been sniping manually, since the first month eBay was in business. It's how it works.

Otherwise, if one just enters whatever their max bid is, they will lose, probably by one bid, more often than they will ever win.

 

[mscher]

Re: eBay Auction Sniping

hee, hee, hee and you guys didn't even see it.
bought a lesharo motorhome, actual value aroud $5000 to $6000 for $200 no reserve.
don't think he was happy, yes $200.
didn't run and all it needed was a lift pump and new fuel plus return line.

I have started auctions for $300 camera flashes at .99 with no reserve. But only because I was sure the buyers would be there for a popular item. They were.

Otherwise, it is is extremly risky, to list an expensive item low, without reserve, especially for an unusual item that my not draw a large crowd.

Your seller receive some very expensive "schooling" that day!.

Sound's like a great buy.