snyping, your thoughts

one thing that seems to have gotten worse on ebay is people using the snyping program that bids for you in the last few seconds. i'm at the point where i hardly ever bid anymore because of it. not trying to whine but it gets old bidding on something for 7 days only to have sombody come out of nowhere and grab it.

i think they should make some type of rule where you have to bid on items at least once earlier in the auction or something to that effect.

sound stupid?

I always thought that eBay term was a misnomer.

It’s more like a fast draw at the very last second.

I hate to say this. But I am very guilty of this. But I normally do it right off my computer not with a snyping program. The reason I don't usually bid on an item beforehand is to keep the price down on the item. Think about this for a minute. I have seen way too many times when I started the bid on an item, that the price shot up to almost what the item cost new. Then you add the shipping and whoever won the item paid more for it than he could have at a store. So now I keep my watch list very active with things I want to bid on. I watch to see how many people are bidding on it and how many people have looked at the item. I also watch the time of day that the auction ends. If I remember in time and I want the item bad enough, I will then bid on it within the last few seconds. Should I win the auction, then good for me. If I don't win it, I know I didn't jack the price up early to a ridiculus price.

I've been on E-Bay since '98, I haven't done much in recent years. I didn't realize sniping programs existed. I only use one method when bidding on ebay. I bid the absolute maximum amount I am willing to pay for a specific item and forget it. This works for me. Here's an example, a few weeks back I was bidding on an old photograph I would have liked to get it for $40-$50, but was willing to go $75 I figured if I bid $75 I would get it as photos of this type are going for $25-$45. Someone outbid me at the last minute and took it for $76. Losing didn't bother me as I had set the $75 maximum for myself but felt good that I cost the guy who did get it more money than he probably expected to pay.

RoadKing said:

I've been on E-Bay since '98, I haven't done much in recent years. I didn't realize sniping programs existed. I only use one method when bidding on ebay. I bid the absolute maximum amount I am willing to pay for a specific item and forget it. This works for me. Here's an example, a few weeks back I was bidding on an old photograph I would have liked to get it for $40-$50, but was willing to go $75 I figured if I bid $75 I would get it as photos of this type are going for $25-$45. Someone outbid me at the last minute and took it for $76. Losing didn't bother me as I had set the $75 maximum for myself but felt good that I cost the guy who did get it more money than he probably expected to pay.

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I do the same most times.

dirtybernie said:

one thing that seems to have gotten worse on ebay is people using the snyping program that bids for you in the last few seconds.

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Bernie, there's a sound reason to use a sniping program. (or bid very late, manually).

From the buyer's point of view, you ideally want to be the only bidder. And you want other potential bidders to keep quiet. Any bid that is visible tends to bring out the competitiveness in some people and once some yahoos start competing in front of everyone, the price will get driven up to more than you might otherwise have paid.

There is a simple rule for ebay bidding: Bid your maximum, once, as late as possible. Ideally so close to closing that someone bidding manually can't react fast enough.

This strategy will not encourage others to bid against you, as a earlier bid might.

And obviously, sniping software to automate that last minute bid is more reliable than hanging around the computer all day waiting for that precise last-seconds moment.

I say sniping is a fact of life, learn to live with it.

I've also been on ebay since 98. I should follow my own advice more, I might win more auctions.

I snipe at ebay and at live auctions. When the auctioneer is ready to drop the hammer and says ...... going..... going ...... I give him my bid. Many times, I will get the item because the auctioneer wants to move onto the next item. Why pay more that you want to and why give away your hard earned cash when you don't need to..... Junk..... sniping another item this evening....

RoadKing said:

I only use one method when bidding on ebay. I bid the absolute maximum amount I am willing to pay for a specific item and forget it. This works for me.

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This method will cost YOU more money, and put more money in the hands of the Sellers and eBay. You are the perfect SELLERs friend.

I guess I don't have as much money to throw away -- so I bid/buy smart when using eBay.

If you like to pay more than you have to on an item, place your largest bid early and drive the price UP through the proxy bidding. However, if you want to save money, take up sniping.

Example:

Scenario #1
Imagine a typical 7-day auction: It's Jane and Clyde all the way to the end! Jane opens the bidding on Day 1 for $50 while her Proxy (MAX) is $110. Clyde finds the same auction the next day and decides that $100 is all he wants to pay for the item. Clyde keeps bidding up the price by $10 until he gets to $100 and through the proxy bidding, Jane is still high bidder now with $102.50 (Bid increment of $2.50). No one else bids for the rest of the auction and Jane wins the item for $102.50.

Scenario #2 - Sniper
Clyde found the auction just like in the first example and so did Sniper Jane. Because Jane is now a Sniper, she does not open the bidding. Now Clyde opens the bidding with $50, and he sits on the auction as high bidder all week, Sniper Jane went on with her life. Sniper Jane is no fool and, she waits for the end of the auction. With 10 seconds remaining, Sniper Jane enters her maximum bid of $110. She wins the auction for the $52.50 (the minimum bid increment imposed by Ebay's system) over the $50 because by waiting until the end of the auction to bid, she offered Clyde no opportunity to come back and bid again. Sniper Janes gets the same product but SAVES $50!

California said:

There is a simple rule for ebay bidding: Bid your maximum, once, as late as possible. Ideally so close to closing that someone bidding manually can't react fast enough.

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Junkman said:

I snipe at ebay and at live auctions. When the auctioneer is ready to drop the hammer and says ...... going..... going ...... I give him my bid.

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Gatorboy said:

If you like to pay more than you have to on an item, place your largest bid early and drive the price UP through the proxy bidding. However, if you want to save money, take up sniping.

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I agree with the technique of last moment bidding on ebay and I use it all the time when I buy.

The technique is a VALID buying technique that can get you a decent price. The reality is that early bidding drives up the price, if you know your items value, you can often find the same item for sale elsewhere for less money than people are willing to pay on Ebay.

The only other auctions I attend are charity auctions, at those I bid early and often knowing that the charity benefits from higher prices. I don't go to charity auctions to "get a deal" but instead I go there to "support" the charity.

B_Skurka said:

I agree with the technique of last moment bidding on ebay and I use it all the time when I buy.

The technique is a VALID buying technique that can get you a decent price. The reality is that early bidding drives up the price, if you know your items value, you can often find the same item for sale elsewhere for less money than people are willing to pay on Ebay.

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I like sniping when buying, but hate it when I have items I'm selling. Last month I sold a zero turn bobcat mower on Ebay that I bought as a project, but didn't have time to even look at it. I had probably 15 people call or email me with questions, and it bid up to around $600 with several days left. It went to $700+ the last day & one of the persons who contacted me had the high bid. It sold for $784, & the person who won it told me he sniped at the last second using a sniping program. Result : The person who asked me all the questions lost the bid, & I figure I lost probably several hundred dollars as well due to the sniping program. So who wins ? This time the buyer. I guess I could have had a reserve price, but people tend to get more involved in a no reserve auction.

Last night I sniped this item from ebay which I need for my car. In the past these have been selling for $125+. I put sniper bids on each of them, but this is the first one that I won, and at half the price. Junk.....

I saved about $250.00 by sniping my like new Lincoln 175 Plus Mig welder on Ebay. That price was with the shipping included too. A lot of times I want something that no one is bidding on. I will wait till the auction ends and email the seller with an offer. Sometimes they bite. Other times they relist the item. That happened to me recently with a set of motorcycle wheels. I missed the auction ending and emailed the guy. He relisted them at $15.00 higher apiece with a Buy It Now price. Some dodo from N.C. with a -1 feedback for non payment bought them both. I'm waiting to see if the guy reneges on paying and they get relisted once again.

Gatorboy said:

This method will cost YOU more money, and put more money in the hands of the Sellers and eBay. You are the perfect SELLERs friend.

I guess I don't have as much money to throw away -- so I bid/buy smart when using eBay.

If you like to pay more than you have to on an item, place your largest bid early and drive the price UP through the proxy bidding. However, if you want to save money, take up sniping.

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I guess you're right, I must be a lot DUMBER than you, I can't even figure out if I'm Jane or Clyde.

So, somebody give me the info on the best sniping software as I have never been successful on last minute bidding. I need recommendations on a sniping software program that will actually work and let me have the last bid on an item, I always end up second best which is as good as last.

mtntopper said:

So, somebody give me the info on the best sniping software as I have never been successful on last minute bidding. I need recommendations on a sniping software program that will actually work and let me have the last bid on an item, I always end up second best which is as good as last.

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I just let www.auctionsniper.com take care of it

I use www.esnipe.com and it has been very good for me. They have a "check up service" that will email you if your bid isn't high enough. I have that set to check up at 60 minutes before the end of the auction. That part only works if you are at home. I have lost a few snipes because my bid wasn't high enough, but don't mind because it was for more than I felt that it was worth. The cost is 1% of the winning bid amount and there is no charge if you don't win. You buy credits with your PayPal account. There are others, but this is one of the oldest and most successful.

eSnipe is FREE to join and FREE to use for a 14-day trial period. You're under no obligation, unless you use eSnipe after the trial period.

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Happy sniping.....

I use esnipe for the trial period also. It worked for me but I didn't win. Somebody outbid me. I was outsniped.

JimR said:

I use esnipe for the trial period also. It worked for me but I didn't win. Somebody outbid me. I was outsniped.

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Apparently their sniping program was better than your sniping program!


I add items I'm interested in to my watch list, and I wait until the last minute to bid on them, but I do it the old fashioned way-- I have one window open ready to type in my bid, and another window open to watch the auction and I keep refreshing it to watch if the bidding changes.

AndyM said:

I add items I'm interested in to my watch list, and I wait until the last minute to bid on them, but I do it the old fashioned way-- I have one window open ready to type in my bid, and another window open to watch the auction and I keep refreshing it to watch if the bidding changes.

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That's the exact way I do it as well. I typically bid with about 5-7 seconds left in the auction. I guess you could call us "Old School"

Gatorboy said:

That's the exact way I do it as well. I typically bid with about 5-7 seconds left in the auction. I guess you could call us "Old School"

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I'll third that.