Sniper Bids.

[technodup]

Do the moaners actually realise you dont always win sniping? If someone has bid higher you still lose ?

Exactly. Funny how the snipers that lose never get mentioned, it's always the snipers that win that are the cheats.

Now if I could just work out why some win and some lose... :roll:

 

[Prometheus]

Never used a sniper but if I really want something then I put my best bid in with about 8 seconds to go, other bidders probably presume that I'm sniping though.

Bidders would be right to assume that, because bidding in the last seconds has a name .....yep you guessed it, it's called sniping

Its not the software that makes it sniping, its the bid being entered in the closing seconds that makes it sniping. The software came later to save you having to do it yourself.

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my own perspective:

Hi my names Dave and I am a sniper I have an ebayholic for many years now.....

IMHO sniping is the way to win auctions and pay the lowest price possible. Sure you may not win and you may also have to pay at the top of your bid because as some have mentioned, they bid their maximum early on, or you are competing with other snipers in the closing seconds. However in my experience bidding early will result in you being outbid or paying higher than you would otherwise have done had you sniped the auction. It's just the way of the world. Even in real auction houses bids will often come at the last possible second. The fact is that there are so many snipers for one simple reason ....... it works.

btw, for whoever wanted to know what to use: I use Ezsniper, Its easy to set up and I can buy $10.00 worth of ezcash using paypal and that lasts me such a long time its untrue. I am very happy with it and its never failed to place the bid at the required time.
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[Groundoggy]

It's a valid tactic - and high bid does win so it is largely irrelevant.

I often bid late or snipe. I also end up NOT bidding at all because others go crazy bidding. I've lost plenty items because I got busy doing something else and the item sold for less than I would have bid. In that sense sniping can keep prices down. Interested parties don't bid until the last second and then may miss out - thus lowering the actual selling price.

 

[NeilM]

It's a valid tactic - and high bid does win so it is largely irrelevant.

I often bid late or snipe. I also end up NOT bidding at all because others go crazy bidding. I've lost plenty items because I got busy doing something else and the item sold for less than I would have bid. In that sense sniping can keep prices down. Interested parties don't bid until the last second and then may miss out - thus lowering the actual selling price.

^^^^ This ^^^^

I think this whole discussion really highlights how over competitive society in general is becoming, everybody wants to 'win' everything, every time.

I won an RC helicopter a while ago on ebay, and at the time bidders could still see each others identity and so could contact one another. I placed a last second bid (sniped?) and won at a very good price. Ten minutes later I recieved the most amazingly abusive e-mail, accusing me of all sorts (apparently I have neither father... or mother) and calling me out for a fight :shock: I e-mailed ebay...who did nothing. I did worry about the blood pressure of the poor soul who sent the message, but the helicopter was one of probably 20 or more identical models for sale at the time, which is why the price was so low.

Bid, snipe or don't. It's all the same to me, but don't whinge when you lose, or the price goes too high (like the Mantra I bid on), that's just the way ebay works.

 

[videojetman]

Do the moaners actually realise you dont always win sniping? If someone has bid higher you still lose ?

Exactly. Funny how the snipers that lose never get mentioned, it's always the snipers that win that are the cheats.

Now if I could just work out why some win and some lose... :roll:

easy answer : if my bid is higher than a sniper. i win.
the sniper is only as high as the highest bid. so if my bid is higher than the sniper. i win. simples.

 

[Matthews]

I use mybidder (snipe software for android phone), as people have said sometimes you win , sometimes you lose, prime example I was away competing this weekend so set snipe on 2 items due to finish over weekend, won one for 1/2 my max bid (big surprise ) lost the other by £30, I put my max bid in and forget about it, some you win some you lose but snipe software means you can put your max bid on and get on with your life, simple really if you put a high enough bid in you'll win it without ramping the price up early, if you don't put a high enough bid in you lose (using snipe software or doing it manually at the last few seconds), that's how an auction works as far as I know, highest bidder wins.
Matthew

 

[Prometheus]

perhaps eBay should simplify the process and make it more like the Scottish property selling system.

1.) Person lists an item as usual and states a time period for the sale. They can say that they are looking for offers over: £XX
2.) Buyers can view the item for sale and place a virtual sealed bid.
3.) The sale ends and the seller is presented with the winning bid.

It would save all the faff surrounding the auction process. Although eBay would never do it as I have no doubt that the auction process and auction fever etc nets them millions in extra revenue :roll:

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[davew]

ebay isn't really an auction it's a bit of a hybrid sealed bid/auction system that makes "sniping" the best way to buy an item at the lowest possible price given the number of other people interested in it.

The greatest piece of marketing Ebay use is the whole "win an item" terminology. Some people see it as a competition to buy something and get carried away. If I went into a LBS and bought a crankset I wouldn't then claim I'd "won" it at the LBS even if I got a good discount on it !

I can understand sellers not liking it because they will almost invariably get less for the item because of it. Other buyers not liking it is a bit daft, they just need to figure out that you should bid your maximum when you bid, not keep bidding an extra £1 over the current bid. If your maximum bid is wiped out by a snipe at the end of the auction then you wouldn't have "won" it anyway.

If Ebay wanted to remove sniping they could do so very easily by adding 30 minutes to an auction end time if a bid is made within 30 minutes of the end time. Buyers would probably see an increase in their sale price as a result as the auction would be much more like a normal auction where the price goes up until the last bidder drops out.

I don't use sniping software myself, I just do it manually by deciding on my maximum bid and bidding that amount in the last few seconds. I really don't care if I'm away and can't bid - it's not like there are many items on ebay that are unique and I don't see the point in "saving money" by giving a sniping company part of the "saving" you made.

 

[videojetman]

"An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder."

whichever way you look at it, it is an auction.

if people want to interpret it differently. fair enough.
highest "bid" wins.

 

[MikeD]

It's not like Sotheby's, though, which is the point whoever said "it's not really an auction" is making. You don't know what other people have already bid and if you win you don't pay what you bid. These things make a difference