Auction Sniping

[lxskllr]

Ah, so you're saying most people don't actually use the "max bid" functionality and instead sit there and bid manually? So you're able to throw a manual bid in the last minute before they put their last manual bid in? Seems pretty dumb on their part, but I suppose if most Ebay users do that, then yeah, sniping would work. Sorta like the prisoner dilemma, but less logical. I guess I didn't count on bidders doing that.

It's a psychological game. People are looking at these items, and they become "theirs" before they've been won. They aren't going to let you take "their" item from them, so they'll bid more than it's worth just to keep it. Early on I found myself doing the exact same thing. I never bid more than the value of the item, but I'd bid more than I intended to.

Sniping works well from 2 angles. It doesn't give you too much time, so you can't say F' it, another $10 won't hurt anything; and you don't get stuck in stupid bidding wars needlessly raising the cost of the item.

 

[n yusef]

Sniping is efficient because valuations are arbitrary; i.e., an item worth $100 is also worth $101. And something worth $101 is surely worth $102. . . .This lack of information (especially true for rare or used items which don't have an established value) causes bidding wars, which inflate prices.

 

[caddlad]

myibay bid sniper

 

[BaboonGuy]

I used jBidwatcher once and was pleased with the results.

 

[RoloMather]

auctionsniper

good site

 

[destrekor]

Aucting baby!

 

[shortylickens]

This is why I never understood all the sniping sites/programs. I just always set my max bid to whatever I was willing to pay. If someone out bid me, then eh, oh well, I didn't want to pay any more than that.

Seriously, the whole purpose of getting stuff from ebay is to save lots of money.
Its not like they have Picassos on there.

 

[Homerboy]

Ah, so you're saying most people don't actually use the "max bid" functionality and instead sit there and bid manually? So you're able to throw a manual bid in the last minute before they put their last manual bid in? Seems pretty dumb on their part, but I suppose if most Ebay users do that, then yeah, sniping would work. Sorta like the prisoner dilemma, but less logical. I guess I didn't count on bidders doing that.

This is EXACTLY why you don't just set your max bid and hope you win. That still insights a bidding war. By snipping you get to place your max bid at the last possible second giving them no time to retort.

That being said OP use www.justsnipe.com
5 free bids per week. I don't think it's failed me yet (in fact I have 8 won items in the past 2 weeks).

 

[Old Hippie]

auctionsniper

good site

I'll second that emotion.

I've been using it for 4 yrs and it's been very reliable.

 

[rudder]

Your way:
The bid is $10.
They bid $20, which raises the bid to $15.
You're willing to bid $50, so put your max as $50. Raises to $25.
They bid $30, which raises your bid to $35.
They bid $40, which raises your bid to $45.
Then they decide to give up.
You pay $45.

With sniping:
The bid is $10.
They bid $20, which raises the bid to $15.
Nothing happens.
You snipe a max of $50 at the last minute, which raises the bid to $25.
You pay $25.

It works because most ebayers don't put in their true max bid. They're willing to put in a bit more when they get outbid.

Unless the other bidders are sniping as well.... then your used item is up to $46 for something that cost $45 new.

 

[fatpat268]

I use snipestreet. Works well and is completely free.

 

[Possessed Freak]

The problem that I see with sniping is it is truly a crap shoot. You are EXPECTING the other ebayer not to use their own max bid. If they did, boom instant bid war that you can not get out of. Instead, what I do is early on I set an incremental to gain control of the bid and then set my max bid. If the person returns they typically try an incremental bid and then back off once they know I set a higher max.

 

[Old Hippie]

I use snipestreet. Works well and is completely free.

That's a new one for me and it looks pretty good.

Thanks for the info!

 

[Q]

I use Mark Wahlberg.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

I think last minute bidding should prolong the auction for 5 minutes

 

[her209]

I think last minute bidding should prolong the auction for 5 minutes

I remember eBay used to do that back in the "old" days. It was annoying as hell.

 

[Possessed Freak]

I remember eBay used to do that back in the "old" days. It was annoying as hell.

See, I recall this as well. Yet people claim that was never the case. Maybe it was other auction sites before ebay basically killed them all.

 

[MichaelD]

I'm bidding on something right now and I know I'm gonna get sniped. I was hoping to get the item cheap (doesn't everyone?) but other people had the nerve to bid on my thing.

 

[DAGTA]

swoopo.com

 

[BTA]

Unless the other bidders are sniping as well.... then your used item is up to $46 for something that cost $45 new.

If someone else did the same thing and their max is higher than yours then oh well, you didn't wanna pay more than your max anyway.

If someone else did the same thing and their max is slightly lower than yours, then you pay closer to your max. Oh well, thats what you were willing to pay.

The idea is you only bid what you are really willing to pay, in the hopes that maybe you'll get it a lot cheaper.

My only extra trick is to never bid in whole dollar amounts. If I only wanna pay ~$40, I'll max bid something like $41.78. I've won a lot of auctions cause of people who bid straight up $40 or $41. Lost some as well but if it's something I REALLy want I'd be more aggressive anyway.

Most ebayers are morons...as evidenced by this thread.

 

[rh71]

Other people don't put in their max bids. They put an extra $5 in when they see you've outbidded them. I've gotten things really cheap with sniping.

^ yup, the few times I've sniped with a few secs left, the max bid was still low. If you max bid it beforehand, it could've went for much higher since other people would've seen it coming. With sniping you are in control of how much you're going to spend.

 

[ElFenix]

The problem that I see with sniping is it is truly a crap shoot. You are EXPECTING the other ebayer not to use their own max bid. If they did, boom instant bid war that you can not get out of. Instead, what I do is early on I set an incremental to gain control of the bid and then set my max bid. If the person returns they typically try an incremental bid and then back off once they know I set a higher max.

there is always the chance that someone with a higher max bid will come along right at the end, so sniping isn't any more of a crap shoot than bidding at the beginning.

what you've proposed basically just upped your cost because you let the other person increment several times to see if they could beat you. if they had come along without your bid they may have only had to increment once or not at all.

sniping is good because most people don't put in their max bid and stick with it. they'll say to themselves, 'well, how about another dollar.' just to see if they can outbid you. if you're not there when they come along they can't do that to you.

 

[olds]

I use http://www.auctionsniper.com/

 

[RadiclDreamer]

I just think its annoying to think you are going to get an item for a decent price and then at the last second some asshole either ups your bid or outbids you.