Best eBay sniping service?

[OREOSpeedwagon]

This will be my first time at this and I wanted to know what you all use for auction sniping. I really want this DVD for a decent price so I want to make sure I get it

 

[NewSc2]

esnipe.com isn't bad, but usually if i'm there i don't use a sniping service, i just manually type in with about a 30 seconds to go, then once again at 15 seconds

 

[kermalou]

last time i used hammersnipe, just do a google search

 

[glenn1]

Why don't you just enter a proxy bid? It serves the same purpose as a sniping program...

 

[Lithium381]

Originally posted by: glenn1
Why don't you just enter a proxy bid? It serves the same purpose as a sniping program...

select a price you're willing to pay and never look at it again......if you had the high bid, you win, if not, someone was willing to pay more than you........all this "sniper" junk....pcha

 

[NewSc2]

Originally posted by: Lithium381

Originally posted by: glenn1
Why don't you just enter a proxy bid? It serves the same purpose as a sniping program...

select a price you're willing to pay and never look at it again......if you had the high bid, you win, if not, someone was willing to pay more than you........all this "sniper" junk....pcha

i disagree. if you've sold anything on eBay, you know most of the bids come at the last minute. Basically, whoever bids last wins. Everything on eBay is so cheap compared to suggested retail price that say if something that goes for $500 at Best Buy, on eBay it'll end around $300. If you want to buy it, obviously you'll pay up to $450 for it, and so will everybody else.

With 1 minute to go, if you put down $450 and the going price is $200, then by the time somebody else comes around and bids on it, the price will go, and that person will probably bid up to about $350-400 before he stops.

If you don't bid $450, and wait for somebody to put down $250.. wait until the last minute, put in $270 and you'll get it.

 

[glenn1]

Everything on eBay is so cheap compared to suggested retail price that say if something that goes for $500 at Best Buy, on eBay it'll end around $300.

Are you sure you're using the same Ebay as me ? 'Cause half the time, the id10ts on Fleabay end up bidding prices above retail, sometimes considerably above. And i'm not talking Newegg retail prices, i'm talking about CompUSA type B&M ripoff chain retail prices.

 

[Desslok]

Hey where is that guy that wanted to start a petition to end all sniping because "It was unfair..and hurt the trust between seller and buyer

". Man I still get a laugh out of that.

 

[Jzero]

FWIW, I use esnipe, but auctionstealer is still free, I think.

But, as a few wise others have pointed out, sniping isn't going to guarantee you a cheap price. If you REALLY REALLY want it, then your best bet is to set your bid accordingly high.

With 1 minute to go, if you put down $450 and the going price is $200, then by the time somebody else comes around and bids on it, the price will go, and that person will probably bid up to about $350-400 before he stops.

If you don't bid $450, and wait for somebody to put down $250.. wait until the last minute, put in $270 and you'll get it.

You make the bold and often fatal assumption that the current leader is at his maximum already. If you wait until the last second and put $270 and the high bidder's bid is $450, you will still have lost. Wear it with pride.

Sniping only screws fools who do not use the proxy bidding system for the exact reason it was created. Frankly, I use it because I just "Set it and forget it." It's basically an auction management utility for me. I don't pay attention to the auction, and I'm not tempted to up my bid at the last second. I choose the price I want, and if I lose, the winner overpaid. I don't get an outbid notice and think to raise my bid.
I just set it and forget it. Thanks, Ron Popeil.

 

[SirChadwick]

Will someone explain to me what the hell sniping on eBay is

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: chadeades
Will someone explain to me what the hell sniping on eBay is

Bidding at the last possible second in an attempt to preclude other bidders from doing the same. There's all sorts of superstitions about it, but at the end of the day, if everybody just relied on proxy bidding as they were supposed to, then there would be no benefits to it at all.
As it is, it only screws other idiots. The high bidder still wins, regardless of WHEN the bid was placed.

 

[SirChadwick]

Well, why in the world would you need a sniping service? I always bid at the last second if I find something I really want. The only time I do proxy bidding is if it's something I would like, but only want to pay a certain price.

 

[NewSc2]

Originally posted by: Jzero

Originally posted by: chadeades
Will someone explain to me what the hell sniping on eBay is

Bidding at the last possible second in an attempt to preclude other bidders from doing the same. There's all sorts of superstitions about it, but at the end of the day, if everybody just relied on proxy bidding as they were supposed to, then there would be no benefits to it at all.
As it is, it only screws other idiots. The high bidder still wins, regardless of WHEN the bid was placed.

people who want to buy things cheaper on eBay don't want to have a bidding war. When there's 5 minutes left to go, if 2 n00bs at eBay come on and start trying to outbid each other, the price goes up like crazy (can double easily in a few bids). As a buyer, you don't want to raise the price of the item any more than it is, so you want to win with the least amount of bids possible on the item. Therefore, you wait until the last few seconds to snipe in a bid and win it all before somebody can drive up the price again and you'd have to outbid it. Here's an example:

Bid History on Denon 1802

Bidding war starts around 8:50pm, i snipe it at 8:53:50 with 8 seconds to go.

This Receiver retails for about $500, cheapest you can find elsewhere is about $350-400 + shipping

 

[NewSc2]

Originally posted by: chadeades
Well, why in the world would you need a sniping service? I always bid at the last second if I find something I really want. The only time I do proxy bidding is if it's something I would like, but only want to pay a certain price.

sometimes you find something very rare but you'll be out at class or something and the price is low, so you'd use a sniping service. Also, if another bidder uses a sniping service it's hard to manually beat it out with 5 seconds to go.

 

[NewSc2]

Originally posted by: glenn1

Everything on eBay is so cheap compared to suggested retail price that say if something that goes for $500 at Best Buy, on eBay it'll end around $300.

Are you sure you're using the same Ebay as me ? 'Cause half the time, the id10ts on Fleabay end up bidding prices above retail, sometimes considerably above. And i'm not talking Newegg retail prices, i'm talking about CompUSA type B&M ripoff chain retail prices.

i dunno what you're bidding on, but most of the time CD's, audio/music stuff, and gift certificates for me. Computer stuff is so cheap everywhere else on the internet that i don't bother with eBay, unless I want eBay's somewhat-useful protection policy.

 

[Jzero]

people who want to buy things cheaper on eBay don't want to have a bidding war. When there's 5 minutes left to go, if 2 n00bs at eBay come on and start trying to outbid each other, the price goes up like crazy (can double easily in a few bids). As a buyer, you don't want to raise the price of the item any more than it is, so you want to win with the least amount of bids possible on the item. Therefore, you wait until the last few seconds to snipe in a bid and win it all before somebody can drive up the price again and you'd have to outbid it.

The rub is that the high bidder wins regardless of when the bid is placed, regardless of how many bids are on the item. One of the superstitions surrounding sniping is that bidding early means more people will bid and draw attention to the auction, but at the end of the day, if on Monday if you place a higher bid than anyone else will place on Friday, then you still win. Doesn't matter how many people bid and when.

Here's an example:

Bid History on Denon 1802

Bidding war starts around 8:50pm, i snipe it at 8:53:50 with 8 seconds to go.

However, had you bid $275 outright, you still would have won. If jeff87421 edged you at the last second, and you were mad, then the fault would still be with you for not bidding less than you wanted to pay.

See my sig. Ebay is not complex nor magical.

 

[SirChadwick]

Originally posted by: NewSc2

Originally posted by: chadeades
Well, why in the world would you need a sniping service? I always bid at the last second if I find something I really want. The only time I do proxy bidding is if it's something I would like, but only want to pay a certain price.

sometimes you find something very rare but you'll be out at class or something and the price is low, so you'd use a sniping service. Also, if another bidder uses a sniping service it's hard to manually beat it out with 5 seconds to go.

Thanks NewSC2! Thats the info I was looking for. I did not know there were services out there that do this. I will have to look into it.

 

[NewSc2]

Originally posted by: Jzero

people who want to buy things cheaper on eBay don't want to have a bidding war. When there's 5 minutes left to go, if 2 n00bs at eBay come on and start trying to outbid each other, the price goes up like crazy (can double easily in a few bids). As a buyer, you don't want to raise the price of the item any more than it is, so you want to win with the least amount of bids possible on the item. Therefore, you wait until the last few seconds to snipe in a bid and win it all before somebody can drive up the price again and you'd have to outbid it.

The rub is that the high bidder wins regardless of when the bid is placed, regardless of how many bids are on the item. One of the superstitions surrounding sniping is that bidding early means more people will bid and draw attention to the auction, but at the end of the day, if on Monday if you place a higher bid than anyone else will place on Friday, then you still win. Doesn't matter how many people bid and when.

Here's an example:

Bid History on Denon 1802

Bidding war starts around 8:50pm, i snipe it at 8:53:50 with 8 seconds to go.

However, had you bid $275 outright, you still would have won. If jeff87421 edged you at the last second, and you were mad, then the fault would still be with you for not bidding less than you wanted to pay.

See my sig. Ebay is not complex nor magical.

no, i'm sure jeff wouldn't have minded paying $276 and winning it if I had bid $275 a few days back. These receivers go on eBay all the time for $310+, so I got lucky here because not many people bid up on it.

EDIT: Look up my history if you really care so much, I do this thing my way, and I usually end up purchasing items for a few dollars cheaper than everybody else does on completed items. The thing with eBay is that each bid drives up the price, so obviously if you want to win the item at a low rate, bid on items that not many people bid on. If you really care, here's another auction that somebody bid, willing to pay $8 for an air filter, but I outbid him and won it for $8.50 with a minute or two to go. I'm sure either one of us wouldn't have minded paying $10 for the filter.

Bid History for Kenmore HEPA Air Filter

 

[Jzero]

no, i'm sure jeff wouldn't have minded paying $276 and winning it if I had bid $275 a few days back. These receivers go on eBay all the time for $310+, so I got lucky here because not many people bid up on it.

The catch is that Jeff doesn't know that you bid $275. He STILL would have bid $270 with 10 seconds left, proxy would have made you the leader with $275, and you'd have won regardless.
Had you bid $275 on day 1 of the auction, the high bid would have appeared to be $222.50 all the way up until the last few hours of the auction instead of $220. Your one extra bid does not make a bit of difference. As a matter of fact, you completely lucked out in this case when Ungy didn't take advantage of the 8 second window you left open for him to try and peg you if he wanted to.

EDIT: Look up my history if you really care so much, I do this thing my way, and I usually end up purchasing items for a few dollars cheaper than everybody else does on completed items. The thing with eBay is that each bid drives up the price, so obviously if you want to win the item at a low rate, bid on items that not many people bid on. If you really care, here's another auction that somebody bid, willing to pay $8 for an air filter, but I outbid him and won it for $8.50 with a minute or two to go. I'm sure either one of us wouldn't have minded paying $10 for the filter.

Bid History for Kenmore HEPA Air Filter

Good example. Once again, you luck out in being able to probe Peter's bid. Since he didn't bother competing with you, it's safe to assume that had you bid $8.50 from the start, you'd have won.

In all honesty, you are a prime example of the person that thinks sniping is the magic bullet, yet I set my sniper always to go at 1 second. If it's something I REALLY REALLY want and don't want to risk a lag killing me (which has never happened), I'll do maybe 3 seconds.
You would have lost both auctions if I had participated and decided the item was worth enough.

The high bidder still wins. You have yourself deluded in believing that bidding late screws anyone other than people who bid later.

 

[NewSc2]

Originally posted by: Jzero

no, i'm sure jeff wouldn't have minded paying $276 and winning it if I had bid $275 a few days back. These receivers go on eBay all the time for $310+, so I got lucky here because not many people bid up on it.

The catch is that Jeff doesn't know that you bid $275. He STILL would have bid $270 with 10 seconds left, proxy would have made you the leader with $275, and you'd have won regardless.
Had you bid $275 on day 1 of the auction, the high bid would have appeared to be $222.50 all the way up until the last few hours of the auction instead of $220. Your one extra bid does not make a bit of difference. As a matter of fact, you completely lucked out in this case when Ungy didn't take advantage of the 8 second window you left open for him to try and peg you if he wanted to.

EDIT: Look up my history if you really care so much, I do this thing my way, and I usually end up purchasing items for a few dollars cheaper than everybody else does on completed items. The thing with eBay is that each bid drives up the price, so obviously if you want to win the item at a low rate, bid on items that not many people bid on. If you really care, here's another auction that somebody bid, willing to pay $8 for an air filter, but I outbid him and won it for $8.50 with a minute or two to go. I'm sure either one of us wouldn't have minded paying $10 for the filter.

Bid History for Kenmore HEPA Air Filter

Good example. Once again, you luck out in being able to probe Peter's bid. Since he didn't bother competing with you, it's safe to assume that had you bid $8.50 from the start, you'd have won.

In all honesty, you are a prime example of the person that thinks sniping is the magic bullet, yet I set my sniper always to go at 1 second. If it's something I REALLY REALLY want and don't want to risk a lag killing me (which has never happened), I'll do maybe 3 seconds.
You would have lost both auctions if I had participated and decided the item was worth enough.

The high bidder still wins. You have yourself deluded in believing that bidding late screws anyone other than people who bid later.

okay, obviously the highest bidder still wins, but then sometimes you trick yourself into bidding just a dollar or two more. Peter wanted to bid $8, but if I had e-mailed him and told him that my highest I'd go for is $10, i'm sure he wouldn't have minded paying $10.50. Sniping at the end of an auction allows you to gauge everybody else's high bid and beat it by a few more dollars.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Here is why it doesn't pay to use proxy bidding, and just put your max bid in early and forget about it:

Let's say you find something you want, and the starting bid is 20 bucks. You are willing to pay 50 bucks. But it seems, since this item only has a little while left in the auction, that nobody is bidding. (or few people have)

So you DO NOT, at that point, enter your 50 dollar max. Why? Because someone else might be watching that item and be willing to pay 30 bucks for it. If the current bid is at 20, just wait until the last few seconds and put your 50 dollar bid in. You might only pay 25 for it.

If you put 50 dollars in now, with any decent amount of time left, you risk other bidders bumping your bid up to whatever THEIR max is.

If you wait until there are less than 10 seconds left, you can't get bumped but a couple of times.

The idea is to win the auction for as little as possible. Just because you're willing to pay up to 50 bucks doesn't mean you wouldn't like to get it for 35 or so.
By not putting a proxy bid in early, you don't risk pissing someone off and having them either bump the bid up trying to figure out what limit you set, or straight up out-bidding you, simply because the competition got to them. Even if they don't buy, because you set your max bid higher than they want to pay, they still may make you pay more as they bump up to whatever their limit is on that item.

 

[NewSc2]

jeez, so many people support proxy bidding their max early - i'm gonna start selling on eBay again

personally, if i find something on eBay, usually it's something rare or something i like and want. I'll pay anything to get it, so I snipe it at the end. There's really no "max price" for me, it can be tilted this way or that way. With the post above me, if the guy's max is $50, if it ended at $51 then i'm sure he wouldn't have minded paying $52, and that's what snipers live on - they like barely going over somebody's limit.

 

[Staples]

Hammersnipe is fine but they limit you to 5 a week unless you pay. I used to use another one before hammersnipe (I think it was called winauctionpro) but it stopped working for some reason so I started to use Hammersnipe. The other one was free too.

 

[Hamburgerpimp]

I've sold over 400 items on Ebay and bought 0. I could care less who snipes, just as long as they pay.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: NewSc2
jeez, so many people support proxy bidding their max early - i'm gonna start selling on eBay again

personally, if i find something on eBay, usually it's something rare or something i like and want. I'll pay anything to get it, so I snipe it at the end. There's really no "max price" for me, it can be tilted this way or that way. With the post above me, if the guy's max is $50, if it ended at $51 then i'm sure he wouldn't have minded paying $52, and that's what snipers live on - they like barely going over somebody's limit.

Exactly. Even if the sniper is willing to go to $75, why put that much in as a proxy bid and risk having the person who currently has high bid get an email telling them they were outbid? Then they come in a bump a few more times to see what your max is. Costs you money.

Just come in at the last second and they don't have the chance to respond.