Poll: Is auction sniping ethical?

[Triumph]

Originally posted by: Thump553
(excepting perhaps the "collectibles" field, which I think is a prime example of our consumer culture at its worst).

What does this mean? Being a collector of something is now considered 'consumerism at its worst'? (paraphrasing) That's news to me. Ebay is only good for collectibles and other things not readily available. Other than that, just go buy it at the store.

 

[GermyBoy]

It keeps prices lower than they should be. It also hels you get your items.

 

[rudder]

Originally posted by: Amused
The way I see it, snipers are just paying more than I wanted to pay. More power to 'em.

The way to use E-bay is to bid the max you'd pay for that item. If someone pays more, they're getting ripped off, not you.

People start seeing the bidding as a competition. When that happens, the idiots start paying more than retail.

except when you lose an auction by 1 cent, thats when you get pissed by sniping.

 

[prodigy]

Originally posted by: FrustratedUser
Perfectly fine. It's an auction. That's the way it works.

 

[Sundog]

Originally posted by: prodigy

Originally posted by: FrustratedUser
Perfectly fine. It's an auction. That's the way it works.

 

[n0cmonkey]

I do not think it is unethical. I just think it is stupid. I agree with Amused, I put my maximum bid in and forget about it.

 

[Spamela]

after losing a couple of auctions due to sniping i started
doing it like (almost) everyone else, but i still don't go
over a limit.

it makes the auctions a little more exciting, that's all.

 

[n0cmonkey]

How do you snipe when you are not near a computer? Or can you all actually sit around and watch an auction for 3 days?

 

[eplebnista]

Absolutely, it is a rule that can be used to the fullest.

 

[kami333]

Originally posted by: rudder

Originally posted by: Amused
The way I see it, snipers are just paying more than I wanted to pay. More power to 'em.

The way to use E-bay is to bid the max you'd pay for that item. If someone pays more, they're getting ripped off, not you.

People start seeing the bidding as a competition. When that happens, the idiots start paying more than retail.

except when you lose an auction by 1 cent, thats when you get pissed by sniping.

I have a negative because of that, 1 cent and 2 seconds. And two days after I got the neg eBay changed their rules so I couldn't leave a neg for that guy.

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: kami333

Originally posted by: rudder

Originally posted by: Amused
The way I see it, snipers are just paying more than I wanted to pay. More power to 'em.

The way to use E-bay is to bid the max you'd pay for that item. If someone pays more, they're getting ripped off, not you.

People start seeing the bidding as a competition. When that happens, the idiots start paying more than retail.

except when you lose an auction by 1 cent, thats when you get pissed by sniping.

I have a negative because of that, 1 cent and 2 seconds. And two days after I got the neg eBay changed their rules so I couldn't leave a neg for that guy.

How did you get a negative for that?

 

[stev0]

i do it all the time. no reason no to.

 

[Yo Ma Ma]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
How do you snipe when you are not near a computer? Or can you all actually sit around and watch an auction for 3 days?

There are 'professional' sniping programs out there (e.g., bidnapper.com) so you can just place your highest bid there instead of w/ebay, then forget about it as you said. Only difference is you're not affected by someone who keeps upping their bid by $1 or $2, not reaching your max but driving the price up. Another benefit of such a program is you can change your mind after placing your bid and you're not affecting (read "trashing") the seller's auction, since your real bid doesn't go in until the last few seconds.