ebay again - sniping

[unclemark123]

now i know many of you hate sniping on ebay, if so then dont read the following !

can anyone recommend me the best sniping tool to use, as i dont want to chance using one i have not been recommended.

thanks, mark

[Scantily]

How about just deciding how much you are willing to spend on an item and putting that as your maximum bid?

[bonsai]

I use this one - http://www.gixen.com/ - their free service works perfectly, never had it fail.

Scantily said:

How about just deciding how much you are willing to spend on an item and putting that as your maximum bid?

By bidding early you are increasing the chance that you will end up paying more for the item than you otherwise might have. This is an irrefutable fact.

Edited by bonsai on Saturday 22 May 16:11

[Nolar Dog]

Biddingscheduler.com

HTH

[Defcon5]

What if two people are bidding on the same thing with snipers?

[Nolar Dog]

Defcon5 said:

What if two people are bidding on the same thing with snipers?

The one with the highest maximum "wins".

[Mardybum]

Defcon5 said:

What if two people are bidding on the same thing with snipers?

Yes, I've always wondered this.

[ofcorsa]

Defcon5 said:

What if two people are bidding on the same thing with snipers?

[Eggle]

I use gixon too, although I use the paid for version. I use it for 80% of my buying. It is simple to use, and I set my budget early on, set the snipe and forget about it. If I win, bonus.

[Defcon5]

what do they actually do? Bid at the last second? If so, what happens if I was using one and someone elses max bid was higher than mine? They would still win surely?

[shakotan]

Defcon5 said:

what do they actually do? Bid at the last second? If so, what happens if I was using one and someone elses max bid was higher than mine? They would still win surely?

Correct.

I don't understand why folks get their panties in a bunch about snipers.

It's no different to putting a last minute bid in yourself, just done automatically. If your bid placed at the end of the auction is still less than a max bid from another bidder, you don't win the item. Makes absolutely no difference if the bid was placed by the click of your mouse button, or from a server in Outer Mongolia, it's still the same electronic signal being sent to eBay to register a bid.

[shakotan]

Nolar Dog said:

Defcon5 said:

What if two people are bidding on the same thing with snipers?

The one with the highest maximum "wins".

...and if two people decide to put the same amount as their max bid, and set the snipe time to exactly the same time as each other, whoevers bit of information is processed by the eBay server first becomes the highest bidder. Same as if you'd both done it manually.

[lestag]

why ebay does not change it so that if a bid comes in 5 min before end it extends it by 5 min is beyond me. This is what our local auction site does and it works well. Funnily enough thats what a real auction process does......

[Zumbruk]

bonsai said:

By bidding early you are increasing the chance that you will end up paying more for the item than you otherwise might have. This is an irrefutable fact.

You can, of course, explain this 'irrefutable fact'?

[Nolar Dog]

lestag said:

why ebay does not change it so that if a bid comes in 5 min before end it extends it by 5 min is beyond me. This is what our local auction site does and it works well. Funnily enough thats what a real auction process does......

But eBay is not an auction is it?

[dtmpower]

lestag said:

why ebay does not change it so that if a bid comes in 5 min before end it extends it by 5 min is beyond me. This is what our local auction site does and it works well. Funnily enough thats what a real auction process does......

I don't mind snipers but I wouldn't like the above. Great for sellers but terrible for buyers. 'Auction Fever' would take over and what's left of the bargains on eBay would become overpriced. Plus it opens up even more the chance of shill bidding and items being 'bid-up' even when the bidder has no intention of buying the item.

The best way to go with eBay if you really want an item is bid your maximum early on or set a 'decent' sniper bid and see if you win. I hate the idea of people just adding £1 here and £1 there pushing up the price.

Edited by dtmpower on Sunday 23 May 11:14

[Rawwr]

Zumbruk said:

bonsai said:

By bidding early you are increasing the chance that you will end up paying more for the item than you otherwise might have. This is an irrefutable fact.

You can, of course, explain this 'irrefutable fact'?

It's the Internet. You can put 'FACT' after any statement and turn it into a fact. Don't you know anything?

[JonRB]

I've only ever used Bidnapper so I can't really offer a comparison. I like how you can schedule contingencies so that if you fail to win one item it will bid on another, but it you win the 1st item the 2nd is not bid on.

Works out at around £1 a snipe. When the pack of snipes I bought ages ago finally runs out I may look at the free ones.

[shakotan]

Zumbruk said:

bonsai said:

By bidding early you are increasing the chance that you will end up paying more for the item than you otherwise might have. This is an irrefutable fact.

You can, of course, explain this 'irrefutable fact'?

Because you are giving other bidders more time to consider placing a larger bid. Say you had an item where the highest bidder was at £10, and you bid right at the end with £15, chances are you'll win the item for £10.50.

But whack a £15 max bid in there early on, and the price will steadily creep towards your max whilst people think "Ooh, I suppose I can stretch to another couple of quid". By the end of the auction, chances are much more likely that your bid will be exceeded, but you'd certainly end up paying more than the £10.50 in the first scenario.

[bonsai]

shakotan said:

Zumbruk said:

bonsai said:

By bidding early you are increasing the chance that you will end up paying more for the item than you otherwise might have. This is an irrefutable fact.

You can, of course, explain this 'irrefutable fact'?

Because you are giving other bidders more time to consider placing a larger bid. Say you had an item where the highest bidder was at £10, and you bid right at the end with £15, chances are you'll win the item for £10.50.

But whack a £15 max bid in there early on, and the price will steadily creep towards your max whilst people think "Ooh, I suppose I can stretch to another couple of quid". By the end of the auction, chances are much more likely that your bid will be exceeded, but you'd certainly end up paying more than the £10.50 in the first scenario.

Exactly! Thanks for saving me having to type that out.

It's intriguing how people don't get this.