sniping on ebay

[72plymsatellite]

i hate when i get outbid at the last second!!! esp when its not by that much. it kills me. luckily its not the last razor on the planet. i will have another chance at one when another one pops up on ebay .... or the bst or etsy. just wanted to vent to u cuz i wouldnt be surprised if someone here is the person who outbid me lmao. hope everyone is having a great weekend

[AABCDS]

There are two kinds of people in the world:
the quick and the dead.
You could always learn how to snipe yourself. It's not that hard.

[brucered]

Sniping is easily avoidable....BID HIGHER.

ebay does the increment bidding for you. plug in your MAX bid right off the bat, and check back after the auction. try not to get caught up in a bidding war. set your MAX and stick to it.

then if you are winning with 90sec left and someone comes in and drives up the price, but still under your MAX, you'll win. if they outbid you, they wanted it more. you can't way you lost out by $1 (not saying you did), as their max might have been $50 higher then what it actually went for.

[paco664]

i never place a bid with more than 8secs on the clock......

[luvmysuper]

There are a thousand strategies, each rabidly defended by those who favor them.
See how many books are for sale explaining them.
eBay is dog eat dog. Sometimes you get it, sometimes you don't, but there's always another one coming down the pipeline, it's a matter of waiting and watching.

[72plymsatellite]

Sniping is easily avoidable....BID HIGHER.

ebay does the increment bidding for you. plug in your MAX bid right off the bat, and check back after the auction. try not to get caught up in a bidding war. set your MAX and stick to it.

then if you are winning with 90sec left and someone comes in and drives up the price, but still under your MAX, you'll win. if they outbid you, they wanted it more. you can't way you lost out by $1 (not saying you did), as their max might have been $50 higher then what it actually went for.

yea i should have just bit higher. i wanted it but w/e. i dont usually buy on ebay so im not so fast with the bids. im just gonna stick to the max bid approach. i have more things that r ending soon that i do really want so we we see how it goes.

[72plymsatellite]

There are a thousand strategies, each rabidly defended by those who favor them.
See how many books are for sale explaining them.
eBay is dog eat dog. Sometimes you get it, sometimes you don't, but there's always another one coming down the pipeline, it's a matter of waiting and watching.

yea luckily i watch ebay like a hawk so i usually know when something is sellign that i want.

[cb91710]

i never place a bid with more than 8secs on the clock......

Ditto.

You will always be outbid by "not much" because that's the way eBay's bid increment system works.
You can be at $50, someone can snipe it bidding $500, and it will still only be $52.50 or whatever the increment is.

Personally, I look at the item, bookmark it, and research it.
What can I buy it for new? What is shipping? Warranty? So what is it worth buying used on eBay?
Generally, I don't pay more than 50% "new" unless it's something that I must have and it's not available "new" anywhere else.
Sometimes, that's not possible and I just have to ask, "How much do I want this?"

If that number is $75 then that number is $75 and I will not bid more.
So I bump the $75 to an "odd" number... $76.27 to eliminate other snipers using round numbers.

Now... end of auction. I don't care if the current bid is $70 or $10... I am going to bid $76.27 once, only once, and late.
5 seconds to go, I'll drop the bid in.

In 10 years and hundreds of auctions, I've missed out on an item only 4 or 5 times, and in each case it did not bother me at all because the price went higher than I felt the item was worth.


Bidding hours or even minutes before the end of the auction does two things:
It ensures that if you win, you will pay your maximum bid.
It makes it highly likely that you will be outbid and left wishing you had bid higher.

Bid once, bid high, bid late. It works.

I do not use services like esnipe.

[Jporco]

If I want it, I bid high enough right at the outset for what I am willing to pay for it. I rarely check on it before it ends - unless I really want it.
If I win it, I paid what I thought is a fair price, if I lost I figure someone overpaid for it. With sniping I gave up on winning gold bars for the price of tin....I get better deals at flea markets and auctions. Just the way of the world right now.

[Dalejr]

Every razor I've ever bid one theres always more than a few bidding; some early, some late. Like the others have said setting the most your willing to pay and sticking with it is the key, no sense in getting into a war and overpaying. I find it's easier to set a price if the razor is minty or NOS.

[72plymsatellite]

yea the only time i buy razors on ebay is to complete a set or something that is not normally seen in the wild. i prefer estate sales, auctions, and antique stores. its still fun to bid on ebay. even if u do lose u still get the rush of possibly winning lol

[Mike'sWorld]

'Bid once, bid high, bid late"
Yup, Rich.
Only never, never bid more than the item is worth to you.

[RazorbackFan]

Sniping is fair game.

[Geordon]

Sniping is fair game.

Granted, and accepted. Personally, though, IMO, sniping is selfish at best and rude at the worst. For this reason, I don't often look at ebay, let alone bid on an item.


Besides, I've been bitten more than once with a POS for what I paid. Yes, the fault was my own (should have known better), but it soured me on the whole ebay thing. I've only bought 2 items off of ebay in the last 12+ years. One was not as described, but fully functional and only different in a minor way, one was more than I wanted to pay, but less than others were asking, so it was a good buy.

To each their own. I think that Joshua (War Games) said it best: The only way to win is not to play.

[ajs2294]

Like all good things Ebay takes practice. Better not winning that over bidding also!

[72plymsatellite]

i have only bought one razor on ebay so far and i did not like how it was shipped. razor was left in the plastic case with the blade case to just move around as it pleased. i dont understand why u would do that. i always wrap each thing individually but maybe thats cuz i know better and i know how i would want to packed if i was the one recieving it.

[aceinyerface]

i hate when i get outbid at the last second!!! esp when its not by that much. it kills me. luckily its not the last razor on the planet. i will have another chance at one when another one pops up on ebay .... or the bst or etsy. just wanted to vent to u cuz i wouldnt be surprised if someone here is the person who outbid me lmao. hope everyone is having a great weekend

Counter snipe.

As the snipers are trying to outbid your old bid, you are raising your bid in the last few seconds.

Or just figure what it is worth to you and bid that, letting the chips fall where they may.

[aceinyerface]

even if u do lose u still get the rush of possibly winning lol

It is gambling to you. That is a whole different demon.

[Kentos]

IMHO

Sniping merely prevents a bidding war. If two or more people want the same thing and are willing to pay top dollar sniping does nothing. If only you are willing to pay top dollar, sniping can potentially save you a little money. Or a lot. If you get out bid by a sniper it merely means you didnt bid high enough at the outset, or
you are. If you really want that fatboy put a 1000.00 bid in to ensure you will win it.

[cb91710]

IMHO

Sniping merely prevents a bidding war. If two or more people want the same thing and are willing to pay top dollar sniping does nothing. If only you are willing to pay top dollar, sniping can potentially save you a little money. Or a lot. If you get out bid by a sniper it merely means you didnt bid high enough at the outset, or
you are. If you really want that fatboy put a 1000.00 bid in to ensure you will win it.
Bingo.

What would you rather see:

Kentos - 100
CB - 90
Ace - 80
CB - 70
72Plym - 60
CB - 50

or

Kentos - 80
Ace - 70
72Plym - 60
CB - 50

If you bid what you feel something is worth, then there's nothing to get butthurt about being outbid, whether by a sniper or by someone who bid 5 minutes after you did.
If you bid less than what you felt it was worth, then it's possibly your fault that you didn't win.
But that's how auctions work. The difference between eBay and a live auction is the live auction goes until there are no new bids, and eBay has a defined ending time. You can't snipe a live auction, but prices at a live auction are also going to be higher than those at a sealed-bid auction or eBay.

[72plymsatellite]

It is gambling to you. That is a whole different demon.

lol the only gambling i do is the lottery and hold'em on facebook lol. i do play hold'em for money when im on my deployments tho.

do u not get that excited feeling??? is that just me??

[72plymsatellite]

If you bid less than what you felt it was worth, then it's possibly your fault that you didn't win.


this is kind of how i feel about me losing. i guess i still want to possibly spend less than what im willing to pay. i prob shouldnt try to be cheap when its something i know i really want lol.

[rxonmymind]

Well, you said it and have a great attitude. There will be others that come along for your hard earned money. It's not like they didn't make enough of them:)

[rajagra]

If you really want that fatboy put a 1000.00 bid in to ensure you will win it.

Only if you are willing to pay 1000.00.
Someone else may have the same idea. It does happen.

[hotreds]

nature of the beast on the 'bay.

[El_Chevo]

i hate when i get outbid at the last second!!! esp when its not by that much. it kills me. luckily its not the last razor on the planet. i will have another chance at one when another one pops up on ebay .... or the bst or etsy. just wanted to vent to u cuz i wouldnt be surprised if someone here is the person who outbid me lmao. hope everyone is having a great weekend
I sometimes wait seconds before the auction ends and bid the highest price I am willing to pay for the object. I always live by the belief that another similar item will come along and perhaps I can get it cheaper the next time. That has actually happened to me several times.

[aceinyerface]

do u not get that excited feeling??? is that just me??

No more excited than if I find something I wanted at a shop.

[rajagra]

If people would just use the proxy bidding system properly, there would be no advantage to sniping, and we could all bid in an honest and leisurely manner.
Sniping is CAUSED by the people who bid less than they are willing to pay (with the intent to bid again.) They are using a (very weak) strategy to try to win at an artificially low price. They should not complain when they are beaten by a vastly superior counter-strategy (sniping.) After all, they were the ones who tried to be crafty first.

Not having a go at anyone. Just pointing out how it works. The sellers and sensible bidders are the ones who must suffer the unpredictable frenzy at the end of the auction.

[brucered]

If people would just use the proxy bidding system properly, there would be no advantage to sniping, and we could all bid in an honest and leisurely manner.
Sniping is CAUSED by the people who bid less than they are willing to pay (with the intent to bid again.) They are using a (very weak) strategy to try to win at an artificially low price. They should not complain when they are beaten by a vastly superior counter-strategy (sniping.) After all, they were the ones who tried to be crafty first.

Not having a go at anyone. Just pointing out how it works. The sellers and sensible bidders are the ones who must suffer the unpredictable frenzy at the end of the auction.

Perfectly said and I 100% agree.

[ddillas]

It would appear that the overarching theme to most of these responses is to bid an amount you are comfortable with and take a laissez-faire attitude... let it be. If it is meant to be yours great, if not, so what...

I know if if I see something for the first time that is ending soon and say it has an arbitrary item has a current high bid of $10 versus a market value of $100, I may drop in a bid that I feel is fair, like maybe $50... if the previous bidder had a higher maximum bid and I loose, bummer.. but if they didn't and I get a deal... Great.

Of course if it is something you must have all bets are off and you gotta do what you gotta do... After all this a free market system and any items value is what the market will bear.

[Ptroiani]

I do my research, then decide what I want to pay. I just put my max in there right off, then I don't look at it again until the auction is over. That way I don't get into a frenzy...

[Stubblefield]

i never place a bid with more than 8secs on the clock......
8 seconds? Boy, are you generous.:laugh:

I always wait till the last second and bid my max. I fail to understand what is wrong with that strategy.


Now eBay threads, on the other hand . . .

[kents]

Might be interesting if ebay only allowed one bid per user per item. Not suggesting they should do that or that such a policy could possibly be enforced.

[cb91710]

Might be interesting if ebay only allowed one bid per user per item. Not suggesting they should do that or that such a policy could possibly be enforced.
Interesting... but I'd rather see them go to a "sealed bid" format. Effectively makes every bidder a "sniper".

Most of my eBay purchases in the last couple of years have been BIN because I either can't be home at the time the auction closes, or I forget. I don't bid early unless it's some obscure item that I know is not going to sell anywhere near my bid. I've only done that maybe 4 times in 10 years.

[alex2363]

True, but even if you bid your max and walk away let ebay bid you can still lose. If a bidder comes in wanting as bad as you do he can pass yuor bid by few dollars and you can lose, but if you wait til the end and bid in increments , then theres a chance that the other bidder may not be ready to go as high as you are and you can max with odd number like $77.99 and win it...i won like 85% of my auctions like that....i dont leave my max bid on table because others can sneek up on it and outbid you. its not perfect science but it works for me,

[mmack66]

In before someone brings up the worst eBay bidding idea ever proposed, which is to extend the auction if a bid happens close to the end of the auction, thus rendering the snipe pointless.

[cb91710]

In before someone brings up the worst eBay bidding idea ever proposed, which is to extend the auction if a bid happens close to the end of the auction, thus rendering the snipe pointless.
Yup... I think Gunbroker still does that.

[Keyser S.]

i hate when i get outbid at the last second!!! esp when its not by that much. it kills me. luckily its not the last razor on the planet. i will have another chance at one when another one pops up on ebay .... or the bst or etsy. just wanted to vent to u cuz i wouldnt be surprised if someone here is the person who outbid me lmao. hope everyone is having a great weekend

Was it the red tip from a couple of weeks ago?

I was drinking one night, hopped on the computer and ebay had a red tip that I got outbid by $4. So I decided to wait until the countdown was 30 seconds and I bid just $1 more. I won it! But I felt kinda bad for the person who I outbid by $1 and didn't give him a chance to bid back. At first I thought I was being funny, but later I felt bad. Not a fan of the red tip though and will be re-selling it soon.

[Slash McCoy]

If you lose an auction, either (1) you bid too low, or (2) the other guy paid too much. The common mistake is bidding too low, based on the low bids already out. If you really want an item, DON'T WORRY about what the current high bid is. Bid the most that you are willing to pay for it. If someone bids higher than that, why would you want to increase your bid? You already bid as much as it is worth to you, right? Don't let other peoples' bids influence you to bid higher or lower than what you think a fair price is for the item.

If you win only a few auctions, that is a good thing. It means you are paying rock bottom prices. If you win them all, you are overpaying. Be patient. Want a nice FB? figure on having to bid in 5 to 10 auctions before you win one.

[TCP]

i hate when i get outbid at the last second!!! esp when its not by that much. it kills me. luckily its not the last razor on the planet. i will have another chance at one when another one pops up on ebay .... or the bst or etsy. just wanted to vent to u cuz i wouldnt be surprised if someone here is the person who outbid me lmao. hope everyone is having a great weekend
Sniping is fun. The only way a sniper wins is that his highest bid that he is willing to pay is higher than your highest bid. Nothing magic about it.

HINT: Guaranteed to win most any razor on the Bay. Bid $1000 and it will only cost just a little more that the highest sniping bid that comes in.

[echotron]

My eBay rating is a little over 2000 ... so I've been at it for quite a while.

When I first started out and got sniped, I would get hopping mad .... you didn't want to be around me!

Then after getting sniped a dozen or so times, and sniping others a dozen or so times, I realized that is part of the FUN of bidding on online auctions!

(I rarely snipe now - it has lost its appeal and there has been no item in a long time that I "can't live without".)

If I get beat now, I check to see how much time what left when they bid and if it is less than 5 seconds, I applaude them for being so risky and almost missing the bid.

If you have got to have an item, bid that bad boy up and then if you lose, then think that the winning bidder is an idiot for paying her/his bid!

2 Quick Suggestions:

1) Never bid even amounts like $5.00 or $7.50 ... instead do $5.09 or $7.78

2) Don't make a lot of small bids and drive up the price and give other bidders a possible pattern of your increasing bidding increments ... make 1 or 2 bids max.

Enjoy your bidding ... keep it stress-free as you can .. enjoy your victories and laugh at your losses.

[mattface]

I've lost quite a few items because I was planning to snipe, and something came up at the last second that was more important than sitting with my phone, my finger poised over that bid button waiting for the last second. Yes sniping is a strategy that sometimes works, but it also sometimes backfires. Often now if I'm going to a party, or a meeting, or know I'm going to be driving, I'll bid on items that I've been watching that will be ending during that time. I've won as many times that way as I have sniping, and lost more than I've won both ways. It's no big deal to get outbid, there's always another razor to buy. I've always though it was funny that on ebay "winning" means having agreed to pay more for something than anyone else would. Everything about ebay is designed to get people to pay more for their items. Sure there are bargains to be had, but that's the exception not the rule, so unless you've got very deep pockets, chances are you'll win some and you'll lose some on ebay, but mostly you'll lose some. Getting outbid by a dollar either means someone was willing to pay a dollar more than you were, or you weren't really being honest about how much you were willing to pay. Either way you can't really blame the "sniper" who outbid you for being willing to bid more than you. THat IS the kind of thinking ebay wants you to have though they WANT you to think of it as a competition, a game. It's not shopping , it's WINNING! Don't play the game, just figure out what you're willing to pay, and bid that in the last second, or with 6 days and 22 hours left on the clock, it doesn't really matter in the end.

In fact occasionally if I really want something I'll employ the opposite strategy, and bid high early on to scare off the competition. As a seller I always start items low, because that way more people will look at it and think they might get it as a bargain once they have that in their heads, they're hooked, and then when it gets clsoe to the end, someone's bid it up past what they were originally thinking, they get mad, and they're not gonna "lose" this time! so they bid more. I definitely find if I take a $20 razor and start the bidding at $20, no one will bid on it, but if I start it at a dollar, somehow miraculously it sells for $30. That's great for sellers, but I don't actually like it, and it's a big part of why I switched to selling on Etsy. On Etsy I set a price I think is fair, and the first person to want it for that price gets it. Everyone's happy. I know how to play the ebay game, but I prefer not to.

[JDTTO]

You can only get sniped-out if someone is willing to pay more than you, which is in the spirit of any auction.

This is my take one bidding:

1 Think what the item is worth and the chance is that something similar is offered again.
2 This results in what it is worth to me.
3 I might add 5% if I consider it as a rare opportunity.
4 Bid on the final day (but not necessarily in the final hour), there is no point in bidding (thus commiting) days ahead. Who knows what shows up in the meantime.
5 Not be on ebay in the final quarter of an hour.
6 Check after bidding is closed.

Win: Nice!
Loss: Was not mine to win.

I don't win often but this take keeps frustration and budget under control.

[Slivovitz]

Wouldn't bother here, but this will be my 2700th post, and I want to see if my title will finally change again.[Edit] It didn't.

People tend to have gut level negative reactions to sniping. I noticed one earlier post where the person thought that it was "rude", which to me makes no sense at all. I think people's negative feelings about the practice may go away if they actually analyze why they think the way they do.

If your $20 bid has been sitting there in the lead for a week, and somebody comes in the closing seconds to beat you out, it's easy to think "hey, that guy took my razor", although it wasn't your razor. It's easy to grouse that the sniper didn't give you any time to respond. However, as many others have already pointed out, you had a chance to put in the maximum you were willing to pay already. Also, the sniper may find that your actual bid was higher than what is showing, higher than his snipe, and he hasn't left himself time to put in another bid. He took his chance, and it didn't pay off. So how is this unfair to anybody?

I almost always snipe because I don't want to set a target for people who don't understand automatic bidding to shoot at. If I bid $50 for a razor, I'm willing to pay $50, but I wouldn't mind paying less. If I put in the bid with several days left, then sometimes a competing bidder will put in successive bids trying to see if he can "beat" me, and I'll end up paying my top price. If it goes in with only seconds left, then I might pay $50, or I might get it for $20.

There is a risk that a snipe could never go through. My Internet connection could go down with a minute left in the auction, or the sniping service I'm relying on could have a failure. So far, this has never happened to me, and I don't really worry about it. If it were really a rare chance of a lifetime opportunity then I might put in a bid a day ahead of time, but that would be the only exception.

[rxonmymind]

Arrrrrgh. It just happened to me last night! 6 seconds before 12:10am....Oh well. Congrats to the winners of the cased Gem, super speed, Fator slim and one electric razor.

[Go West Young Man]

8 seconds? Boy, are you generous.:laugh:

I always wait till the last second and bid my max. I fail to understand what is wrong with that strategy.




There are two flaws in your strategy -

First, you need to physically be in front of your computer/phone, logged in and paying attention at t-1 seconds. Auctions that close overnight, during your work day, when you're in the bathroom, driving, etc., all get away from you. Bidding early lets eBay take care of that for you.

Secondly, you're gambling that a bit of network congestion, a wifi slowdown, etc WON'T occur a t-2 seconds, causing your bid to get received by eBay a few seconds after the auction closes.

[72plymsatellite]

In before someone brings up the worst eBay bidding idea ever proposed, which is to extend the auction if a bid happens close to the end of the auction, thus rendering the snipe pointless.

that would be a horrible idea.... then it would be like bidding on that damn quibids which if possible would never end. luckily i think ebay knows they would lose money that way so i dont se it happening............... but i have been wrong before

[imfallen_angel]

Pretty much everyone has already stated the obvious.

The only thing I can add is that when you could see who the sniper was, a few times I found that this sniper would end up reselling the item at a higher price, so that seriously sucked, especially when it was not a common item.

But I tend to "snipe" as I learned that some people will increase their bids in a way to push the price up until they barely get over your limit. Sometimes by a penny.

So now I tend to put my "fair" price limit, and then figure how much trying to get another (if possible) could be, and what would be a reasonable increase.

If a sniper still manages to go over me, then I figure that it wasn't meant to be.

A few times I ended up with the seller emailing me with a "second chance" as the bidder failed to pay, etc. or they had a second identical item in inventory (which they offer at my last bid).

[72plymsatellite]

Was it the red tip from a couple of weeks ago?

I was drinking one night, hopped on the computer and ebay had a red tip that I got outbid by $4. So I decided to wait until the countdown was 30 seconds and I bid just $1 more. I won it! But I felt kinda bad for the person who I outbid by $1 and didn't give him a chance to bid back. At first I thought I was being funny, but later I felt bad. Not a fan of the red tip though and will be re-selling it soon.

no i wanted a pres.

[72plymsatellite]

Sniping is fun. The only way a sniper wins is that his highest bid that he is willing to pay is higher than your highest bid. Nothing magic about it.

HINT: Guaranteed to win most any razor on the Bay. Bid $1000 and it will only cost just a little more that the highest sniping bid that comes in.

what if another person does that as well??? then ur possibly paying 1,000.00 for a red tip because u both did the same thing. :cursing: :mad2:

[paco664]

what if another person does that as well??? then ur possibly paying 1,000.00 for a red tip because u both did the same thing. :cursing: :mad2:

then you will have a great story to tell us.........

[Oscroft]

In before someone brings up the worst eBay bidding idea ever proposed, which is to extend the auction if a bid happens close to the end of the auction, thus rendering the snipe pointless.
that would be a horrible idea.... then it would be like bidding on that damn quibids which if possible would never end. luckily i think ebay knows they would lose money that way so i dont se it happening............... but i have been wrong before

Don't bet on it.

It might be worse for bidders, but it would be better for sellers - and it's sellers who pay eBay's fees.

And it would make it more like a normal auction. Real life auctions don't stop at a specific time, they keep going until all bids are exhausted.

[Oscroft]

I was drinking one night, hopped on the computer and ebay had a red tip that I got outbid by $4. So I decided to wait until the countdown was 30 seconds and I bid just $1 more. I won it! But I felt kinda bad for the person who I outbid by $1 and didn't give him a chance to bid back.

Of course he had the chance to bid back - that's what the eBay bidding system does for you automatically once you've told it the maximum it should bid up to for you. If he was prepared to pay more, then he simply gave it the wrong limit.

[BlkKnight]

I always snipe.

If it's a run of the mill item (FatBoys, Slims etc) - I always snipe low.

I lose 80% of the auctions I bid on. However, the 20% I win - I generally get a good deal.

Would I have got the same deal had I bid early - I doubt it.

Really all sniping does it prevent the auction value climbing as people bid against each other.

In Scotland, they run a closed bid system for houses & it runs pretty well. I'd not object the same in Ebay, it'll probably never happen though as it'll possibly lower overall revenue.

[JDTTO]

A few times I ended up with the seller emailing me with a "second chance" as the bidder failed to pay, etc. or they had a second identical item in inventory (which they offer at my last bid).

In such an occasion I think there might have been a consipiracy between the highest bidder and the vendor. I would not be willing to pay more than one step more than the 2nd highest bidder as the highest bid does not count.

[jwilock]

I sometimes wait seconds before the auction ends and bid the highest price I am willing to pay for the object. I always live by the belief that another similar item will come along and perhaps I can get it cheaper the next time. That has actually happened to me several times.

This is how I always bid on ebay. Not sure why that would offend anyone.

[72plymsatellite]

This is how I always bid on ebay. Not sure why that would offend anyone.

yea i dont see it as being rude at all. i completely understand it. its not like its something new to the world. people do it in live auctions as well. hammer is about to fall on an item, then last minute a new buyer comes in to try for a steal. sure i dont like it happening to me but im not mad at the person for doing it. i didnt mean for it to come across that way lol.

[ouch]

I make it my business to read every thread complaining about sniping. I've always been a big fan of "sour grapes".

Some of the complainers fall into the category I like to call "Al Gore voters". The 2000 election was so close that, statistically speaking, if 100 recounts were made, at least one of them would have shown the wooden indian as the winner. At that point the supporters of Mr. Laughs would have said "We win. Justice has finally prevailed!" But would a single one of them have offered another recount to their newly vanquished opponent? And would the prospective buyer who bemoans not having one more chance to bid another dollar offer the same to the runner up? No way.

It's not about wanting to have one more bid. It's about wanting to have the last bid.

[mmack66]

In such an occasion I think there might have been a consipiracy between the highest bidder and the vendor. I would not be willing to pay more than one step more than the 2nd highest bidder as the highest bid does not count.

Yeah, the "second chance" thing just seems like a scam.

[Mr. Styptic]

Some of the complainers fall into the category I like to call "Al Gore voters". The 2000 election was so close that, statistically speaking, if 100 recounts were made, at least one of them would have shown the wooden indian as the winner. At that point the supporters of Mr. Laughs would have said...

Really in poor taste. This board is almost politics-free, and I'd prefer it stay that way, regardless of which side of the great divide you're on.

[ouch]

Still can't get over it, eh? Proves my point. :001_tt2:

[Mr. Styptic]

Still can't get over it, eh? Proves my point. :001_tt2:

And your response proves mine.

[Oscroft]

Bid once, bid high, bid late. It works.
Yep, that's exactly what I do.

[Stubblefield]

There are two flaws in your strategy -

First, you need to physically be in front of your computer/phone, logged in and paying attention at t-1 seconds. Auctions that close overnight, during your work day, when you're in the bathroom, driving, etc., all get away from you. Bidding early lets eBay take care of that for you.

Secondly, you're gambling that a bit of network congestion, a wifi slowdown, etc WON'T occur a t-2 seconds, causing your bid to get received by eBay a few seconds after the auction closes.I was kidding--I don't actually wait 'till t minus 1. Most of the time I will actually use sniping software, but occasionally do set a timer on my phone and bid via eBay's mobile app. it actually has less issues with network congestion than my computer. Of course, it is not perfect.

I read an analysis a while back that looked at various eBay bidding strategies, written by a couple of statisticians at San Jose State, I believe. I think the thing that came out in the analysis was that late max bidding was a superior strategy for keeping selling prices low, while early max bidding tended to inflate selling prices. At least that is what I recall. It was an interesting read; I'll see if I can find a link.

Take care.

[Stubblefield]

I make it my business to read every thread complaining about sniping. I've always been a big fan of "sour grapes".

I'd like to register a complaint in complaint of all eBay complaint threads.

[jcwit]

It an auction, its how auctions work. Those that bid the highest at the end before the hammer falls are the winners.

Really very simple!

[Geordon]

Really in poor taste. This board is almost politics-free, and I'd prefer it stay that way, regardless of which side of the great divide you're on.

+10. I don't make fun of your candidate, so do me the courtesy of not making fun of mine.

[paco664]

it was 12 years ago... let it go........

sheesh... "shaving forum"....