How fucking pathetic are people going to get on this planet?

[pkbites]

This is not the first time this has happened to me. I got a nasty e-mail from some waste of his fathers sperm bitching at me about an item I had won on an auction site.

"I was trying to get this for my mother. Now what am I suppose to do? Placing a bid at the very last moment is a sneaky rat thing to do and I hope you have a lousy new year"

B-O-O H-O-O!

What are you supposed to do? A suicide pact with your mother would make interesting reading in tomorrows paper.

What's really fucking weird is, I won that item over 2 weeks before I got this fucked up e-mail.

[ParentalAdvisory]

Fuck him.

[MsWhatsit]

I suppose that offering to sell it to him at a 25% markup wouldn't make him feel any better, either. There's just no satisfying some people.

[Q.E.D.]

Dear moron,

Tough shit.

Love,
pkbites

P.S. I'll give it to her in the morning.

[Stratocaster]

My wife loves being a "sniper" on Ebay. It's all part of the fun. What ParentalAdvisory said--if everyone is playing by the same rules, tough shit when you don't win. You don't want a last minute bid to beat you? Then bid higher and reduce the chances. Highest bid wins, seems fair to me.

[Harmonious Discord]

Other than being mentally deranged I see no reason for this email two weeks later. Better watch out with that person. They haven't tracked you down yet, so be sure to not reply.

[Cuckoorex]

Give it to me my mommy wants it now

ETA: Weird, I just realized that SDMB converts all caps to all lower case...kind of negates the impact of the post...

[don't ask]

The thing that most impresses me about E-bay is how they have got people to talk about winning a fucking auction as though it's an achievement.

"Hey man I just won the Pulitzer prize."
"What a coincidence I won a red hat on Ebay."

Excuse me didn't you simply bid more than anyone else? The few things I have bought haven't made me feel like a winner on any level. Anyhow I am off now to win some breakfast at the buy it now price at the local cafe.

[faithfool]

How'd they even get your email in the first place? Even if I've had a transaction with someone in the past, they won't let me get at a way to contact them unless it's something current. Folks who've got no reason to bother you (like this schmuck) shouldn't be able to even get to your information through the eBay system.

[Q.E.D.]

The thing that most impresses me about E-bay is how they have got people to talk about winning a fucking auction as though it's an achievement.

:confused: What word would you suggest they use?

[Q.E.D.]

Folks who've got no reason to bother you (like this schmuck) shouldn't be able to even get to your information through the eBay system.

We don't know that it's eBay. The OP didn't say, and there are other auction sites, believe it or not.

[faithfool]

We don't know that it's eBay. The OP didn't say, and there are other auction sites, believe it or not.


Really?? :eek:

[Q.E.D.]

I know, I was shocked, too.

Most of the ones I know of are specialized for a particular interest group.

[Moirai]

My wife loves being a "sniper" on Ebay.

Yep- first thing my husband taught me.

[ParentalAdvisory]

Yep- first thing my husband taught me.

Sometimes it's not about the price I'm willing to pay, but how bad I want the item. If I want it, I'll snipe it.

[Huerta88]

Solutions for someone who really wants and needs the item that badly:

Place a maximum bid that's really really high. Through the magic of eBay, your nominal bid will only stairstep up to a little beyond what someone else is willing to pay (putting aside shills, which unlike sniping are a legitimate problem).
Buy It Now.
Or, don't join the game if you don't like the way it's played. Maybe even consider paying retail.

[Heffalump and Roo]

The thing that most impresses me about E-bay is how they have got people to talk about winning a fucking auction as though it's an achievement.

"Hey man I just won the Pulitzer prize."
"What a coincidence I won a red hat on Ebay."
Yeah, I hate that too. Why do people use the same word for very different things.

"Yahoo, I just graduated from a Ph.D. program."
"Oh yeah, well, I just graduated from kindergarten."

5 year-olds really shouldn't feel that much entitlement unless they have a Ph.D. too! :p

[Silver Tyger]

I'll admit I hate sniping, but I was on eBay before it was popular and before sniping got started. And I realize that sniping is the standard way of winning right now, so I don't bitch about it. I still wish people had to bid normally before sniped, just so you knew how much competition you have.

(I hadn't realized before I did a paper on eBay that there's sniping software. Sheesh.)

In other words: if you don't like how eBay works (which is mostly sniping) don't use it. Sniping isn't unfair, it's a good way to get what you want and not spend more than you mean to.

[delphica]

That's ridiculous.

Write back to let the person know that you got the item for an ORPHAN who is BLIND and has CANCER. That should trump a mother.

[Q.E.D.]

Write back to let the person know that you got the item for an ORPHAN who is BLIND and has CANCER. That should trump a mother.

Speaking of ridiculous: He should, what, be equally childish to one-up the idiot and WIN TEH INTARWEBZ? Whatever.

[astro]

How'd they even get your email in the first place? Even if I've had a transaction with someone in the past, they won't let me get at a way to contact them unless it's something current. Folks who've got no reason to bother you (like this schmuck) shouldn't be able to even get to your information through the eBay system.


EBay shows the list of bidder names and you can send a message to another eBay bidder via eBay even if you did not do an auction with them. EBay forwards the message so the sender does not know your actual email address. it's designed to let members communicate safely.

[Fear Itself]

EBay shows the list of bidder names...Not any more (http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=120342792735):To help keep the eBay community safe, enhance bidder privacy, and protect our members from fraudulent emails, eBay has changed how User IDs display on the bid history page. Only you and the seller of the item can view your User ID, all other members will see anonymous user IDs, such as x***y.

[faithfool]

I started to say, they haven't done that in a while. As far as I know, if you even need to get in touch with someone due to a past sale; once everything is wrapped up as far as the system is concerned, unless you kept their contact information from that, you're pretty SOL.


And the one time someone did to me what the OP had done to them, I emailed back and explained that when I was new to eBay someone had 'sniped' me and I lost something I really wanted. I told them I figured this was the price of doing business on there (much like Silver said) and that it taught me to be extremely cautious (IE: snipe myself :p ) in the future and they might benefit from doing likewise. I wonder why I never heard anything back.... :D

[Tarwater]

Speaking of ridiculous: He should, what, be equally childish to one-up the idiot and WIN TEH INTARWEBZ? Whatever.

No, he should write back and tell him tough shit, he won the fucking auction, so fuck you. He should also mention that he's sleeping with the man's mother, because saying you've slept with somebody's mother is not at all tired or old.

[Q.E.D.]

I really should learn to include closed captions for the humor impaired. :rolleyes:

[delphica]

Speaking of ridiculous: He should, what, be equally childish to one-up the idiot and WIN TEH INTARWEBZ? Whatever.

Never in a million years did I think anyone would take that as a serious suggestion. I was going more for deadpan exaggeration of the original complainer's "Waaah, it for my mother" email. I guess I need those closed captions myself!

[Q.E.D.]

D'oh! :smack:

[pkbites]

How'd they even get your email in the first place?


That's a pretty goddamn good question. I'd never even thought about that! I'm wondering if they got it from the seller, which may be why it took over 2 weeks for me to get this weird email.

It was Ebay, by the way.

I haven't returned the message. I didn't intend to have any contact with them, but now I'd like to find out how the fuck they got my email address in the first place!

[Red Barchetta]

I agree that he has no right to bitch (particularly in the manner that he did), but I can certainly understand his frustrations.

I've come up with a way to solve this "problem" however, that's both beneficial to buyers and sellers: anytime a bid comes in just before closing, extend the bidding by a few more minutes (say 5, for example). This gives everyone a chance to continue bidding, while increasing the amount the seller makes, giving them something closer to the object's true value. It's a win/win situation and I'm very surprised it hasn't been implemented yet.

[Huerta88]

I agree that he has no right to bitch (particularly in the manner that he did), but I can certainly understand his frustrations.

I've come up with a way to solve this "problem" however, that's both beneficial to buyers and sellers: anytime a bid comes in just before closing, extend the bidding by a few more minutes (say 5, for example). This gives everyone a chance to continue bidding, while increasing the amount the seller makes, giving them something closer to the object's true value. It's a win/win situation and I'm very surprised it hasn't been implemented yet.

Xeno's paradox, though.

And more work for all the buyers. When I get sniped, it's not because I raise my bid five seconds before the end and someone else sneaks in at three. It's because I can't be bothered to monitor the exact second an auction ends and then race to see who has the fastest fingers (or software).

[Fear Itself]

I've come up with a way to solve this "problem" however, that's both beneficial to buyers and sellers: anytime a bid comes in just before closing, extend the bidding by a few more minutes (say 5, for example). This gives everyone a chance to continue bidding, while increasing the amount the seller makes, giving them something closer to the object's true value. It's a win/win situation and I'm very surprised it hasn't been implemented yet.I've wondered the same thing. Someone once explained why there was a downside for eBay, but for the life of me, I can't recall what it was.

[Justin Credible]

I agree that he has no right to bitch (particularly in the manner that he did), but I can certainly understand his frustrations.

I've come up with a way to solve this "problem" however, that's both beneficial to buyers and sellers: anytime a bid comes in just before closing, extend the bidding by a few more minutes (say 5, for example). This gives everyone a chance to continue bidding, while increasing the amount the seller makes, giving them something closer to the object's true value. It's a win/win situation and I'm very surprised it hasn't been implemented yet.

About 10 years ago, when Yahoo auctions was still alive, they used to have that very feature.

[pkbites]

I agree that he has no right to bitch (particularly in the manner that he did), but I can certainly understand his frustrations.

I've come up with a way to solve this "problem" however, that's both beneficial to buyers and sellers: anytime a bid comes in just before closing, extend the bidding by a few more minutes (say 5, for example). This gives everyone a chance to continue bidding, while increasing the amount the seller makes, giving them something closer to the object's true value. It's a win/win situation and I'm very surprised it hasn't been implemented yet.


Gunbroker does this. But so what if Ebay doesn't? Lifes a bitch and then you die. Being frustrated that you lost is one thing. But to actually email the winner and whine that you didn't win something for your mommy is beyond fucking pathetic!!

[Guinastasia]

pkbites, do you mind if I ask what the item was?

I'm guessing the person probably wouldn't have paid for the item anyways, had he or she won.

[Grumman]

He'd have a point if eBay required manual bidding, but isn't the whole point of proxy bidding so that people can't undercut you at the last second? Either your maximum bid is less than you think the item is worth, in which case it's almost inevitable that someone else will come along who is willing to accept a slightly lower discount, or it isn't, which just means they were willing to pay more than you think it's worth.

[faithfool]

That's a pretty goddamn good question. I'd never even thought about that! I'm wondering if they got it from the seller, which may be why it took over 2 weeks for me to get this weird email.

It was Ebay, by the way.

I haven't returned the message. I didn't intend to have any contact with them, but now I'd like to find out how the fuck they got my email address in the first place!

Yeah, I'm wondering if there's some relation too. So although I doubt you'd get a response back from the person who emailed you explain where they got their information, I'd definitely (well, if it bothered me a bunch) let eBay know it happened. Because they supposedly frown on this sort of thing a great deal.

Good luck.

[Q.E.D.]

I'm guessing the person probably wouldn't have paid for the item anyways, had he or she won.

Huh? Based on what?

[Don't fight the hypothetical]

Is this really new? I though being the last bidder was the point. Fuck him, seconded.

[Projammer]

I snipe for my own protection. I have been known to get "auction fever" and wind up paying more than an item is worth to me. With my sniping software I decide well ahead of time how much I'm willing to pay and that's that. If I win, great. If not, there's probably going to be another one along later.

I have been known to post exceptional bids for something that I don't expect to see again any time soon, if ever.

But as too the complaintant in the OP, f*ck him. Feed him fish heads.

[Little Nemo]

"I was trying to get this for my mother. Now what am I suppose to do? Placing a bid at the very last moment is a sneaky rat thing to do and I hope you have a lousy new year""What a coincidence. I bought it for your mother too. Want to know what she gave me?"

[Fear Itself]

Sniping software? Pansy.

Half the fun of sniping is doing it like a man, with two windows open, one all set to pull the trigger, and refreshing the other every two seconds so you can watch the clock and drop the hammer with ten seconds to spare.

Now that's sniping.

[Moirai]

Ha! What kind of pussy has two windows open? Refresh, refresh, refresh, baby, then GRAB IT!!!

:D

[beowulff]

He'd have a point if eBay required manual bidding, but isn't the whole point of proxy bidding so that people can't undercut you at the last second? Either your maximum bid is less than you think the item is worth, in which case it's almost inevitable that someone else will come along who is willing to accept a slightly lower discount, or it isn't, which just means they were willing to pay more than you think it's worth.

Bingo.

[Jackmannii]

Half the fun of sniping is doing it like a man, with two windows open, one all set to pull the trigger, and refreshing the other every two seconds so you can watch the clock and drop the hammer with ten seconds to spare.Ten seconds? Anything over two is not truly living on the edge.

I got sniped a couple days ago on Ebay on a $1.10 bid on a package of flower seeds.

You sniped me for a goddamn lousy pack of seeds, so you could get it for $1.35. You PATHETIC LOSER!

I didn't really want it anyway. :(

[Cat Whisperer]

Ten seconds? Anything over two is not truly living on the edge.

I got sniped a couple days ago on Ebay on a $1.10 bid on a package of flower seeds.

You sniped me for a goddamn lousy pack of seeds, so you could get it for $1.35. You PATHETIC LOSER!

I didn't really want it anyway. :(
Was it the *good* clematis?

[Jackmannii]

Was it the *good* clematis?Nah, amaranthus. Nobody better get in my way the next time, or I'll just send out nasty e-mails at random. :mad:5 year-olds really shouldn't feel that much entitlement unless they have a Ph.D. too!In some ways, Ebay does operate at a kindergarten level. Actual message received from the management:

"Look at you! You're off and running on eBay with five positive feedback comments. In fact you're halfway to your Yellow Star!"

Maybe if I work really hard at it, eventually they'll let me go to the bathroom all by myself!

[Biffy the Elephant Shrew]

Maybe if I work really hard at it, eventually they'll let me go to the bathroom all by myself!

...and sell the results on eBay.

[Red Barchetta]

Xeno's paradox, though.

And more work for all the buyers. When I get sniped, it's not because I raise my bid five seconds before the end and someone else sneaks in at three. It's because I can't be bothered to monitor the exact second an auction ends and then race to see who has the fastest fingers (or software).

I have no what a "Xeno's Paradox" is and a quick google searched failed to inform me how it might apply to this. Please enlighten me.

And it's only more work for the buyers if they really want that product--they now have the choice of not proceeding further instead of being forced not to. I still don't see the downside.

[SomeUserName]

Ha! What kind of pussy has two windows open? Refresh, refresh, refresh, baby, then GRAB IT!!!

:D

Word! Oh the good ole days when I used to buy stuff on ebay. That was some fun shit right there.

Several years ago I won a wool coat sniping on ebay. The seller then sent me an email stating that she was going to sell me the coat and abide by the auction rules but she had someone else that had also bid and they had sent her an email stating that they would pay her more if she would renege on the auction and sell it to her instead.

Of course I told her no that I wanted the coat. The seller did as she promised and I got the coat a week later. I still have it too and wear it every winter.

Fuck those whiny assholes. Either bid your highest bid and shut up or snipe like the rest of us.

[bathsheba]

I used to have a website where I published all the crezzy emails I got from buyers. Have it on good authority that ebay staffers thought it was funny.

[Dunderman]

I snipe for my own protection. I have been known to get "auction fever" and wind up paying more than an item is worth to me. With my sniping software I decide well ahead of time how much I'm willing to pay and that's that.Why would you need sniping software for this? I haven't used eBay in ages, but surely they still have the "maximum bid" function?

[pkbites]

pkbites, do you mind if I ask what the item was?

An old closed caption decoder box from the early 80's. I'm using it to run cable through an old television set that wasn't hooked up to cable. This isn't the first time I've bought one of these for this purpose. They work great and provide a remote control to change channels and even adjust volume on an old set that otherwise did not have that capability. They also, of course, provide closed captioning.

Although it's been several years, IIRC the last time I bought one of these I got a nasty email about it. What the fuck? Is there a hearing impaired mafia out there or what?

[calm kiwi]

Although it's been several years, IIRC the last time I bought one of these I got a nasty email about it. What the fuck? Is there a hearing impaired mafia out there or what?

Just to be clear I have never even visited eBay let alone bought or sold anything off it so I know nothing but maybe you just hit the reason.

The deaf/hearing impaired community is VERY staunch.

Oh that makes it sound like I'm deaf, I'm not. I just have a teensy insight into the deaf community.

[Hogwash]

Why would you need sniping software for this? I haven't used eBay in ages, but surely they still have the "maximum bid" function?
I haven't used it for ages or ever used sniping software, so I could be wrong, but I believe that the difference is the timing of the bids.

With sniping, you don't record your bid until the closing femtoseconds of the auction. So someone could have the winning bid of $1 for almost the entire time, and you, or the software you use from www.OMGsnipeEbayNowAndSATISFYher.com, swoop in at the last moment and get it for $1.05. It's like pretending you don't want the last cookie on the table and then, as someone else reaches for it, you snatch it from under their fingertips. Yeah, yeah, you wanted to pay a higher price, so you deserve the item, just as you deserve the cookie because you're not breaking any 'rules'.

[cckerberos]

About 10 years ago, when Yahoo auctions was still alive, they used to have that very feature.
They still do. (Yahoo auctions is the dominant auction site here)

[WhyNot]

The thing that most impresses me about E-bay is how they have got people to talk about winning a fucking auction as though it's an achievement.


One day I realized - about eBay in particular, but all auctions in general - that "winning" an auction means you've paid more for an item than anyone else thinks it's worth. Seems kinda loserish, actually! :smack:

[Lobsang]

Anyone who goes to an auction and then takes a moral high ground when he doesn't win is an idiot.

[Dunderman]

With sniping, you don't record your bid until the closing femtoseconds of the auction. So someone could have the winning bid of $1 for almost the entire time, and you, or the software you use from www.OMGsnipeEbayNowAndSATISFYher.com, swoop in at the last moment and get it for $1.05.That is indeed what sniping is, and if someone has entered a maximum bid higher than $1.05, they win anyway. Right?

[Q.E.D.]

One day I realized - about eBay in particular, but all auctions in general - that "winning" an auction means you've paid more for an item than anyone else thinks it's worth

So what? All that means is the item was worth more to you than it was to the other bidders, and you were willing to pay for it. If winning an auction makes me a "loser" to you, well, whatthefuckever. More for me.

[WhyNot]

So what? All that means is the item was worth more to you than it was to the other bidders, and you were willing to pay for it. If winning an auction makes me a "loser" to you, well, whatthefuckever. More for me.
Touchy today, aren't we? No, I don't think you're A Loser, I think paying more that anyone else is willing to is more in line with what we think of as losing than winning. It was an amusing observation on the nature of language, nothing else.

[Dead Badger]

Or you could look at it as meaning that, unless you were forced up to your absolute maximum bid, you got the item for less than you really thought it was worth. At worst, you got it for exactly what you thought it was worth (assuming you were bidding dispassionately). Sounds like a win or a draw to me.

The main way to really lose an auction is to "win" when you could've gotten it for less. Because eBay effectively operates a second-price scheme, this problem is mitigated; you only pay what the second guy bid plus the bid increment, so you couldn't have paid any less and still won.

On eBay the main way to suffer buyer's remorse is to allow yourself to bid up past your true valuation. But if you're under your personal valuation and have the item, I'd say you've won.

[Bosstone]

That is indeed what sniping is, and if someone has entered a maximum bid higher than $1.05, they win anyway. Right?I'm puzzled on this too. I haven't touched eBay in years except to deal with a few Buy It Now vendors, but when I last looked at it, I thought the point of their bidding system was that you could enter your max price, but that wasn't necessarily your bid. So if you saw something for $1 and decided you'd pay $3 at most for it, you'd enter $3.00 but it would record your bid as $1.05 (or whatever the minimum interval was). If someone else put in a max bid at $2.00, the current bid would immediately jump to $2.05 because you're willing to pay more than they. If someone tried to snipe the auction by bidding $2.10, thinking that was the limit, wouldn't your bid just go up to $2.15 automatically?

Obviously sniping would work if the snipe bid was higher than your max bid, but that doesn't seem like it would be the case very often. Am I wrong in how this works?

[cckerberos]

I'm puzzled on this too. I haven't touched eBay in years except to deal with a few Buy It Now vendors, but when I last looked at it, I thought the point of their bidding system was that you could enter your max price, but that wasn't necessarily your bid. So if you saw something for $1 and decided you'd pay $3 at most for it, you'd enter $3.00 but it would record your bid as $1.05 (or whatever the minimum interval was). If someone else put in a max bid at $2.00, the current bid would immediately jump to $2.05 because you're willing to pay more than they. If someone tried to snipe the auction by bidding $2.10, thinking that was the limit, wouldn't your bid just go up to $2.15 automatically?

Obviously sniping would work if the snipe bid was higher than your max bid, but that doesn't seem like it would be the case very often. Am I wrong in how this works?
Sure, sniping wouldn't matter if everyone bid that way. But a lot of people don't bid their maximum bid; rather, they just make a series of incremental bids. Maybe they're just fooling themselves about how much they're willing to pay when they initially bid, or maybe they just get competitive when it looks like they might lose. When you snipe you don't give the other bidders the necessary time to realize that maybe they actually do want to spend a bit more.

[Chefguy]

That's a pretty goddamn good question. I'd never even thought about that! I'm wondering if they got it from the seller, which may be why it took over 2 weeks for me to get this weird email.

It was Ebay, by the way.

I haven't returned the message. I didn't intend to have any contact with them, but now I'd like to find out how the fuck they got my email address in the first place!

If it came directly to your email address without going through the ebay server, then they got it from the seller (probably with a "I just want to see if he'll sell it to me" whine), which is highly unethical. Ebay should be told about this, and you should email the seller and complain to them about it. Responding is dangerous for a variety of reasons, unless you like purging viruses from your hard drive.

[iamthewalrus(:3=]

Sniping works because most people don't really put the maximum amount they're willing to pay into the proxy amount. Sometimes it's because they get emotionally attached to a single auction and will get caught up in a bidding war. Sometimes it's because they are also planning on sniping. Sometimes it's for other reasons.

The fact is that for any given auction, there are often bidders who will bid a certain amount, then, later, if they're not the high bid, up their maximum with a higher bid. Sniping prevents those people from realizing that they're not going to win and bidding higher, which results in a lower price for the buyer.

As for why eBay doesn't prevent this behavior, I can only assume that they think it leads to bigger profits for them. I can think of a few reasons this might be:

1. Increasing the number of auctions that go for a higher price would decrease people's use of Reserve Prices, a service that eBay makes money on both by directly selling the Reserve Price option, and by relisting fees when an item fails to meet a reserve price.

2. Increasing the price of items would drive buyers away because they no longer feel like they're getting a great deal.

[flyboy]

Responding is dangerous for a variety of reasons, unless you like purging viruses from your hard drive.Out of curiosity, how does responding open one up to this?

[Khan]

The only time I did NOT snipe on eBay was my very first auction. If I buy something there, it's because I can't get it retail--not because I feel like having a "sporting" day at the virtual auction house.

In my experience, the people who bitch about sniping are either whiny assholes like those described in the OP, or certain members of hobbyist forums whose only passion other than building scale aircraft models is decrying "evolutionism" as a "pet theory" of durned libruls.

And I second reporting the seller to eBay and leaving an addendum to any feedback left about his/her disclosure of your email address to that loser.

[Kobal2]

I have no what a "Xeno's Paradox" is and a quick google searched failed to inform me how it might apply to this. Please enlighten me.

And it's only more work for the buyers if they really want that product--they now have the choice of not proceeding further instead of being forced not to. I still don't see the downside.

It's a bit of logical rethoric which posits that it's impossible for Achilles to outrun a turtle, because both move at the same time : the instant Achilles reaches the turtle (time T), the turtle has moved forward. At T+1, Achilles moves forward again, to reach the point where the turtle is, but the turtle has moved again. Since the number of T instants is infinite, it's impossible for him to take the lead. Or something like that, it's somewhat convoluted and (obviously) absurd to begin with.
Zeno also posited that motion was a logical impossibility. What can I say, the guy had ample free time :p

Anyway, the poster's point in invoking the Paradox was that if bidding lengthens the bidding window, it allows someone else to bid. And extend the window. For someone else to bid, ad infinitum. Of course this paradox is solved when the item has reached a price where no one wishes to bid further, but that kinda goes against the whole "using eBay to get impossibly good deals" concept.

[Helen's Eidolon]

I have no what a "Xeno's Paradox" is and a quick google searched failed to inform me how it might apply to this. Please enlighten me.


I think he meant Zeno (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeno_of_Elea). I'm not entirely sure what it has in common with his paradoxes, except the vague idea of time and/or space increasing and/or decreasing.

[Silver Tyger]

Why would you need sniping software for this? I haven't used eBay in ages, but surely they still have the "maximum bid" function?

Sniping also keeps you from getting emotionally involved and bidding more than you can afford to. I can't even let myself window shop these days, cuz I end up seeing something that I *WANT* and then when I don't get that I find something else to make up for it. But no one ever said I have impulse control.

[Hogwash]

Isn't sniping a race to the bottom? Like buying an SUV so that you'll cream the other guy in an accident, until everyone gets SUVs and we're all back to square one. Will we ever reach a point where nobody bids and everybody snipes? Is that a good place to be? How does it work when multiple people try to snipe an auction? Who wins out? Does it depend on the software used? So many questions...

[Fear Itself]

How does it work when multiple people try to snipe an auction? Who wins out? Same as without sniping, the highest bid wins. If I snipe an auction after another sniper, but my bid is lower than his, I lose.Does it depend on the software used?It shouldn't. Even if the sniping software allows you to select how close to the end of the aution to place the snipe, if you are not the high bidder, you will lose. Will we ever reach a point where nobody bids and everybody snipes? Is that a good place to be? That's a fair question. If everybody sniped, I would guess that prices would be lower, because everybody only bids once, and cannot become emotionally involved in the auction to the point where they would bid more than they originally intended. Good for buyers, bad for sellers.

[Wallenstein]

Isn't sniping a race to the bottom? Like buying an SUV so that you'll cream the other guy in an accident, until everyone gets SUVs and we're all back to square one. Will we ever reach a point where nobody bids and everybody snipes? Is that a good place to be? How does it work when multiple people try to snipe an auction? Who wins out? Does it depend on the software used? So many questions...

It then becomes effectively a "sealed bid" best-and-final-offer type auction, which is how houses are sometimes sold.

Same principle really, you decide how much you want to pay and whoever is highest wins.

[Really Not All That Bright]

What happens if two bidders enter the same max bid?

[Fear Itself]

What happens if two bidders enter the same max bid?Earliest bid wins.

[Borborygmi]

LOSER. SLOW TO RESPOND. WOULD SNIPE AGAlN. FFFFFF--------

[Hogwash]

Perhaps I should have phrased it better. I was wondering what would happen if two people sniped at the same time, say one second before end of auction, for the same amount. I suppose there will be a slight time difference in whichever reaches the server first, taking into account network latency and other factors.

If sniping were rampant, most people would leave it to the lowest allowable amount of time remaining (one second?) for the snipe. Imagine an item that had no bids but 50 people viewing with snipes set up to bid at the last second. Yes, most would be too low, but what if there 3, 4, 5 people bidding the same highest amount? I guess it almost becomes a lottery. Maybe it's unlikely for such a scenario to occur with several identical high bids, but it's an interesting hypothetical.

I think it would be a good idea for to extend an auction, perhaps by two minutes, if a bid is received in the closing minute, and have unlimited extensions. This helps out people who may not know what sniping is but are watching the auction close live on their PC. It's also more in keeping with the 'Going once...going twice...' spirit of auctions.

[SpaceDog]

I think it would be a good idea for to extend an auction, perhaps by two minutes, if a bid is received in the closing minute, and have unlimited extensions. This helps out people who may not know what sniping is but are watching the auction close live on their PC. It's also more in keeping with the 'Going once...going twice...' spirit of auctions.

I could have sworen ebay used to do this, but maybe I'm thinking of Yahoo as others have said.

The downside, for ebay, is if you know the auction ends in ten seconds and you've time for one bid then you'll bid a decent maximum bid, if someone else does then the item will go for a lot. If you know the auction is extended then you'll just bid the minimum to try and see if you have competition.

The fixed time and automatic bid-up-to-maximum should secure the best price for items that aren't in a frenzied bidding war. Also it's nice for sellers to know when their auction ends (for the small sellers who want to package everything that day and head to the post office).

[iamthewalrus(:3=]

If sniping were rampant, most people would leave it to the lowest allowable amount of time remaining (one second?) for the snipe. Imagine an item that had no bids but 50 people viewing with snipes set up to bid at the last second. Yes, most would be too low, but what if there 3, 4, 5 people bidding the same highest amount? I guess it almost becomes a lottery.As far as eBay is concerned, there is no "at the same time". However those bids end up making it in to be tabulated, they are sequential. As for which one will actually be the "first" such bid, I'd guess it would be mostly up to luck which bid is routed faster. But there is a well-defined ordering on them.

[muttrox]

If it came directly to your email address without going through the ebay server, then they got it from the seller (probably with a "I just want to see if he'll sell it to me" whine), which is highly unethical. Ebay should be told about this, and you should email the seller and complain to them about it. Responding is dangerous for a variety of reasons, unless you like purging viruses from your hard drive.

Don't fool yourself -- the reason emails go through the Ebay system is that they want to keep you from completing the transaction offline, denying them their cut of the sale. Their business model is built on making sure that you can't just call up the seller on the phone and make an offer without Ebay knowing about it.

(Our company has worked both as a partner of Ebay and a competitor to Ebay, this was one of the many things we butted heads about.)

[muttrox]

"I was trying to get this for my mother. Now what am I suppose to do? Placing a bid at the very last moment is a sneaky rat thing to do and I hope you have a lousy new year"

Is there any reason to be sure they are being honest? Maybe they're scamming you to get the item for cheaper. I'll bet this would be a good technique to get discounts.

[BlinkingDuck]

You sniped away his/hers mother's Christmas present??!?

Wow...you really are a wart on the asshole of society!

[BlinkingDuck]

Why would you need sniping software for this? I haven't used eBay in ages, but surely they still have the "maximum bid" function?

I used to buy some stuff on Ebay...mostly nostaligic stuff I had as a kid.

I noticed that if I entered a true maximum bid...then I would usually win very near that price. I started to get suspicious that the seller was somehow finding out the info and raising the price to right below it so he/she would get the highest possible price from me. Therefore, I stopped using that feature.

[control-z]

I noticed that if I entered a true maximum bid...then I would usually win very near that price. I started to get suspicious that the seller was somehow finding out the info and raising the price to right below it so he/she would get the highest possible price from me. Therefore, I stopped using that feature.

I never had any luck doing that either.

A few years ago I came up with a method to determine someone's maximum bid, I forget what it was, but it was something like bidding above the high bidder in 10 cent increments until your bid wasn't turned down, but I was still able to back out. Not sure if you can still do that, but maybe that's what someone is doing to you.

[pkbites]

Is there any reason to be sure they are being honest? Maybe they're scamming you to get the item for cheaper. I'll bet this would be a good technique to get discounts.


Why would that work? I'm not the seller, I bought the item, and I'm not selling it to anyone else. Fuck him and his mother.

[BlinkingDuck]

I never had any luck doing that either.

A few years ago I came up with a method to determine someone's maximum bid, I forget what it was, but it was something like bidding above the high bidder in 10 cent increments until your bid wasn't turned down, but I was still able to back out. Not sure if you can still do that, but maybe that's what someone is doing to you.

Probably... I think I tried this and found another way...start with aweird bid, like $xx.84...and raise in $1 increments until the allowed bid was less than $1 above or something like that (this was long ago and memory is fuzzy). I was (and am) convinced that sellers could find my max bid because of the bidding behavior of items I won versus items I lost.

[msmith537]

Other than being mentally deranged I see no reason for this email two weeks later. Better watch out with that person. They haven't tracked you down yet, so be sure to not reply.

If I had to take seriously every moron who threatened me, I'd have to live in a castle with a moat.


Out of curiousity, why would anyone bid on an item at any other time than right before the auction closes?


I suggest the OP craft his letter as such:


Dear Loser,

Don't worry. Your mother and I will be enjoying our new [item] shortly. Please don't come up out of her basement if you happen to hear any "happy noises" from upstairs.

By the way, I'm your real father.

Warmest retards,

pkbites

[Robin Goodfellow]

Ha! What kind of pussy has two windows open? Refresh, refresh, refresh, baby, then GRAB IT!!!

:D
AMATEURS.

What kind of spoiled whippersnappers mash Refresh?! I just open the bid page a few days early and then start counting.

:p


I'm pro-sniping, not that I'm actually all that good at it. It's exactly like having an auction that takes 10 days, but instead of getting all the maximum bids slowly, they zip in in the same minute or two. Still, the highest bidder wins it, and no one has to pay more than anyone else was going to.

If you're not sniping, however, your best chance will come if you set a maximum bid that's a good ~15% more than the displayed bid, because snipers will aim based on that. The instant rebid can usually handle it unless it's someone who just wants it more.


Also, to the OP - There are lots of funny things to say to Mr. Internet Butthurt, but if you want to take the (possibly) high road and consider their internet detectivism to be harassment, then this page may help you: In all types of listings, including Classified Ads, sellers must treat the buyer’s contact information in full compliance with eBay's Privacy Policy. This policy prohibits sharing the buyer's information with third parties as well as use of the buyer's information for any purpose other than communicating with the buyer about the item, unless expressly allowed to do so by the buyer.