I have recently won a couple of bids on ebay. Now, I’m used to the frantic rush of last minute bids. However, lately, I’ve seen some bids come in the last 15 secs, by bidders with either little or no history, even negative history. One of the bidders that I outbid was a member as long as I was, but with 0 transactions (this was like a year ago). I have just won and lost 8 transactions in the last two weeks (xmas shopping), each one had a bidder against me with a 0 to 10 rating betting in the last 15 secs.
Btw, I estimate that 15 secs is just enough time to put the opposing bidder in “must-win/competitive mode” where the bidder thinks more about the win than his actual buying price. Luckily, I do not experience that anymore. However, I am irked that some of these bids put the price in the unreasonable range, or just squeezing more money out of my max bid.
I don’t think there is anything to be concerned about by people with 0 feedback bidding, unless you’re the seller. Some people join and just never find something they want so badly as to bid on it.
As for examples of sniping, I was outbid on an auction a few days ago by what I can only guess as pure chance as the other guy outbid me in the last second of the auction. And it wasn’t the auto-outbid. This was a completely new bidder to the auction, he had no previous business in it.
there is a site, www.hammersnipe.com, which I of course would never use :rolleyes: that can auto-bid for you on any auction at a set number of seconds before it ends. For free, I think you can go up to 7 seconds before its up, and for $8 a month you can bid closer, like 5, 3, maybe even 1.
I’m not sure precisely what your question is. But if what you mean is: what is sniping and what is it’s purpose, then:
Sniping is bidding as late as possible, ideally so late that no one can see your bid and still have time to bid after that.
It works because many people don’t know what something is worth, and so they judge its worth by what others bid. By bidding at a time that allows others to bid after you, you are assisting your competitors by providing them with valuable market information that they will use against you.
The technique tends to be controversial because some people feel that other bidders are obliged to provide them with market information.
There is no such obligation according to ebay rules.
**mazinger_z **,
Did you have a question in your post? If you’re asking for specific examples of sniping, you can just read tons of them in the eBay community forum at forums.ebay.com/db1/forum.jsp?forum=110. There you can read about everyone’s opinions on the merits of sniping. It is a totally legitimate way to bid in eBay, and is, in fact, the best way for successful bidding – bid just once, as late as possible your maximum bid. You can still lose, but only if someone is willing to pay more than your maximum bid. So no big deal.
Actually, if you’ll allow me to correct myself, what I should have said (from the third paragraph on) is:
[Sniping] works because many people either don’t understand or don’t trust the auto-bid system or don’t know their own mind as to what they are prepared to pay for something. As a result, they will only enter their true maximum bid after they see what others have bid. By bidding at a time that allows others to bid after you, you are only prompting them to put in higher bids, which is not in your own interest.
The technique tends to be controversial because some people feel that other bidders are obliged to provide them with information about their bidding intentions.
There is no such obligation according to ebay rules.
[/QUOTE]
Although sniping is “legitimate” it is not the best way. The best way is to bid your Max as soon as you see the item, then not concern yourself with being outbid.
Sniping does have the chance of either the sniper service, your server (if you do it yourself), or eBay being down for those critical few seconds. If that happens- you can’t win.
While I don’t doubt that the contingencies you mention could happen, they are unlikely.
However, what is very real is that there are many people who will take your maximum as an indication of what they should pay, plus a little. And they will nibble at your maximum till you are outbid. The same people, without anything to aim at, will often not bid as much.
Your theory would work well if everyone bid purely on the basis of clear logical rational, knowledgeable, Spocklike thinking, in which everyone knows what things are worth beforehand, ignores everyone else’s opinion and enunciates a single once and for all bid. That is not what happens.
Anyone who has made even the most cursory amateurish study of marketing and selling knows that people think that something that other people want and will pay for is more desireable.
An early high Max bid is like a sign screaming that you think an item is worth your Max bid. You are ramping up a feeding frenzy against yourself.
Imagine this scenario. You are going to go to a garage sale. You are interested in a widget whose value is uncertain to the non-afficionado. There are a few others there who want the widget but are uninformed ditherers. The seller has announced that he won’t sell till 11.59 am, and will end the sale at 12.00pm
Variation One: You march into the garage sale as soon as the doors open and announce to all and sundry that you are going to buy. A ditherer sidles up to you and proposes that the widget is worth $2, you say immediately that you are prepared to pay more than that. The other ditherer wrings his hands and says he’d pay $3, you immediately say you are prepared to pay more than that. The first ditherer hears this and suggests he’d pay $4, you promptly reply that you will pay more than that. Now a third dither notices this exchange and is intrigued by your confident statements. And so on.
Variation Two: You are not even at the garage sale initially. At 11.59 on the dot you walk in, slap $10 on the counter and say “I’ll take it at $1 more than anyone else has offered you, up to a maximum of $10.” The seller says “Done” before anyone else can get a word in.
Under which will you pay more? If you think Variation Two, you need to take Human Nature 101.
Just to back up what I’m saying, consider that one of the most common complaints about sniping is that it doesn’t:
Now obviously this is crap, because there is plenty of time to put in what REALLY IS your final offer by bidding a proper Max early. But what it illustrates is that some people base their final offer on what your final offer is.
And sniping prevents such people from deciding that their REAL final offer = your final offer, plus one.
Amen Blinx!!! I do exactly as you do…i bid the maximum of what I’m willing to pay and forget about it. If its something I really want I go into sniping mode.
Also 3 things I do to ensure I will be successful at bidding:
Check shipping costs. I thought I was getting a good deal on a painting that was only going to cost me $1.00…the down side, shipping was $30.00. Moral: When you put in your max bid also figure in your shipping costs.
Sellers make alot of mistakes…sometimes they misspell their items or will miscatergorize their items that custumers will not be able to find them where they will expect to find them. I won an auction for a lifesize cardboard cutout of “The Rock” which normally went for like $39.99 with a shipping cost of $15.00. This seller catergorized it in the wrong area where other buyers couldn’t find it. Because of this I was able to capitalized on his/her mistake and get it for $5.00. costing me only $20 bucks. I didn’t have to compete for it.
I work the midnight shift from 10:30 to 7am pst…alot of sellers (in my opinion) mistakenly end some of these good steals at the most ungodly hours…hours wehre someone like me is able to capitilize on…that is until about 3am…thats when the east coast people start waking up.
No- all giving their opinion (as snipers, mind you) that their method is the best. I will poitn out that Lowballers and Nibblers also think their method is the best.
If indeed- eBay ony had a few thing up for auction, and they were all had scads of interested bidders- then sure- sniping might be best. But often I am the only bidder. Or I am the only bidder with one sniper. Then- it mattered not if he sniped or not.
…until, that is, one of the bidding warriors withdraws his bids, or gets kicked off of eBay, at which point you see the going rate for your item plummet. And for all you know, other interested bidders have been scared off by the inflated price in the mean time. Been there…
