My first internet auction site was not Ebay. Back in 1998 there was an earlier company. I think Onsale or something like that. It was a standard auction.
Onsale had a policy that if any late bids were placed (I think it was the last 5 minutes) the listing expiration got extended 15 minutes. A very fair and simple solution. It’s like a real auction. The auctioneer gives fair warning before closing the bids. I bought a lot of my computer parts from Onsale.
It was especially beneficial to sellers. Refusing any bid is just foolish. Why piss all over cold hard cash?
Onsale closed and I joined this new web site, Ebay in 1999. Their bidding policy has always baffled me. Why do they allow bid sniping? That doesn’t even match up with real world, face to face auctions.
here’s a hypothetical auction. (remember any bid within 5 mins extends the auction)
listing will expire at 7pm. current bid is $75
6:57pm someone bids $80
auction expiration is now 7:15pm
7:06 bid for $85
7:12 bid for $90
7:14 bid for $95
new expiration is 7:30pm
7:20 bid for $100
7:24 bid for $105
listing ends at 7:30
$105 is the winning bid Sold! to the lady in the red dress!
Read the hypothetical, see how similar that is to a real auctioneer calling for final bids? Any auctioneer will pause and scan the crowd for any bids for at least a full minute before closing an auction. Anybody that wants to bid, can.
This was a successful auction policy at Onsale. I bought items there for almost 2 years. IIRC
I’ve always put in my bid near the end of the auction and made it the highest I am willing to go. I usually do it in the last minute (versus the last second) of the auction. If someone still wants to snipe and they are above my bid, good for them, and if not, then I still win. I don’t put in my bid early because some idiots out there will bid on something just because others have too and decide that even though there are 50 auctions all for the same item you are bidding on, they HAVE to bid on yours because they somehow reason that you have pre-qualified this one as ‘better’ for them. Why do it? Well, that model obviously works or eBay wouldn’t be as successful as they are today.
I use other bids to pre-qualify vintage items. If I see 12 bids for a vintage item it indicates these collectors are excited about it. Or maybe I just got suckered. :o
People do the same at Real world auctions. Desirable items draw multiple bids and that’s an indication that its collectable. My grandmother knew some people by name. She knew who collected depression glass, who collected rookwood. If that person bid then she knew it was a collectable item
You can’t really get “sniped”…unless you didn’t really bid your highest amount. I mean, trying to outdo last-minute bidders is the best way to get suckered into paying more than you want to pay for something. eBay will auto-bid the minimum required to win for you, up to an amount you decide on. If two people bid the same amount the person who bid first comes out on top. I really don’t understand the whole “sniping” business - (general you time) soooo…you would pay up to $50 for an item, but really only bid $25, and in the last 3 seconds someone won by bidding $30 and you didn’t react fast enough? That’s really your fault for not putting $50 in as your top bid in the first place. eBay would’ve autobidded you into the winning position if you had.
And the person who bids in the last 3 seconds - the only way they could be “winning” the bid war that way is if they are depending on everyone else to not bid their maximum amounts to begin with! If everyone bids their maximum amount to begin with, the person with the item at the end is, plain and simple, the person willing to pay the most.
So just bid your maximum amount from the get-go. If you don’t win this auction, you’ll win the next. And you’ll have time to consider just how much an item is worth to you and not get pulled into paying too much.
Because their model is to have the auction end at a known time, not to extend it out indefinitely. The highest bid entered before the end of the auction wins. Easy-peasy.
This only seems to bother people who make emotional decisions. Rational bidders bid as much as they are willing to pay, and will not be goaded into spending more.
Rookwood vasemade in 1942 currently $46. You’ve looked it up in the books and it’s valued at $110. An antique shop would charge the rubes $150. (hypothetical, I don’t have time to look up the real values)
I bid for example $90 (plus shipping) and my winning bid is currently $60. As the end nears I get excited. I’m getting this vase for $60. Not a steal, but a really nice price. Then some a-hole sniper bids $85 in the last 30 seconds.
Now I just won the vase for $90. add in shipping - As a collector I barely broke even on what it’s worth.
This is why buying collectibles on Ebay is a waste of time.
This post makes absolutely no sense. If you weren’t willing to pay $90, why on earth would you bid $90? And what difference does it make whether your bid gets pushed up from $60 to $90 in the last second or with a day to go?
Ebay auctions are not going-going-gone auctions. They’re not supposed to be. They’re an entirely different thing. You can get annoyed with them for that, but it’s like buying an apple and then getting your knickers in a knot because it isn’t orange and doesn’t come in segments.
What are the alternatives? The auction continues until there have been no new bids for 48 hours? Okay, I’ll go in and raise myself by one cent, holding the auction in limbo forever.
The auction really ends two hours before the posted end time? The secret will leak out eventually, and everyone will snipe just before the actual deadline.
Random closing times? “This auction will end in two hours, plus or minus twenty minutes?” You’ll still see “mushy” sniping, somewhere close to the close.
People do this in real life. “Going once… Going twice…” “Twenty four dollars!” It’s part of the drama.
The passion for collecting is the hunt. Going to auctions and bidding strategically. Your blood and adrenaline starts pumping in those final minutes as the auctioneer takes the bids. You get excited but always remember your limit. Never pay too much. A successful auction experience can be so much fun. Especially when you’re buy and reselling.
I started going to auctions with my grandmother when I could barely walk. I’ve seen her buy and sell Rookwood, depression glass and carnival glass over and over again. Usually turning a modest profit. Mostly it was just her hobby and for fun.
Ebay started as an auction for collectors. Pez dispensers. Today with Buy It Now and snipers on the regular auctions there are no bargains on Ebay. It’s ok for collectors looking for a specific piece, but they’ll pay pretty close to retail for it.
Well, a fair auction is one that favors neither the buyer nor the seller - instead, it should yield transactions that both parties find fair but not lopsided.
Collectors who buy and sell get items for various prices and hope it all washes out. You might get an item $30 under, $15 under and then only get another one a few bucks under retail. Then when you sell you hope those prices hold up. Otherwise there’s little to no profit. Of course, you keep the very best pieces. Thats the whole idea. As this stuff goes through your hands you keep improving your own collection.
I’m not into collecting like my grandmother. She could spot a piece of rookwood 20 ft away at a garage sale. I doubt she’d waste her time on Ebay if she were alive today.
What bothers me are snipers who bid over my max but, since they can’t be arsed to read the fine print regarding to where the seller will ship, have no chance of actually winning due to being in a location where the seller will not ship.
Sure, the second chance offer comes into play here but I have to see the offer before it expires in order to take it. And I’d prefer to not pay my max if I take the offer.
You do understand that the timing of the bids makes no difference to the final price, right? The *amounts *of the various bids are the only thing that matters. The price doesn’t somehow go higher if the sniper bids $85 with three seconds to go, compared to if he bids $85 with three days to go.
This is an interesting anti-sniper whine, though. The more usual one is that the evil snipers keep prices low, by not leaving time for the nibblers who would of course have driven up the price if they had only had the chance!!! This ignores the fact that it’s the nibblers who didn’t bid their maximum who actually kept the price low (snipers tend to bid their true maximum, since they understand that they’re not going to get a second chance).
Ironically, Onsale’s approach and real world auctions can drive up prices. There’s no silly deadline. If someone wants to respond with a counter bid they can. The auctioneer is quite willing to give them 20 to 30 seconds to consider it.
All, things have to end. The auctioneer won’t stand there for an hour waiting for a counter bid. The bidder only has seconds to decide. But the opportunity to counter bid is available. A lot of people get carried away in the moment and keep bidding past what they originally intended. Giving the seller a very nice price.
<shrug> Maybe, Ebay drives up prices to. People that snipe have only one chance to bid. It has to be the most they’ll pay.
Not a steal, but a really nice price. 
Then some a-hole sniper bids $85 in the last 30 seconds.