OT - Ebay Bidding Tactics

Jay Honeck wrote:


For at least the last five auctions, I have been out-bid at the very
last second...literally. Today I tried putting in my bid with just 8
seconds to go in the auction, was "high bidder" for 6 seconds....and
was out-bid with literally 1 second left!

Since I was high-bidder by a good $40 (on a $200 unit) with just 6
seconds left, obviously someone -- or something -- is able to submit
bids extraordinarily fast. I've heard that there are programs that
automate the bidding process -- is that what I'm seeing here?


You don't lose because someone bid later, you lose because you didn't
bid high enough. Bid the maximum that you are willing to pay. You
can do this either by just doing so with the standard ebay bidding
(you will only have to pay one bid increment over the next highest
bidder) or with a sniping program which is what you think you are
competing against.

I use auctionsniper.com. This puts the same bid in at the end of
auction which keeps crooked sellers and others from screwing with
me and it discourages "nibblers" (people who repeatedly insert
bids one increment over the previous bid until they get tired of
it).

On 2006-11-28, Ron Natalie wrote:
Jay Honeck wrote:
Since I was high-bidder by a good $40 (on a $200 unit) with just 6
seconds left, obviously someone -- or something -- is able to submit
bids extraordinarily fast. I've heard that there are programs that
automate the bidding process -- is that what I'm seeing here?


You don't lose because someone bid later, you lose because you didn't
bid high enough.

Seconded. I don't get upset at all if anyone "snipes" my bid - they are
paying more than I'm willing to pay for the item. My ebay bid policy is
just to bid the maximum I'm prepared to pay and no more.

I won't use 'sniping' as a technique either, because that way I'm sure
to pay over the odds for the item.

Generally, I prefer to buy off people with reasonable "Buy it now"
prices for items.

Having said that, ebay could easily stop sniping simply by concealing
the exact amount of time left for an auction and putting in a little
random jitter on the auction time when the auction is started (so people
can't work it out by looking for new listings). Instead of saying "2
days, 15 hours and 35 seconds left", the listing can just say
"Approximately 2 days left". But they won't do it because sniping means
people pay more for items, which in turn results in eBay getting more
money from higher comissions, and the sellers (the customers of eBay)
getting a better price.

--
Yes, the Reply-To email address is valid.
Oolite-Linux: an Elite tribute: http://oolite-linux.berlios.de

Jay Honeck wrote:
Why not get some paint and body putty [plastic] and repair
your face plate.

I did just that, Jim. In fact, I rebuilt/replaced the entire upper
left corner of the faceplate with JB Weld, which is about the greatest
stuff ever invented.

Yes it is! I used JB Weld to repair a cracked aluminum transmission
housing in a Honda. It worked great and lasted another 80K miles (at
least, it was still fine when I sold the car). My mechanic at the time
said he'd used it to repair a cracked head on his (Honda) dragster.
Wow. I'm sure it's not FAA approved, because it's too cheap.

OK, enough off topic trivia. We now return you to the ebay thread, in
progress...
John Stevens
PP-ASEL

On Tue, 28 Nov 2006 07:28:06 -0500, Ron Natalie
wrote in :

auctionsniper.com

You are only charged when you win, a modest fee of 1%

Jay Honeck wrote:


Has anyone used these programs, and can anyone recommend one? It seems
like "cheating" -- but I'm tired of getting beat by two bucks with no
time left on the clock.
--

I use ESnipe. http://esnipe.com/

You set the max amount you want to bid on Esnipe.. the program sync's
with Ebay.. and submits its bid in the last seconds..

While some feel its unsportsmanlike.. it has the best chance of getting
you something cheap and easy.. it also keeps you from getting in a
bidding war with someone over the course of a 6-9 day auction.. if
someone keeps getting outbid they may raise their max bid. If they dont
see it coming, they (and you) dont run up the price in a bidding war.

Dave

Agree with Dave S.

There is nothing "unsportsmanlike" about using Esnipe or Bidnapper to snipe
and win Ebay auctions. I do this whenever I need to (for example when I
know there is no way I can be online at end of auction, but want to win the
auction anyway) with absolutely no remorse.

Winning an auction is business.

To succeed in business you use the correct tools to win.

This is not rocket science. Sniping an auction is way easier than flying
a taildragger, just to put this in perspective. :-)


Lee McGee
Mount Aukum, California



"Dave S" wrote in message
ink.net...
Jay Honeck wrote:


Has anyone used these programs, and can anyone recommend one? It seems
like "cheating" -- but I'm tired of getting beat by two bucks with no
time left on the clock.
--

I use ESnipe. http://esnipe.com/

You set the max amount you want to bid on Esnipe.. the program sync's
with Ebay.. and submits its bid in the last seconds..

While some feel its unsportsmanlike.. it has the best chance of getting
you something cheap and easy.. it also keeps you from getting in a
bidding war with someone over the course of a 6-9 day auction.. if
someone keeps getting outbid they may raise their max bid. If they dont
see it coming, they (and you) dont run up the price in a bidding war.

Dave

Having said that, ebay could easily stop sniping simply by concealing
the exact amount of time left for an auction and putting in a little
random jitter on the auction time when the auction is started (so people
can't work it out by looking for new listings). Instead of saying "2
days, 15 hours and 35 seconds left", the listing can just say
"Approximately 2 days left". But they won't do it because sniping means
people pay more for items, which in turn results in eBay getting more
money from higher comissions, and the sellers (the customers of eBay)
getting a better price.

Reportedly, some less popular auction sites simply extend the auction
for another five minutes after a bid is made. That seems to be a
perfect solution to me...

Bartek

wrote

Reportedly, some less popular auction sites simply extend the auction
for another five minutes after a bid is made. That seems to be a
perfect solution to me...

Indeed. That is the way a real auction works, only it is not 5 minutes, but a
few seconds, but everyone gets a chance to raise their bid, until nobody wants
to go over the standing bid.

The 5 minutes is necessary because people have lives to lead, and can not stand
at their computer, full time. The result is the same; that a chance is given
for anyone to raise the bid, until nobody wants to outbid the winner.

The result for the seller should be the maximum price. The result for the buyer
is the ability to get an item that you want, and are willing to pay enough to
win the item, fair and squarely, outbidding all come-ers.

Sniping (to me) seems like timing is the winner; instead of desire, and
money-on-the-stump, winning the auction.

What is this other auction site, with the 5 minute extensions? I might be
interested in using it. I wish everyone would go their, instead of Ebay.
--
Jim in NC

"Morgans" wrote in message
...

wrote

Reportedly, some less popular auction sites simply extend the auction
for another five minutes after a bid is made. That seems to be a
perfect solution to me...

That sounds like a good solution to prevent sniping but is not necessary to
ensure fair auctions.



Indeed. That is the way a real auction works, only it is not 5 minutes,
but a few seconds, but everyone gets a chance to raise their bid, until
nobody wants to go over the standing bid.

eBay does that by bidding for you up to your maximum.


The 5 minutes is necessary because people have lives to lead, and can not
stand at their computer, full time. The result is the same; that a chance
is given for anyone to raise the bid, until nobody wants to outbid the
winner.

Under no circumstances is it necessary to stand at your computer. If you put
in your maximum bid, eBay handles the rest and snipers will have no impact
on you. If you find yourself upping your bid over the course of the auction
and wishing you had put in more because someone sniped you at the last
second, then you are not putting in your maximum bid and are just making it
harder on yourself.


The result for the seller should be the maximum price. The result for the
buyer is the ability to get an item that you want, and are willing to pay
enough to win the item, fair and squarely, outbidding all come-ers.

If people put in their maximum, the result is the same. The problem is that
many put in something less than their maximum until compelled to move up
because of the spirit of competition. Sniping takes advantage of these
initially conservative bidders by eliminating that sense of competition. It
also cheats the seller out of the maximum bid. If people just put in their
maximum bid in the first place, sniping would die away and sellers would get
their fair price.


Sniping (to me) seems like timing is the winner; instead of desire, and
money-on-the-stump, winning the auction.

Sniping is about timing but the motivation is to avoid revealing a higher
bid until it is too late to counter. The only reason this is successful is
because, given time to respond, people give in to competition and raise
their bid.


What is this other auction site, with the 5 minute extensions? I might be
interested in using it. I wish everyone would go their, instead of Ebay.
--
Jim in NC

I put in my maximum bid and never look back. I have never won or lost an
auction with regret.

--
-------------------------------
Travis
Lake N3094P
PWK

On Thu, 30 Nov 2006 14:07:19 GMT, "Travis Marlatte"
wrote in
:

If people just put in their maximum bid in the first place,
sniping would die away and sellers would get their fair price.

Perhaps. That notion is a bit naive given the fact that it encourages
shill bidding.