What's the purpose of sniping?

[RCmodeler]

I don't understand it. If I want a game, and I'm willing to pay $100 for it, then I enter $100.38 as my bid. Ebay will automatically raise the bid to that maximum, so why is sniping necessary?

[Bushie2600]

What's the purpose of sniping?

 

You don't understand it because you are a ...... nevermind.

[hhwolfman]

I don't understand it.  If I want a game, and I'm willing to pay $100 for it, then I enter $100.38 as my bid.  Ebay will automatically raise the bid to that maximum, so why is sniping necessary?

 

Go ahead and put in your bid early and let everyone chip away at it. Or you can snipe it and the other bidders dont have a chance to chip at it .

 

You be the judge.

[bjk7382]

Just go to one of the many sniping websites and read about their service. It is really handy to be able to delete and edit bids, AND on top of it all you get it for a good price

 

You be the judge.

[NE146]

Basically you snipe to get a BETTER chance of keeping the price down.

 

Say you want an item that starts at $1.00 really bad. So bad that you bid $1000 as your maximum with 6 days to go. So you have the highest bid at $1.00 the first day. Well over the next 6 days what could happen is people start to bid on the item slowly and they will constantly get outbid by you. (i.e. they bid $5.00 only to find they have been outbid by you at $5.50.. or they bid $25 only to be outbid by you immediately at $26). So this continues on for the next 6 days. And maybe someone is curious how high your bid was so they keep plugging in numbers.. and sure enough your bid is higher. Anyway, near the end of the auction the price is up to $178 or so.. and then you get your flood of snipers at the end all trying to get the item.. but you still win the auction at $312 (theoretically) because of your ultra high bid. You won!

 

But then again, you could've left the price as low as possible and sniped your $1000 at the last minute and ended up winning at $90. Who knows.

 

That's basically it It just 1) increases your odds of winning with your max bid and 2) theoretically keeps the price somewhat low. But of course it's all up to you how you play the game. Bottom line is in everything.. cash is king.

[bjk7382]

I am not going to say it isn't more fun bidding the old fashioned way, more excitement, but then it is all crushed when the sniper hits.

[NE146]

I am not going to say it isn't more fun bidding the old fashioned way, more excitement, but then it is all crushed when the sniper hits.  

 

unless of course your bid is still more than the snipers

[bjk7382]

then your just paying more than it is worth probly. The newbies usually bid in small increments, so when you have a sniper set, it will only go to thier next small bid, instaid of one big ebay bid.

[NE146]

then your just paying more than it is worth probly. The newbies usually bid in small increments, so when you have a sniper set,  it will only go to thier next small bid, instaid of one big ebay bid.

 

Well what if joe has a bid of $100 on a $4.50 item, and then you snipe at $20, Joe will still win.

 

All hypothetical of course and rarely happens. But that's just the facts

[Mendon]

Most of you agree that sniping is the only way to go and use it. You state that you do it in order to keep the price down.

 

But when you are selling something, doesn't sniping bother you since it also keeps the price down from what you could earn on your auction? Or doesn't it matter because since you are buying low (you hope) by sniping you can afford to sell your items for lower prices?

 

Just curious

 

Mendon

[NE146]

I've never sold anything in my entire life

[deathtrappomegranate]

What's the purpose of bidding early?

 

Apart from increasing the size of your watchlist...

[RCmodeler]

Basically you snipe to get a BETTER chance of keeping the price down.

 

 

So I should make my $100.38 bid at the last few minutes then. No need to use sniping software IMHO.

[hhwolfman]

Basically you snipe to get a BETTER chance of keeping the price down.

 

 

So I should make my $100.38 bid at the last few minutes then. No need to use sniping software IMHO.

 

Almost right. The last few seconds.

[video game addict]

hhwolfman updated his sig!

[hhwolfman]

Yep LMFAO I thought you would like it

[CPUWIZ]

ROTFLMAO

[video game addict]

[bcostin]

RCmodeler has the right idea. With very few exceptions sniping is a waste of time. Just bid what you're willing to pay whenever it's convenient to bid, and then walk away.

[bjk7382]

RCmodeler has the right idea. With very few exceptions sniping is a waste of time. Just bid what you're willing to pay whenever it's convenient to bid, and then walk away.

 

Yeah, but you can't delete or edit your bids before the end of the auction.

 

Where as I can edit my bid up until 5 minutes to the end of the auction.

 

And you can't use bid groups, which also save time. Sounds like you should read up on it, once you learn about it, there is no going back to the "old fashioned" way

[RCmodeler]

(shrug) I rarely buy anything. I don't bid in groups.

[video game addict]

I don't bid in groups.

 

 

 

Sniping is BAD M'Kay!