NE146 Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 I would have been willing to bid more I think. However, how does someone know what I've bid in order to bid $1 more? It's obvious they were using sniping software and that's cheating ya know if you somehow know what the other guy is bidding that you can bid $1 over that and win. Keep in mind, the guy that outbid me only placed ONE bid. ONE bid and he gets $1 over me? I don't understand how that could be achieved. Dude.. I think you need to go to Ebay Academy! Like Deathtrappomegranate says, you don't know how much he bid. He probably bid a lot more than $1 above is my guess. Put it this way.. if an item is $12, and I bid $400 at the very last second. I will probably win it at $13... even though I bid $400! Now.. if the item is $12 and I bid $400 much much earlier (say.. 3 days before the auction ends). The bid will rise to $13, and I will show as the high bidder. Now the difference here is.. it gives people a chance to peck away at my bid! So someone comes along and bids $15, they will instantly be outbid by my proxy and the price will rise to $16, with me still as the highest bidder. This continues on.. people keep raising the price higher and higher but I ALWAYS will outbid them automatically since my $400 bid takes care of it. So.. if the last person 1 hour before the auction bids $124.. I will automatically win the auction, probably at the price of $126 or so. But see what happened.. even though I won, the price went pretty high up there because people were given a chance to peck away at my bid. I was however willing to pay up to $400.. so cash is king. Although I had to end up paying more due to bidding early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindfield Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 eBay's proxy system will never be used "properly" because it goes against most people's basic, capitalistic desires of getting a good deal. When you see something going for $2 that you know it worth well above that, you naturally want to get it for as close to that $2 mark as possible, but you also have a high threshold you're willing to go. In probably most cases, so does the person who placed that $2 bid. Neither of them have their cards on the table. They bid low to keep others from hiking the price up by repeatedly bidding until they surpass the leader's proxy, then stop. By keeping it low, you ensure that they stop sooner and keep the price lower. You know that in all likelihood the other parties interested in the item are thinking the same thing. So you lie in wait and ignore being outbid (since outbidding the other person would once again drive the price up twice -- once with your bid, and a second time with the bid that's likely to outdo you) When it comes down to the final seconds, you put your max bid in as late as is possible and hope that the tactics pay off and you get a good deal. Bidding at your max and leaving it at that is like playing poker by laying all your cards on the table, and letting every other player continuously draw from the pile for a chip in the pot until either they beat you or run out of chips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sku_u Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 I don't see why someone would put in their max bid early on an item that a lot of other Ebayers are eyeballing. It just gives other bidders a chance to chip away at it for the duration of the auction, unless a ridiculously high bid is placed. I usually check the counter at the bottom of the auction. If I see only a few views, I'll just enter my max bid. If I see a lot of views, I'll wait until the end of the auction to enter a bid. There have been many times where I was watching something only to see the item go over what I'm willing to spend before I even enter a bid, in which case, I remove it from my watch list and walk away from it. The best snipes are the ones done manually with 2 seconds left to go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atarian7 Posted February 10, 2004 Share Posted February 10, 2004 One advantage of sniping is that it prevents shill bidders and nibblers from jacking up the price if you already put in a max bid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lurking Horror Posted February 10, 2004 Share Posted February 10, 2004 Exactly. If you put a high bid on a auction early some shill bidder or dumbass could make the price go sky high only to make you pay more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mendon Posted February 10, 2004 Share Posted February 10, 2004 Sniping is a love/hate relationship: as a buyer you love it because you want the great deal. As a seller you hate it because you know you could have gotten $50 more for your item. Ahhh, such is life. Mendon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradjewell Posted February 10, 2004 Share Posted February 10, 2004 i think it just pisses me off when people bid stuff up to rediculous prices... "I went to an auction, and other people had the nerve to bid more then I was willing to pay. " Wow, you really figured me out... That's not what I meant at all. What was stated is what I meant. I think it is retarded when people pay may for an item that it costs in a retail outlet. That is rediculous. I stop my bids at the price I would pay. I think people are dumb for paying too much. I don't really like dumb people. You can't hardly make a comment on a message board for people making some ill-conceived accusation about what you've said. You should have to take a reading comprehension test before you are allowed to communicate to other people on message boards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megamaniac Posted February 10, 2004 Share Posted February 10, 2004 ONE bid and he gets $1 over me? I don't understand how that could be achieved. His bid might have been $1000 higher than yours; eBay's proxy bidding system only increases it by the minimum amount necessary to beat the next-highest bidder. $1 in this case. Took me a few auctions to catch on to that too. For example, if the current bid is $25 and you put your max at $50, eBay will bid $26 for you. If another bidder comes along and bids $40 as their max, eBay will automatically bid $41 for you and tell that other person they were outbid. The best way to win an auction is figure out the max you are willing to pay for something, and then enter that amount in the last minute. Hopefully, nobody will have outbid you AND it won't require your max for you to win it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saldo Posted February 17, 2004 Share Posted February 17, 2004 Ok, sniping has been covered but what about the seller in the first post in this thread!!! They have another one listed (same one since the reserve wasn't met?) here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=3078526532 Has anyone dealt with this seller before? I only see a history of 19 feedbacks but only as a buyer. At least the pictures are of what looks to be the actual product and not a picture from another Atari site!! For the record my strategy goes along with what others have said 1) Bid your max 2) Bid at the last second. I'm usually sitting at the keyboard when I do this, I don't use software. I'll use the proxy early on if I can't be around to bid at the end of an acution ( like when I won't be home or sleeping at 3am!!). I usually don't win those because like others have said it gives others a chance to chip away at your proxy bid. - Sal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saldo Posted February 17, 2004 Share Posted February 17, 2004 Hmmm...Just noticed that the new listing dosn't show a 6 switch at all even though that is what is in the description. I also see that they learned how to count and updated the number of years the system has been appreciating since 1980!!! Makes it all the more fishy, but maybe thats just me since I was once screwed on a Yahoo auction and I've been leary of big purchases ever since! - Sal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artlover Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 i think it just pisses me off when people bid stuff up to rediculous prices... "I went to an auction, and other people had the nerve to bid more then I was willing to pay. " Wow, you really figured me out... That's not what I meant at all. What was stated is what I meant. I think it is retarded when people pay may for an item that it costs in a retail outlet. That is rediculous. I stop my bids at the price I would pay. I think people are dumb for paying too much. I don't really like dumb people. You can't hardly make a comment on a message board for people making some ill-conceived accusation about what you've said. You should have to take a reading comprehension test before you are allowed to communicate to other people on message boards. It's really none of your god damned business how much someone else pays for something. Like you said, you stop your bids at the price your willing to pay. Great, so what's your problem then? Other then not getting to buy everything your want because someone else, stupid or not, decided to pay more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent57 Posted February 19, 2004 Share Posted February 19, 2004 I feel you kepone...Ive been beat out too many times by a sniper... What sucks is the programs... if Im going to bid and sit there and watch it at teh end, it pisses me off for a program to snipe it. Don't get me wrongk it pisses me off when a person does it, but it pisses me off less than someone who can't even sit there at the end of an auction. I really think snipers just really hurt the atmosphere of ebay and shouldnt be allowed. Hurts the atmosphere of eBay? Shouldn't be allowed? What the fuck is wrong with you people? IT'S STILL A LEGAL BID, fer chrissakes! Don't want to get sniped? Put up a high max bid and you won't lose. What is eBay supposed to do, leave the last minute of every auction you bid on open just for you so you can get the high bid? I mean, really... I am SO tired of hearing people whine about the fact that someone actually wanted to pay more than they did for an auction item and then blame the fact that they 'got sniped' for losing the auction. You lost the auction because someone bid higher than you. If anyone wants to refute this, I'm all ears. Bid sniping will be around forever, it's not going anywhere. Here's the typical scenario I hear all the time: Someone wants something on eBay thats at $20 with three days left. So, they put a $30 bid on it. Then, at the last second, someone else bids $31. The original bidder is now pissed off that he got sniped. If the original bidder REALLY wanted the item that badly, he should have put up a bid of something like $75. You put in as much as you would ever want to pay UP FRONT, so if the price goes over $75, you can at least tell yourself that whoever bid that much deserves it for that price. Seems like common sense to me. And yes, many eBayers think like the person in the last paragraph, or else I would have never been able to win every every single item I've ever bought on eBay since 1999 by sniping in the last 10 seconds. It works! /rant mode off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted February 19, 2004 Share Posted February 19, 2004 Yep. Just FYI, I've sniped one or two items in the past 2 weeks. And I sniped them with literally 5 seconds to go. Guess what? I LOST all of them. I dont see how sniping 'hurts'. It's just posting your bid very late. Doesn't guarantee crap though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindfield Posted February 19, 2004 Share Posted February 19, 2004 The thing is, the vast majority of eBayers -- at least those who have bid on more than a few auctions -- snipe. They do it not simply because it often works, but because it has so entrenched itself as a staple of seasoned eBayers that you almost have no choice if you want to win an auction. The problem now is sniper fights -- multiple people that have their snipers (or themselves) trained on an auction that get into automated (or manual) bid wars in the last few seconds. These days, not even sniping is a guaranteed win if you're not the only one with the auction in your sights. But you can't not snipe because that's almost a guaranteed loss. Me? I snipe manually, usually under the 5 second mark. I still don't always win. C'est la vie. Sure, I occasionally get pissed off and stomp my feet and bitch at the winning sniper, but in the end, he sniped higher than I did, so it's my bad. Simple as that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snider-man Posted February 19, 2004 Share Posted February 19, 2004 Story for all of you: The other day, I had a series of rare comics up for auction on eBay. At 1 minute left, price is holding at $73. (Hasn't moved in days, so I'm guessing that's where it will end.) 5 seconds left, in comes the snipe, and the auction ends at $75. Then Mr. $73 has the audacity to e-mail me. "I would've gone up to $90 if I had known I would've been sniped!" he wrote. Well asshat, had you placed THAT bid instead of sitting on a $73 bid for a week, you might have won it and I would've had another $15 in my pocket. Instead you bid as low as you thought you could win with, and you lost. I have no sympathy just because you were to friggin' stupid to bid $90 in the first place. AND, if the sniper had STILL beaten you with a $91 bid, don't bitch to me that you would've bid $95 given a chance. Bid your max and, if it goes higher, it's obviously more than you were willing to spend. It's simple kids. C'mon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted February 19, 2004 Share Posted February 19, 2004 eBay's proxy system will never be used "properly" because it goes against most people's basic, capitalistic desires of getting a good deal. That's the best description of the ebay mentality I've ever read. -Bry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-new-guy Posted February 19, 2004 Share Posted February 19, 2004 HI Well heres my .02 cents worth. I have bid max bid ,and lost ,and also won, sniped and lost ,and won, no big deal sombody wanted it more than I did. I use some sniper ware because I work an evening shift and cant sit in front of the computer till the auction ends. I have also been seeing alot of what appears to be shill bidding going on lately ( people running up there own auctions). With the sniper ware I still put in my max bid, sometimes I get out bid before it can snipe it , But I would have no chance with out it ,because I was at work!! . Ya win some and ya lose some, thats the way the cookie crumbles Thanks Ron Herndon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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