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Sniping allowed
Last second sniping is very annoying and changes the process from honest bidding to one that rewards the most clever trixter. I am baffled as to why eBay allows this!
1 comment
woodland_gnome
·3 years agoSniping promotes "honest bidding": the sniper bids his/her HONEST true maximum and does so late to keep the dishonest bidders from probing his/her maximum. The HONEST price is the amount the second highest bidder's INDEPENDENT valuation of the item (plus up to 1 bid increment).
Sniping is a defensive tactic that is the best single defense against shilling sellers. You have no need and no right to know anything about my bid to be able to bid effectively. If you can't decide your true maximum to bid in 7 days why do you believe you will do a better job in another x minutes while in an emotional state over being outbid? On the other hand x minutes is plenty of time for a shiller to drive the price up to your supposedly hidden maximum and then retract the last bid if s/he goes over.
eBay's auction format is what makes it fair to those in up to 24 timezones with different work/sleep/computer schedules. Anyone can bid what the item is worth to them at any time and anyone can set up with a third party (there are reliable and secure ones which offer free limited use) to submit that bid in the last few seconds to get the defensive benefits of not having one's hidden maximum out there for others (again, including shilling sellers) to probe or otherwise base their bids on. Making it so those who are able to be there to react at the end have the advantage is unfair.