automated sniping

[wapiti14]

Hello All,

I have been an eBay member for ten years and have purchased quite a few items on the site for my small business.  I am encountering more and more automated sniping - software that bids until the last second - and I think it should be prohibited from eBay.  I spoke to an eBay rep on the phone and she says they are fighting it, but eBay's website states that sniping software is allowed.  It should not be.  It is unfair and unethical.

Part of the fun of eBay is the human experience, the interactions between buyers and sellers, the attention and commitment required to search out great items and bid on them when the auction starts, the thrill (or disappointment) of the auction itself.  We may as well all be robots if the third party automated bidding software is allowed.  I am fine with being outbid, it happens.  The experience is made far worse knowing it was someone not even engaged in the process or at their computer.  

thank you. 

[eburtonlab]

eBay explicitly permits sniping. Qualified bids received by eBay before the end of the auction are accepted, whether the bid is made by a person hitting a button on a phone or computer, or by someone who has scheduled a bid with a third-party service.

https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/bidding/bid-sniping?id=4224

Aside from the odd bid placed by an errant cat walking across a computer keyboard, all bids on eBay are ultimately placed by humans using hardware and software in one way or another, and all those bids are just as valid as yours as long as eBay receives them before the auction ends.

[house*of*paws]

---

@wapiti14 wrote:

I am encountering more and more automated sniping - software that bids until the last second - and I think it should be prohibited from eBay.  

---

Hi @wapiti14 

We have no way of knowing whether sniping is being done manually or by automated equipment.  What makes you think you can tell?

 I’ve placed some 1- (and even 0-) second bids … sitting at my computer with a kitchen timer.  Is that okay with you?  😊

BTW, it was heart-pumping fun!  😉

I won about 95% of the auctions I bid on … mainly because I bid HIGH.   And I paid for all the auctions I’ve won … as do most snipers.  It’s the inexperienced ‘nibblers’ who usually decline to pay.

I also hated sniping when I first encountered it … but it is legal and allowed … as well as the most effective bidding strategy.  So I learned how to snipe.  😋

[wapiti14]

I buy a lot on eBay for my small business and have certainly done my share of last second bidding/sniping.  Just recently I have noticed a difference in the bidding rhythm in those final seconds, and it doesn't feel human-generated.  Yes, I LOVE the thrill of it, steeling myself to wait, winning or losing.  I like thinking of you with your kitchen timer and finger over the bid button. Going up against third party sniping software just diminishes the experience for me.

[house*of*paws]

---

@wapiti14 wrote:

I like thinking of you with your kitchen timer and finger over the bid button. 

---

My worst experience was having a naughty cat place my bid for me at 10 seconds (by smacking my hand) … leaving just enough time for the proxy bidder I bid over to place the winning bid.  😖

Personally, I don’t see how it matters whether sniping is done manually or by automation.  It’s the amount of the bid that determines the win.

I must be missing the gene that can feel whether a human, machine, or cat is placing bids.  ☹️

[inceptions]

There isn't any way for you to tell whether it's a program sniping for a buyer or the buyer (having the fun of) doing the sniping himself at the last second as @house*of*paws does. There is nothing unfair or unethical about it. eBay is and international site, open 24/7. Some people have to sleep and can't be up at 3:00am to place a bid at the last minute.

And there is little difference between sniping and the ability to enter you max bid and win at the last second as eBay uses enough of your max to keep you in the lead until and unless someone bids more.

The best strategy for winning is to bid only once, bid the most you are willing to pay, and bid as late in the auction as you can.

It's not the sniper's bid that wins or the last bid that wins, it's the HIGH bid that wins.

https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/bidding/automatic-bidding?id=4014&st=3&pos=1&query=Automatic%20bidd...

@eburtonlab 

Aside from the odd bid placed by an errant cat walking across a computer keyboard...

Bwahahahaha...I could tell you some "hair-raising" stories about my errant cat and his computer skills... 😺

[wapiti14]

Ebay provides a method for bidding up to your highest price on those 3 a.m. auctions as you know.  It is transparent throughout the auction and works well.  I am well aware of the fact that it is about the price, but also well within my rights to dislike bidding against a third party software program.  We may as well all be robots.

[inceptions]

Of course you can dislike anything you want. But there is little difference between placing a bid through eBay's automatic bidding before going to bed for that auction that ends at 3:00am and placing a bid through sniping software to do the same thing? If I use eBay's automatic bidding and someone using sniping software sets up their bid for right before the auction ends, if my max bid is higher, I win - NOT the sniper.

Again, it's the high bid that wins, not the last bid.

[woodland_gnome]

---

@wapiti14 wrote:

Hello All,

. . . automated sniping - software that bids until the last second - . . .

---

Was this a typo, or do you not understand sniping services?   The whole purpose of sniping, whether manually or via a service is to NOT bid until the last x second (6 seconds is the usual default as a compromise between the odds of some internet delay making the bid be received too late and the odds of someone else being able to react to your bid in time to place another one, or at least more than one or two).  All a sniping service does is submit the bid in the amount you set at the designated time.  

The important thing, setting the amount of the bid, is still done by a human.