UGH! I just learned a lesson today. :(

[sunflowers652016]

I guess I just need to vent, but also wanted to mention the risk of just scheduling a snipe on an item you really want.

I scheduled a $65 snipe on this item that was just listed yesterday. Start bid 3.99, it was an auction, no best offer or anything. It's a collectible and the last one sold for about $70. So,  I scheduled the snipe and I went to Gixen today to view what I had scheduled and that one appeared to have no activity which was very surprising because it's a rare item with a low start bid. 

I click on the auction and it says 'This buy it now ended' (!!) It appeared to sell for 9.99?? It didn't make sense and my bid still showed scheduled?  So,I messaged seller and asked about it and was told that somebody offered him 9.99 for each of his items (he had 2 different items), so he sold them both.

 He had 7 watchers on it and it had just started 24 hours ago.

So, I will be throwing in a bid before I schedule my snipe from now on, lol. Somebody made out really well and there wasn't even a best offer on the item!

Bummer!

[bonjourami]

New seller?

[sunflowers652016]

Yes, brand new seller. (and somebody took advantage). Shame, he lost money.

[bonjourami]

That is a shame, he'll regret that when he gets more experience.

[7606dennis]

Are you absolutely sure that the auction didn't have a BIN option attached to it?  I'm not sure because I never use an app to shop but I've heard that they don't always show everything in an easy to understand manner and it is easy to miss important details.

I gather by your post, OP, that you did not place a bid but rather scheduled a snipe bid on a snipping service.  Naturally, if there had been a BIN option on the listing and no bids placed, anyone using the the BIN would have bought it for the BIN price and ended the listing.  Might I suggest that in the future, it might be better to place at least a small bid to kill the BIN option.

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

It’s not just new sellers who do this. I now put an opening bid on anything I may want to snipe later.

[sunflowers652016]

Absolutely No Buy it Now was available when I scheduled my snipe, I would have jumped on it! I didn't even think I'd get it for my $65 bid, but I couldn't bear to go higher (retail was probably 10 bucks many years back). I thought I was seeing things when it said 9.99 and ended, made no sense. And it actually ended the day before, so it was only up for hours then. The seller said that somebody offered 9.99 for each of the listed pieces and they accepted. Apparently the seller put a Buy it Now up for this buyer at 9.99, wish I had seen that but I'm sure this buyer (that Had to know they were worth 7 times that, was waiting to pounce, lol. I'm totally bummed, one of these had shown up a about a year ago and went in the $70's. 😞 I definitely will be putting in a low bid from now on and schedule my snipe. 🙂

[karma*hiatus]

That 'offer' idea can work in reverse as well. I wrote a little snippet here with an example and realized I would also be thwarting myself as a buyer if I instruct too many people. Erase erase erase, lol! Be careful with offers: you may let someone know the value of something when they otherwise have no idea, and thwart your getting that 'good deal'.

[7606dennis]

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@sunflowers652016 wrote:
Absolutely No Buy it Now was available when I scheduled my snipe, I would have jumped on it! I didn't even think I'd get it for my $65 bid, but I couldn't bear to go higher (retail was probably 10 bucks many years back). I thought I was seeing things when it said 9.99 and ended, made no sense. And it actually ended the day before, so it was only up for hours then. The seller said that somebody offered 9.99 for each of the listed pieces and they accepted. Apparently the seller put a Buy it Now up for this buyer at 9.99, wish I had seen that but I'm sure this buyer (that Had to know they were worth 7 times that, was waiting to pounce, lol. I'm totally bummed, one of these had shown up a about a year ago and went in the $70's. 😞 I definitely will be putting in a low bid from now on and schedule my snipe. 🙂

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If no BIN was available, it is a good chance that someone recognized the value of the item and made the seller an offer through messaging and convinced the seller to end the listing and sell it to them using a fixed price listing.  Frankly, I think that it is a case of an inexperienced seller not knowing what they had, being taken advantage of by a buyer that did.  That's why I always advise sellers running auctions to be suspicious of unsolicited offers.

Of course, as mentioned earlier, placing a bid early when one is planning to snipe is often a good idea.