12-01-2020 07:43 PM
Well, I just posted a comment against sniping. The I found the forum where other people have commented on the same subject. I guess I got an education because I now understand why eBay allows sniping. I just need to up my maximum bids.
04-26-2021 08:31 AM
Like jayjaspersgarage, I am mostly a seller now.
but, back in the day, I paid quite a lot a few times. If everyone was sniping high, it was a great item and I never had buyer's remorse about winning it. but i sure felt bad if I lost. so, I rarely lost.
and, the sellers were quite happy too!
04-26-2021 08:32 AM
"
>I've done that but only on a few items that I really needed . It's nerve wracking
I find it invigorating. Gets the blood pumping and the adrenaline flowing."
Agreed. There is something about live bidding and sniping that adds some spice to a late evening.
04-26-2021 08:39 AM
"
That suggestion to bid three times the current high bid could be dangerous.
There are some free sniping sites."
Bidding the max you can afford is never dangerous. And if a free sniping site wins an auction for another bidder at a dollar above your set maximum that happens to be triple the current bid so what. The bidder using the sniping service gets the item at a fair price.
I think the source of the complaints about bots and sniping comes from younger bidders looking for the deal of the decade price rather than paying a fair market value. Just because an auction for a piece of electronic junk retailing at $450 starts at a ridiculously low price such as 99 cents or $1.49 doesn't make it possible to win the auction for under a reasonable $400 price or above. These newbies to on-line auctions are often young gamers who just turned 18 or 20 and buy into the illusion of finding a bargain around every corner.
04-26-2021 09:08 AM - edited 04-26-2021 09:08 AM
@rafaelecuon-0 wrote:That's incorrect. Anyone is always willing to add a dollar more but it can't be done with snipe bots outbidding you with no alert, warning or opportunity to counter bid. That's not an auction, it's a scheme.
I'm sensing here that you think the only bid you can make is the current price plus one increment, the amount that eBay shows to you as the next available bid. In fact, that's just the minimum next bid that would be accepted. It may or may not be enough to take the lead.
If the current leader has a a hidden maximum that's much higher than the current price (remember that the auction will be won by no more than the previous high bid plus one bid increment), then you can sit there all day plugging in dollar increment bids, but still not get past whatever the current leader's maximum bid is. You don't need to bid that way. You are entitled to plug in your own high bid in one step, and either exceed the lead bidder's maximum or not.
What you're describing above as "snipe bots" are no such thing. The action you're seeing as "snipe bots outbidding you with no alert [etc.]" is simply eBay itself telling you that your bid was accepted but you are still not yet in the lead. Your bid pushed the price up, but the current leader's maximum bid is something higher than that.
In the final seconds, it is possible for a sniping service to plug in a high bid, but that happens automatically, regardless of whether you are also putting in a last-second bid. The auction is won by the highest bid, not the latest one.
04-26-2021 09:11 AM
@jayjaspersgarage wrote:Have you never employed a bot to bid? The last Bot wins.
Highest bot wins. Not last bot.
04-26-2021 09:13 AM
Sort of reminds me of recent history - having the winning lead early on in the auction, until the final moments when the the bell rings and it is over and someone that didn't tout their presence wins. The lead bidder doesn't win because when the final bids are calculated, a sniper wins. Then the crying, yelling, whining, shouting 'foul' begins about how unfair it was.
04-26-2021 09:46 AM
"Sort of reminds me of recent history - having the winning lead early on in the auction, until the final moments when the the bell rings and it is over and someone that didn't tout their presence wins. The lead bidder doesn't win because when the final bids are calculated, a sniper wins. Then the crying, yelling, whining, shouting 'foul' begins about how unfair it was."
So clever of you to use that particular metaphor. You just made my day.
04-26-2021 01:54 PM
04-26-2021 02:00 PM
I quit hosting auctions years ago, that is a thing of the past. Buy it now on everything.
04-26-2021 02:08 PM
@bimm_corp wrote:>There are some free sniping sites.
If you have the URL's, please post some. TIA.
04-26-2021 03:52 PM
Sorry, I do not have the URL's. It's been literally years since I used one in particular.
Hopefully, someone else will come along and be able to answer.