Thread: eBay confirm bid?

Manual sniping is sporting isn't it?

Yes it is.

Originally Posted by Hacker7

If you click place bid with out putting an amount in it will bring you to the next screen. There you can place a bid or set a max bid without confirming. That is the screen to be on when sniping. The mobile app will make you confirm your bid and is alot slower.

That's what I did and am sure what I've done in the past. That's where my confusion comes from. I clicked the place bid button on main screen without an amount which brought up the bid sub window where I entered my high bid and waited to place it in the last seconds, but when I did I was greeted with the confirmation dialogue.

I'm with Jimmy...that's the way I keep my head up and stick on the ice...sometimes you score, and sometimes you don't.

Originally Posted by AntiqueHoosier

Manual sniping is sporting isn't it?

I don't know about that, but if you use some sort of sniping program you lose the adrenaline rush as the seconds tick ...... confirm @ 4 seconds and for the few seconds the adrenaline pumps until the upcoming screen tells you whether you're coming home with your shield or on it.

I think I'm hooked on that as much or more than the obscure object of desire.

Originally Posted by AntiqueHoosier

Manual sniping is sporting isn't it?

I'd say it was a necessity if you want to keep the price down. There will always be emotional bidding in the last seconds. If we all put up what we thought to be our best bid and left it at that things would sort themselves easily enough but there will always be the temptation for a bidder to go that extra few dollars if they have already committed to see if winning is still within reach. After all, what's an extra 10%? Money out of your pocket if they still don't win; it's very easy to click that preset bid button over and over, in the last seconds there is little time to play that game. I've placed bids earlier on and seen this in action as a bidder increments the price up to try to find the lowest winning bid.
I don't know how bidding software works but I'd guess the time limit would work the same way against incremental bidding from that source.

What always gets me is guys who need to see their name as high bidder in an auction with 5 days to go. It ain't over till it's over and whoever gets there last with the most is the name that counts. Driving the price up for yourself, just to see your name as high bidder, is a fool's errand AFAIC. Of course if someone is hoping to scare others off, has deep pockets, I guess that is one way to approach it. I'd rather wait until the last few seconds and send in my maximum bid. I may lose an item I wanted, but I don't get into that emotional bidding, and go past what I originally intended in the heat of the moment.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I don't know about that, but if you use some sort of sniping program you lose the adrenaline rush as the seconds tick ...... confirm @ 4 seconds and for the few seconds the adrenaline pumps until the upcoming screen tells you whether you're coming home with your shield or on it.

I think I'm hooked on that as much or more than the obscure object of desire.

You hit the nail on the head.

I suppose it depends on how you look at it - many people pay good money for the adrenaline rush in many forms. Manual bids on ebay are probably one of the cheapest too.

Back in the days I've done some of that as well and I looked at it a bit as form of entertainment. When I didn't care for more than just picking the razor I'd put a minimum required bid ahead of time and then set up an automatic snipe. The bid's purpose was to get email updates if something changes with the listing as well as a reminder that the auction would close soon - I may have changed my mind about the razor in the meanwhile but not canceled the snipe.

This worked for me as the most hands-off system - I decided once about the razor early in the auction and got another chance to reconsider it about 12h-24h before the end when the reminder email arrived.

Boy were a sneaky bunch, wonder if the C.I.A. works as clandestine as us snipers?