Thread: Sniped...

I'm just here to vent, I just spent every second of the last five minutes refreshing an auction on a J.R. Torrey I really wanted to complete a set I'm working on restoring at the moment...and with 2 seconds left someone out bids me...
Anybody else think that there is something very wrong with auctions ending at a given time on ebay? I mean I think the ideal solution would be to have the auction end at a given time IF there is no longer any bidding. If there is still bidding, extend the auction for another 5 minutes since the last bid until bidding ends. Both sellers and buyers would benefit from this arrangement. This way it would be much closer to a true auction.
I'm just so tired of losing auctions last second that I'm giving up on Ebay. I mean sure it's an auction, but I just feel there is something very lowly about waiting until the last 2 seconds to bid... and I feel I'm above it, but if I'm to win anything I'm going to have to lower myself to that level.

sorry to hear you didn't win your razor, but that's really how it works. the other bidder's maximum bid was higher than yours, so they won it.
make sure you bid your maximum bid, i.e. the price you are willing to pay for a razor, not the one you think you may get away with.
as far as when to place the bid - since ebay auctions end at a specific time it is smarter to place them just before it ends. what you propose - extending the bidding time would probably force more people to bid their maximum bids in the first place, but you can just do this now anyway.

I used to be in the same shoes; it's even worse when you find out you were sniped by a member, who then gloats about said beautiful razor on the forum....
(when I was new on the forums it seemed I couldn't catch ANYTHING)

However after winning a few razors that went for ridiculously high prices (which I paid, btw....) I see why so many people snipe. If you bid a higher bid *early* then it invites a bidding war, or even worse, I've seen people bid ridiculous amounts for something then retract their "mistake" now knowing what your max bid is.

It is all bad economics. I sometimes bid on things, but if I REALLY want something, I snipe it. Just because you CAN pay 5 prices for something, doesn't mean you should.

The last thing I sniped was with this free website. I was iffy about it at first, but as far as I can tell everything is free and it worked. The "special features" etc are for the pay version.

Give it a shot, unless you have lots of $$$ to throw at bidding wars.

John P.

I am with Gugi. Really what it comes down to is how much you are willing to pay for the item. No matter how long the auction is. If you are bidding low and waiting until the end thinking you won't be outbid- you are wrong. Period. However, if you bid the second the auction starts and it is your maximum bid, then you are being more realistic. If someone then tries to snipe with 2 seconds left and their snipe is lower than your maximum... you win. Anyone who snipes will be bidding once at the end and it will be the absolute most that they are willing to pay.

Originally Posted by JohnP

I used to be in the same shoes; it's even worse when you find out you were sniped by a member, who then gloats about said beautiful razor on the forum....
(when I was new on the forums it seemed I couldn't catch ANYTHING)

[snip]

John P.

I only take issue with this statement - about other members sniping you.

For one thing, with the new ebay security measures, you have no idea who has bid or where they are in the bidding - it shows that stupid b***d for the names.

Two, as gentlemanly as SRP is, you can't expect that all 4000+ members to check to see if they're bidding against you. The truth is that they probably are.

Three, I personally won a Dorko #14 eBay auction - just like the one Don (Taz) posted in Show and Tell recently. I expected that the auction for it was going to end up well in the $200 range and I decided that I would snipe at $250 - initially. The thing is that I told just about everyone who visited chat over the week leading up to the end auction that I wanted that razor and was going to snipe. EVERY SRP member I told - including one who intended to snipe for more money than me - BOWED out because I told them of my desire. I ended up sniping at $302 - I won the auction at $129. Why? Because the gentlemen who knew of my sniping and wanting that Dorko didn't snipe.

My advice?

One, if you really want something, snipe higher than you think it will sell for (and at the price you are willing to pay).

Two, take the risk of letting other SRP members know that you are wanting that razor, tell them how much you want it (what you would snipe for).

I'm willing to bet that you'll get it for less than you thought or sniped because of the gentlemen of SRP.

Byron

If you are not winning auctions then you are not bidding enough. That is the way eBay works.

Hi everyone thanks for your input, I guess my main point in this reply is to state that the razor in question I thought I had bid more than enough this time through...as I had made my mistake bidding too low on previous auctions...hence this time through I easily bid $30 over what I've seen the razor asked for anywhere else...thinking I had secured the razor...but afraid of being sniped I kept an eye on it anyways, and sure enough I was outbid. I comes down to who wants it more, and has nothing to do with actual value of the item. With the ever growing demand for straights it is becoming near impossible to approximate the selling price of any razor. Razors I purchased for $10 two weeks ago at my local antique shop I've seen go for better than $90 on ebay...
Like I said I was just venting, it was the 10th razor in 2 days that I lost out on when I thought I was bidding reasonably above their actual worth...however I am new to shopping on ebay(at least for highly desirable items)...and my estimates are based on real world markets, not world wide net auctions....I may still try my hand on things I really REALLY want, but at this point I'm sure I'll over pay for it on ebay, which defeats the purpose of using it really.

You should just use a sniper service yourself. Gixen is free and works great. That way you can just set snipes for several razors at the price that you would be willing to pay. If you win then great, and if you don't then no big deal. It saves time and money.

Byron,
Is there a way to go about setting up a new forum in which members can simply make it be known that they are really after an item and would appreciate other members not bid? I mean just to simplify the whole process so members know who's after what...and make things cheaper for everyone trying to score on ebay. I know I could just start a thread in this forum but it could get burried...so does anyone else think this is a good idea? or am I alone on this one?

I don't use a sniper service myself, and when I bid I bid my max, sometimes I win, sometimes I don't. I'll admit snipers keep the overall prices low as they don't give the other bidders as much time ro reconsider the value, but that's a good thing.

A sniper will put up the same mazimum bid as they would when not sniping in my opinion.

All in all I tend to bid on items that are misspelled or mislisted.