Thread: Sniper program ? what do you use ?

Originally Posted by johnmw1

gixen.com for me, and it's free

For me too.

Originally Posted by johnmw1

gixen.com for me, and it's free

Me too. It's a great free utility.
I find snipping programs very useful. The majority of the auctions I snipe end when I'm sleeping, so if it weren't for these kind of programs, I'd have to stay up late.

The logic behind "sniping" fails me, which is why I don't snipe or use a sniping program. I find an item I want. I place a bid on it for the maximum amount that the item is worth to me. Now since I'm the very first to place that amount for a bid (let's just say it's fifty bucks), as long as the item is currently going for less than fifty bucks, I win, even if someone places a sniping bid for fifty bucks with seconds remaining.

Now let's do scenario two. I don't place my fifty dollar bid early, I try to "snipe." The item is still only worth fifty bucks to me, so with three seconds left, I place my fifty dollar bid. And I lose. Because someone else did scenario one, and placed their fifty dollar max bid three days before me.

As long as you know exactly how much you are willing to pay for an item, your best bet is to place your max bid early in the auction. Placing it with seconds to go decreases your odds immensely.

Originally Posted by FloorPizza

The logic behind "sniping" fails me, which is why I don't snipe or use a sniping program. I find an item I want. I place a bid on it for the maximum amount that the item is worth to me. Now since I'm the very first to place that amount for a bid (let's just say it's fifty bucks), as long as the item is currently going for less than fifty bucks, I win, even if someone places a sniping bid for fifty bucks with seconds remaining.

Now let's do scenario two. I don't place my fifty dollar bid early, I try to "snipe." The item is still only worth fifty bucks to me, so with three seconds left, I place my fifty dollar bid. And I lose. Because someone else did scenario one, and placed their fifty dollar max bid three days before me.

As long as you know exactly how much you are willing to pay for an item, your best bet is to place your max bid early in the auction. Placing it with seconds to go decreases your odds immensely.

OK... I want to use it as i am not aways around at the end of the auction... AND ....

why not place my highest bid and just wait? ... because sometimes bidding can draw more attention to an auction that some people may pass by or not notice.. sometimes people dont bother looking at something with zero bids as they feel if there are no bids it may be crap... no one else bid so maby they see something wrong....

bidding early can also start a bidding war... even in the last minute people will bid and sometimes bid more then they would have otherwise had it not been for a bunch of last minute bids. Hence the fear that if everyone else wants the item then it must be better then they originally thought or is that much more of a good deal.

Snipping allows you to put your max bid in early when you are thinking clearly and it does not drop the bid till the final seconds taking away the ability of others to outbid you... unless there sitting bid is higher. When that happens you are letting the item go for what you originally thought it was worth and was as high as you wanted to go and you can now move on to the next item

Just the theroy that works for me

Originally Posted by Earthdawn

OK... I want to use it as i am not aways around at the end of the auction... AND ....

why not place my highest bid and just wait? ... because sometimes bidding can draw more attention to an auction that some people may pass by or not notice.. sometimes people dont bother looking at something with zero bids as they feel if there are no bids it may be crap... no one else bid so maby they see something wrong....

bidding early can also start a bidding war... even in the last minute people will bid and sometimes bid more then they would have otherwise had it not been for a bunch of last minute bids. Hence the fear that if everyone else wants the item then it must be better then they originally thought or is that much more of a good deal.

Snipping allows you to put your max bid in early when you are thinking clearly and it does not drop the bid till the final seconds taking away the ability of others to outbid you... unless there sitting bid is higher. When that happens you are letting the item go for what you originally thought it was worth and was as high as you wanted to go and you can now move on to the next item

Just the theroy that works for me

And luckily (for me, at least ) the vast majority of auction bidders do exactly what you do; use a sniping program. This allows me to go ahead and place my fifty buck advance bid three days in advance and still be successful, cause everyone else waits til the last second to snipe.

Originally Posted by FloorPizza

And luckily (for me, at least ) the vast majority of auction bidders do exactly what you do; use a sniping program. This allows me to go ahead and place my fifty buck advance bid three days in advance and still be successful, cause everyone else waits til the last second to snipe.

and it keeps me from overbidding

Originally Posted by Earthdawn

why not place my highest bid and just wait? ... because sometimes bidding can draw more attention to an auction that some people may pass by or not notice.. sometimes people dont bother looking at something with zero bids as they feel if there are no bids it may be crap... no one else bid so maby they see something wrong....

it is the zero bids that i feel most drawn too! All the razors i've won off the bay have been ones where no one had bid on them (or cheap BINs) granted some were a little worn but makin'em pretty is half the fun!

Originally Posted by Detach

it is the zero bids that i feel most drawn too! All the razors i've won off the bay have been ones where no one had bid on them (or cheap BINs) granted some were a little worn but makin'em pretty is half the fun!

me too....

Bottom line is: Highest bid wins. Sometimes that is the first bid, sometimes it is the last. Sniping allows you to watch the auction until the end and see if it has gotten a lot of attention so far. Usually if it is something worth sniping to me- I am putting in a snipe of over $50 higher than the current bid.

Edit: I did have something else written in here but I didn't want to disclose alllll my sniping secrets! lol

Originally Posted by JimmyH-AD

No program for me. I like the adrenaline rush that comes as my finger hovers above the return key with 4 seconds to go.

what a rush that is i count the last seconds off in my head and do the same it feels great when u win like that