Thread: Sniper program ? what do you use ?

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.

If everyone was completely rational, this would be as good a strategy as any. However, I think everyone knows that that is not or never will be the case.

Also, you would only beat out later bidders who either bid the same as you or their bid was not high enough above yours to meet eBay's minimum bid increment.

That is something else to keep in mind when scheduling a bid - the minimum bid increment for the amount that you schedule your snipe for.

One benefit with sniping that I have not seen pointed out - you can cancel your scheduled bid when there is as little as 6 minutes left in the auction, at least with hidbid, and I would assume most other sniping services.

I believe eBay and almost assuredly eBay sellers frown upon bid retractions.

Originally Posted by jwoods

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

Yes, but as someone already mentioned, you have to be
a) awake at that time
b) near a computer

Originally Posted by jwoods

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

I'm with you! As the minutes tick down, I practice counting as I refresh, to see how accurate my counting is. I try to get in with 5 seconds, or less, left on the clock. It's a game I play, and when I get it, I really get a rush.

It's the child in me! I know there are really neat programs out there, but I just love the game.

do the snipers ... gixen users ever consider that they have given up their Ebay security by giving out their password?

I would be especially cautious about gixen since it is free - ie no incentive to keep your password save -

There are accounts of people stealing ebay accounts .. they change the password and email address - then list a bunch of bogus items..

just beware !

Originally Posted by topcattcw

do the snipers ... gixen users ever consider that they have given up their Ebay security by giving out their password?

I would be especially cautious about gixen since it is free - ie no incentive to keep your password save -

There are accounts of people stealing ebay accounts .. they change the password and email address - then list a bunch of bogus items..

just beware !

I am on my second ebay account precisely because of this. I think it was sometime in 2004 or2005, soon after registering with some snipng programs, which were new back then, that I got an email from ebay closing my account since it was stolen, and the hacker, true enough, was selling a (likely fictitious) CAR on ebay with me as the seller!

Another thing to realize is that now your Paypal account is tied in to your ebay account. The hacker can also get in to your credit card and checking account, and whatever else you have on Paypal. I have a separate checking account I use for Paypal, as well as a credit card with a $500 limit that I use for this and all my online purchases, just in case.

I have used gixen for over a year now without incident. however i change my ebay password before and after each buying session... i might bid on say 10 razors at a time and after the auction ends... i change my password... so at worst i can only get nailed when the auctios are ongoing.

I have been using jbidwatcher for a couple years.

I bet if we all referred one another, we'd all end up with a lot of free snipes.

According to the Gixen site they delete your password 48 hours after your bids are submitted.

So unless put in your snipes a while ahead of time and someone hacks them you're kind of safe. I suppose you'd also have to worry about the site itself but there comes a point where you're just being too suspicious.

Now I'm fine with ebay how it currently is. I use gixen and have nothing but good things to say about it. However...

The real solution would be to change the auction format. What is best (for sellers and buyers) is that any bid at the end of the auction automatically extends the auction time. So, with 30 seconds left, I place a bid. The system automatically extends the auction X minutes. This allows someone who is willing to pay more to outbid me.

Like I said, I like ebay how it is. But this system does eliminate the timing issue. It allows sellers to get the maximum price while letting any buyer who is determined enough to get it. It also mimics a real life auction much more closely.

Just throught I'd throw that out there.

But I still use gixen.