Thread: Sniping

I don't understand the difference between sniping and posting a max bid. It's the same thing, really. Except the snipe bid shows up at the last minute.

Time isn't the factor here. It's money.

Want to pay more than me ..?

If you do, then you win the auction with or without sniping.

Plain and simple.

What cracks me up is that some users actually pay for a snipe service.

Originally Posted by Whiskers

I don't understand the difference between sniping and posting a max bid. It's the same thing, really. Except the snipe bid shows up at the last minute.

When your bid shows up in time for someone else to reconsider the maximum (yeah right) bid they already placed, then your chances of winning the auction decrease

So of course the difference between sniping and bidding earlier will not affect the price you pay, but may affect whether you pay

Bidding wars are good for the guy who wins. He gets the item he wants, rather than having it sniped. I can't see arguing that paying a third party to bypass the intended use of eBay is altruistic. It's allowed because eBay feels it doesn't costs them enough money to ban (although I am very surprised that they haven't banned 3rd party software yet), not because it is within the rules of their auction structure. People do it because it lets them save money by reducing competition for the item. Arguing that removing a persons choice benefits them is a pretty flimsy one.

The main problem with sniping is it's a total case of the have/nots. As someone said earlier... everyone who wants it would bid +$2 on high dollar items to win over what they usually go for. People who snipe are able to do that. Just like people who watched the auction to the last minute and had reliable internet could do in the past (with a last second bid). However, when two snipers want the same thing, the auction works (at least for the seller) again, as once again there is immediate competition for the item.

If eBay wants to solve sniping. Have a floating 2 hrs. Auction WILL end by say 10pm... but MIGHT end as early as 8pm. Instantly, sniping is useless and the model they TRIED to use (Bid your max, wait and see) works again. The other option is to turn proxy bidding INTO a sniping program. That simply has the effect of turning ebay into a blind auction (what multiple snipers on one auction does).

I am in the dark, didn't know there was a sniping service either...I guess i'll live with whatever bid I post/can afford/feel like it's worth. If I don't win, guess I didn't need it anyway.

It sounds like a lot of you don't understand how eBay bidding works:

Automatic bidding

You enter your MAXIMUM bid, that's it. If I want to pay an absolute maximum of $150
for a razor then that is my bid, eBay handles the rest. If the next highest bid to mine is
$120, then I only pay $120 plus the bid increment ($0.50?). If someone bids $151, then
they get it as I did not think it was worth that much, if l did, then I would have bid
$151.

Originally Posted by Hydaral

It sounds like a lot of you don't understand how eBay bidding works:

Automatic bidding

This is not a question of paying more or less for an item, it's about having a better chance of winning an item against those who bid based on seeing others' bids that have already been placed

they're out there! and they want to deny you! If there's an item you want for a certain price, don't you prefer to win the item at that price than to lose it to someone who only outbid you because they had time to see your bid and adjust their decision accordingly?

Snipe and let snipe!

Originally Posted by Hydaral

It sounds like a lot of you don't understand how eBay bidding works:

Automatic bidding

You enter your MAXIMUM bid, that's it. If I want to pay an absolute maximum of $150
for a razor then that is my bid, eBay handles the rest. If the next highest bid to mine is
$120, then I only pay $120 plus the bid increment ($0.50?). If someone bids $151, then
they get it as I did not think it was worth that much, if l did, then I would have bid
$151.

But you will not be the only one so the current bid immediately zooms up to someone's max bid, still promoting a bidding war. The system has simply made this a "meta bid" war where the competing bids are max bids, in effect negating the usefulness (to the bidder, that is) of the max bid scheme -- giving no more than a false sense of control.

eBay is designed to squeeze the maximum from the bidders. This is the way ALL actions, including (especially!) live auctions, work. Many people send (and PAY for) proxy bidders to attend live auctions for them on high-value items. Someone bidding on your behalf will show a lot more discipline than if you are bidding for yourself. A proxy bidder is also more experienced in the psychological aspects of bidding so can work to keep the price down.

Unrestrained bidding will only drive up the price, perhaps even to the point where you will eventually give up having accomplished nothing more than increasing the winning bid. Or you might be on the other end -- having to pay more because some other emotional bidder drove up the price before giving up.

Remember, there WILL be only one winner and it is not a crime if that isn't you.

I don't get what all the kvetching and moaning is about. Either way, you put in what you're willing to pay and it's auctioned against what other people were willing to pay. I'm sick of how often people on here start an anti/pro sniping thread every time they lose an auction.....come on, folks.

So we are to assume that the maximum bid that someone specifies on eBay is not actually their maximum bid, just the amount they are willing to pay before seeing what other people will pay for the exact same item.

Is this some sort of variation on "I only want something if someone else wants it too". There must be a psychological term for this. This must be how some artworks gets so expensive, although they are often unique so their value is usually based on scarcity.

Look, even if I am not prepared to pay more than X, why should I give anyone else the benefit my appraisal of its value?

By bidding early, I give away an indication of value to less knowing people, I point attention to it. Even if my in-person bid would be the same, my chances of winning are higher when using sniping.