Thread: Is sniping killing Ebay?

I only think it's killing Ebay when I am not the one using it!

LOL

Sniping is not killing e-bay. What is driving prices up is popularity-shaving websites and the shaving enthusiasts who use these web sites-that's you and me!

Interesting to see the different takes on this issue. In my mind, there is zero difference between the bidder who makes maximum bid early and the sniper who bids last second. I happen to be the former. It is all in the value you set on the item. Find a price that you are willing to pay and forget it. If I happen to win, great. If not, oh well. There will always be other auctions. To be perfectly honest there is oftentimes a sense of relief knowing that I didn't win an auction, you?

Originally Posted by yosh

To be perfectly honest there is oftentimes a sense of relief knowing that I didn't win an auction, you?

Yes - there has been a few actions i bid on and im glad i lost. Bid a little more on those than i should have.

Bidding on an item early only drives up the price. I put the items on my watch list and then bid (manually) in the last 10 to 15 seconds of the auction. If I win great. If I don't...that's the way it goes.

Originally Posted by BullGoose

Bidding on an item early only drives up the price. I put the items on my watch list and then bid (manually) in the last 10 to 15 seconds of the auction. If I win great. If I don't...that's the way it goes.

+1 at the risk of repeating myself. For two classic examples of why sniping is the best policy check out the bidding wars on Item number:290530826466 and Item number:260732686110. Click on the 'bid history' of each of them. Two guys, one with 65 feedbacks and one with 6 want the same stones. Trying to wear each other down. The seller for the first one thinks he died and went to heaven. Not me BTW.

I snipe manually in the last few seconds. But I am surprised that so many of you trust the snipping sites and programs with so much info.

I usually make my one and only bid manually just before the auction ends. I decide what is the maximum amount i am ready to pay for the item. If someone -be it snipe program or manual- bids more than me, i am only happy to lose because the ending price is more than i wanted to pay. If you want to win, put your maximum bid high enough. That is the only way to be sure to win.

I'm with you guys. I have just recently ventured into the ebay shenanigans, but I have been able to get some good razors that with a little TLC have turned out very nicely. I guess I "snipe" during the last 30 seconds for three reasons:

1.)Want to see if any others are bidding (still learning about what to look for)
2.)Don't want to drive the price up
3.) I decide the max I will go, and so if I bid during the last few seconds I don't have time to bid again if somebody out-bids me! I have fallen in love with a few, and I know I would get caught up in it and spend money I don't have.

i agree exactly what most others here have said
1/ bid on something obscure - i have and they turned out to be great Sheffield razors nothing special but lovely razors
2/ keep a maximum price your willing to pay and stick to it

easy really no sniping etc its just how it works win some loose a lot more

ian