Sniping on eBay

On another newsgroup I belong to there was a heated discussion between eBay snipers and anti-snipers. I was amazed at how some people felt so strongly against it. Some people said it was distasteful. Others said there was absolutely nothing wrong with sniping.

Was it just that group or do "normal" people have a problem with sniping?

Jim

Reply to
Jim Stanton
Loading thread data ...

It's legitimate, just irritating as hell. Or amusing, if several snipers have the same item set to rediculous levels. ("1/72 decal sheet... $250...")

I just set my limit as high as I'm willing to go. If I win, great, if not, oh well.

Reply to
EGMcCann

what makes me crazy is when I reload and am high bidder with less then 10 seconds to go...wait 10 seconds and reload to read "You have been outbid" Or even worse,when I still have a few seconds but can't get a bid in fast enough...this is where the broadband guys have it over on us po' folks with dial up...

Reply to
Eyeball2002308

Life is a game.

Sniping is part of that game. People know it happens yet they insist on playing a game where they don't like the rules.

I don't like it when it happens to me, yet I do it to others.

I get over it, and I go back and play the game.

If you don't like the rules, either don't play the game or start a new game with your own rules.

Life is fairly basic.

F Marion

Reply to
Francis Marion

yes i can do it with 4 seconds left, 8 if its busy......do it everytime, set up my pcs so i have a monitor for page countdownd and another for the bid alone. dont always win but i never start ot bid early for a price war

Reply to
Julian Hales

Yes i was involved with one too, i was called the worst names etc as i bida t the last 2nd.....i saw one item the other i wated it, but 2 people with 2 days left each bid.outbid etc so the price went crazy..suckers.

I never bid until the last 2nd if i really want the item, dont want to let others know i have a interest

Reply to
Julian Hales

///SNIP ///

I have to disagree. I have a dial-up ISP and it does fine without broadband. I win my share -- certainly more than my wife would like me to win. ;-)

Ed "Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them."

Franklin D. Roosevelt, Address for Bill of Rights Day

15 Dec 1941

(Delete text after dot com for e-mail reply.)

Reply to
RobbelothE

This is probably the best reason I have for sniping, even on items which have no bids going into the home stretch. Makes others less likely to snipe me, I figure.

Oh, and as far as broadband vs. dialup: I have a cable modem, but I have missed a few bids by waiting too long to snipe, and/or because of an inopportune password entry box I didn't figure on. The connection always seems to bottleneck at just the wrong moment.

And the fastest internet connection in the world won't help you win an auction if you forget when the auction ends...yeah, I've tried the sniping progs, but they always seem to forget to place the bids I requested.

-- Wojo

This is not a signature. Never was.

Reply to
Wojo

This may be the wrong group to ask about "normal" people. However, I agree with EG. I figure what I think something's worth and that's where I stand or fall.

Bill Banaszak, MFE

Reply to
Bill Banaszak

I agree with Julian. Why let the world know I'm interested in an item. But my main reason for sniping an auction is to prevent the seller's buddies from shilling for him and running up my bid. Granted, that doesn't happen often, but look at the bid histories and see how many repeat bids on an item come from the same bidder. By sniping, I avoid the shiller and the moron who HAS to re-bid after he has been outbid.

However, here's the bottom line. IF you bid the MAXIMUM that you are willing to pay for the item, it doesn't matter if you snipe or place your bid 5 days before the auction's close. High bid wins, no matter when it is placed.

Reply to
Mike Settle

"Julian Hales" wrote in news:oOYTa.57232$ snipped-for-privacy@news-binary.blueyonder.co.uk:

Geez Julian, don;t give away the secret! 8)

That's exactly yhe problem. Even if you think I'll pay $20 for something if you bid that right away you stir up a hornets nest. If you let it go, maybe, maybe not. I've seen it play out enough times lately.

I use Esnipe. I watch it up to the last 1 to 4 hours. Figure where I think the top is based on activity and how much I want to pay. Then just set it and forget it. If I win I win, if I lose I lose. But I'm convinxed I'm paying lower net prices overall.

Frank

Reply to
Gray Ghost

Eyeball2002308 wrote: : : enough...this is where the broadband guys have it over on us po' folks with : dial up... : Gotta disagree there. I had dial up until nearly 2 years ago. I had a script that would establish the connection with about 15 minutes to go, and shut the connection down about 5 minutes later.

The snipe program would be started once the connection was established, and do its thing. Since the auction was already loaded, I didn't have to worry about nuisances like login scripts. I am pretty sure I had the the snipe timer set to around 7 - 8 seconds.

Now, with cable modem, I had the timer set a 3 seconds, and that is pretty accurate as to when my bids are placed. Of course, I do run ntpdate every two hours, as my clock drifts badly (.75 seconds/hour, or about 17 seconds/day).

And, yeah, I lose plenty of auctions - bid is already higher than what I was willing to pay, or the proxy bid was higher. Shrug.

Bruce

Reply to
Bruce Burden

you too, huh....

Craig

Reply to
Craig

Reply to
jerry 47

Yeah, I think this is actually more rational than true sniping, and its the approach I used when I was still real active on eBay. I discovered there was little point in bidding at all until the last four hours of an auction. The dedicated "I'm going to out-shoot whoever and get this item" types were going to be hanging on the line (or letting their 'bot do the same thing) anyway, and anyone else seeing the minimum bid posted might be tempted to throw a bid or two just to see how serious I was. Net effect: even if I win, my cost goes up. The sniper is more likely to just outbid me right off, so I'm losing those auctions anyway, but for the ones I'm winning, there's a good chance I'm saving a few bucks.

Mark Schynert

Reply to
Mark Schynert

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.