OT Ebay

I thought I would pass this bit of information on to you folks who buy on ebay. Sign up on auctionsniper.com and let them bid for you. They can bid up to the last second left on an auction. It works great especially when you can't be by the computer.

Or you could just put in the maximum you willing to pay like your supposed to instead of screwing over all the other people trying to bid.....

If my maximum bid is higher than yours, you will not win the bid. DH

(quoted from post at 21:41:10 03/07/10) I thought I would pass this bit of information on to you folks who buy on ebay. Sign up on auctionsniper.com and let them bid for you. They can bid up to the last second left on an auction. It works great especially when you can't be by the computer.

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John I have used them before i got high speed internet and it worked great. To you guys that say bid your max amount early !! I do not agree with that there are so many sellers out there with people jacking your bid to the max it ain't funny !! That is the reason I will snipe an item I want.

Dustin IL

If I post a maximum bit of say $75.00 today and the auction doesn't end until Friday. You can have them bid whatever you want. As long as your maximum is not more than mine you will not win. If the maximums are the same whoever bid that amount first gets it. So you have to look at what you are willing to spend on an item and just go for it. What do they charge you for their service anyway? It is free for me to bid on Ebay.
Steven

If you put your maximum bid in and the auction has 6 days to go others can/will run you up on purpose then you"re stuck with a higher price item possibly even though you bid that amount but could of gotten it cheaper, but with auctionsniper.com your bid can be put in at the last second and no one sees it and can"t run you up just for fun. Yes Others can outbid you this way also but that"s what sniping is all about.

I might make a minimum bid or two just to feel the situation out and see if anyone else is serious. Then I'll bid my max and stick with it, win or lose.

There are always clowns like some of these guys doing something dishonest like sniping to get a deal.

Unfortunately nothing any of us say will change this type of behavior.

If they were not doing this they would be doing something else thats less then honest.

"running up the bid" doesnt work as the people that do the "running up" have no way of knowing what your max bid is. they over bid you, they own it. a few itens of unwanted junk and they will stop the practice.

Help me out here, how is bidding at the last minute dishonest? If that is true, isnt it then dishonest not to bid your full amount right away at a farm or consignment auction? I always wait to what I believe is the last minute to bid at a live auction as I feel it gives me a better handle on how much interest there is and where I might end up. Also, it may be a piece that I had no interest in until I see that there might be a buck to be made. I'm not trying to start and argument here....please dont take it that way. I'm just curious of your thought process.

(quoted from post at 04:24:32 03/08/10) "running up the bid" doesnt work as the people that do the "running up" have no way of knowing what your max bid is. they over bid you,

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If you know what your doing you can "run up a bid" or shill bid without winning very easily.

Using software to sneak a bid in is the part I think is dishonest.

The software puts in a bid that an i will quote "bid can be put in at the last second and no one sees it"

Imagine being at a farm or consignment auction and you get beat by a bib that no one can see. I attend alot of auctions and if that was happening they would string the auctioneer up.

I'm not trying to start an argument either. I don't use that auction site because of issues like this. I just personally do not think it is right to do that.

I sell AND buy on stuff on ebay and I use a sniping tool all the time.
If I want to "snipe" something, I'll go to Auctionstealer(dot)com and enter the info- it is free for up to 3 items a week, unlimited items if you pay for the service.
They bid your maximum for you in the last few seconds, unless the item has already been bid over your limit. I prefer this tactic to bidding a large amount early and having other rival bidders come back, over and over for several days and "pick" at your bid, slowly driving it up and eventually out-bidding you.Hit them hard at the end and they'll never know what
happened, and they wont have time to react.

As i said, I also sell on ebay and have no trouble with anyone using this method on my auctions. If someone swoops in at the end and gets the part, that means he was willing to bid more than anyone else- more $$ for me. Even if the guy currently holding the bid fends of a sniper or two and STILL gets it, the sniper drove up his final bid just over the sniper's bid and I get more $$, and the original bidder still gets the part at a price he was willing to pay- everybodys happy- except the sniper, who'll enter a higher bid next time- hopefully on MY stuff.

Sniping a bid is like hanging back at a real auction and letting everyone else duke it out, then jumping in at the last call and winning it just before the gavel falls- dont worry about someone elses tactics or lose sleep over it, If you think sniping is "unfair" just bid higher!

Actually, a seller can get a friend to do this for him and if he ends up accidently buying the item they just pretend to go through with the transaction on paper(on computer?) and then the seller will re-list it a few days later and try again...
If you suspect this of happening check both seller & buyers feedback and see if there is a connection there- lots of stuff being bought by one guy from one seller, then the same stuff "mysteriously" being relisted again and again.

I don't need anyone else to bid for me- I bid what I'm willing to spend, and if someone bids a penny more, that's a penny more than I wanted to pay. Simple process.

The difference at a "real" auction is that when you bid before the gavel falls the auctioneer asks for more bids.

Not if they are buddies or family members of the owner. The ebay fee gets paid and it is relisted later. Seems to me that you still have to set a max bid with the sniper website.

I look for bargains. I may low bid early just to get the emails so I can find it later on. Then I'll check it before auction end and come up with a max bid at that time unless it has already been priced out of sight. I try to watch auctions at closing time but still keep my max bid low. I've probably lost to the snipers with some last second sniping.

At live auctions, I don't even try a low bid until I see where the price is headed. Why waste time if the price is going out of sight and I don't want to tip off everyone else that I'm bargain hunting and will drop out early. And others who aren't bargain hunting wait till the end when the bidding is about to close, then those two people get into a bidding war that sometimes drives the price higher than brand new.

It's not dishonest, may be annoying and frustrating but not dishonest.

If you bid your max on day one, and it's close to what I was planning on maxing out at, I have a few days to mull it over and decide to pay a couple of extra bucks. If that happens at the last minute or two, I don't have time to mull it over.

It happens in live auctions all the time. Ever been to a land sale, where they stop the auction for 10 minutes when the bidding stalls out, giving people time to think and talk about it?? I've seen farms go for an extra $250-500 / acre after that break. Did the original guy with the max bid in his head get the farm?? We'll never know. I can tell you I've lost out after that break because my max bid stayed the same after the break.... If I want to spend more, I'll bid higher.

I don't use the service on eBay because I don't want to pay anybody any extra fees for bidding. I don't begrudge anybody who does it though.

As an eBay seller, we love the practice, nothing like a couple last minute snipers driving up the price. It's like a shot at the buzzer that hits nothing but net.

Tim

So what happens if both you and I are signed up with the same sniping outfit? Who wins? Or what about different sniping outfits? What then? If my max bid (without using a sniper outfit) is higher than your sniper bid, who wins? Can the sniper somehow beat me?

It isn't right to call what Ebay does an "auction"- there's no last second "sniping" at an auction (other than the occassional "quick" gavel)- he takes bids until no one else is willing to bid, he doesn't cut it off at a certain time. This is part of what has made Craiglist successful- I've been sniped a few times, got tired of it, and don't much bother with Ebay any more.