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Got sniped

I put in my max bid early, days before it ends, and no more. My max is my max. If I win, great! If I don't, no biggie. It helps me not get caught up in the "gotta have it" and bid more than I really want to because I'm so excited. My $0.02 worth (wait, make it $0.03!)
 
I had $411 on an sx-1250 from a sketch seller with a power drill on it. Woke up Sunday night to see me get sniped. Later saw the feedback was not good with the BROKEN GLASS DOH!
 
I see people bid on things with like 4 days left on it. I think thats crazy. I always bid with less than 30 seconds left. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't

Not always. I'll put in a bid for an item I want at the minimum amount with days left to go, and sometimes win. If I really want the item, I will put in a snipe bid on at the last second, to snipe any possible snipers.
 
I do not trust ebay sellers enough to place my bids early. I found this out hard way that a lot of sellers (more than you probably think) place bids on their own auction using different accounts. You may think that's ridiculous, but it is very true afaik. I've seen it happen and heard sellers admit it. If a certain item is sitting at very low price and little time to go, they'll place a very large amount, win it, and relist it. I always bid my max with less than 10 seconds left.
 
Technically true...

however, I have no idea what their bids were. Always I'm the second highest bidder. If you asked me, would I pay $2.50 more than my high bid to get the item, heck yeah I would. If you asked would I pay $100 more, no, I don't like paying over market price no matter how much I want something.

It seems that this almost always happens with "desirable" auctions, there's just not enough stuff out there that I want to acquire so badly that it's worth it to me to pay for a sniping program. And I just don't make enough money to pay over market for anything, because who knows when I might need some and have to sell off some equipment, no matter how much I enjoy it.

You don't need to know the other bidders bids. You need to know what you want to pay. The MAX you want to pay. Set up your snipe bid and sit back. The cost is pennies. Besides, it's nuts to get up in the middle of the night to place a last minute bid and still lose to a sniper.(Who is sound asleep,knowing he's the winner)
Esnipe saves you money if you know the market for your item. Check their web site and understand how it works. And stop being the second highest bidder!
Happy sniping.
 
Same here

I put in my max bid early, days before it ends, and no more. My max is my max. If I win, great! If I don't, no biggie. It helps me not get caught up in the "gotta have it" and bid more than I really want to because I'm so excited. My $0.02 worth (wait, make it $0.03!)
 
If you really want an item, the only sensible thing to do is bid at the last second. Bidding early just jacks up the price and causes auction fever and other undesirables.
 
I understand there are Shill Bidding syndicates out there - a group of buyers and sellers agree to bid on each others items, never wanting to win them, just jacking up the price when they detect any keen bidders.

I try to get an idea if this is happening by looking at "bid activity with this seller" - but it seems seldom if ever, clear cut - and it could be just coincidence. Also I am just not an experienced enough ebay user to use such information effectively.
 
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I understand there are Shill Bidding syndicates out there - a group of buyers and sellers agree to bid on each others items, never wanting to win them, just jacking up the price when they detect any keen bidders.

I try to get an idea if this is happening by looking at "bid activity with this seller" - but it seems seldom if ever, clear cut - and it could be just coincidence. Also I am just not an experienced enough ebay user to use such information effectively.

I have been known to list very expensive desirable items starting at .99 cents. I had done it with my restored Mcintosh 2105 amp when I sold it. It had been serviced by Terry dewick and I had a 2105 shipping carton for it, I did not shill bid it, but from looking at how many bids, and two new zero feedback bidders there were, it would be easy for someone else to look at it and say " oh the seller is shilling it because he started it at .99 cents and no reserve" but here are two possibilities:

1. new unregistered person looks at Ebay, wants the item, can't believe its starting at .99 cents, he joins and hopes to get a deal....and

2. there is a thread on AK somewhere I read years ago, where people register new names to bid up a cheaply listed auction item to prevent someone else getting a deal, to protect the "value" on their 2105. The amp ended exactly for what the going rate was for the condition it was in, got about 70 bids, it went from .99 cents to $ 250.00 in the first 20 mins of the auction. SOmetimes it LOOKS like shilling, but it is'nt.
 
I have another hobby which is or was collecting old pocket knives. If I really wanted one I would wait until the last 5 seconds and bid the most I was willing to pay, even if it was double what had been bid. I got a lot of knives that way.
 
Sometimes I'll bid at the last couple seconds, but my max is my max. If somebody else gets it, they were willing to pay more and so be it. I'm generally pretty cheap, and only place bids a couple times a year, if that. Now, if it's some rare item I absolutely positively have to have, my max will reflect that and then some.
 
I was high bidder on an electronics item on shopgoodwill. I had high bid for an hour and in the last minute I was beat out with no time to respond. Oh well. Any one else been sniped?
Beer

Don't you mean outbid?

That's exactly what he meant.

Highest bid wins, every time.

A bidding agent/proxy will get you in closest to the wire.

Bingo.

'' So far I've lost three to snipers''

NO - you haven't
somebody was prepared to enter a higher bid than your maximum

Bingo.

If you click your mouse with five seconds left, that's known as "bidding".

If you set your sniping software to place a bid with five seconds left, that's known as "bidding".

The only difference, and I mean the ONLY difference, is that if you use sniping software, you can actually be having sex at exactly the moment when the auction closes, and still get a bid in.

The haters may be hatin' on it, but it sounds like a win-win to me.
 
I don't bid at any time other than the last 5sec. Unless I put a test bid out with 30sec or so left... Also I'll put a small bid in early if I feel the item might get taken down if no activity shows (with inexperienced sellers mostly). It's really the only way to go...
What I do....
 
Technically true...

however, I have no idea what their bids were. Always I'm the second highest bidder. If you asked me, would I pay $2.50 more than my high bid to get the item, heck yeah I would. If you asked would I pay $100 more, no, I don't like paying over market price no matter how much I want something.

It seems that this almost always happens with "desirable" auctions, there's just not enough stuff out there that I want to acquire so badly that it's worth it to me to pay for a sniping program. And I just don't make enough money to pay over market for anything, because who knows when I might need some and have to sell off some equipment, no matter how much I enjoy it.

Of course, you are the 'second-high bidder'. The winner only needs to go one increment above you to win. If you bid a max of $100 and he bids $500, he will win with $102.50, assuming a $2.50 increment at that level. You have no way of knowing what his actual max was. All you can know is that he bid higher than you.

Sometimes people will proxy bid (early) with what the bidding community on eBay calls a "Nuclear Proxy". Early bid for many times the avg selling price. "I'm going to be high bidder, or else!" Bidder clearly has bid WAY-Y-Y-Y-Y more than they actually would pay for the widget, but they don't think about the possibilities. Now, along comes N8Nagel, who is tired of losing for want of $2.50, and he says, "I'm going to win this thing!" In his determination, N8 bids several times the going price, at the very last second. The so-called Nuclear Snipe.

What happens? The software runs the two proxy bids against each other until one winner remains, and a hugely overinflated price. Whichever bidder had the higher bid, that person is the successful bidder, if you can call it that, given the price they now have to pay for the widget.

My bidding strategy is this: Bid once, bid your absolute max, and bid as late in the auction as possible. If I win, I win. If not, well, somebody wanted it more than me, because they bid a higher price.

I once bought an item for a gift, for a friend, with the so-called "Perfect Snipe".

One bid, in the last second, and one penny higher than the next highest bidder.

That one penny was enough. Never managed to match that feat, from that day to this.
 
QUOTE:
"The only difference, and I mean the ONLY difference, is that if you use sniping software, you can actually be having sex at exactly the moment when the auction closes, and still get a bid in."

Jezz. That would be the ultimate money shot!
Dude, you're killing me!
Jimmy
 
I always bid at 6 to 8 seconds. There are some snipers that can beat that short time. My internet speed is not so great so 8 seconds is about the best for me.
 
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