Notice of intent to snipe Ebay mold!

[Char-Gar]

Jeeze Guys..I shure did't intend to get folks so spun up about Ebay sniping. BTW..I did not get the mold. I was out sniped and that is OK with me. Somebody wanted it more than I did.

I have always considered myself a moral and ethical man, and have placed high standards on myself by which to live by. I cannot understand why some get upset by last minute bids. That is just smart auction buying in my book.

Those who sell at auctions love for an item to develop "bid fever", where folks compete with each other and this interpersonal competition often leads to a sale price beyond the normal fair market value of the item. We have all seen this happen and consider the final bidder a fool.

Smart auction buyers, try not to contribute to bid fever. Before the gavel falls for the final time and most of the bidders have droped out, is the time to enter a first bid, if the item is still under what you are willing to pay.

Sometimes is starts a new round of bid fever with you as a participate and sometimes not. When I do this at an auction, I just give my maximum bid before the gavel falls and that is that. If I get it, I get it. If I don't get it, I don't get it. I refuse to get caught up in the emotion of competition.

I do the same thing on Ebay, I don't want to contribute to bid fever and won't get into competiton with somebody else. I make one bid as close to the end of the auction as I, can depending on my schedule. That is it..win or lose.

I find no moral or ethical problems with this approach. It is just smart auction biding. If some of you boys are just too lazy or to busy to keep such a close eye on an auction, then too bad for you. Learn to be a smart bidder or take your lumps like a man and quit whining about it. There now, is that straight enough!

[Scrounger]

Gents,
If I really really want something on Ebay,,,,, I snipe,,,,,, and hopefully outshoot the others. Did it last night on a Marlin 32/20 barrel. With 20 seconds to go I put my killer bid in of what I was willing to pay. With 9 secs to go I was the high bidder,,,,, only a few dollars away from my max. Lo and behold there was someone else out there doin' zackly the same, but the time left didn't give him/her enuff time to get back in, or they too were maxed out. My shot went in 4 secs after theirs.
A good connection, (DSL here), is critical, and I've got a coupla' windows open so that my bid is waiting as the clock ticks down and I've got another open to check on status.
As mentioned, there is an aspect of auction fever/competiveness that occurs. And yes, that 'one of a kind' WILL surface again, you just have to keep on checking for that item on a regular basis. I've bought a lot of bits and pieces on Ebay and Gunbroker, and think the auction sites are one of the better aspects of the net. The size of the market place means that there are few real bargains, yard sales are a better venue for them, {).
Cheers,
R*2

R2, I don't trust myself or my ISP on such important details, I use an electronic sniper service called 'Esnipe'. Works only on Ebay. I input the auction number, my maximum bid amount, and tell it to put in the bid 4 seconds before close. I am happy with it. It has failed to bid for me maybe twice out of three or four hundred uses. I make a lot of lo-ball bids on stuff. I'm cheap. If I don't win, Esnipe charges nothing. If I do win, I pay them 1%. Right now they have a free trial period for new sign ups. Give them a shot...Here is a link to their website: http://www.esnipe.com/

[Ballistics in Scotland]

It is amazing how often a matter of principle involves a claim that someone else ought to have that principle.

Russell, sniping by a website like Auctionsniper lets you depend on the quality of their connection, which is liable to be better than most people's. They put in your bid at a default setting of twenty seconds before the auction's end, and most users probably leave it that way. But I've altered it to 27 seconds, which with luck will pre-empt anyone who bids the same amount with the same website, and yet is likely to be faster than anyone's manual response to it. While four seconds seems to work very well for Scrounger, it is later than you need, and would most likely lose out to a automatic snipe of the same amount.

The bargains are there if your interests are eccentric enough. One of mine is European cartridge revolvers and rifles which figure on the British government's list of freely ownable antiques. It's defined by a list of obsolete chamberings, so items on it are often highly prized in the UK, but just unfamilar oddities in the US.

[Rrusse11]

if your interests are eccentric enough

B in S,
Do you wear ur pith helmet while browsing?
{;o)
R*2

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Even if that is the most intelligent thing you have said all decade, this is a board where people are mostly interested in the topic.

[Scrounger]

While four seconds seems to work very well for Scrounger, it is later than you need, and would most likely lose out to a automatic snipe of the same amount.

While I understand your point, the probability of two snipers inputing the exact same amount are so high as to be ignored, since most of us deliberately use odd amounts for such tie breakers. I always use numbers associated with some of the more attractive females which fortune placed in my path. Call it luck symbols if you like but I think of it as signs of respectful remembrance.

[carpetman]

Scrounger--You use odd numbers associated with females in your path. Do you perhaps use 69 very often? Or maybe something like 79-67-77?

[Scrounger]

Scrounger--You use odd numbers associated with females in your path. Do you perhaps use 69 very often? Or maybe something like 79-67-77?

What numbers are those-, the last three days total of cats you've killed? Do you know why I've never married? I'm very, very picky where women are concerned. Any woman that was good enough to interest me was by definition too good for me. She was good enough to get any man she wanted. And smart enough to know it wasn't me. I have some good points but looks ain't one of them. I'll try to post my picture:
[IMG][/IMG]

[carpetman]

Scrounger---Maybe you could get any woman you please. But you don't happen to please any of them?

[Willbird]

Well I have been examining my feelings on this, and I guess part of it is coming from a sellers point of view, I LIKE bidding fever hehe.

I will just raise my opening price, I have decided that is the best way to counter the sniping programs, or rather don't start auctions for less than I would really like to sell for, It is all a game really, and as the rules change one must adapt.

Bill

[Char-Gar]

Willbird...I also sell on Ebay from time to time. Most often when you see two identical items up for sale, one with a low starting bid and another with a high starting bid, the one with the low starting bid sell for a higher price in the end. Folks seen to bid on the one with the lower start and bid fever takes over. You can reel in a fish until you have him on the hook. You will get more fish on the hook with a low starting bid.

I put a low starting bid and then set a reserve for the lowest amount I will sell the item for and let nature take it's course.