ebay snipers

[garyinderry]

been bidding on some long irons on ebay. i put in a bid and become highest bidder. someone always seems to pip me at the end by 50p and doesnt bid till 4 seconds to go. have i been a little low with my max bid and just been caught by a quick fire finger or is it somthing a little more sneaky?


anyone else think they are getting beaten at the post a little too frequently?

 

[tallpaul]

eBay snipers are very commonly used. I use one and see that many of my auctions are won using them (looking at the bidding activity after the end).

No brainer to use one, I've found it to be 100% reliable and ensures I don't forget to bid. It won't prevent a higher proxy bid winning, but overall would reduce the cost of your won auctions by preventing reactive counter bids.

 

[fundy]

I pretty much only bid in the last 5 seconds on ebay, no point in revealing your hand any earlier and allows you to get the item at a cheaper price many a time. If you cant beat them join them!

 

[duncan mackie]

having time on my hands I tend to treat purchases on ebay as a bit of fun and will bid at the last minute as much to annoy people as anything.

you are only going to get beat by the next bidding step anyhow, whatever is actually bid - so that's an illusion.

basically I bid what I believe is the right price for the item for me - if that's higher than your max bid then I win

 

[garyinderry]

my friend linked me to a sniper site but i dont feel good about giving them my account details. i enjoy the buzz of the auction. i wish ebay could clamp down on this in some way.

 

[duncan mackie]

....... preventing reactive counter bids.

this is the key - there are people who won't bid more than they think they need to at any particular time; they will loose out.

 

[shewy]

use myibidder.com just set your amount set the snipe time to 5 sec and forget about it.not great for sellers but good for buyers

 

[Andy808]

Oops. That's my tactic on ebay. Wait till 10 seconds to go, place my max bid, confirm bid and see if I get it. That's how I got my Cally x-tour irons for £70 when all the others were selling for £150 plus a set.
It wasn't be this time.

 

[Rooter]

Why not just bid (at any time) the maximum you would like to pay? You either win the item at a price you are happy paying, or its gone over what you wanted to pay.. Simple no? you start chasing 50p over, £1 over, suddenly you have paid more than you were happy with as you have been dragged into the buzz of bidding..

 

[garyinderry]

i have stopped using my phone to bid as i think it runs slightly behind. ive lost a few recently waiting till 7secs on the phone. it says transaction not done in time. i use the laptop now if i can.

 

[cookelad]

Why not just bid (at any time) the maximum you would like to pay? You either win the item at a price you are happy paying, or its gone over what you wanted to pay.. Simple no? you start chasing 50p over, £1 over, suddenly you have paid more than you were happy with as you have been dragged into the buzz of bidding..

I agree! If you think something is worth paying £100 for put that as your maximum and walk away - how can you be annoyed at paying £100 for something you were prepared to pay £100 for?

 

[Khamelion]

I agree! If you think something is worth paying £100 for put that as your maximum and walk away - how can you be annoyed at paying £100 for something you were prepared to pay £100 for?

Exactly, I've scored big time on Ebay, I've also lost out due to snipers, but if I decide to pay £50 then I'll put that as my max bid, if I lose out, so be it, if I win, great.

 

[pbrown7582]

It won't matter if you use a sniper or bid yourself with 2 seconds if your top bid is less than some else's they will win.
What it does do is reduce people bidding items up.

 

[Fader]

I pretty much only bid in the last 5 seconds on ebay, no point in revealing your hand any earlier and allows you to get the item at a cheaper price many a time. If you cant beat them join them!

^^^^+1

Only bid in the last 20 seconds with a max bid and then if its not high enough it's more than i'm willng to pay.

 

[MadAdey]

People do not understand how to use Ebay. I never use a snipper I just do it myself. If say for instance I am willing to pay £100 for something, then I will wait until 5 secs to go then put a bid in for £103.67 or some other random amount just over my top end. The reason behind this is that you will win more auctions doing it. If we both think the item is worth £100 and want to bid that as our max then we can put it on a proxy. But then you may have put your bid for £100 in early. I then come in during the last few seconds and put my bid in that is £100 with a bit of loose change, I automatically outbid you, simple. Ok if someone is willing to go way above what I want to pay then so be it, I will not win it anyway.

That is how I Ebay and it has worked well for the last 13 years.

 

[One Planer]

Buy It Now







Thank me later.

 

[Khamelion]

Buy what now?













Thank you

 

[WideEyedFox]

Guilty of sniping here too. I do it the old fashioned way as has been said. Last few seconds, my max bid + some random change. If I win, great, if I don't they'll be another somewhere.

I've always thought that any bids placed on eBay during the last minute should extend the auction time by 60 seconds - this would stop sniping. Other auctions don't work with a cut-off point - if someone else bids late, the auction runs a bit longer until everyone is done.

Got to be careful though - eBay not always the Aladdin’s cave of bargains it used to be.

 

[Foxholer]

I use Justsnipe. Simple, safe and free - for up to 5 snipes per week.

No need to be on-line at end of auction - just set max bid and check results later. Great for during work or different time zones.

 

[drawboy]

It's sad that you have to bid with 5 seconds to go but if you want to win then if you do not do it you can certainly be sure someone else will. It isn't as if you are bidding against someone you know so if you have to be sneaky then all's fair in love and Ebay.