I Have Started Using Ebay A Bit More, Is It Fair To An Auction Sniper?

[RATTER15]

I use a sniper because Im usually at work or in bed when the auction ends so the sniper gets in a final bid in the last 5 seconds, as it is legal, free and available to anyone I don't see it being unfair.

[tenrec]

Agree with hc.

[RATTER15]

>>Ratter you can just out your max bid straight on ebay .

[bednobs]

i can see what both HC and ratter are saying - as i said there are things about human nature that make what HC says happen (people just up their bid to see if they can outbid you, despite not wanting to!)
Eddies scheme would only work if everyone just put whatthey were willing to pay at the beginning

[bednobs]

for out, read put

[RATTER15]

ok, I give up, if I copy and paste it doesnt show anything I have written afterwards the text that has been pasted, what is going on!!!?

[EDDIE51]

Ratter , say an item is currently at £2 you are prepared to pay £12 so you put £12 as your max bid. The bid price will say £2.20 as that is the next increment . If someone else then bids £2.40 they will get a message saying '' you have been out bid'' and the current bid will go to £2.60 with you still as the high bidder. This will continue until someone bids more than your maximum of £12, then you get a note saying ''you have been out bid, increase your maximum bid''
I find doing it that way saves me going 'over the odds' and bidding too much. You can arrange to have a free message to your mobile phone to tell you if you have been outbid.
One thing I have always found with ebay is that there will always be another one alone very soon , so it is not worth worrying over a lost bid.
For example I was bidding on a vintage camera and was prepared to go to £15 so I put that as my max bid . I was out bid and it went for £22, but I found another identical one just a few minutes later and got it for £2.50 as I was the only bidder. Do you know about ebay 'wish lists' ? You can put details of items you want and get a message as soon as a matching item is listed .

[EDDIE51]

On your last point I have found that posting links on an ebay listing does not work on Google Chrome. I only use IE7 for ebay, Chrome is a disaster area.

[joko]

ratter - you do not need a sniper - just put in the absolute maximum amount you are prepared to spend and ebay will automatically bid up to that amount on your behalf.

your maximum bid is not an instant 'offer' of that amount, you will still only pay the next amount up from the last bid your 'opponent' made.

if your maximum is £30, but your opponents is only £15 - you will only have to pay £15.50.

[hc4361]

joko, see my earlier answer.

Bidding early leads to others snibbling, which pushes the price up.

Bid once, bid late, use a snipe tool if you can't be online to put the very late bid in manually.

[China Doll]

I agree with HC, I use snipe when an item is going to end while I'm at work or something and can't bid on ebay. Otherwise I only bid on an item in the last few seconds, I never put an early bid on.

[RATTER15]

joko, I dont think you realise what a sniper does, with a sniper, nobody is aware of your existence in the auction until the last few seconds, so nobody can even see your are chasing an item.

So far I have not been outbid on a single item and still got them at a good price, far more succesful and cheaper than entering max bid on ebay.

[bazwillrun]

If you put your max bid in straight off then other bidders will always know that there is a higher bid than theirs as they will get a message telling them they need to bid again, so although they dont know exactly how much your max is they know theyve got to bid more until they get a message telling them they are the current highest bidder.

This suits sellers as it helps to increase the potential sale price, but obviously works against buyers.

Sniping gets around this to some extent as its a blind auction and nobody knows whos bid and how much

[grasscarp]

I used Goofbid. Free to use. Not unfair. If you are not near a computer when something is ending it is essential or you stand no chance. Used to be called Goofbay, and when it changed to Goofbid I tried to use it and it was not doing anything. Found out that if you change your password on ebay you also have to change it in the Goofbid profile.

[joko]

ratter - i thought you were asking if it was wrong etc - its not but i was giving a similar alternative that ebay offer themselves to show it not unfair at all.

I have used a sniper in the past myself, but to be honest not seen much further benefit in it than using maximum bid...its more or less the same thing except they dont know youre there... it still only bids the same amount though.

i suppose there is a benefit in them not being warned theyve been outbid, but then if i have placed my maximum and they intend to go past me then ive lost anyway.
some people do just bid in stages.

however, i do find though that other peoples early bids on an item put me off bidding on it at all - as if i know someone is after it and may be going to fight for it, i will look for another item... so if it puts me off, it probably deters others too.
also if i bid early too and it automatically goes up and up each time, it tells me someone else has put a highest bid on, and i can decide whether to waste my time fighting for it or not.
obviously theres no way of knowing really but gives an indication.
depends on the item i suppose.

its a funny game ebay...everyone seems to have different strategies that work for them, but to others are the opposite.

[tamborine]

Checked your link ratter, its free only IF u buy listed goods

[RATTER15]

Tambo, I have never paid for a penny for it, im not sure what you mean by "listed Goods"

This is the the first part of their add:

"Myibidder.com (originally Myibay.com) is a Free auction bid sniper and management service for eBay.
It helps you to snipe, manage and track your auctions in order to keep your bid interest in secret and prevent shill bidding while tracking your won items.
The service is free, based on donations."