BS: Ebay bid sniper

Subject: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Victor in Mapperton
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 06:08 PM

Just had a terrible experience with Snip PL my ebay sniper provider, it failed to engage today just as it did on Friday, missed two item I really wanted (Original mint album by Steeleye Span and "All Things must pass" signed by George Harrison).

Contacted them and got a cock and bull story about system faults, easy to blame computer systems which at the end of the day are operated by humans !

Any advice gratefully appreciated regarding reputable sniper providers for ebay as I just dumped Snip PL.

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 06:17 PM

Try EZsniper. I've only once known it to fail to make the bid.

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Victor in Mapperton
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 06:40 PM

Thanks Little Hawk

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Bobert
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 06:42 PM

Well, I kinda have a different take on it... And that is that snipin' is kinda sneeky... If you want somethin' just bid enough to get it... But to have some computer program bid for you with the intent of winning at the lowest prive possible against other folks who are doing the same seems, ahhhhhhh, purdy silly...

I've always just bid myself... No fancy programs or companies to to it for me... I win a few and I lose a few... That's life... No one wins 'um all...

I think I have that Steeleye Span album, however, and could be persuaded to let it go fir a reasonable price... Can't help you with George Harrison's autograph, tho...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Victor in Mapperton
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 07:01 PM

Just signed up for EZ Sniper, thanks for that.

Snipers are wonderful things, if something is there two people are after it becomes a cat and mouse game. You bid in the morning, I outbid you in the evening and the game goes on for days until one of us end up paying a lot more for something than it's worth. Also if you aren't near a computer the day the auction ends you miss out. Using a sniper allows me to place my maximum bid with a cup of coffee and time to reflect on how much it's worth to me days before an auction ends. Also I can get on with my life and not have to sit with one finger on a keypad with seconds to go to the end of the auction.

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 07:05 PM

I have only ever bought a couple of things on ebay so I wasn't aware of sniper providers. It must be much the same as leaving a maximum bid at an auction house when you are not available to attend the auction in person. They will always get the lowest possible price for you as well.

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 07:22 PM

The best thing about it is you do not have to sit and watch the darned thing in the dying minutes of the auction and try and bid in the last 30 seconds....you simply figure out how much you are willing to pay for that item, and make that your maximum bid...and that's it. Period.

If you don't get the item cos someone was willing to bid higher, fine. Another one will come along. Or something better will come along. I have discovered this through long experience, and I don't sweat it.

The sniper allows me to get on with the rest of my life instead of watching the darned auctions, it frees me from being tied to the computer, and that is well worth the very small amount of money they charge me for the service.

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 07:24 PM

What happens if two people use the same sniper and both give the same maximum bid and nobody else bids higher?

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: bobad
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 07:28 PM

Meltdown.

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 07:31 PM

That's an interesting question, eanjay! You could try setting up such a situation as a test. You and a friend find something on EBay that's only worth, say, about $10. Then you both bid $50 on it through EZsniper, and wait and see who "wins"....

Then try it a few more times in the same fashion on other items. Correlate the results.

My guess is that it would happen randomly as to whose bid won out, but there's only one way to find out, man...

Go for it.

;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 07:37 PM

I suppose it might go by who sets it up first with the sniper, or it might even go alphabetically.

I won't bother experimenting because it might cost me too much :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 07:45 PM

I have never had any problem with snip. In gerneral I have found it very good.

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Victor in Mapperton
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 07:47 PM

If two people place a sniper with the same provider of 50.00 on an item, whoever placed the sniper first gets the advantage.

Each company set their snipers at different times, for example some are 10 seconds, some six and some 2 seconds. Whichever one reaches ebay first is logged as the highest bidder. If your the second highest bidder, a message goes to your email address from your sniper provider to let you know you were outbid. Sadly you get it after the auction is over.

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Victor in Mapperton
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 07:53 PM

I was with snip for five years and had a few problems with missed bids, sadly a missed auction shot is one problem too many.

This is all you get in reply to a complaint.

"System error - An unrecoverable error occurred. The shot could not be placed due to a technical error".

F them.

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 07:54 PM

It must work the same in an auction house because they are not allowed to tell you what reserve somebody else has put, or what the highest reserve so far is.

It had just never occurred to me before that this situation could arise.

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 07:58 PM

I suspect that they all run into a technical glitch now and then. I remember one time when EZsniper missed the bid due to a "technical problem" of some kind....but that's only once out of many, many successful bids that have saved me much time and trouble, so I can live with it.

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 08:20 PM

If one bids his maximum, why bother with a sniper?
I normally bid late, but if I really want it I bid its value plus a good premium. If someone bids more, they are welcome to it.

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: redsnapper
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 08:29 PM

I buy a a fair bit on eBay and have had a lot of good buys without the help of a sniper. I always set myself a limit on what I will pay for an item and don't go above that. I personally don't mind sitting out the last minute of an auction. Sometimes I win and sometimes I don't and have a similar take to Q above. For me that's part of the fun of it and I wouldn't leave that to a computer program.

RS

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Victor in Mapperton
Date: 28 Oct 07 - 08:42 PM

Putting your maximum bid in early I found brought out the big hitters. There are some serious collectors out there with serious money. If they know you as a collector and see your name or tag on an item and possibly had a doubt about the item, your interest gets them moving.

I know only too well as several times I did bid early and received a phone call from another collector who spoke to a friend of a friend and remarked on my interest in the item confirmed the item must be good.

A late sniper keeps your powder dry and you don't play your hand too early.

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 12:10 AM

If I am interested in an item for which I don't want to advertise my interest I simply watch it, and make a point to be there when the auction ends. But I have kids, and more than once one of them has been too slow at something we've had to do away from home and I didn't get back in time to bid (at all). So I can see the value of a sniper program on some occasions.

Question: What does it cost? A percentage of the purchase or a flat rate, or nothing at all? And if you set it up and then decide to bid yourself, can you turn it off easily? You don't want to end up bidding against yourself.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: BK Lick
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 02:15 AM

Check out http://jbidwatcher.com/ -- it's mighty fine, and free as well.

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Victor in Mapperton
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 05:21 AM

It's only pence to use, you buy a number of snipers about 30 for £2.00. Yes you can override them by simply cancelling your sniper if you want to place a manual bid. That EZ Sniper looks really good.

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 07:19 AM

Only time I ever had a problem with snip (it turned out it was my fault) I emailed them and got a personal email right back from the owner.

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Victor in Mapperton
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 07:31 AM

Hope it was better than the one I got Richard. I informed them of the problem and requested an explanation. This is the reply I received.

Hi

System error - An unrecoverable error occurred. The shot could not be placed due to a technical error.


Piotr "Korba" Tomczyk

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 04:33 PM

No, he was very helpful. At some length.

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: freightdawg
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 09:20 PM

When I was trying to bid for an item I used ebay's own automatic bid mechanism. You put the highest bid you will pay and it will bid for you. If you place the same amount as someone else the person who placed that amount first will get the bid.

I was hugely irritated that I lost on several different occasions when someone placed a bid after the warning appeared on my screen that not enough time remained for me to place a higher bid, should someone outbid me. I followed the "history" of the person who outbid me, and it appeared he/she was quite adept at placing bids in the last minute of an auction. And it also appeared he/she was a collector. Later I found out that one tactic was to have a split screen, with one screen refreshing on the progress of the auction, and the other screen set with a bid that could be updated as needed.

I finally "won" when the item I was looking for came up with a "buy it now" option. I jumped on it and avoided the circus.

Now I have a beeeeeuuuuuuuteeeeeeful Rainsong guitar at about 3/4 of what they sell for retail. Pays to be patient, even if you can't win the auction thingy.

Freightdawg

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 10:17 PM

i enjoy the pleasurable mild adrenalin buzz
of personaly placing my bid at the highest £££$$ i'm prepared to pay
in the closing last 10 secs of any auction i enter..


if i want something so bad enough..
i'll make sure i'm awake & online at the times when i need to be..


if its an item i'm not too bothered if i win or not,
then i'll place my bid on the day auction ends
at the last minute i can
before i need to leave the house
to go do something more interesting.
[..or go to bed & get some sleep!!!]

..there will always be daft sods with much more money than sense
entering f@ckwit over-competitive bidding wars
several days far too early in any auctions..

..and when they inevitably push prices up way beyond reason
then we just gotta shrug off the annoyance
and walk away and leave 'em to it..


i dont ever 'need' to win at any cost

and can only justify buying more 'things' than i'll ever need
if i win them at realistic bargain prices
way below retail or 'collectors'prices...



..though when it comes to selling..

i'd definitely want irresponsible clueless rich dicks bidding on my items..

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Oct 07 - 10:50 PM

punkfolkrocker described the range of responses I go through also--if I'm watching but not that interested then I bid once near the end and see what happens. Not everything I set up to "watch" is something I'm going to bid on, either. I have a couple of searches in place that report on things I'll eventually buy when I have the money, but I keep an eye to see what they're going for. I could also simply look up the item and search on completed sales.

I also do the split screen bidding. I use two monitors with my computer, making it even easier. I refresh one to keep track of the price and the seconds (!) left, and the other I have the bid in place and ready to confirm and launch about 6 - 10 seconds before it ends. This only works with DSL.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Rog Peek
Date: 30 Oct 07 - 10:19 AM

I agree with Bobert, and besides for me, part of the fun is dropping my maximum bid in with 5 or 6 seconds left I don't use a split screen as I'm really not interested at that stage what other bidders are bidding, as once I have decided on my maximum, I will not pay any more.

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Oct 07 - 02:50 PM

I use the second screen to be sure I'm that close to the end before I submit the bid.

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: danensis
Date: 30 Oct 07 - 03:38 PM

If you do a web search you will find some interesting experiments carried out by various psychologists and statisticians to compare sniping with just putting your best offer and letting ebay handle the bids. The outcome of nearly all these experiments is that there is no statistically significant difference in the outcome, but that if you watch the auction you are likely to go over your self-imposed limit in order to close the sale.

Some interesting psychology in the way people talk about "winning" on ebay when the correct term should be "buying".

John

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Bert
Date: 30 Oct 07 - 03:45 PM

I always bid very low, leave it to Ebay, and usually don't get the item. Occasionally I do and it's a bargain.

One time I really wanted something and put in the highest bid thirty minutes before the end of the auction. I kept checking back to make sure I wasn't outbid and was shown as winning right up to the end of the auction. Somehow it went to somebody else at a higher bid, but still much less than I was willing to pay.

Emails to Ebay about the situation went unanswered.

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: alison
Date: 31 Oct 07 - 03:42 AM

Auction Sniper works really well for me

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Rog Peek
Date: 31 Oct 07 - 01:56 PM

SRS, I'm not quite as high tech as you. I have a clock with a second hand to make sure I drop the max bid in just at the last.

Rog

P.S. I hope you're not offended by my abbreviating your name.

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: Peace
Date: 31 Oct 07 - 03:47 PM

Where's E-bay? Is it near James Bay?

Subject: RE: BS: Ebay bid sniper
From: vectis
Date: 31 Oct 07 - 08:38 PM

My son swears by Auction Sentry. He finds it very reliable and has got him some real bargains.