Noobs Ruining eBay?...

[JoeE SP9]

So, what ad on Audiogon is yours?

[mlsstl]

So, what ad on Audiogon is yours?

The Dynaco ST-70 that says "new price, free shipping". I think today or tomorrow is the last day for the ad.

[YBArcam]

Wish I saw this thread earlier...

I see where the OP is coming from, and like him I avoid bidding until the last hour of an auction.

Theoretically, the more demand there is for a product, the higher it will cost. This is basically what bidding accomplishes. So why do it one week before an auction expires? On the surface it does seem counterproductive.

But it's probably not. Lots of early bidding may become counterproductive if the bidders get caught up in the competition, and bid drastically over what an item is truly worth. But people generally do understand the value of an item, and they do stop when this value is reached.

Besides, if all bidders waited until the final minutes of an auction, can you imagine the frenzy then? Who's to say the price wouldn't be driven up even higher? Perhaps it's good for some people to get the bidding out of their system, and realize this item is out of their price range. Then hopefully they will stay away as the auction is drawing to a close.

So I think that at the end of the day, an item sells for what the market is willing to pay, no matter when most of the bids were made. Nevertheless, I still avoid bidding early on. I just don't see the point of it, knowing I'll likely need to bid at the last second anyways. And if I don't need to bid at the last second, then I'll do so anyway and it'll be an easy win.

And whoa! I never heard of this sniping thing before. I don't do a ton of transactions on eBay (I think my rating is about 120 - a decent number I guess). eBay should honestly ban this garbage. Guarantee that you are the last bidder on an item? So I might be there bidding at the wire and because you cheat you get a bid in milliseconds after? How lazy can people be?!!! Honestly, part of winning is earning it. How about be just be present when the auction closes if you really want the item?

What happens when four bidders are all using sniping applications? I guess these programs act very quickly, but they do take a fraction of a second each time and it just depends who's bid gets in at the very last possible millisecond.

Lame.

[Feanor]

...
And whoa! I never heard of this sniping thing before. I don't do a ton of transactions on eBay (I think my rating is about 120 - a decent number I guess). eBay should honestly ban this garbage. Guarantee that you are the last bidder on an item? So I might be there bidding at the wire and because you cheat you get a bid in milliseconds after? How lazy can people be?!!! Honestly, part of winning is earning it. How about be just be present when the auction closes if you really want the item?

What happens when four bidders are all using sniping applications? I guess these programs act very quickly, but they do take a fraction of a second each time and it just depends who's bid gets in at the very last possible millisecond.

Lame.

Lame or not, sniping is practical, convenient, and tends to psychological control. Should it be banned? Well, eBay hasn't move to do that, so presumably it's OK from their self-interested perspective.

Sniping doesn't guarantee that your bid will win, only that you won't encourage the other guy to irrationally up his bid after seeing yours. Sniping is only an enhancement of the basic, sensible strategy of bidding the most you're willing to pay for an item, no more, no less.

And yes, I believe I've been out bid by other snipers on a few occassions.

[E-Stat]

So I might be there bidding at the wire and because you cheat you get a bid in milliseconds after? How lazy can people be?!!! Honestly, part of winning is earning it. How about be just be present when the auction closes if you really want the item?

How does showing your hand late in the game become cheating? I bid up to the limit I assign to a given item - regardless of when I post that bid. Sniping only changes the bids of those who don't initially think about what they're willing to pay. As for being present, those who post their bids within seconds of the end are most certainly there when the auction closes!

The person who bids the highest wins regardless of timing. If you find that you lost an auction because you were outbid at the end, then perhaps you should rethink your concept of setting a limit.

rw

[YBArcam]

Lame or not, sniping is practical, convenient, and tends to psychological control. Should it be banned? Well, eBay hasn't move to do that, so presumably it's OK from their self-interested perspective.

Sniping doesn't guarantee that your bid will win, only that you won't encourage the other guy to irrationally up his bid after seeing yours.

I don't see how it guarantees that. If the other person is willing to pay more than you, he will bid up until he passes your maximum bid. Nevertheless, you could just put your maximum bid into eBay right from the start. Should that likewise not discourage the other guy from irrationally upping his bid, the way you argue that sniping does? He will start bidding but you will still be the top bidder (if your bid is high enough). The only difference is, you aren't making a bid to counter whatever he just entered. Instead, the system simply informs him that his bid isn't high enough. Believe me, that's plenty frustrating if you are trying to get something at a good price.

Also, I don't understand why you are making the assumption that the other guy is acting irrationally. He might keep bidding, eventually pass you and become the top bidder. When does this happen? Answer - once he passes your highest bid, by a measly 50 cents! So he wins the item by paying 50 cents more than you, and that's irrational? I would disagree. And no sniping program will prevent someone from bidding if he is willing to pay that amount, just like eBay's maximum bid feature won't.

How does showing your hand late in the game become cheating? I bid up to the limit I assign to a given item - regardless of when I post that bid. Sniping only changes the bids of those who don't initially think about what they're willing to pay. As for being present, those who post their bids within seconds of the end are most certainly there when the auction closes!

The person who bids the highest wins regardless of timing. If you find that you lost an auction because you were outbid at the end, then perhaps you should rethink your concept of setting a limit.

If I wanted something bad enough, I've always won it. For precisely the reason you gave - I outbid everyone else. Sniping just seems dishonest to me. eBay has created it's method of bidding, it's fair and square for everyone because that's the platform everyone uses. And it involves being there to type in your bid and manually click the bid button. Not some 3rd party program that automatically puts your bid in a half second after the last person put their bid in. This is akin to hacking eBay's system to make it act differently than it should. Again, if it's all about setting the limit you are willing to pay, and dissuade others from bidding recklessly, then why can't eBay's maximum bid function be all you need?

[E-Stat]

Not some 3rd party program that automatically puts your bid in a half second after the last person put their bid in. This is akin to hacking eBay's system to make it act differently than it should.

Sniping doesn't require third party software. It simply means that a bidder waits until the end until placing their bid (and setting their limit).

Again, if it's all about setting the limit you are willing to pay, and dissuade others from bidding recklessly, then why can't eBay's maximum bid function be all you need?

It is. If a late bidder enters a higher amount than your limit, he wins.

rw

[02audionoob]

If you're going to use a 3rd party to place your bid, it's not somehow setup to place bids a half-second after someone else places a bid. When you bid the conventional way you put in a maximum bid when you click the button. If you use the 3rd party to do it, that web site puts in a maximum bid at the number of seconds you specify. For example, I usually have it put mine in at 10 seconds before the end of the auction. I don't use it often, just when I can't be at the computer when the auction ends.

[Feanor]

....
Also, I don't understand why you are making the assumption that the other guy is acting irrationally. He might keep bidding, eventually pass you and become the top bidder. When does this happen? Answer - once he passes your highest bid, by a measly 50 cents! So he wins the item by paying 50 cents more than you, and that's irrational? I would disagree. And no sniping program will prevent someone from bidding if he is willing to pay that amount, just like eBay's maximum bid feature won't.
...

Not everybody bids "irrationally" -- not you by the sound of it. If everyone were to simply place their maximum bid up front and forget about it 'till the end of the auction, there'd be no problem. Unfortunately there are people who will continually up their bid if they see that somebody has out-bit them -- I call this irrational, and it is these people that bid sniping discourages.

But I think eBay buyers are getting smarter. This is why the high bids tend to turn up only in the last few minutes of auctions -- software-driven sniping provides that your bid is place in the last few seconds.