Fucking Ebay

[viscousmemories]

Goddamn it, I'm so fucking pissed off right now. :madrant:

I found these really cool bookends at a shop online, but they were sold out. I could only find the same bookends at one other shop and they were listed as "backordered". So I headed over to Ebay, and lo and behold someone was selling the same bookends in an auction ending today (I found it yesterday) and there was only one bidder at like $5. So I set a max bid of $20, figuring that would cover me for awhile and I'd bump it a bit if necessary.

So I'm watching the auction (and the clock) until there's only an hour and a half left and still not another bite. It sits at $6.35 (or whatever it decided my bid would be). Then I forget about it until midnight, and when I check it again there has been one more bid, for $20.50. FUCK. I had it set to send email and IM notification if I was outbid, but I didn't have my email or IM open.

Fucking Ebay. (Yeah I know, it was my fuck up. I'm still blaming fucking Ebay, though. Fuck you if you don't like it.)

[Qingdai]

First the homeless, now Ebay, will your depravity never end?

[viscousmemories]

All I'm saying is they should've called me to check. Y'know? Simple courtesy.

[Caligulette]

Did you leave your phone number, or were they supposed to buy a Sylvia Brown book and learn to divine it?

[Listener]

I find you have to wait till half a minute before the end then put in a big enough bid to trump everyone else - dangerous if someone else does the same thing though :(

[ceptimus]

You can get some software that waits till the last few seconds and bids for you.

JBidWatcher: Free eBay auction sniping, bidding, and monitoring software (http://www.jbidwatcher.com/)

[Watser?]

First the homeless, now Ebay, will your depravity never end?

Damn, you beat me to it :sadcheer:

Yeah vm, get a grip! Oh wait...

[freemonkey]

Yes, sniping is the only way.

P.S. bricks make excellent bookends

[ShottleBop]

First the homeless, now Ebay, will your depravity never end?

Damn, you beat me to it :sadcheer:

Yeah vm, get a grip! Oh wait...

. . . or a signficant other of the appropriate sex!

[Uthgar the Brazen]

First the homeless, now Ebay, will your depravity never end?

Damn, you beat me to it :sadcheer:

Yeah vm, get a grip! Oh wait...

. . . or a signficant other of the appropriate sex!

I think we should start a fund to get vm an inflatable girl/boyfriend(s).

[ShottleBop]

First the homeless, now Ebay, will your depravity never end?

Damn, you beat me to it :sadcheer:

Yeah vm, get a grip! Oh wait...

. . . or a signficant other of the appropriate sex!

I think we should start a fund to get vm an inflatable girl/boyfriend(s).

We could start a thread--maybe call it "Fucking viscousmemories".

[viscousmemories]

Yeah that sniping shit sucks. I don't feel so bad now - I was outbid the exact same minute the auction ended, so I would've had no chance without cheating. Damn Ebay has changed since my day. :(

[freemonkey]

Sniping is not cheating.

[viscousmemories]

You keep telling yourself that, cheater. :glare:

[freemonkey]

Its only cheating when you don't do it and you lose, loser. :glareglomp:

[seebs]

eBay is a genuinely evil company. They were very big on their absolute no-spam policy until they got a sufficient lead that network effects made them immune to negative reputation. Now they spam. They also have a guy who, if you complain, will tell you why you got the mail, and why it's not spam -- but some friends of mine and I, who all complained about the same spam, got totally different excuses. (None of which made sense; we'd all cancelled our accounts over the privacy policy change, and should have gotten NO contact from them EVER.)

Their purchase of PayPal coincides closely with some of Paypal's spam issues and better support for fraudsters.

Really nasty company; completely remorseless and willfully evil.

[freemonkey]

And sniping is the one bright ray of sunshine in the otherwise dismal, soul-sucking world of eBay.

[Crumb]

If you were willing to pay more than 20.50 for it your max bid should have been over 20.50. :wink: If you set your max bid to the true maximum amount you will pay than you would avoid this issue. :)

[maddog]

what is "sniping"?

#1573

[Ymir's blood]

If you were willing to pay more than 20.50 for it your max bid should have been over 20.50. :wink: If you set your max bid to the true maximum amount you will pay than you would avoid this issue. :)It still helps to wait to the closing minute. That way other people can't counter bid and raise your purchase price.

[ShottleBop]

what is "sniping"?

#1573

Swooping in with a winning bid in the closing seconds of the auction (often, without previously having participated in the bidding). The process can be automated (http://www.powersnipe.com/?source=google&kw=snipeebay).

[Ymir's blood]

what is "sniping"?

#1573Sniping is making a bid at the very end of the auction. That way, no one can come back and try to beat your bid.

[freemonkey]

what is "sniping"?

#1573

Sniping is good. Its the one true way.

[Crumb]

If Ebay wanted to they could prevent sniping simply by extending an auction by five minutes if a last minute bid is made.

[freemonkey]

They could keep doing that, too. Extending, extending, extending. Auctions would never end.

In all seriousness, though, most sellers welcome sniping.

[Ensign Steve]

What happens if more than one person tries to snipe on the item? Like if they both have automated computer systems to do it?

[Watser?]

The price goes up a lot.

Which is why sellers welcome it I bet.

[Uthgar the Brazen]

What happens if more than one person tries to snipe on the item? Like if they both have automated computer systems to do it?

:war: (there really needs to be a robot version of this smiley!)

[ShottleBop]

What happens if more than one person tries to snipe on the item? Like if they both have automated computer systems to do it?

The competing bids play the cyber equivalent of "rock, paper, scissors" to see who gets the item.

[Naruto]

:rockpaper:

[ceptimus]

Even when you use sniper software, you still specify what your maximum bid will be.

And as the Internet (and especially eBay) isn't infinitely fast, there will only usually be time for a couple of exchanges when several competing snipers all try to get in during, say, the last five seconds of an auction.

[Adam]

We could start a thread--maybe call it "Fucking viscousmemories with a stick".

:fixed:

[LadyShea]

(Yeah I know, it was my fuck up. I'm still blaming fucking Ebay, though. Fuck you if you don't like it.)

Gave me the best laugh I have had this week. Thanks!

[biochemgirl]

Ah ebay. You know I just can't get into the whole ebay thing. I've been on there like once and it just doesn't do it for me. My mom and dad and brother are completely obsessed and I think that drives me away that much more.

[LadyShea]

Ah ebay. You know I just can't get into the whole ebay thing. I've been on there like once and it just doesn't do it for me. My mom and dad and brother are completely obsessed and I think that drives me away that much more.

I ebay for items I can't find locally or most online stores (antiques and collectibles, vintage clothes, replacement china pieces and the like) or for off the wall items, like we needed a full length white men's nightshirt for hubby's Halloween costume...where the heck can you find them? EBay that's where!

[Naruto]

I just bought two textbooks on half.com (run by eBay), and saved some money. Also by switching my car insurance to Geico.

[Dingfod]

If you were willing to pay more than 20.50 for it your max bid should have been over 20.50. :wink: If you set your max bid to the true maximum amount you will pay than you would avoid this issue. :)That's my strategy, but most of the time what I'm bidding for gets bid up to higher than I was willing to pay, sometimes, no, make that quite often, items end up costing more than what you'd pay at a store for a new item like it. Then there's shipping on top of that.

what is "sniping"?

Sniping is good. Its the one true way.Apparently so. Too bad it's never worked for me. I either have too slow a computer or too slow an internet connection, take your pick. I'm going to take a look at automating the process.

I bought my YakTrax on eBay, and any number of other things, like Raffiaware, clothing, motorcycle parts, etc. I've sold stuff on eBay, but only a few things.

[Angakuk]

Remember, auctions are for the benefit of the seller, not the buyer.

[Dingfod]

Most of the time that is true.

[viscousmemories]

On a more serious note, I was peripherally aware of the existence of automated sniping software, it's just been so long since I used eBay that I had no idea it had become so prevalent that a frackin' housewife with 10 purchases to her name is loaded for bear. The least eBay could do is post some kind of warning, like "hey asshole, you do know that without sniping software you don't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning the item you're bidding for, right?"

[Kyuss Apollo]

Then you can say "That's Mr. Asshole to you."

And they are left speechless and you swoop in and win. Simple as that.

[freemonkey]

so, vm, what did these bookends look like, anyway?

[viscousmemories]

http://acornonline.com/images/178/13146.jpg

Reading Gargoyle Bookends - Acorn Online (http://acornonline.com/product.asp?pn=13146)

I've already ordered them so hopefully they'll make more.

[Watser?]

I only bid on rare vinyl and one or two very hard to find cds there so far I think.

Some lps go amazingly high. I bought an lp for 40 dollars or so that is pretty rare but not even a first edition, but the same one went out for 90 dollars the week before.

[freemonkey]

Oh, those are cool. And they do not resemble bricks at all. I want.

[Bright Life]

I didn't know about this "sniping" software, but it explains a lot. I've missed out on my last few bids.

[Guinevere]

I bought my YakTrax on eBay, and any number of other things, like Raffiaware, clothing, motorcycle parts, etc. I've sold stuff on eBay, but only a few things.

What do you think of your YakTrax? And what do you use them for? We are about to get a record-breaking snowfall tonight, and my outdoor running has been extremely curtailed. I was thinking YakTrax might help get in some outdoor miles . . .

[Corona688]

Its only cheating when you don't do it and you lose, loser. :glareglomp: Incorrect. It's obnoxious no matter who does it.

[inland wave]

I didn't know about this "sniping" software, but it explains a lot. I've missed out on my last few bids.

:yeahthat:

[Ymir's blood]

If you use the built in proxy bidding, sniping isn't going to hurt you. Their bid will either beat yours or it won't. It doesn't matter if they enter the bid one day or one minute before the close.

[freemonkey]

Its only cheating when you don't do it and you lose, loser. :glareglomp: Incorrect. It's obnoxious no matter who does it.

Why is it obnoxious? I really would like to know why people believe this.

[Watser?]

If you use the built in proxy bidding, sniping isn't going to hurt you. Their bid will either beat yours or it won't. It doesn't matter if they enter the bid one day or one minute before the close.

:yeahthat:

You can set a maximum and it overbids the highest bid by the minimum amount required until your set maximum.

[InTheServiceOfZeke]

snipe!

and why do people get so upset about some spam? ebay doesn't take much from you for providing a cool service. shit, it's even fun to just window shop for weird items and you can do that for free. i really don't think they're evil. ebay's always been good to me. even the one time i got ripped off (totally my own stupidity when i was a rookie) they helped me out. i think ebay is pretty cool...

[viscousmemories]

My problem with the "max bid" functionality is that I don't necessarily know the maximum I'm willing to pay for something at the outset. I suspect I'm not alone in that since people take turns bidding at live auctions instead of just holding up signs with the max they're willing to pay.

[Watser?]

My problem with the "max bid" functionality is that I don't necessarily know the maximum I'm willing to pay for something at the outset. I suspect I'm not alone in that since people take turns bidding at live auctions instead of just holding up signs with the max they're willing to pay.

Well yeah, but that's because it is a maximum, not what you want to pay. If you hold up a sign like that it is automatically also the minimum...

The same does not go for the software. As long as there are no other bidders it doesn't raise your bid to the maximum.

[Bright Life]

Yeah, I might be willing to pay another 65 cents at the last minute!

[Watser?]

But then someone else might raise it another 50 cents.

At some point you have to step away anyway. I have also had situations where I was kinda glad that someone outbid me because in the heat of the last moment I had bid more than I had really wanted to spend.

[Ymir's blood]

My problem with the "max bid" functionality is that I don't necessarily know the maximum I'm willing to pay for something at the outset. I suspect I'm not alone in that since people take turns bidding at live auctions instead of just holding up signs with the max they're willing to pay.
One thing that might help is to decide on a price that you're not willing to pay and bid just a bit below that. My optimal maximum bid is one where I'm sweating just a bit if the price goes that high. That way being outbid comes as something of a relief. Plus I can laugh at the sucker who paid that much for something.

[Watser?]

My problem with the "max bid" functionality is that I don't necessarily know the maximum I'm willing to pay for something at the outset. I suspect I'm not alone in that since people take turns bidding at live auctions instead of just holding up signs with the max they're willing to pay.
One thing that might help is to decide on a price that you're not willing to pay and bid just a bit below that. My optimal maximum bid is one where I'm sweating just a bit if the price goes that high. That way being outbid comes as something of a relief. Plus I can laugh at the sucker who paid that much for something.

Hehehehe

That's a good system.

[freemonkey]

One thing that might help is to decide on a price that you're not willing to pay and bid just a bit below that.

It also helps to remember that the item you're bidding on, unless its a one of a kind thing, is likely to appear again sooner or later. Its eBay.

Whether you snipe manually or use a service, you can always up your bid at any time until the auction ends anyway.

[InTheServiceOfZeke]

my rule is this...

if it is something i just can't live without- i snipe it and set the bid at the most i would pay. if it's something i'm bidding on as a lark and don't really need- i play the bidding game the old fashion way and let fate decide.

[freemonkey]

But you're still letting "fate" decide anyway, because there may still be one or more persons out there willing to pay more for it than you are.

[InTheServiceOfZeke]

yeah i know...i guess i mean that i get more hardcore about it and put the squeeze on fate a little harder with the things i truly desire :)

[Brimshack]

Hey VM, I have one of those bookends. Just one unfortunately, though I'll be happy to send it. They're not real heavy. You'd actually need something else to hold the books in place; it's more of a decorative thing.

[viscousmemories]

Really?

[Brimshack]

yes

[viscousmemories]

Wow, what a coincidence. Thanks much for the offer, but I'll wait for the set. If they never come, they never come. Truth be told I'm kinda over them at this point.

[Brimshack]

okay.

[InTheServiceOfZeke]

i think he made the whole thing up. liar- there are no bookends!

[ceptimus]

It looks like you could hollow out the plinth part and then cast a lead block to fasten in the hole - that would make them heavy enough to work properly.

[Sock Puppet]

Sniping is good. Its the one true way.Maybe so, but that fucking clock tower always seems to be taken whenever I climb up there.

[Guinevere]

If I don't set my max price and be done with it, I'll just torture myself. eBay was a LOT more fun in the old days when the fees were lower, prices better, and sniping rare. I don't use it for much any more, except when I can't find something locally, or elsewhere on the 'net, or I'm looking for something very specific or rare. My every day dishes are vintage stuff (from the 30s and 40s) I collected via eBay, back in the mid-90s.

[TomJoe]

Unless you intend on being there in the last 5 minutes of the auction, it's pointless IMO to bid. Unless of course you like spending twice to three times as much as you would have had you been there during the auction.

Based on my experiences, almost all the important action happens in that last 5 minutes.

ETA: I've got to read the entirety of damn threads before I go replying to shit.

Goddamn it, I'm so fucking pissed off right now. :madrant:

I found these really cool bookends at a shop online, but they were sold out. I could only find the same bookends at one other shop and they were listed as "backordered". So I headed over to Ebay, and lo and behold someone was selling the same bookends in an auction ending today (I found it yesterday) and there was only one bidder at like $5. So I set a max bid of $20, figuring that would cover me for awhile and I'd bump it a bit if necessary.

So I'm watching the auction (and the clock) until there's only an hour and a half left and still not another bite. It sits at $6.35 (or whatever it decided my bid would be). Then I forget about it until midnight, and when I check it again there has been one more bid, for $20.50. FUCK. I had it set to send email and IM notification if I was outbid, but I didn't have my email or IM open.

Fucking Ebay. (Yeah I know, it was my fuck up. I'm still blaming fucking Ebay, though. Fuck you if you don't like it.)

[InTheServiceOfZeke]

i looked up fucking on ebay. i found this book up for auction. i think it's telling me to go fuck myself :chin:

Teach Yourself Fucking by Tuli Kupferberg - (eBay.ca item 150199822879 end time 03-Jan-08 18:37:56 EST) (http://cgi.ebay.ca/Teach-Yourself-Fucking-by-Tuli-Kupferberg_W0QQitemZ150199822879QQihZ005QQcategoryZ378QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

[Dingfod]

If I don't set my max price and be done with it, I'll just torture myself. eBay was a LOT more fun in the old days when the fees were lower, prices better, and sniping rare. I don't use it for much any more, except when I can't find something locally, or elsewhere on the 'net, or I'm looking for something very specific or rare. My every day dishes are vintage stuff (from the 30s and 40s) I collected via eBay, back in the mid-90s.The sniping used to bother me, but I started setting my max price at the most I was willing to pay, ever. If some idiot wants to pay more than something is worth to me, let them have it. They must need it worse than me. I still win about 1/4 of the auctions I bid in, sometimes paying more than I would really like to have paid, but still within my maximum I decided upon. If I really, really absolutely must have an item, I just click on Buy It Now if they have that option.

[Corona688]

Why is it obnoxious? I really would like to know why people believe this. It's unfair, people shouldn't need it. If it was supposed to be there, it would be a part of the site and not a stupid hack.
It drives up prices unduly. No buyer wants that, though obviously sellers love it.
It gives you an advantage over others for the sole purpose of property gain. The word 'selfish' was designed for situations like that.

[Shelli]

Tiggerdammit, for the last time, NO!, I am not fucking Ebay! :glare:

* Shelli has never bidded nor bought anything on Ebay.

[freemonkey]

Why is it obnoxious? I really would like to know why people believe this.It's unfair, people shouldn't need it. If it was supposed to be there, it would be a part of the site and not a stupid hack.

I still don't see how it is unfair. And unfair to whom, the buyer or the seller? It is there as part of the site. Its called "proxy bidding", you place your highest bid and the system bids against other bids, incrementally, all the way to either the end or until your max bid is reached. The automated sniping, whether you use a service or a program, is a convenience. Frankly, I'm surprised eBay doesn't have such a service (or an official one, anyway).


Placing a high bid in the closing seconds of an auction-style listing is called “sniping” within the eBay Community. Sniping is part of the eBay experience, and all bids placed before a listing ends are valid - even if they're placed one second before the listing ends.

To help avoid disappointment, ensure that the maximum bid you enter on the item page is the highest price that you're willing to pay. The eBay bidding system automatically increases your bid up to the maximum price you specify, so entering a higher maximum may help prevent you from being outbid in the closing seconds of a listing.


It drives up prices unduly. No buyer wants that, though obviously sellers love it.
How does it drive the prices up? I think it helps keep prices down, and, for one, helps protect buyers from possible shill bidding.


It gives you an advantage over others for the sole purpose of property gain. The word 'selfish' was designed for situations like that.

That's me all over. gimme, gimme, gimme.

Its been awhile since I've done much buying (or selling) on eBay, but when I did, I spent some time on their community forums to learn. Here's what various buyers and sellers think.

From The Sellers' Mouths. (http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000620957&start=0) A little old, but From The Buyers' Mouths (http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?messageID=1005582768&forumID=1000000015&x#1005582768). And More Than 200 Pages Of Praise For Sniping From Buyers (http://forums.ebay.com/db1/thread.jspa?threadID=42000&tstart=0&mod=1200259255279)

[Corona688]

I still don't see how it is unfair. And unfair to whom, the buyer or the seller? Buyers. People who've put considerable time into winning an auction dislike being outbidded faster than humanly possible by a measly amount.It is there as part of the site. Its called "proxy bidding", you place your highest bid and the system bids against other bids, incrementally, all the way to either the end or until your max bid is reached. Does proxy bidding happen on all bids? I doubt it, why else use a sniping program?

When everyone has it by default, I don't mind. An external sniping program, on the other hand, is an unfair advantage from those who have it over those who don't.It drives up prices unduly. No buyer wants that, though obviously sellers love it.
How does it drive the prices up? After a few failed bits, a human may realize someone else has bid higher. A sniping program, on the other hand, has no intelligence beyond the maximum bid you specified.I think it helps keep prices down, and, for one, helps protect buyers from possible shill bidding. How?From The Sellers' Mouths. (http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000620957&start=0) A little old, but From The Buyers' Mouths (http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?messageID=1005582768&forumID=1000000015&x#1005582768). And More Than 200 Pages Of Praise For Sniping From Buyers (http://forums.ebay.com/db1/thread.jspa?threadID=42000&tstart=0&mod=1200259255279) I earlier said that I'm sure sellers love sniping. Now I see that there's a lot of sellers that hate sniping too.

[freemonkey]

I still don't see how it is unfair. And unfair to whom, the buyer or the seller?Buyers. People who've put considerable time into winning an auction dislike being outbidded faster than humanly possible by a measly amount.

Considerable time? Maybe some people bid like that, but I'm usually pretty busy. A year or so ago I was helping out a neighbor by buying things for her on eBay. She had me bidding on auctions that ended at all hours of the day and night, and some that ended close to each other. These were collectible items, and sometimes the prices went high. I could place her max bid hours in advance of the auction's end or I could sit there and snipe manually. I was outbid most often when I placed an early bid. I got pretty good at manual sniping, but there were times I simply couldn't be here. That's why I looked into automated sniping. I'll explain the "measly amount" thing below.

It is there as part of the site. Its called "proxy bidding", you place your highest bid and the system bids against other bids, incrementally, all the way to either the end or until your max bid is reached. Does proxy bidding happen on all bids? I doubt it, why else use a sniping program?

The way bidding on eBay works:

Starting bid on auction is $1.99

bidder A paces a maximum bid of $10

Auction shows 1 bid and the price is $1.99

bidder B places a maximum bid of $2.50 and is immediately outbid by bidder A

Auction shows 2 bids with the price now at $3.00

bidder B places another bid at $4.00 and is outbid again by bidder A

Auction shows 3 bids with the price now at $4.50

bidder B places another nibbler bid for $5.00 and.....

Auction shows 4 bids with the price now at $5.50

Bidder C comes along and places a maximum bid of $15.00

Auction shows 4 bids with the price now at $10.50

at some point, I think the bid increment goes up by a dollar, then $5, etc. Depends on the current price.

That "measly amount" is an automated, proxy bidding system at work. When you are outbid by 50 cents its because someone was willing to pay more than you were.

When everyone has it by default, I don't mind. An external sniping program, on the other hand, is an unfair advantage from those who have it over those who don't.

The external sniping programs and services are available to anyone.

How does it drive the prices up? After a few failed bits, a human may realize someone else has bid higher. A sniping program, on the other hand, has no intelligence beyond the maximum bid you specified.

Yes, so?

I think it helps keep prices down, and, for one, helps protect buyers from possible shill bidding. How?

Some sellers have been known to falsely bid on their own auctions to drive prices higher. Its harder for them to do that if they don't know what the bids are. Now that is an unfair practice and against by eBay rules.

I earlier said that I'm sure sellers love sniping. Now I see that there's a lot of sellers that hate sniping too.

There are some that do, but for the most part they seem to be new sellers.

[Dingfod]

Does proxy bidding happen on all bids?It does on everything I bid on. If I don't just buy the item through "Buy It Now", I bid exactly the maximum I'm willing to pay for the item and leave it at that. eBay's proxy bidding system takes it from there, usually assuring I pay no more than $1 more than the loser, and I don't have to babysit the auction to make sure I'm there for the end.

[Corona688]

Does proxy bidding happen on all bids?It does on everything I bid on. If I don't just buy the item through "Buy It Now", I bid exactly the maximum I'm willing to pay for the item and leave it at that. eBay's proxy bidding system takes it from there, usually assuring I pay no more than $1 more than the loser, and I don't have to babysit the auction to make sure I'm there for the end. What good is a sniper program at all then?

[Dingfod]

:shrug:

I don't know, I don't use one.

[Cynical-Chick]

gixen.com

[freemonkey]

What good is a sniper program at all then?

Simply put, I can go in stealth mode to bid, and set it to place the bid at any time up to seconds before the auction ends.

I've only ever used a service (as opposed to a program installed on my computer) and have lost auctions due to my not having bid high enough. One time I lost because of a server glitch or something, and the bid was not placed in time,

[Corona688]

What good is a sniper program at all then?

Simply put, I can go in stealth mode to bid, and set it to place the bid at any time up to seconds before the auction ends. Ah. My objections stand then.

Using these tools makes it really hollow to say it's about who's willing to pay more. You get that without using the tools already. The tools are about snatching stuff from buyers who may have bid higher had the auction not been beyond the point of human interference.

[freemonkey]

What good is a sniper program at all then?

Simply put, I can go in stealth mode to bid, and set it to place the bid at any time up to seconds before the auction ends. Ah. My objections stand then.

Using these tools makes it really hollow to say it's about who's willing to pay more. You get that without using the tools already. The tools are about snatching stuff from buyers who may have bid higher had the auction not been beyond the point of human interference.

:lol: OK. Whatever. I'm an immoral, selfish, cheating stuff-snatcher.

[Corona688]

:lol: OK. Whatever. I'm an immoral, selfish, cheating stuff-snatcher. Not to that extreme, no. What you're doing isn't illegal, merely obnoxious.

[Crumb]

If they are willing to pay a higher bid, it doesn't seem like it should really matter when the bid is placed. :shrug:

[freemonkey]

I just did some Googling for sniping misconceptions and found this very good page of Objections & Answers (http://www.moyen.org/snipe/myths.html). Maybe can explain better than I can.

[Corona688]

If they are willing to pay a higher bid, it doesn't seem like it should really matter when the bid is placed. :shrug: If it didn't, why would snipers bother? It's one thing when someone beats you by wanting to pay more, quite another when they snipe you for less than your pocket change.

[ceptimus]

Quoted from the Why Snipe? (http://www.moyen.org/snipe/why.html) page:

Experience over the course of time tells us that bidding as late as possible is advantageous on ebay for a number of reasons:

You generally beat those people who don't use the proxy bidding system intelligently. (Note: you don't beat people who do use the proxy system correctly unless you have a higher bid.)
You avoid being shilled.
You avoid having your bid nibbled up to the max by people who can't make up their mind.
You avoid having your max probed (usually by somebody who bids insanely high and then retracts with a "sorry, I mistyped" excuse).
You avoid attracting unwanted attention to your bidding pattern (usually by people who use Search by Bidder to follow you around and bid on what you're bidding on).
You force yourself to exercise discipline. Since you don't have enough time to get involved in bidding wars, you won't catch "bidding fever". You have to bid rationally.
You have to decide what something is worth to you, instead of letting other people decide for you (a sure route to "bidder's remorse").
You minimize the time it takes to find out if you've won the auction, so you can get on with your life.
When you bid, you've committed that amount of money for the duration of the auction. You need to hold the money in reserve, in case you win. If you bid at the beginning of a 10 day auction, your money is tied up for 10 days. By waiting until the end of the auction, you minimize the time your money is tied up.
You get to "cancel" your bid. If you place a bid at the beginning of a 10-day auction, you're committed for 10 days prior to the end of the auction. According to eBay rules, you really cannot retract that bid. If you don't bid until the end, you're not committed and can decide to not bid without penalty.
You beat those smug lowball bidders.

[Corona688]

Yes, I already know that sniping is great for the sniper. That's why it's so obnoxious.

[freemonkey]

Yes, I already know that sniping is great for the sniper. That's why it's so obnoxious.

Do you sell on eBay? Or do you just not-snipe?

[Bright Life]

I like the "not tying up the money" option.

[ceptimus]

I've never used automated sniping software myself, though I have successfully sniped 'by hand' on a few occasions. I think if I were purchasing lots of stuff on Ebay then I definitely would employ sniping software - just on the "if you can't beat them, join them" principle.

[Corona688]

Yes, I already know that sniping is great for the sniper. That's why it's so obnoxious.

Do you sell on eBay? Or do you just not-snipe? Irrelevant.

[Naruto]

Yes, I already know that sniping is great for the sniper. That's why it's so obnoxious.

Do you sell on eBay? Or do you just not-snipe? Irrelevant.

So biases shouldn't be considered in arguments?

[Corona688]

So biases shouldn't be considered in arguments? Heh. Actual bias can be demonstrated. Just assuming bias, on the other hand, is an ad hominem.

Showing bias on my part would mean showing where my logic is wrong, not deciding I must be wrong because I'm on the obvious "wrong" side of the argument.

[freemonkey]

Yes, I already know that sniping is great for the sniper. That's why it's so obnoxious.

Do you sell on eBay? Or do you just not-snipe? Irrelevant.

I was just curious, thought it might help me better understand where you're coming from.

[Corona688]

I was just curious, thought it might help me better understand where you're coming from. All right, fine. I'm usually a buyer on ebay.