A question about snipping apps

[xen999]

Are they allowed? I'm asking because I currently have in my watchlist about a hundred auctions (all from the same seller) which are all ending nearly at the exact same time or with just a few seconds inbetween them, and so there's no way I can physically bid on all of them in the closing seconds like I usually do. I was considering using a snipping app to help me win a maximum of them, but I am not sure if ebay has rules agaisnt the use of such apps.

[toby_le_pue]

They are allowed.

[pocomocomputing]

Correct spelling is "sniping" with one "p".

[xen999]

Sorry for the mistake! But thanks for the info.

[stevephinn2012]

Why not bid now? the ONLY way you win is by being the high bidder-no matter when you bid be it early or late. If your willing to pay $20 for an item and someone wants to pay more your not getting it no matter when you bid.

If you win an auction it is only because you were willing to pay more than the next guy!

[Anonymous]

The "maximum bid" option is explained in detail. 

[windapp]

Bidding at the last second is about psychology.   People will bid more than they are really willing to if they are given time to think about it, and they see others bidding the price up.   When you bid in the last 5 -15 seconds of the auction you don't give other bidders a chance to change their mind about the maximum.

[xen999]

Umm no. Bidding early on auctions is a very poor tactic most of the time... Unless you like to throw your money out of the window I guess. As someone said already, it's all psychology. When you bid early, you are showing everybody your intent to bid and win the item, even moreso if you set a maximum bid right away. This basically prompts other potential buyers to start bidding as well, with possibly greater maximum bids than yours. Then you might decide to take the risk and go a little higher... and so on. You're basically contributing in increasing the final price by A LOT. And chances are you're gonna lose to a sniper anyway. I've been around buying stuff on eBay for years now and there's one thing I've come to learn the hard way and that's there's ALWAYS someone willing to pay more than you are. ALWAYS. [Another thing I learned? Never set a maximum bid with a round number. Want to spend 5$ max? Set it to 5,25$. People instinctively go for round numbers, so if you want to beat them, just add a few cents.. I got away with this so many times it's not even funny...]

If you refrain from bidding early then it might make it look as though there's little interest for the item which in turn does 2 important things: 1) make the other bidders overconfident, meaning they might feel safe enough to place smaller maximum bids, 2) keep the item price to a minimum which might lead to the item ending with a price closer to what you were looking to spend or less even.

Bidding in the closing seconds of an auction is basically cutting the grass from underneath all the other bidders. You're giving them no time to adjust to your bids so you are less likely to be outbidded. You might still lose to the current highest bidder's maximum bid or to another sniper even, but at least you won't have compromised a larger sum than you might have ended up spending otherwise.

[i*m-still-here]

There is something about seeing that someone else wants and item that makes others want it too.

Bids beget bids.

To me that is the main reason for using a sniper service.

[femmefan1946]

On the third hand, if the "hundreds " of items are identical, why wait for an auction to end? Ask the seller, who apparently has multiple items, to set up a private listing for you at Fixed Price/Immediate Payment using your name as the title.

When it goes up, buy, pay and let him ship.

[stevephinn2012]

if i'm willing to pay $20 for a widget as long i get it for $20 or under I am happy and does not matter if I bid early or late!

I can tell most of these people who think "sniping" is the be all and end all don't actually sell.

If you knew how many people have items on "watch" until the very end you would be suprised.

If you think your the only person using snipe again you would be wrong.

The only way your going to win any auction is if you are willing to pay more for the item than the next guy.

When i buy I decide how much I want to pay and bid that,and then never go back. If I get an email saying I won great if Not there are others out there selling the same items

Set Your Max and stick to it

[xen999]

@femmefan1946 - Because the items are not identical for one and nearly all of them already have bids on them, so the seller definitely will not accommodate me.

@stevephinn2012 - Suit yourself buddy. Sniping clearly has its advantages and I've been using this method for a long time now and would NEVER go back. Sure you can lose to other snipers, I even said so in my previous post, but chances are you would have lost to one them with early bidding as well, so what's your point? The answer is none. I never said sniping was guaranteed success, you still need to be willing to pay a certain amount just like you are, but you do get a better chance of winning since you're giving people no time to react. If you can't see how monumentally advantageous this is then strategy will never be your strong suit I'm afraid.

[63meteors33]

the other day i bid with 4 seconds left on an item ...and beat a guy out  by 1 cent;-) i bet he was unimpressed lol

[edwinfok]

I was reading on your post and I know its not against E Bay's policy for snipping in the last second.  However, I have noticed there is a particular group of people that want to purchase an item at any costs.  These bidders are very aggressive and they will do anything to win an auction.  I believe if these bidders are showing consistent pattern on how they put last minute bids when the auctions have only seconds left, they really should investigate to see whether they are legit bidders or not.  I don;t feel bad for those who submit extremely high bids because it is their money, and if they like to get ripped off, then let them.  

[femmefan1946]

Again, the winning bidder is the one with the highest bid.

As long as she sets her high bid accurately, keeping shipping costs in mind, then she cannot pay 'too much' although she may pay more than if she were the only bidder.

If I  don't want to pay more than $20 for an item, which is listed at $5,  and shipping will be $5 to my doorstep, then I can bid $15 early or late. If I am the first bidder it will open to me at $5. (plus shipping.)

If you want it and bid $10, whether that is five minutes after my bid, or in the last 5 seconds of the auction, then it will still be mine at $11 plus $5 shipping. I get a deal.

If you want it and bid $20, whether five minutes later or five seconds before the end, you will win at $16 plus $5 shipping, more than I was willing to pay.

From my point of view, all that happened was that someone foolishly overpaid, and it wasn't me.