last minute or sniping

[aquarius-09]

How do you lose at the last minute or what they call sniping?

[owlgebra]

If someone puts in a bid that exceeds the amount that you had entered, and does so during the last minute, then you would lose at the last minute.  The crucial part is not the last minute.  You would be beat if someone entered an amount greater than your amount (assuming by at least the required minimum increment) whether they did so in the last minute or in the last hour or in the last day, as long as you or no one else enters an amount greater than they did, and the time simply runs out and the auction is over.

Lots of times, I try to become high bidder in the last minute but fail because I did not bid higher than whatever amount someone else had entered, whether earlier than my bid or later.  It only works if I bid higher than everyone else did.

[aquarius-09]

I understand about being the highest bidder, but there seems to be some trick bidders use to being the highest bidder in the last few seconds remaining. I'm the highest bidder til then and that's when i'm losing out. I know there's something i'm doing wrong but not sure what.

[reallynicestamps · Accepted solution]

While the bid is executed at the last moment, the bidder may actually have placed his bid hours or even days before, using an electronic sniping service like esnipe.

DH uses this a lot, because he buys in Australian auctions and the time difference make manual sniping impossible for him. 

Remember however that it is not the last bid that wins, it is the highest bid. 

Bid once

Bid your maximum.

[dereklinders]

Sniping is probably the most efficient form of bidding, since it forces you to decide what you're really willing to pay for an item and only bid that amount, since you won't have a second chance.

You also deny others the ability to nibble up to the maximum of your bid over time. This is important, since you pay the maximum of what the second highest bidder entered plus one bid increment.

Of course, there's always the signal that you send by bidding early - "marking" your interest in an item, but I think that gives much less benefit than logically setting an offer price and executing on it with no time for a second chance.

If you don't win after a last-minute bid, then someone wanted it more then you. Congratulations to them, and just find another item to bid on.

[dereklinders]

No trick - you're just not bidding high enough.

It can seem like people are reading your mind! You see an item at $5.49, put in a bid of $15.75, and it stays at $7.89 for days until the last 5 seconds; when it jumps to $15.99 (or some such) and you lose.

How did the last second bidder know to bid just above your bid?

He or she didn't. He may have entered $21.00, but would only be charged one bid increment above your maximum bid of $15.75.

The most important bid for setting the price is the second-highest bid. That's why when you're out-bid by only one other bidder, it seems like they knew _just_ what to bid in order to out bid you. Thing is, you don't know if that was their max bid or if it was much higher. If they had their $21.00 bid in at the same time as another last minute bid higher than yours, they may have ended up paying $19.90, since you would have been the third highest bidder, and the second highest bidder (higher than you) would have determined the ending price.