bbarsh wrote:
No worries, Ash. You'll never know what happened...

I tend to make my max bid at some point a day or two beforehand, but will watch an item if its not had much activity and bid inside the last minute.

If I get it great, if not, move on.

The machine I have been using is too slow to make it an effective snipe device, so it's a moot point to even think of attempting it.

Bid my max and let the chips fall where they may... even if my dreams get shattered at the last instance and thanks to EBay I cannot wreak righteous vengeance upon the upstart bastard what stole my prrrrecioussss from us!! Curse them! Nasssty snipersess!!!  *gollum* *gollum*

serleran wrote:I gave up on caring. I now just put in my highest offer and if I win, I win.

Really good things about sniping:

1)  You post what you are truly willing to pay and if you win, you win.

2)  A dishonest seller cannot shill bid and artificially bump up your bid. (Happens more often than you think.  In my experience it is the most common Ebay scam next to deceptive listings.)

3)  Other people cannot see what you are bidding on, or even if you are a player in a given auction.  (Ebay no longer identifies bidders, but it also avoids tipping off other bidders that they have competition.)

4)  Unlike a placed bid, you can set a snipe and still change your mind about a snipe right up to the moment the trigger is pulled.  

5)  You tend to pay less because there is no bidding war.  (Thus, sellers tend to hate sniping.)

6)  Once you post a snipe you can go on with your life.  Fire and forget.  No regrets.

I have found www.auctionsniper.com to be a completely accurate and reliable service.  After a few free snipes it is essentially 25 cents a snipe, with no charge for snipes that never happen because you got out-bid.

I lose a lot more snipes than I win.  That is part of the fun.

guerret wrote:I generally use a two-step approach. Early in the auction, I place a modest bid which is just sufficient to beat other bids, then I wait until the end of the auction, and I snipe with the real price I'm willing to pay (which is generally quite high).

Step 1 serves a number of purposes: first off, it makes me sure that the auction is Europe-enabled. It would be a problem if I placed my only bid some 10 seconds before the auction end just to discover I'm not allowed to bid and I don't have the time to ask the seller to correct this. Believe me, it has happened! Moreover, it is a communication to the seller (and other bidders) that someone is interested in the item.

If I know can't snipe (generally because of the timezone), I place a bid at the latest possible time (generally when I'm about to go to bed), with an amount which is WAY higher than what I'd really be willing to pay. This might make me pay more than I wanted to, but also protects me from snipers. It works, but I get pissed off at times.

This describes what I usually do as well...

Brette:)

gvaughn1 wrote:I can see that approach, but I just couldn't get myself to pay way higher than something is worth - even to protect my purchase.

Generally I don't have to, plus I do it when I really want an item.

I have also overpaid for a few things.

Or at least I think I overpaid.

But they were always items that I really wanted (obviously...) and most were hard to find or very rare (or both).



The latest such item was a CSIO book (Necromancer Games) that just sold on E-Bay.

My Final bid was $76.67... plus shipping, which is about twice the cover price for it.

(I think the cover price was $34.99... or something close.. the listings picture of the rear cover is hard to read).




** expired/removed eBay auction **




That final bid was also my high bid so just another penny from someone else (or next higher bid increment I suppose) and it would have gone to another person.



I probably overpaid, but I am glad to finally have a copy now.

And I wont be selling it again either.

At least not for a long time anyway.