If the price is right I opt for “Buy It Now” other then bidding and waiting or if there is no bids I bid in the last few seconds for a guarantee “win” without bidding against another bidder.
I like to snipe for several reasons AND I don’t use a program.
First I think it saves me a few bucks and helps to win the auction although I’ve lost plenty. Bidding early is like showing your hand in a game of cards. Every one nkows what it takes to beat you
Secondly bidding is like hunting to me. I try to pull the trigger within the last 5 seconds. When I first started doing this I could feel my pulse raise but not anymore.
Happy Railroading
Bob
When you lose by .50 dont fret. The winners max bid may have been much more. I am going to put in my max. bid on something right now even though the auction dosn’t end for another 8 hours because I won’t be home then.
Dennis San Fernando Valley CA.
I always snipe the bids. I actually don’t understand people that drive up the bid early. I like to snipe the bid at the end to try to get the lowest price possible.
Just my opinion.
Tom
If one analyzes the bidding process, one quickly discovers that sniping relies on earlier bidders not to bid the true maximum price they are willing to pay for the item. If the earlier bidders bid their true maximum, sniping makes no difference to the outcome at all. Of course, this assumes that individual maximum prices are arrived at by independent means, and not by finding out what the other person is willing to pay and then adding a dollar.
I find sniper’s complaints about early bidders bidding high interesting. If the early bidders bid their true maximum, sniping doesn’t get you a lower price. But if everybody snipes, then again there is no difference in the outcome. To get a lower price then otherwise would happen, the sniper must have an early bidder bidding less than his true maximum.
The real success in sniping comes from the fact that most people will go over their supposed maximum price by a small amount in order to secure a “win”. Sniping prevents those folks from doing so because the auction has ended.
Revealing your hand by bidding early doesn’t make any difference unless your supposed maximum price is actually somewhat flexible.
my thoughts, your choices
Fred W
I cannot recall ever placing a bid earlier than 10 minutes before the end of an auction even on a 10 day auction. What’s the point of placing a bid on Day 1
Simply that you may win.
I don’t always have the time to be around at the end of the auction, so if it is something I really want, I bid my max and let events proceed. If it is something that I would like if I can get it real cheap, I make a token bid and see what happens. Sometimes I get lucky and win the auction.
On the other hand, if it’s something I really want and the auction ends when I can be around to snipe, that’s what I do. The snipe will be my one and only bid on the item. My bid will be the absolute maximum I am willing to pay.
I never use sniping services. I can do it myself well under ten seconds before the auction ends. I see no point in using something that drives my cost higher than need be. As it is, I can easily spend all of my buying budget without any paid help. [;)]
Snipping can go bad. I was bidding on some picts that there was 12 auctions. One guy during the first 3 snipped at the last second and won so I wanted to see how hi he set his max bid to. So I raised my bid to $50 for the next bid and he still won so the next bid I raised to $80 and he won again so I made him pay over that amount for the rest of the auctions. I guessed he spent around $700 on 12 pictures.
There is also the reverse I bought over 100 CN blueprints from the 1960’s for $15.
I know my examples are not of trains but they are my best examples of the good, the bad and the mean things I have done to snippers.
Yup - Sniping CAN backfire on you if you get cocky and someone else has the same plan of attack ! A buddy of mine was bidding on a very rare slide and told me he was getting it no matter what it cost. He put in a maximum bid of $1000 at the last few seconds. Apparently someone else had the same plan, only not quite as extreme … my buddy ended up paying just over $360 for that slide !!! He didn’t expect it to go as high as it did, but he was still happy that he got it.
If he had started a bidding war with this guy earlier in the game, the other bidder may have raised the stakes even higher once he saw there was some true competition happening. By bidding at the last few seconds, the other guy didn’t have a chance to raise the stakes.
It all boils down to … how bad do you want it ?
Mark.
Often being the second-highest bidder and usually raising the winning bid significantly, I frequently thought it would be nice of the seller to thank me but have never received a thanks.
Do you want the item, or are you in it for the thrill of winning the auction? I don’t buy a lot on eBay, but I got into one auction where both were true. I ended up winning, but I probably paid twice what this dummy F7B unit was worth. Then I made matters worse by adding sound, but it was all in good fun. But y’know, after that, I don’t think I’ve bought any auction items anymore.
The thrill of victory and the agony of the feet?
On small items like trains, slot cars etc I snipe. On big ticket items like car parts I bid only to what I think it is worth or what I’m willing to pay a day before the auction. There is a different mentality in bidders that spend up to 100 bucks on an item compared to those that will spend a few grand.
I’ll bid low but with a dollar amount in mind on how high I’m willing to go. Sometimes I get lucky & sometimes I don’t. The big thing one has to worry about is getting screwed by someone. Happened to me once by someone in the same town as I. Should have figured something was up when he wouldn’t allow pick-ups. The so-called brand new never used piece was in pieces when I got it. Oh well, I bid on an Intermountain hopper & ended up with really expensive trucks. Right after the auction, buddy closed up shop. Haven’t bid on anything unless I was able to pick it up. A lot of people try to stick it to you by charging you to pick it up![:S] Don’t get that.
The majority of the people using eBay are decent enough. All the ones I’ve met personally have been. Especially Dave [;)]
Thanks Gord, heck I even deliver, lol. [B]
That ya did Dave, it was mucho appreciated!!! [B]