Gixen lets me down...AGAIN!

[premium1981]

This is what I think would be fair, yahoo used to do it, if there was a bid in the last seconds the auction was extended 3 minutes, and continuously extended on each bid until there were no more bids in the last minute. This is the fairest system for all IMO.

I do not see how that makes it any fairer. The losing bidders need to start bidding more. Highest bidder wins, thats the fairest system in my opinion. It should't matter when you bid. If you are going to punish those that bid last, then you should punish those that bid first. Just makes zero sense.

 

[mindbinge]

I do not see how that makes it any fairer. The losing bidders need to start bidding more. Highest bidder wins, thats the fairest system in my opinion. It should't matter when you bid. If you are going to punish those that bid last, then you should punish those that bid first. Just makes zero sense.

well that would make it more like a true auction is all i'm saying...not sure if it would be more fair or not, butthe current system is geared more towards bidders...if you gave the person that just got outbid 3 more min to think about it you would see some higher bids for sure....but people are used to the way it is now so everyone should know the deal...i was just saying thats a way to kill the snipers last second bidding if they would choose to do so....i like it the way it is now myself...but if i was a seller i'd like it better the other way lol.

 

[mrmopar]

I suppose bidding would eventually end on a "true" auction listing and it might help get more money for the seller by those impulse buyers, but the reality is that free and fee snipe services are available to all who trust in them and it doesn't create any sort of unfair advantage since anyone can do it. Bidders can still do it the old fashioned way as well. In the end, like premium said, the highest bidder wins EVERY TIME, whether it's manual or a snipe!

The other downside to the true auction format is that it is aggravating. I tried it on a smaller site and got tired of having to wait out the extension periods and stopped going to the site. Continuing the bid process takes more time and attention to the site and I suspect it is probably much more complex to do in online (code) format.

I like knowing that at 6:13 PST, I am either the new owner of an item I wanted or I am the biggest loser. Either way, I know and it's done.

By the way, I was able to contact the winner of this item and it looks promising that he/she will trade it to me, so maybe I end up with it after all. I'll let everyone know if I get it.

 

[valediction]

I've never considered ebay a true auction format. None of the other auctions I've ever been to have let me bid $10 and if I win, I pay $6.38 If I bid $10, I pay $10, more if there is a buyers fee.

 

[mrmopar]

I have bid in some "real" auctions on ebay. I usually lost to a bidder on the auction floor. Those buyer premiums are harsh in some of those auctions though!

Ebay has a good format though. There are no surprises, You get what you see with this format.

 

[dp33]

I don't mind someone not feeling bad for me because I lost an item. However, I wonder why sniping would bother you enough to say that?

I have consistently proven that I lose a larger % of auctions with proxy bids. A proxy bid allows other bidders to chip away at your lead, possibly even fall into the trap of bidding more than they planned (which is easy to do) in order to "win" and take the top position.

When I snipe, I have a greater chance of winning, PLUS I often get it at a much better price than had I left me bid to get chewed apart by what I think it MUCH WORSE than snipers, multiple minimum bidders!

You can't tell me this doesn't bother most people...

Bidder B.......$21.00
Bidder A.......$20.00
Bidder B.......$19.00
Bidder B.......$18.00
Bidder B.......$17.00
Bidder B.......$16.00
Bidder B.......$15.00
Bidder B.......$14.00
Bidder B.......$13.00
Bidder B.......$12.00
Bidder B.......$11.00
Bidder B.......$10.00
Bidder B.......$ 9.00
Bidder B.......$ 8.00
Bidder B.......$ 7.00
Bidder B.......$ 6.00
Bidder B.......$ 5.00
Bidder B.......$ 4.00
Bidder B.......$ 3.00
Bidder B.......$ 2.00
Bidder B.......$ 1.00

I'd rather lose to a sniper any day than to this type of bidder. If you wanted to pay $20, bid $20! Snipers know what they will pay and that is their bid. BAM!

Anyone who dislikes snipe bidders either loses to them or perhaps doesn't understand the concept or never tried it. It really makes no sense not to do it...especially with free and low cost sites to do it for you, which "normally" come through with a successful result. However, I have had computer issues and human error ruin auctions for me too, so nothing is foolproof.

Full disclosure: I buy off ebay quite a bit, but have never used a sniping service.

So, the advantages are that a) you don't have to check in just before the end of the auction to put in your final bid, and b) you don't have to worry about mulitple minimum bidders?

I guess I'm just wondering why if you were willing to pay triple digits, you didn't just put that bid in earlier? Surely no one is going to bid little-by-little up to that amount, so it doesn't seem that a) or b) would have applied here.

In the case of the $20 card, I would put in my $20 bid as I know that is the most I'm willing to pay. If it gets outbid by someone who's trying to outdo me bit by bit to beat me by $1 or by a sniper trying the same thing, makes no difference to me. I don't even check bid histories.

That said, sorry to hear you lost out, but hopefully it works out in the end for you.

 

[mrmopar]

Not true. Before I refined my bidding skills, I lost a number of auctions, regardless of price, by my proxy being surpassed. Maybe $1 increments don't always apply, so the larger the total, the larger the minimum bids are, but your bid still gets chipped away. For example...

Bidder B.......$505.00
Bidder A.......$500.00
Bidder B.......$500.00
Bidder B.......$450.00
Bidder B.......$400.00
Bidder B.......$350.00
Bidder B.......$300.00
Bidder B.......$250.00
Bidder B.......$200.00
Bidder B.......$150.00
Bidder B.......$100.00
Bidder B.......$50.00
Bidder B.......$10.00
Bidder B.......$ 9.00
Bidder B.......$ 8.00
Bidder B.......$ 7.00
Bidder B.......$ 6.00
Bidder B.......$ 5.00
Bidder B.......$ 4.00
Bidder B.......$ 3.00
Bidder B.......$ 2.00
Bidder B.......$ 1.00

The point being, as long as you are a target, your bid is in jeopardy. Here is where the seller loses on this type of deal though and I can fully understand where a seller might hate sniping...

In the example above, the item sells for $505. Now let's say I hold off bidding and decide to snipe. I'll still toss in my $500 bid, but since I didn't have my target out there, let's say the bidding only reaches $50 because bidder B was top bidder after reaching that mark by beating bidder A's proxy of $49. No reason to bid higher, because he wants the best possible deal, so he only bids until he is high bidder. I come in and snipe the item and get it for $51! A bit extreme on the price differences, but I swear to you similar situations go down like that every day!

Not only do I win in the snipe example, but I potentially save $100s (sometimes minimum bidder gives up after driving your proxy way up).

Bidder C.......$51.00
Bidder B.......$50.00
Bidder A.......$49.00
Bidder B.......$ 9.00
Bidder B.......$ 8.00
Bidder B.......$ 7.00
Bidder B.......$ 6.00
Bidder B.......$ 5.00
Bidder B.......$ 4.00
Bidder B.......$ 3.00
Bidder B.......$ 2.00
Bidder B.......$ 1.00

I guess I'm just wondering why if you were willing to pay triple digits, you didn't just put that bid in earlier? Surely no one is going to bid little-by-little up to that amount, so it doesn't seem that a) or b) would have applied here.

 

[dp33]

Not true. Before I refined my bidding skills, I lost a number of auctions, regardless of price, by my proxy being surpassed. Maybe $1 increments don't always apply, so the larger the total, the larger the minimum bids are, but your bid still gets chipped away. For example...

Bidder B.......$505.00
Bidder A.......$500.00
Bidder B.......$500.00
Bidder B.......$450.00
Bidder B.......$400.00
Bidder B.......$350.00
Bidder B.......$300.00
Bidder B.......$250.00
Bidder B.......$200.00
Bidder B.......$150.00
Bidder B.......$100.00
Bidder B.......$50.00
Bidder B.......$10.00
Bidder B.......$ 9.00
Bidder B.......$ 8.00
Bidder B.......$ 7.00
Bidder B.......$ 6.00
Bidder B.......$ 5.00
Bidder B.......$ 4.00
Bidder B.......$ 3.00
Bidder B.......$ 2.00
Bidder B.......$ 1.00

The point being, as long as you are a target, your bid is in jeopardy. Here is where the seller loses on this type of deal though and I can fully understand where a seller might hate sniping...

In the example above, the item sells for $505. Now let's say I hold off bidding and decide to snipe. I'll still toss in my $500 bid, but since I didn't have my target out there, let's say the bidding only reaches $50 because bidder B was top bidder after reaching that mark by beating bidder A's proxy of $49. No reason to bid higher, because he wants the best possible deal, so he only bids until he is high bidder. I come in and snipe the item and get it for $51! A bit extreme on the price differences, but I swear to you similar situations go down like that every day!

Not only do I win in the snipe example, but I potentially save $100s (sometimes minimum bidder gives up after driving your proxy way up).

Bidder C.......$51.00
Bidder B.......$50.00
Bidder A.......$49.00
Bidder B.......$ 9.00
Bidder B.......$ 8.00
Bidder B.......$ 7.00
Bidder B.......$ 6.00
Bidder B.......$ 5.00
Bidder B.......$ 4.00
Bidder B.......$ 3.00
Bidder B.......$ 2.00
Bidder B.......$ 1.00

So is the first example from an actual auction? I never would have guessed that Bidder B existed - I should like to find out what exactly his/her thinking is...

In the second example, you're saying that you (or someone else) bid early at $49, and Bidder B kept bidding soon after until he was on top, and then stopped completely? Since you were willing to bid $500, you sniped at the very end so you didn't give Bidder B a chance to minimum bid it up to a much higher amount?

I guess maybe it's just I don't bid on anything like that. I mean, are there really Bidder B's that think they'll get a $500 card for $50? Enough so that they wouldn't bother putting in another higher bid at the end? I can't imagine that if they were content to stop at $50 that they would have kept bidding if you came in later with a $100 bid.

Or maybe it's player collectors bidding against each other that this applies to more. There was a Gallardo patch/auto #d/99 last night for $14.99 opening bid that had no bids as of 1 hour remaining. I put in my bid for $18.28 at that time, and it ended up selling for $22 something. I don't think sniping would have helped me at all.

I am just trying to figure out if it's something I should use or not. Though no one has explicitly said it, I get the feeling that the sentiment is I'm a fool for not doing so. At any rate, thanks for your response and examples!

 

[mrmopar]

Your understanding of the two examples are correct and although they are made up examples by me, they are based on personal and similar experiences.

You never know if sniping would have helped you. I believe that bidders bid more when they can see their ID on top, sometimes not intending to do it in the first place. Someone beat your proxy bid. Check to see if it was earlier on in the hour or at the very end. A snipe may not have won if your bid was lower than the other guy sniping or proxy bidding, but I think you'll find in the long run it would save.

Try it out with one of the free sites. Toss out some snipes on things you don't care too much about. Even Gixen would work in those cases. The only downside to these sites is that you have to provide the site with your ebay ID and password. Supposedly they are safe, but you never know. Changing passwords frequently will help combat any risk though!

 

[truffleshuffle0]

I don't buy alot on ebay and the only time a sniper bothers me is whey the auction has ended and some how a bidd is made after action was over. I was bidding on a item. Although I was going to pay almost full bv on the item it had 2 seconds left and I was still the high bidder. I know that I might still be out bid by a sniper but you never know. Anyway as soon as the time ran out I hit refresh and I was still top bidder and it said auction ended. I closed the page by mistake and when I came back it was changed To where I was out bid by a woping 10 cents or something like that and next thing I know I got a email saying I was out bid. I would like to know how in the world I was out bid after the auction was ended. Ebay said auction was over I was the high bidder but like a minute later it changed. I would have liked the card I was trying to buy but I am somewhat glad I was out bid because I felt that I had gone over more than I realy wanted to pay although It would have been a nice pc item.

 

[PRosefan1]

I use gavelsnipe. It is free and after over 200 snipes, ive yet to have a problem. Knock on wood.

 

[porkchops]

I think the(eBAY)auction system is fine,just the way it is.
I manually put my bids in as close to the end as possible.
If I win,great,if I lose,well, thats the way it goes.
.
As the last second ticks off,I wonder how many
bid increments actually take place.I mean do they continue
till the highest is reached or can you still lose and the winning
bid be lower than the your highest?
Ken

 

[RyanL24]

Ken, you can bid a higher amount and lose, it's very sad. If the item is at $6.12 and you bid $6.25, it won't allow your bid to go through because it needs to be at least 25 cents higher than the current high bid. This has happened to me on a number of occasions while using a sniper.

 

[RyanL24]

I am just trying to figure out if it's something I should use or not. Though no one has explicitly said it, I get the feeling that the sentiment is I'm a fool for not doing so. At any rate, thanks for your response and examples!

You should use one!

I don't know why people stop bidding when they are in the lead, it's a strange thing. Here's the way I explain the benefits of sniping to people... if you go in on day 1 and bid your max bid, say $20. The next day this kid hops on with his allowance, he's allowed to spend $5. He bids the $5, but you beat him. That night at dinner he asks if he can do some extra chores and his parents give him $3, so he comes back and bids $8. He really wants this card, so after a few days he convinces his parents to give him an advance on his allowance for next week, plus he digs the money out of his piggy bank. Now he has $11.78 extra, so he goes and bids.... $19.78! He's still losing, and he gives up. You won the item for $20. The other way the scenario could have gone... the kid would have bid $5, and then been outbid at the last second. No time for him to scrape together any extra money, no time to do anything really but sit there and be amazed at your prowess. I'm sure that nobody believes that an ebay seller would have their friend shill their auctions, but if it were to ever happen... sniping also doesn't give those people a chance to bump your bid up.

Here's how I see it. If we were all sitting at a poker table playing poker, and you showed your hand at the beginning of the hand, the rest of us would beat you really easily. Don't show your hand until the end!

I used to bid against a Rickey collector that would snipe, it's how I learned about sniping. I hated him for placing last second bids like that! Then I started using a sniper, and realized that the real reason I hated him is because he is much richer than me. But he did teach me a better way of bidding, I'll give him that...

 

[metrotheme]

I was able to get Gixen's upgraded service because I had a website that I put a link on that had a high enough rating.

 

[mrmopar]

I have continued to use the service for smaller, less important items. Heck, I gave up my ID and password already...why spread it around more on different free sites. The good stuff is back to AuctionSniper, where I feel confident.

Since posting this, I have had two more failures, including one tonight that mentioned some sort of HTTP time out error??? I lost out on a 78 Topps Ken Brett autograph on that failure. No huge loss, but I do love signed 78 Topps cards (my inaugural year collecting) and Brett is deceased, making this a tougher card to land. It went for under $4 and my snipe was over $10! Maybe I would have still lost. Who really knows. This way though, the winner gets a sweeter deal for sure!

Ryan,

I like your example. Basically my reasoning withy a little more flair. Of course, now I'd feel sorry for little Johnny because the big bad Ryan sniped him!

 

[porkchops]

I recently sniped a high bid of about $20.xx with a bid
of $31.xx.The other guy still won with a bid of $32.xx.
He wanted it more than I did,I guess,but wonder if he
was mad that it cost him $12.xx more than it would have?
Even though I lost,it was some consolation that he had to
pay a more realistic price.
Bid your highest and bid late,
Ken