Sniped On EBay - How'd they do that?

Billy Henderson · From: Portland, AR, USA

I was bidding on and amp on Ebay and had it won going into the final minute. I was keeping time. I had it won but all of a sudden an error message (in red) flashed up on by screen. Locked up my computer. When it suddenly vanished I had been out bid by $1.00. Tell me please! EBay Kiss my hind end

David Cobb · From: Chanute, Kansas, USA

I've sniped and won auctions on eBay.
And I've been sniped too.
Someone was a little faster on the trigger than I was.
Once I was bidding on a Session 400, and lost out at the last second.
The winner was using his real name and I thought the name sounded familiar.
It was a steeler for a nationally known artist.
All I can say is, no hard feelings, I hope he's making a living with it and putting on a good show.

Mark Vinbury · From: N. Kingstown, Rhode Island, USA

Seems like folks with a high speed connection can out snipe ya every time.
Wouldn't suprise me if a program could be written to fire a snipe bid at the last milisecond.
Probably already software available somewhere.
Pre-load it with the items you want to bid on and let the software duke it out with someone elses software while you keep working to pay for it all.

Colm Chomicky · From: Kansas, (Prairie Village)

If you get your bid in at the last second, you still can be outbid if the highest bidder has extra money allotted in his original bid as a proxy amount, Ebay will automatically proxy bid. Or another sniper is doing the same thing and just happens to bid slighty higher. There generally is simply not enough time in the last few seconds reshoot if you are still short of others.

I got lucky once and bid at the last couple of seconds. My highest offer (proxy) was 1 cent higher that the other bidder's unknown max proxy price he was willing to pay. (this was for a school instrument for my kid) I think the price I got it for was 153.36 and the bidder had 153.35 in his reserve but I had no way to see that until after the auction when his final bid was displayed showing 1 cent less than my bid.

Depending on the current high bid, so long as your snipe is greater than bid increment required (probably a few dollar increment in this case), you can still win by a penny in theory with extreme luck.

I'm sure the guy was really P.O'd and befuddled as how he could lose by a penny. But I noticed that the seller had over a dozen of these to sell, so I saw an identical item go to the "loser" for the 1 cent less price as a "buy now" price the next day. (obviously set-up between buyer and loser as a consolation).

There are website products that will snipe for you (you can be in bed asleep with your computer off) and get the bid in at the last few seconds. Most of the providers allow you to set the time before auction end to submit (some of these are free others charge you). But generally the sites warn that if you set the time for less than a few seconds your bid could arrive too late, as it is not instantaneous transmission. In the last few seconds if a bunch of people submit snipes, there is really no time to rebid, just submit you highest offer and hope other snipers are not higher than you. At that point it is more like opening envelopes with sealed bids all at once from multiple snipers that waited the last few seconds.

In terms of the software and websites that do this, many of my friends prefer to do the old fashioned way as they take pride and pleasure in watching and bidding in the last 10 seconds or so.

Darvin Willhoite · From: Roxton, Tx. USA

Thats what auctions are all about, you win some, you lose some. The best thing to do is place a bid with the maximum you will be willing to pay, then forget about it. If it goes beyond that, oh well.

A lot of people pay too much for a product in the heat of bidding in the last few minutes. I've seen people pay more than new street price for some used items. Also, schill bidding (having a friend etc, bid up an item) is really prevalent on Ebay, even though it is against the rules. There seems to be very few good deals on Ebay nowdays, with over 16 million users, someone usually wants an item worse than I do. I have around 1300 positive feedbacks on Ebay, so I have used it a lot.

I have some Ebay stock I bought a few years ago, the best stock I've ever owned. You'all just keep on using Ebay, I need to retire someday.

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Darvin Willhoite
Riva Ridge Recording

[This message was edited by Darvin Willhoite on 23 February 2006 at 11:23 AM.]

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Yes, there's snipers who open multiple windows, and can put 4 bids in in 4 seconds. They use stopwatches, sometimes even multiple computers, to jam a bid in in the last 10 seconds. And yes, there's sniping software that's available to do the same thing. But all that's just a hassle. There ain't nothing I want that bad, and even if there is, chances are an identical (or even better) item will come up in a few months for less money. I've seen it happen again and again.

Don't sweat it. Win what you can by bidding your maximum well before the end of the auction, and forget those "deals" you think you lost. Remember, you can take solace in the fact your losing bid just made someone else pay a little bit more!

Mike Kowalik · From: San Antonio,Texas

The winner probably used auctionsniper.com.

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

I don't know where the term SNIPED came from, for me I've never attended an auction that someone didn't come in on ..going once , going twice , going....

new bid right there...

I count down the time under 1 minute and if it's an item I REALLY gotta have I bid with seconds to go but I bid the amount that I am willing to pay..not just the next level...

The whole thing about auctions is to bid the maximum amount you are willing to pay..

Very rarely to you get a great deal, a good deal yes, great , probably not.

You should bid the amount that you are comfortable with..if you win great..if you loose..no harm done..it sold for more than you were willing to pay.

Now I have no clue what happened here with RED message and the PC lock up..thats a first for me...

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TPrior
TPrior Steel Guitar Homesite

Billy Henderson · From: Portland, AR, USA

I attended a farm sale here today and you can't compare a live auction with Ebay. Each piece of equipment brought what the market will bear. Every body knew what the bid was. EXCEPT on some of the items the auctioneer SAID he had a bidder on a cell phone and the cell phone was running the price up. The cell phone never bought anything. They sold me out in the 80's so I've been there done that.

This Ebay experience taught me one thing don't bid until the last minute. Why run the price up? If you know what the last bid was then go up the minimum. Only person getting screwed (maybe that is a better word than sniped) is the seller.

Ken Lang · From: Simi Valley, Ca

Some years ago I bought an old Mavrick from E bay. I was high bidder but did not meet the reserve. In the reverse of what usually happens the owner (a music store) said it was close enough that they would sell anyway. No one could play it and it was gathering dust in the corner.

Those are the kind of deals I like and we ended up both being happy.

Dave Boothroyd · From: Staffordshire Moorlands

Console yourself with the thought that the Sniper paid more for the item than anybody else thought it was worth.
Of course, that thought can be distressing when you win!

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Cheers!
Dave

Jim Peters · From: St. Louis, Missouri, USA, R.I.P.

http://www.ezsniper.com

jp

Billy Henderson · From: Portland, AR, USA

Thanks Jim for the site info. If you bid on Ebay you need to see the site Jim posted. Now I understand how I got shot of the saddle. I don't think it is right but then I guess it's legal. I still thing the seller getting the shaft plus he has to pay all the fees and commisions.

Per Berner · From: Skovde, Sweden

I have been "sniped" out of a few very interesting items on our local Scandinavian Ebay-clone called "Tradera", but sniper software apparently is for Windows only so I can't use it myself.

So nowadays, when I really want something, a few minutes before auction closing I open up the Time window (which has an analog clock with a sweeping second hand - it's a Mac OS X) and update my browser every second until I see the "Time left" change to a lower minute value.

Then I know, with a second margin or so, exactly when the auction ends and can place my bid when there is about five seconds left.

If there's (another) sniper at the other end, he won't have time to outbid me (unless he's placed a higher proxy bid, but then it's out of my league anyway).

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´75 Emmons p/p D10 8+4, '96 Emmons Legrande II D10 8+5, ca '72 AWH Custom D10 8+3, Peavey Nashville 1000

Herb Steiner · From: Spicewood TX 78669

Dudes, I don't understand the whining about losing an auction, either by sniping or non-sniping.

Bottom line: If you don't win an auction, it's because someone else was willing to pay more for the item than you were willing to pay.

eBay proxy bidding, in which the highest amount you're willing to pay is concealed until an equal or higher bid is made elsewhere, will protect you against snipers. If a sniper bids at the last second but your proxy bid is still higher, you still win. If the sniper's bid is higher than your proxy bid, you lose.

Losing an not the fault of eBay, and it's not the fault of the sniper. The responsibility sits on the shoulders of the losing bidder. He didn't want the item badly enough to pay what someone else was willing to pay. It's tough noogies.

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

Jim Landers · From: Spokane, Wash.

Snipers bid to win, hoping for a bargain.

Bidders bid for a bargain, hoping for a win.

Simple as that!

Jim

[This message was edited by Jim Landers on 24 February 2006 at 09:54 AM.]

Joey Ace · From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

I like eBay. Like anywhere else you have to be an educated buyer, and hope for an honest seller.

I often see people sulking that they only lost by a dollar (or whatever the bid increment is).

This just isn't true. The winner probably placed a much higher bid. Due to the "proxy bidding", they only pay a slight amount above the next highest bid.

[This message was edited by Joey Ace on 24 February 2006 at 10:21 AM.]

Ron Sodos · From: San Antonio, Texas USA

Whenever I buy on ebay (over 150 purchases in 5 years) I open 2 or 3 ebay windows and watch the auction until about 30 seconds or less before the end. I have a bid window ready with my entries already in the fields ready to click enter. I wait until only a few seconds before the end. This way I have the last bid just before close and always win. This is providing I am willing to be the highest bidder. "All's fair in love and Ebay Auctions." By the wasy I have a 1.5 mb DSL connection.

[This message was edited by Ron Sodos on 24 February 2006 at 01:29 PM.]

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

"Dudes, I don't understand the whining about losing an auction, either by sniping or non-sniping. "

I'm with Herb on this.

The people who whine are those who lost a bargain deal, usually. And there was simply someone willing to pay a higher price.

BTW, there at least a half-dozen sniping programs that will bid in the last 2-4 seconds for you.

My take has always been - bid what you're willing to pay. No more, no less. then let the chips fall where they may.

Mike Winter · From: Portland, OR

Ha! I didn't whine when I lost a "pickup only" ZB S-10 (Bakersfield) on Ebay a few weeks ago...I almost cried. I was mad at myself for being such a dumb*ss!!! I was the highest bidder until the last 20 seconds. My fault, plain and simple. Looking back, it's pretty hilarious...I was so confident I was going to get it that I actually printed out driving directions to the place, and even arranged to drive to pick it up with pal-o-mine Doug Jones.

There I was, sitting in front of my computer at work -- stayed over an hour so I wouldn't miss it -- staring, refreshing the screen over and over again. "You are the highest bidder"...one minute...same thing...45 seconds...same thing...30 seconds...same thing...20 seconds..."You have been outbid." I sat there with a dumb look on my face...utter shock. Of course I had to read it over a few times to make sure I ws seeing what I saw. I hurried to up the ante and was too late. Did I learn something? Oh yeah, you better believe I did. I'll not make the same mistake again. Whose fault was it? Mine, plain and simple.

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Mike
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Blue Moon Highway
(Country Music...and then some.)
www.bluemoonhighway.com

Colm Chomicky · From: Kansas, (Prairie Village)

Another key to winning is to collect things no one else wants. I like being the only bidder. Makes life simple.

Mark Herrick · From: Bakersfield, CA

I tried to snipe on a fly rod auction on eBay recently. In about the last 45 seconds I got a message that said something to the effect that the item had been removed by eBay. (It was also in red type.) Each time I tried to resubmit the bid, I got the same message.

I went back to the item the next day and found that it had indeed been won by someone else. (For more than I was willing to pay.)

Anyone know what was up with that message I was getting?

Ben Elder · From: La Crescenta, California, USA

Mike:

If it's any consolation, I was tracking that ZB since 6 days 22 hours+ to go. Daily. Obsessively. I'd hoped bidding would stay calm, but I determined that I'd have to go to my max range to win. Especially after that (0) feedback genius weighed in with 'leventy-seven dozen bids. I had a pretty significant cushion in my proxy bid beyond what the final results show. And--I bid manually (on a high-speed connection.)

There's the oft-discussed "What you're willing to pay" and the elusive "What's it worth not to have to wait to find another one" that factor into bidding. Not to mention "What's it going to take to win this?"--outguessing the unseen competition. (Not all these factors apply in every instance, but I factored all three in here.)

Since December 29 (end of auction), ZB S-10s have been as common as dirt and Mavericks on the Forum and out in the world. I'm glad to have grabbed this one (classic Bakersfield era), but I never would have expected to see four or five more in the meantime.

The latest (down the page a bit):
http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum5/HTML/004696-25.html

Keith Cordell · From: San Diego

Fact is that WE SNIPERS- I am one, and never bid on anything with more than 15 saeconds remaining in the auction- bid more than the next lowest bidder. Why? Because there are so many people doing it that you can't win a hot item unless you wait to do it. If you bid lower than the winner, you don't get the piece, regardless of how much time was left. If an item is showing a current bid of, say, $400, and you put in a bid of $800, you will not necessarily pay $800; you only pay the next increment above the next highest bidder. The person who outbid you on your item probably bid considerably more than he got the item for, but noone else came up with the funds. Read up on proxy bidding on Ebay to undertand it better.

Sniping sites are notoriously unreliable, so tread that ground with trepidation.

Lefty · From: Grayson, Ga.

I use Bidnaper because it keeps me from overbidding at the last minute due to an adrinaline rush. I put in what I am willing to pay, and it throws the bid in at the last six seconds. Some consider this cheating, but it is a helpful tool for me. Plus I can set it up in advance, and don't have to be present. Win some, lose some.
Lefty

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