I got sniped on Ebay!

[propmainiac]

Hi all just have to vent here! Thought I had a Graflex 2 cell flash with the red button for 130.00 tonight but got outbid at the last second! Watched this auction for days and got sniped! Dammit! I know others on ebay use sniping software but do I really have to do this as well to get the items I want? It's allways a gamble but at the same time I have limited funds and don't really want to spend 200 or more just to win. Just venting here. There will be other flashguns and I'll keep looking.

 

[NeoRutty]

Re: I hate Ebay snipers!

Yeah sorry man, sniping is part of the game now. Just put the most you're willing to pay, and wait and see.

 

[mugatu]

Re: I hate Ebay snipers!

I get sniped on Exactras every time on there.

 

[propmainiac]

Re: I hate Ebay snipers!

Yeah just a matter of time I suppose.

 

[thd9791]

Re: I hate Ebay snipers!

lol theres a thread by me in off-topic talk. I watched the clock tick to 0. I was the highest bidder. Someone came in with software at <0 seconds. That lit me up...I still haven't started using sniping software yet. The mix of human bidding and machine bidding weirds me out. It seems like everyone should just set up bids at <0 seconds and the highest one wins..

 

[mugatu]

Re: I hate Ebay snipers!

I got beat out on a Michell deck yesterday right at the end. Going back over the bid history it was a veritable feeding frenzy at the end, just foaming choppy water and once it all cleared...LOSER!!! Haha

Oh well. I used to try to snipe a lot but a new strategy was required and has been adapted...not software though.

 

[egosheep]

Re: I hate Ebay snipers!

I usually set a song that I know really well, something that you know exactly when the last note is. I time it to the auction and bid accordingly, with 3-4 windows having separate bids. As the songs ends, boom-boom-boom.

 

[scottjua]

Re: I hate Ebay snipers!

I was watching that one too... but was too busy today to see it go. I too have been sniped at the last second. It burns.

 

[Flanman]

Re: I hate Ebay snipers!

Its all part of the game I guess. Ive sniped and been sniped. I usually just wait till about 2 or 3 seconds do to internet lag to make sure my bid gets in and I set it as high as I will possiblly want to pay. Some times you win and some times you lose, makes the hunt much more interesting.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

Re: I hate Ebay snipers!

Here's the thing. Usually if there is something I want, I set my reminder and plan ahead to make time for the end of the auction. I usually make my bid within the last ten seconds and hope there is no internet lag.

Why do I wait till the last few seconds? Because whom ever else might want it already has a max price they are willing to spend in their head whether they have an existing bid or they might be waiting to bid in the last few seconds like me.. If you bid and give them time to re-evaluate their top price, their ego kicks in and the competitive nature makes them bid a lot higher than they originally wanted to. So don't show your cards. I don't give them time for those thoughts.

When I do bid, I have a max amount I am willing to spend on the item. I don't try and figure what someone else might bid, I just throw the full amount at it a hope no one else was willing to pay more. If I win, great. If I lose, I don't feel too bad because the items valued higher by someone else who was willing to pay more. Remember, winning an auction is somewhat like saying, "hey, I paid more for this item than anyone else in the world was willing to." It is a bittersweet victory.

 

[NeoRutty]

Re: I hate Ebay snipers!

I JUST lost an auction I was sniping...

There's still a day left, but I put my sniping bid at my maximum I would be willing to pay, and let it ride. I got an email notification that bidding has gone past my set bid, and I would have to re enter a new bid to compete.

Nah.

But that's what I love about sniping. I see something I want, know what I would bid, set it to go and just see what happens. You win some you lose some.

Sniping or not, if someone's proxy bid is more than you entered to snipe, you're not going to win.

If you want to bid yourself in the last second, then you better bid SUPER HIGH. If the guy who bid on the first day bid 235 dollars, and the auction sat for 6 days at 78 dollars, even if in the last 3 seconds you put 195 dollars, it's still going to jump up to 198 by the proxy bidder from day 1.

In the end, the guy who was willing to pay the most will win. IF they place their highest bid.

Seems fair.

That said, when I first got on ebay, I was so enraged when I lost auctions, that I would actually email people giving them crap. ha.

 

[funboy1013xx]

Re: I hate Ebay snipers!

you WILL never know how big the other guys/gals wallet is.......but you do get to see the size of there passion! at the last second ofcourse....

 

[mugatu]

Re: I hate Ebay snipers!

I had a roommate that was a serial sniper when I first introduced him to eBay. He had a real problem. I'd come home from work and he would have been sniping all day. He'd tell me he now owed 1100 dollars for things he wasn't even interested in buying, he just got some sick thrill out of sniping the end of auctions. You wouldn't believe some of the worthless crap we had laying all around the house from his new addiction.

 

[Pumpkinhead]

Re: I hate Ebay snipers!

Damn, all this time I thought SW fans used the force to bid.

 

[RogueTrooper]

Re: I hate Ebay snipers!

I refuse to sell my stuff on ebay using auctions. I know what I want to get, I raise the price 10 percent and more often than not someone makes an offer and I accept.

I get the price and people think they saved some money.

Fixed price with make an offer, works every time.

 

[Xtafa]

Re: I hate Ebay snipers!

I love sniping, I don't use website/programs, its just fun to wait until the last few seconds waiting and BAM! I've lost plenty still when sniping though, as its not the last bid that gets it, they simply paid more.

If they placed a bid higher than you in the last half hour, would you have paid more? Place what you're willing to pay and cross your fingers.

Good luck on your next one though, I hope you get it!

 

[propmainiac]

Re: I hate Ebay snipers!

Well I guess. Wasn't meant to have that one. I watched it tick down to zero I was the highest bidder and they got me.i wasn't going to go any higher on my price so it's just as well.

 

[zorg]

Re: I hate Ebay snipers!

Well I guess. Wasn't meant to have that one. I watched it tick down to zero I was the highest bidder and they got me.i wasn't going to go any higher on my price so it's just as well.

you got outbid in an auction, where is the problem?
if you wanted the item so bad then you should have bid higher.

sniping software or no sniping software, its the highest bid wins not the last.

"Thought I had a Graflex" ------- its not yours until you win it.

you can beat every single sniper on the planet, just be willing to pay more than them and the item is yours. simple.

"i wasn't going to go any higher on my price" ------- someone else did

 

[teecrooz]

Re: I hate Ebay snipers!

I was top bidder on that very same auction for 5 days before your bid, but I'm not upset because I already have three 3-cells and a 2-cell. I had a max price and if it went over, then it went over. On things that I really want, I don't wait until the last minute. I bid my full max bid and then sit there an watch all the snipers attempts fail. Sweet retribution in the other direction.

 

[zorg]

Re: I hate Ebay snipers!

I was top bidder on that very same auction for 5 days before your bid, but I'm not upset because I already have three 3-cells and a 2-cell. I had a max price and if it went over, then it went over. On things that I really want, I don't wait until the last minute. I bid my full max bid and then sit there an watch all the snipers attempts fail. Sweet retribution in the other direction.

thats the attitude to have, just pick your price and thats it.

i'm guessing some folks assume a sniper will always win, a sniper has to put in his/her highest bid on the sniping set up page, which is the highest they are willing to pay.

propmaniac -- what price would you have bid up to on that auction if there were no snipers? ( a bidding war in the last ten minutes say)