+wood_jl Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 (edited) I've never used a sniper program/site/whatever. I know some people here do. What's the best, most trustworthy way to do it? I'm assuming you have to give your Ebay ID and password to a 3rd party, to do this? That is UNNERVING! How else could it do it? What if it screws up? Has it always worked well for you? What product/service did you use PREVIOUSLY, and why did you switch? Do you use a browser plug-in? THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. Something I want tomorrow, and won't be able to manually snipe, I'm afraid! Edited October 28, 2012 by wood_jl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atari181 Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Gixen.com . It's free, and it stores your password till the auction is over and then "forgets" it. I've used it at least 100 times and it has worked every time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OBO Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 (edited) One of these days, eBay's gonna end up like the stock market : Ruled by High-Frequency-Snipping bots. Edited October 28, 2012 by OBO 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
20ohm20 Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 I've been using Gixen.com also for a few months and am pretty happy with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Dart Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 eBay does it on its own. Just put in your maximum bid. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSchoolRetroGamer Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 eBay does it on its own. Just put in your maximum bid. Exactly. Not much sense sniping if the auction goes above what you are willing to pay. Enter the absolute maximum you're willing to pay and Ebay will handle the rest. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 I used to use Auction Sentry which runs on my computer so there's no 3rd party involved. But now they went to a monthly fee, so it's not really worth it to me. All the 3rd party options like https://justsnipe.com or esnipe, etc. all seem to work fine. If you're ok giving away your password. Exactly. Not much sense sniping if the auction goes above what you are willing to pay. Enter the absolute maximum you're willing to pay and Ebay will handle the rest. eBay does it on its own. Just put in your maximum bid. You guys obviously don't exactly know what the point of sniping is and why it makes sense. 'Course it's doing exactly what you're saying.. but why not do it with just seconds left so no one can pick at it? You win or lose on the benefit of your max bid and highest bid wins always, but why show your hand early? All you do if you bid early is allow others to potentially pick at it, especially for items that not many people want (i.e. you're one of 2 people), it makes sense. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 I've used auctionsniper.com for many years, they have not screwed me over with my user ID and password and they have reasonable fees. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+5-11under Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 You've got to snipe, otherwise you'll be paying more than you need to. I have no proof of this, but I'm pretty sure it's true. I've only sniped manually, and for me, I've learned I need to allow 10-20 seconds, otherwise I run into troubles because of delays for one reason or another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purduecrum Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 (edited) One of these days, eBay's gonna end up like the stock market : Ruled by High-Frequency-Snipping bots. High-Frequency traders make markets possible for people to trade and slices the profit margin to a razor thin level giving the benefit to the consumer through a stable market value. It would be great if it came to this on eBay, prices would stabilize and those that just leave product at high prices would find their wares sitting unsold for an awfully long time. Edited October 28, 2012 by purduecrum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+wood_jl Posted October 28, 2012 Author Share Posted October 28, 2012 eBay does it on its own. Just put in your maximum bid. That jacks up the price, prematurely. Granted, I don't care too much for sniping, in general, but "everybody's doing it" so if I abstain, it's not going to fix the problem. It means I'm going to (1) miss out, if I can't snipe manually (which is what I usually do, if I can), or (2) end up paying a lot more, as the auto-snipers will jack up my final price. I should think that manual sniping (waiting until the last 3 seconds, or so) can prevail over automatic sniping, because I don't see how the timing can be as accurate, with the sniping service serving so many people with so many simultaneous auctions, and the sniping service is probably not going to cut it to the last 3 seconds, as it would miss "winning" a lot of auctions if the time margin was cut razor thin. If it missed a lot of auctions, revenue would probably be less (however the business model works, I don't know, but can only guess). Thank you all VERY much for sharing your experiences with this, with me! Much obliged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 I should think that manual sniping (waiting until the last 3 seconds, or so) can prevail over automatic sniping, The only thing that matters is the higher bid. Sniped or not. Money is king. The only oddity I can think of is if 2 identical bids came in at the same time seconds before closing. That's pretty much up to Ebay how it handles it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre81 Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 I wonder why eBay doesn't extend the auction time every time a higher bid has been placed. I'm sure many items would than sell for more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 I wouldn't bother. Either: 1. Wait yourself until the last minute and be a real bitch. It's fun, and fair. 2. Just bid what the MOST is you're willing to pay, and leave it at that. If you get it, you get it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raskar42 Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 I wonder why eBay doesn't extend the auction time every time a higher bid has been placed. I'm sure many items would than sell for more. i would hate that. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 (edited) I wouldn't bother. Either: 1. Wait yourself until the last minute and be a real bitch. It's fun, and fair. 2. Just bid what the MOST is you're willing to pay, and leave it at that. If you get it, you get it. Why does it have to be "either"? Seems they both go hand in hand, and is the very definition of sniping. Edited October 29, 2012 by NE146 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+wood_jl Posted October 29, 2012 Author Share Posted October 29, 2012 (edited) The situation I wonder about is this: (1) I'm manually-sniping. We're sitting at, or near, the max bid of those who have actually bid (secretly) more. (2) Others are watching, doing the same thing, manually. (3) The snipers haven't told EBAY their max bid; they've told the sniping service. If they'd have told Ebay, then there'd be no need for the sniping service. (4) I turn in a healthy "max bid" at 1-second until close. That may be too close for response, maybe 1.5 seconds. (5) If someone HAS told Ebay a higher bid, they're going to get it, regardless of what I've done. (6) The sniping service isn't going to be able to analyze that situation and submit a higher bid (how high is privy to the sniping service, not ebay) in 1/4 second. (7) I win (or you win, or whoever is manually-sniping) because - unless there's an unexpected internet latency, the timing is just too close for the sniping service. (8.)The other guy manually-sniping is doing the same thing, and his timing - and perhaps some router somewhere within the internet infrastructure - may favor him. I lose, but for LESS than my max bid, because I'm too late. (9) <this is my favorite> While I'm waiting to snipe, my Ebay login "goes stale" and when I hit the bid button, I get redirected to a log-in screen, while some other sucker wins the auction, cheap! Edited October 29, 2012 by wood_jl 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raskar42 Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 the only thing sniping does is cause the price of the item i'm paying for to jump at the last second. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 (edited) The situation I wonder about is this: (1) I'm manually-sniping. We're sitting at, or near, the max bid of those who have actually bid (secretly) more. (2) Others are watching, doing the same thing, manually. (3) The snipers haven't told EBAY their max bid; they've told the sniping service. If they'd have told Ebay, then there'd be no need for the sniping service. (4) I turn in a healthy "max bid" at 1-second until close. That may be too close for response, maybe 1.5 seconds. (5) If someone HAS told Ebay a higher bid, they're going to get it, regardless of what I've done. (6) The sniping service isn't going to be able to analyze that situation and submit a higher bid (how high is privy to the sniping service, not ebay) in 1/4 second. (7) I win (or you win, or whoever is manually-sniping) because - unless there's an unexpected internet latency, the timing is just too close for the sniping service. (8.)The other guy manually-sniping is doing the same thing, and his timing - and perhaps some router somewhere within the internet infrastructure - may favor him. I lose, but for LESS than my max bid, because I'm too late. (9) <this is my favorite> While I'm waiting to snipe, my Ebay login "goes stale" and when I hit the bid button, I get redirected to a log-in screen, while some other sucker wins the auction, cheap! This is all way too much overthinking. The bottom line is the highest bid wins. Sniping is just putting in a bid in as late as possible so no one can chip at it. You can do it manually or you can have a service do it without you around. It doesn't matter. Both work exactly the same and neither guarantee you're going to win. HIGHEST BID WINS. End of story Edited October 29, 2012 by NE146 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Dart Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 (edited) Okay, okay. I use voodoo. The small bone of a chicken's wing, a rabbit's foot, pinch of salt, and a medium-sized goose feather. Put in a pouch with the auction's number written on the side and if anybody thinks about "chipping your bid", their teeth will fall out. Far more effective than a "snipe". Edited October 29, 2012 by Rex Dart 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atari2atari Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 I've used auctionsniper.com for many years, they have not screwed me over with my user ID and password and they have reasonable fees. Another vote for auctionsniper.com - - it's worked flawlessly for me for years as well, and their rates are very reasonable. Only bids I have ever lost are the ones where someone else's maximum amount was more than the one I set! And that's okay . . . it's how it's supposed to be! Normal bidding rules apply, don't get crazy and set your max bid for something ludicrous... -a2a Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bojay1997 Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I wonder why eBay doesn't extend the auction time every time a higher bid has been placed. I'm sure many items would than sell for more. Yahoo used to do it that way and it seemed to result in lower prices as nobody ever overbid for stuff at the last minute like they do now. There is a correlation between time pressure and human tendencies to panic and overpay for things. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schizophretard Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 If everyone put in their maximum bid at the moment they find the item then there would be more bids and higher prices shown for a longer time. That would draw attention to the auction causing even more bids and higher prices for a longer time. That would draw attention to the auction causing even more bids and higher prices for a longer time.... People can search by price and by number of bids. All that premature bidulation accomplishes is giving the seller free advertising, inviting in more bidders, and then paying for both. I have never used a sniping service because I enjoy doing it manually. I enjoy knowing that I'm smiling at the same moment the other sniper is crying. It is like sex. Also, I don't always just use sniping but a tactic I call nuking. I'm not going to explain exactly what that is because I would be foolish to give away nukes. What I basically do is nuke the snipers and always win. You can't snipe a nuke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major_Havoc Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 You can't snipe a nuke. I'd be curious what that is.. because my feeling is if snipe a tattered 2600 Combat Cart with $1000, I am going to win that auction unless someone else happens to bid $1001+ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psquare75 Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I've used Esnipe with great success over the years. It's not free. Costs like 1% of the auction total. My reasons are. 1. Avoids that 'pissing contest'. 2. Helps me to bid on something at the last minute, that I would otherwise FORGET ABOUT (has happened more than once.) FWIW, I don't believe you can search auctions by "number of bids" anymore, like you used to be able to, am I wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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