posted on February 23, 2001 04:00:47 PM
Has anyone else ever been sorely disappointed that they were not able to be at home or someplace where they could place a final bid to ensure they were high bidder. That happened to me on an item I sorely wanted. I placed my bid before leaving for work in the morning and planned to bid at work. Low and behold my boss decided to hang around my work area for what seemed to be an eternity. I guess I could have risked bidding, but the job is more important than the item, although I rank them pretty close in value since that item was something I have been looking for for a long time. I was tearing up all day from my disappointment that I was outbid. I tried sending a bid last few seconds of auction but it said I could not proceed.
I wish sellers would list their items so they'd close at night or on the weekends when more bidders are at home and have a chance of winning. I know this seller would have made a huge bundle had they gotten another bid from me. I know a lot of sellers don't care when they list their items, but from my own experience I find late night listing and weekends the best chance to get higher bids or any bids at all.
posted on February 23, 2001 04:07:24 PM
harvestmoon-why not use the snipe tool at vrane? It's not 100% sure, but it beats missing out all together. I'd rather do it myself, but for those times I just can't it's the next best thing.
posted on February 23, 2001 04:25:20 PM
That's why I always bid my MAX to start with. There have been times when sniping would probably have saved me some money, but I rarely have been out bid using that method. All the snipers have done is run my price up a bit. But if I realllllly wanted it, my MAX reflects just how badly!
posted on February 23, 2001 04:35:06 PM
Watch this item has hurt sales. Bid your intent to start and you won't have this problem. Sorry to sound rude, but snipe bidding shouldn't be allowed to start with (as one who is familiar with webtv!)
posted on February 23, 2001 04:37:57 PM
I don't know anything about web tv. I just love to snipe. It's a sport. When I sell I like the snipers to fight over my stuff.
posted on February 23, 2001 06:00:18 PMescandyo, why do you care if a bid is placed in the first two miniutes of an auction or in the last 30 seconds of an auction?
If the last minute bidder bids their max why does it matter when the bid is made?
What about the person who sees the item on going, going, gone and only has 60 seconds to get in a bid, do you not want their bid?
Greg
P.S. I snipe 99% of all items I bid on at eBay. If they disallow it, I'm gone. I don't need the hassle of someone bidding just because I did, or finding a better deal after I bid at the begining of a 10 day auction.
I agree with you. I used to put my maximum bid in early. I found that all it did was attract the attention of other buyers wandering through the listings who outbid me. Now to get items I really want, I always snipe. I'm convinced I pay less that way.
Conversely, I do feel that it can hurt my auctions, as people using "watch this item" forget to come back and bid. But as a seller, I LOVE Buy It Now. I've sold things for more than I thought possible using it.
But I may drop using it if eBay starts charging for it.
posted on February 23, 2001 06:38:04 PM
I've had web tv and know how hard it can be it get a bid in. I'm a regular dealer at real auctions and see the faults with computers, lines.
Who are you trying to kid? Anyone who plays Ebay know the page is never up to date, you have to look AT LEAST at the bid history to know how much time you have...and that isn't necessarily accurate, either.
Too many people have thought they had a bid in for the playing ground to be fair. This is the new folks. WHY burn them on the first time, just because you can? This hurts everyone in the long run.
Good for your pocketbook now. See the big picture. Watch this item and snipe should both be discarded.
(PS--Unless your snipe is automated, you might need to get a life.)
[ edited by escandyo on Feb 23, 2001 06:41 PM ]
posted on February 23, 2001 07:01:19 PMescandyo, yes my snipe is automated. I use a progarm called auctiontrakker. I do a search on new items and when I find an item I am interested in I add it to the auctiontrakker list. I enter my snipe amount and I don't have to worry about forgetting it. If I find a better deal, I can delete it from the list before the bid.
As to your comment about new buyers and not burning them. I don't understand. Why do I care if other buyers get burned, it is not my problem is they can't figure out the best way to get the lowest price. Like I really want other people bidding against me, right.
Also, per my previous questions, how are you going to determin what is a snipe and what is someone just seeing the item for the first time 2 minutes before the end of the auction?
As for web tv, I tried it ONCE in a hotel, you could not pay me to use it again.
posted on February 23, 2001 08:13:57 PMIMLDS2: Items appear instantly in a seller's list. They are next available in the listings (2-4 hours, typically), then title search (2-6 hours), and finally in title w/description search.
Therefore, those people who have "favorite sellers" bookmarked will be able to see their items before anybody else. And, those people who hang out at the "new today" section of a category will see items before those people who search see them.
posted on February 23, 2001 08:26:31 PMwhy not use the snipe tool at vrane?
Maybe it's just me, but I have tried to use this tool four times, and four times it told me the bid did not go thru. I don't remember the exact message, but it didn't work.
I enjoy sniping as much as the next person, it's the "thrill of the kill". Needless to say, I was very disappointed.
Tim
honaker5 on ebay
edited for typos.....oops
[ edited by honaker5 on Feb 23, 2001 08:27 PM ]
