posted on February 27, 2002 03:00:24 PM new
Does anyone but me hate snipers? You run a seven day auction get one maybe two bids until the last 3 minutes of the seven days. then you get 15 bidders.
I have to admit that I would like think that you get a better price by sniping, but most of these people run out of time because someone else snipes them and the auction ends.
This has probably been discussed many times here, but I don't remember seeing it and am a little fustrated over the last 20 or so auctions that I have run only to see them sniped.
Is there any way to stop it? Do we want to stop it? How do we get people to bid normally?
posted on February 27, 2002 03:04:46 PM new
Yahoo! has a feature I love. If there's a bid within the last 5 minutes (or so), it gets extended... I had pricing wars that extended my auction by up to an hour... that really helps to eliminate a little bit of sniping. Other than that, there's not much you can do though. We could try to pressure ebay to do something like that... then people would at least have to get their snipe bid in 5 mins early, which would give someone a chance to outbid it.
I really don't like to bid early on anything myself. I think it's useless. I like to be around to alter my bid if necessary. However, b/c I can't always be, I tend to use sniping software... It's great as a buyer... but as a seller it sucks.
good luck. Personally I don't mind snipers. I would love to live in a perfect world but we run auctions. That is how people bid. If you want a specific price out of something then either put it in your store, or put a reserve on it or get a web site and sell it there.
I snipe and that is the only way I bid. I even snipe at live auctions and wait till the last second and put in a bid, knocking the original bidder off their high horse and they usually just give up then.
Welcome to the auction world.
Honestly, though, if an auction keeps moving up all thru the 7 days aren't you kinda sad when it doesn't jump at all in that last hour or less? I know I am.
Maybe one thing you could do is say that if you bid within the first 3 days of the auction and you are the winner when the auction ends you will send a gift or cut shipping in half or something. But that would be a lot of extra paperwork for you.
posted on February 27, 2002 03:11:14 PM new
I have not looked into Yahoo auctions for a while because I am selling mostly computer related stuff and from my last batch of auctions (over a year ago) computer stuff did not sell well for me there.
I would love to see that feature on eBay. I agree as a buyer sniping is great. I have to admit to doing it myself a couple of times.
As for bidding early, I noticed that most of my auctions get hit when they are first launched and then in the last three days. Would anyone suggest changing from seven days to less. Stuff seems to sell just as well, but I was afraid of losing some value because not as may people see the stuff.
posted on February 27, 2002 03:13:32 PM new
What has been happening more often then not is my auctions sit there with no bids for 6 days, 23 hours and 55 minutes. It is kind of depressing.
posted on February 27, 2002 03:37:03 PM new
I love snipers, they make my bid totals go higher. I think if the 5 or 15 minute rule went into effect, you would see lower bid totals. Go Snipers!
posted on February 27, 2002 03:44:42 PM new
I like to use BIN precisely because many bidders lurk around auctions and don't bid. With BIN, some bidders will try and get something for less and they will start bidding or just buy something. Still I find that BIN often means that no bids occur until the last day.
I love newbie bidders, most don't snipe and they can really move something up in price well before the last hour.
posted on February 27, 2002 05:31:59 PM new
I don't buy much, and sometimes buy on behalf of my kids (beanies, ick). But I almost always snipe, and make my kids snipe. I generally decide what I would be willing to spend, put that in my snipe and TRY to forget about it. If I put in the proxy bid, I get the annoying reminders when someone outbids me. I hate those. I like snipe bidders, also, since if there is any action at all they do tend to push bids up. But there is nothing like a good ol' bidding war between a bunch of newbies. You could argue about the pros and cons of either. Aww, heck, I like them all. Just so they keep bidding.
and now, for my new "trimmer" sig, just for senior foxy. HA!
ahwahneeliz `·.¸><(((ºcJ
posted on February 27, 2002 05:54:11 PM new
I snipe some myself and a good number of my auctions are sniped as well. That fine by me. I DO NOT want the auction extended. I have them ending at a time that I can work them all and have them bounce around and ending at various times would be to much of a hassle. Bid what you want and if you win great if not to bad.
posted on February 27, 2002 08:57:04 PM new
tomyou, on Yahoo! that option is optional for each auction. So you get to decide whether or not you want to extend your auctions, so people who really need to end them at a certain time can do so.
For those who like the glory of the hunt, I think the Yahoo! extention does the same thing for the seller. I started auctioning b/c it's fun. And there was nothing more fun that watching my item in a bidding war at the last 5 minutes that ended up much higher 20 minutes later.
posted on February 28, 2002 04:56:13 PM new
Sniping can suck for the sellers, case in point....there is a guy I work with and he and I have the same hobbies and also use ebay and occasionaly local live auctions.
In a live auction, we will bid each other way up sometimes. Sometimes someone else will even jump in late in the game, I think they must think it's some hot deal if he and I are jacking the bid way up.
On ebay, it's not always a matter of how HIGH we bid, it's just a matter of how close to the end we go so the other guy cannot bid higher even if he wanted to.
We'll even talk at work about an upcoming auction, and challenge each other to outsnipe. We both know that at a live auction the item would cost a lot more because we would have the chance to keep bidding as long as we could stand it.
posted on February 28, 2002 05:35:22 PM new
I Did not know that about yahoo. In that case I don't have a problem at all with it. Might not be a bad idea for that option giving you have the chance to "opt out" . Thanks for the info
posted on February 28, 2002 05:52:20 PM new
i find certain products get sniped and computer related ones are definately the highest items go from 100 to 500 in a matter of seconds....
posted on February 28, 2002 06:09:35 PM new
It depends on how bad I want the item-If I want it real bad I always snipe-People snipe becuase if you bid early your only jacking up the price.Also I have bid on items early and eventually someone will out bid me with a couple of hours to go--Im figuring why would someone bid on an item with 2 hrs to go instead of just sniping it-I detect a shill here by the seller figuring Im watching the item and come back and still bid higher-that might not be the case,but I have my suspcions.I as a seller know it can be frustrating when no one bids your auctions until the last minute,becuase you begin to wonder will anyone bid on them at all.
posted on February 28, 2002 06:16:53 PM new
You're right....."by bidding early you only jack up the price". That's one point of sniping, to keep the price low.
Good for buying, I love doing it. But I wonder about selling, when an item is jumping up in the last few minutes, who knows where it will end, but then the clock stops it and tells everyone it's over. It doesn't matter if they want to keep bidding up or not, once the auction is scheduled to end, it ends, no matter how many people are fighting for your item.
posted on February 28, 2002 06:21:33 PM new
generally i make one bid and its with 30 seconds to go with the price i am willing to pay if its above leave it and move onto the next one
posted on March 1, 2002 08:22:35 AM new
I have to agree with Trai, I love the glory of the hunt too
And it sometimes drives the price up! Sometimes I've put in a ridiculous bid to make sure I get the item if I have to go to work or something, and then I'm surprised when my large bid is outbid I have been outsniped with a few seconds left and that was always surprising!
I have a good story to tell though. I once won an auction for 1000 stickers. No one in their right mind needs that many stickers
But I sniped it and then started writing emails to the other bidders offering to share the stickers I didn't want.
I got a nastygram from one of the bidders before I had even sent the first email. She told me how she had been watching the auction for 3 hours. I offered her some of the stickers, but never heard from her again. I did here back from a couple of the people I outbid and now I have some new net friends and sticker trading partners
posted on March 1, 2002 08:51:56 AM new
How could anyone selling on eBay hate snipers? That is like saying I hate money. If you don't want snipers sell at the flea market or with buy it now. I am very disapointed if no snipers show up on my auctions.
posted on March 1, 2002 09:15:45 AM new
I love snipers too......I think it brings the thrill of the auction back.....I love to see snipers on my auctions in the last minutes......Its a thrill to see a bidding war that moves my prices UP!
Almost as thrilling as seeing new ebayers bid on an auction and continue to bid against each other as the week goes on.....not knowing that in a sense they are raising their own price they will be paying in the end!
posted on March 1, 2002 09:53:46 AM new
I ONLY bid through sniping. Why? So as not to get into stupid bidding games with newbies or non-snipers.
I only buy on eBay to get that rare thing I need and can't find OR to get a DEAL.
I buy mostly photo and computer items and I find these things sell for MORE than retail most of the time. Why would I buy something on eBay that I can buy by picking up a phone, get delivery the next day, and have full no questions asked warranty at a cheaper price?
posted on March 1, 2002 10:12:55 AM new
As always, its an interesting set of viewpoints.
The bottom line is that bidders choose sniping because they know, on average, the item will go for less if bids are placed at the last minute, by eliminating the psychology of bidding (" oh no, i'm outbid, I didn't really want to bid again, but I guess I can go an extra buck or two higher... " ).
so, in general, sellers should be glad to see people choose to put in early proxy bids, and disappointed to see people choose sniping. Maybe I'm not a typical seller, but contrary to one point made, I don't get any thrill from seeing a last minute rise in price - all I care about is the final price, and I know that if everyone bid early, on average, it would end up higher.
Sniping is a great scam. Buyers end up paying less (on average), and sellers end up being greatful to them, having seen their auctions sit for days with no action, they get so desperate they are greatful for any rise in price. Talk about having your cake and eating it too.
By the way, I can't prove it, but I'm not convinced that sniping causes a huge final price decrease. I suspect that supply/demand (of course), and also your feedback, item description, picture quality, etc., primarily determines the final price. Sniping will, on average, result in a lower price versus early proxy bidding, but its not clear how much it is. 10%? hard to say...
posted on March 1, 2002 11:09:01 AM new
Good summary from kirk -
But I disagree with calling sniping a "scam" - in any sense. The fixed end time (as opposed to until there are no more bids) of ebay auctions makes sniping work, and so simply part of the rules of the game. Auto-snipe bidding can change the effective auction format to resemble "sealed proxy" rather than "open bid". Sellers still get an honest auction but do lose some potential for higher results from those bidders who require guidance from existing bids for their valuation decision.
posted on March 2, 2002 07:06:53 PM new
Re not bidding early and waiting to bid or to snipe: I had an item for sale where two people were doing last minute bidding on it. One had bid early and then the other came along at the last minutes and started bidding too. When the time ran out, both had bids for the same amount; exactly the same and it showed that way. The winner, however, was the person who had first bidded or was the early bidder. There is a reason to bid early, if you really want the item.
The loser called me on the telephone and wanted to make an offer since 'it was a tie bid.' He learned the hard way that last minute bidding won't work if you really want something. I thought I would mention this.
posted on March 3, 2002 01:43:25 AM new
Sniping isn't so bad. I think it holds the bidding down, but today I had an item and the last time I looked it was $13.00 and when it ended not to long after it was $32.00. I guess I can't complain about snipping.
posted on March 7, 2002 10:58:03 AM new
"But I disagree with calling sniping a "scam" - in any sense"
OK, I'm willing to agree with your point. I dont mean to imply that sniping is a scam in any sense of illegality. In fact, I admire the way buyers "get their cake and eat it too". I was just trying to convey the interesting situation whereby buyers pay less for an item and have sellers thanking them for them doing so.
posted on March 7, 2002 11:15:53 AM newWhat has been happening more often then not is my auctions sit there with no bids for 6 days, 23 hours and 55 minutes. It is kind of depressing.
I would try shorter auctions. See if you can sell twice as much in the same amount of time.
I have been outsniped with a few seconds left and that was always surprising!