[LargeFormat] EBay/auction sniper

[Les Newcomer]

Up until a couple of weeks ago I thought Auction sniper was a marriage 
saver.  No more "Gotta go home early to bid on something"  but has anybody 
else noticed that they've been having problems a bit too often?  They 
claim ebay slows down and it backs them up, so even though ebay was back 
to normal when my auction closed, AS couldn't place the bid.  I"m about 
ready to give up on AS. Anybody else have any suggestions? Alternatives?

Les


RE: Ebay proxy bidding makes them money

Yes it does benefit them. Most people don't have a maximum amount they 
will pay for an auction. They will bid it up and go back and bid again and 
again. This raises the final price and you'll have to enter a snipe more 
than what's been bid up.   At one point people were complaining so loudly 
about sniping that ebay looked into extending the auction time by X amount 
after the final bid. This would allow reaction bidding.  I guess trying to 
manage a 100,000 acutions with multiple end times just wasn't feasable.

They know that their proxy bidding makes them money, because they refuse 
to allow links to Auction Sniper and others in their auctions.  I had 15 
auctions shot down because of it.


On Friday, February 7, 2003, at 12:33 PM, Vince Dobson wrote:

> nOOOOOOOOOOOOO Stan,
>
> Look at it this way.  Most bidders (I've won against a lot) want to be
> showing as the high bidder.  If I bid on something either directly or by
> letting Ebay's proxy bidding do it for me, the other bidder will increase
> his until he is higher than me and here it goes see-sawing up.
>
> I do exactly like you said - research and decide the maximum I am willing 
> to
> pay ---- enter that bid with auction sniper and they place my maximum bid 
> I
> am willing to pay 7 seconds before the end so that no reactionary bidder 
> can
> increase what I will have to pay.  If you want to pay more then let eBay'
> s
> proxy do it for you --- don't you see Ebay's proxy keeps you the highest 
> -
> the other dude's proxy (or direct bid) keeps him the highest.  This works
> best for the company running the auction that benifits from the increase 
> of
> their percentage on what the item brings ---- of course they want you to 
> use
> their proxy bidding!!!
>
> Do the math and think about it.  I enter the maximum I want to pay 5 
> seconds
> before the end - I either get it or I don't, but I don't have to go back 
> and
> increase my bid because someone had increased theirs to be higher than 
> mine.
>
> I've bought 2 Omega D5XL enlargers, a 16", a 26" and a 31" Kreonite
> automatic processors, Wing Lynch and Photo Therm film processors, a 8x10
> Zone VI, a Wisner expedition 4x5, a Tachahara 4x5, about 20 lens, paper 
> and
> huge lots of film this way and never enter a bid except within the last 5 
> or
> 7 seconds of the auction.  I've never therefore increased myself the 
> price I
> had to pay!
>
> "EBay automatically bids for me" -- how nice of them to increase their
> commission that way. :)
>
>
>
> <This only works against an undisciplined bidder. Before I bid on 
> something,
> I research to find out what the retail price is, what similar items have
> sold for previously, etc., then I enter the maximum amount I'm willing to
> pay. eBay automatically bids for me up to that amount. When you come in at
> the last second with a snipe bid, one of two things happens: either your
> bid is less than my maximum, in which case I win the item; or your item is
> more than my maximum, in which case you win the item with a bid larger 
> than
> I was willing to pay. If you bid more than I am willing to pay, it doesn'
> t
> matter to me whether you enter that bid 7 seconds or 7 hours before the
> auction ends.>
>
> Stan
>
> ================================
> Photography by Stan McQueen
> http://www.smcqueen.com
>
>
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