(OT) eBay and Sniping Service
 

"Diana Satyr" wrote in message
.. .
I snipe without use of a sniping service. All it takes is an accurate
clock.

Looks like my explanation of the value of sniping failed to take. I'll try
again. A well-off person will normally "value" any given collectible at a
higher
price than a poor person, because: (1) no-one knows the "standard" price
of most
collectibles, and (2) $500, say, looks to a rich person about like maybe
$50
does to a poor person, because the two amounts take similar percentage
bites out
of the discretionary income of each. I know this to be true. I've been
both
affluent and poor.

Except that if a more "well-off person" than you has already bid $600, your
snipe bid of $500 won't do you any good.

Sniping is pointless and way over-rated. High bid always wins. Whether
that high bid was placed in the first minute or last minute doesn't matter.
Bid the max amount you are willing to pay and forget about it. If someone
else is willing to pay more, it won't matter *when* he makes his bid.

Mike

(OT) eBay and Sniping Service
 

On Feb 3, 8:23 am, "Mike" wrote:
"Diana Satyr" wrote in message

.. .

I snipe without use of a sniping service. All it takes is an accurate
clock.

Looks like my explanation of the value of sniping failed to take. I'll try
again. A well-off person will normally "value" any given collectible at a
higher
price than a poor person, because: (1) no-one knows the "standard" price
of most
collectibles, and (2) $500, say, looks to a rich person about like maybe
$50
does to a poor person, because the two amounts take similar percentage
bites out
of the discretionary income of each. I know this to be true. I've been
both
affluent and poor.

Except that if a more "well-off person" than you has already bid $600, your
snipe bid of $500 won't do you any good.

Sniping is pointless and way over-rated. High bid always wins. Whether
that high bid was placed in the first minute or last minute doesn't matter.
Bid the max amount you are willing to pay and forget about it.
- If someone else is willing to pay more,
- it won't matter *when* he makes his bid.
-
- Mike

So my $1000 Last-Minute-Bid that arrives 30-Seconds-After
the eBay Auction "Closes" will always ensure that I WIN - Not !

With-in the Open-for-Bidding Time-Frame of an eBay Auction
the High Bid Always Wins -except- When the Seller 'rejects'
a Bidder and then the Next Higher Bidder may win -or- When
there is a Reserve Price and the High Bid is 'below' that Price.
- - - and, And. AND !

eBay - The Bidding Just Goes : on, and On. and ON ! ~ RHF

(OT) eBay and Sniping Service
 

Diana Satyr wrote in
:

In article . com,
"RHF" wrote:

On Feb 3, 8:23 am, "Mike" wrote:
"Diana Satyr" wrote in message

.. .

I snipe without use of a sniping service. All it takes is an
accurate clock.

Looks like my explanation of the value of sniping failed to take.
I'll try again. A well-off person will normally "value" any given
collectible at a higher
price than a poor person, because: (1) no-one knows the
"standard" price of most
collectibles, and (2) $500, say, looks to a rich person about
like maybe $50
does to a poor person, because the two amounts take similar
percentage bites out
of the discretionary income of each. I know this to be true. I've
been both
affluent and poor.

Except that if a more "well-off person" than you has already bid
$600, your snipe bid of $500 won't do you any good.

Sniping is pointless and way over-rated. High bid always wins.
Whether that high bid was placed in the first minute or last minute
doesn't matter. Bid the max amount you are willing to pay and
forget about it.
- If someone else is willing to pay more,
- it won't matter *when* he makes his bid.
-
- Mike

So my $1000 Last-Minute-Bid that arrives 30-Seconds-After
the eBay Auction "Closes" will always ensure that I WIN - Not !

With-in the Open-for-Bidding Time-Frame of an eBay Auction
the High Bid Always Wins -except- When the Seller 'rejects'
a Bidder and then the Next Higher Bidder may win -or- When
there is a Reserve Price and the High Bid is 'below' that Price.
- - - and, And. AND !

eBay - The Bidding Just Goes : on, and On. and ON ! ~ RHF
.
.
. .


Ah, but the rich person, being a good American, which is to say almost
a classic rational economic man, will still want to get a bargain if
he can--especially when buying on eBay, supposedly the home of
bargains, for goodness sake! Sometimes he will register with eBay a
top bid of less than he can afford to pay because he mistakenly thinks
that this is a case where a bargain can be had, or because he just
doesn't know the normal, higher value of the item. (Note the
relatively few special classes of auctions in which I said above that
sniping can work well.)

My job is to leave him under that illusion until the very last minute,
and THEN bid, cutting off his chance to bring into play his big bucks.

Hey, it's a pretty minor advantage that seldom works! But sometimes it
does. Anyway, it's fun to snipe. Think of the suspense you can enjoy
as you wait as long as you possibly can, calculating how much to
bid--high enough to possibly win but without going over your
guestimate of the normal sale price of this particular collectible,
wondering what the last possible moment is at which you can bid and
still get your bid in, given the nature of your online connection and
the state of the internet. You get a nice little rush of adrenalin at
the end there. Time and money well spent, I say.

Moonman

You truly don't get it, do you. Anyone who wants it has already bid his
max, and simply doesn't want to spend more than that for it. If
anything, he is laughing his ass off if you do out-bid him, as he has
aready bid all that it is worth. Glad you get a rush -- you made his
day.

(OT) eBay and Sniping Service
 

SamSez wrote:

You truly don't get it, do you. Anyone who wants it has already bid his
max, and simply doesn't want to spend more than that for it. If
anything, he is laughing his ass off if you do out-bid him, as he has
aready bid all that it is worth.

"as *he* has already bid all that it is worth".

Well, yeah, but what's yer point?

Just because he has already bid "all that it is worth" to *HIM* doesn't
mean it may not be worth more to someone else.

Maybe *you* don't get it.

(OT) eBay and Sniping Service
 

Carter-k8vt wrote in
t:

SamSez wrote:

You truly don't get it, do you. Anyone who wants it has already bid
his max, and simply doesn't want to spend more than that for it. If
anything, he is laughing his ass off if you do out-bid him, as he has
aready bid all that it is worth.

"as *he* has already bid all that it is worth".

Well, yeah, but what's yer point?

Just because he has already bid "all that it is worth" to *HIM*
doesn't mean it may not be worth more to someone else.

Maybe *you* don't get it.


'yer point' is that sniping is worthless -- get it yet?

Like, the topic of the thread, idiot.

(OT) eBay and Sniping Service
 

SamSez wrote:
Carter-k8vt wrote in
t:

SamSez wrote:

You truly don't get it, do you. Anyone who wants it has already bid
his max, and simply doesn't want to spend more than that for it. If
anything, he is laughing his ass off if you do out-bid him, as he has
aready bid all that it is worth.
"as *he* has already bid all that it is worth".

Well, yeah, but what's yer point?

Just because he has already bid "all that it is worth" to *HIM*
doesn't mean it may not be worth more to someone else.

Maybe *you* don't get it.


'yer point' is that sniping is worthless -- get it yet?



Like, the topic of the thread, idiot.

Well, I -was- replying to *YOUR* comment, no matter what the "topic of
the thread"; By your definition, I guess we are then -both- off topic...
...which would also make you an "idiot". ;-)

P.S.

Sniping is not necessarily worthless. This is an *auction*, high bidder
wins, and if sniping gets your high bid in -before- the other guy can
get his high bid in...well, the sniping wasn't worthless then, now was it???

(OT) eBay and Sniping Service
 

Carter-k8vt wrote in
et:

SamSez wrote:
Carter-k8vt wrote in
t:

SamSez wrote:

You truly don't get it, do you. Anyone who wants it has already
bid his max, and simply doesn't want to spend more than that for
it. If anything, he is laughing his ass off if you do out-bid him,
as he has aready bid all that it is worth.
"as *he* has already bid all that it is worth".

Well, yeah, but what's yer point?

Just because he has already bid "all that it is worth" to *HIM*
doesn't mean it may not be worth more to someone else.

Maybe *you* don't get it.


'yer point' is that sniping is worthless -- get it yet?



Like, the topic of the thread, idiot.

Well, I -was- replying to *YOUR* comment, no matter what the "topic of
the thread"; By your definition, I guess we are then -both- off
topic...
...which would also make you an "idiot". ;-)

P.S.

Sniping is not necessarily worthless. This is an *auction*, high
bidder wins, and if sniping gets your high bid in -before- the other
guy can get his high bid in...well, the sniping wasn't worthless then,
now was it???

Yes it is worthless. If you have already bid the amount you have
determined an item is worth to you, then no sniper is going to get it
unless he bids more than what you were willing to pay in the first place.
Period. Why is that so incredibly hard to understand for so many people?

If you just take the time to determine what you are willing to spend and
make that bid, you get to make it days in advance without watching the
clock or giving out your private information to a sniping service [who
you would still have to tell what the maximum is that you are willing to
bid -- just as you could have bid on ebay days before!]

On the other hand, if you are patting yourself on the back on how smart
you were sniping in a last minute bid that DOES win an item -- just
remember before patting yourself TOO hard -- nobody in the vast number of
people who looked at that item for the past N days thought it was worth
as much as you were stupid enough to pay at the last minute...

You aren't the one getting the bargain -- you are the one catching
bidding fever and winding up paying to much!

And don't forget too, if there is any bid shilling going on [heaven
forbid], it isn't going to faze the guy whose first bid was what he was
willing to pay -- either he gets it at his price or he doesn't. But
shilling sure does trap a sniper.

Snipe away -- particularly on anything I'm selling. I love seeing it.
It always results in more in my pocket than I would have expected.

(OT) eBay and Sniping Service
 

SamSez wrote:


On the other hand, if you are patting yourself on the back on how smart
you were sniping in a last minute bid that DOES win an item -- just
remember before patting yourself TOO hard -- nobody in the vast number of
people who looked at that item for the past N days thought it was worth
as much as you were stupid enough to pay at the last minute...

You aren't the one getting the bargain -- you are the one catching
bidding fever and winding up paying to much!

Again, QUITE judgmental of you. Why are they 'stupid' and why might it
be "too much"? It may be too much for you but not necessarily for them.
They may have a strong nostalgic attachment from their childhood, it may
have been something actually owned by their dear, departed mother and
they want it at any price, any one of a hundred reasons why *THEY* want
it and *YOU* think it's too much.

Snipe away -- particularly on anything I'm selling. I love seeing it.
It always results in more in my pocket than I would have expected.

Amen! I agree 100%; FWIW I am 99% a seller (who -loves- auction fever),
rarely buy and when I do, I don't snipe. Just place the max bid I'm
willing to pay. Sniping is just a tool that some people think may, on
occasion, be valuable to -them-. Who are you to judge them?

(OT) eBay and Sniping Service
 

Carter-k8vt wrote in
et:

SamSez wrote:


On the other hand, if you are patting yourself on the back on how
smart you were sniping in a last minute bid that DOES win an item --
just remember before patting yourself TOO hard -- nobody in the vast
number of people who looked at that item for the past N days thought
it was worth as much as you were stupid enough to pay at the last
minute...

You aren't the one getting the bargain -- you are the one catching
bidding fever and winding up paying to much!

Again, QUITE judgmental of you. Why are they 'stupid' and why might it
be "too much"? It may be too much for you but not necessarily for
them. They may have a strong nostalgic attachment from their
childhood, it may have been something actually owned by their dear,
departed mother and they want it at any price, any one of a hundred
reasons why *THEY* want it and *YOU* think it's too much.

Snipe away -- particularly on anything I'm selling. I love seeing
it. It always results in more in my pocket than I would have
expected.

Amen! I agree 100%; FWIW I am 99% a seller (who -loves- auction
fever), rarely buy and when I do, I don't snipe. Just place the max
bid I'm willing to pay. Sniping is just a tool that some people think
may, on occasion, be valuable to -them-. Who are you to judge them?



You still don't get it. If you place a higher value on it than I do,
fine, you still don't need to 'snipe' it to get it. Just bid what YOU
want to pay.

The 'stupid' part is thinking you are getting one over on somebody by
sniping.

Remember -- the topic is 'sniping'.

Get it yet? Can I type any slower for you?

(OT) eBay and Sniping Service
 

Bidding fever.Whatever you think something is worth,set your price and
stick with it.If you don't win the bid,there will always be a next time.
cuhulin

(OT) eBay and Sniping Service
 

On Feb 9, 11:41 pm, wrote:
Bidding fever.Whatever you think something is worth,set your price and
stick with it.If you don't win the bid,there will always be a next time.
cuhulin

I started using Ebay when Ebay was new and most people never heard of
it. I've been using Merlin Snipe software for years. It allows
multiple auctions, as many as you want. It lines them up in a list
with item number, item description, current price, my bid price (if
any; you can just monitor an auction if you want), high bidder (if
any), auction ending time, and time left. Merlin also synchs your
computer clock to ebay time to the second. In the early days I hung
over my computer to manually snipe, but you can't do that unless you
work at a computer, which I don't anymore. I learned early that if
you want to get the best price, you had better put your bid in at the
end of the auction. People who disparage sniping don't realize what's
going on. Example: A Transoceanic A600 on ebay is currently at
$37.00 (not really, just rhetorically). Three days seven hours to
go. I want this radio so I click on the auction number, and because I
have "auction grabber" enabled the auction is automatically placed on
Merlin's list. There are other people vying for this radio, too. Two
of them use Ebay's proxy bidder, which Ebay uses to boost its profits
by causing auctions to automatically run up higher. One guy (newbie)
thinks that he will go up to 68 dollars, and another (doofus) thinks
$72.50 is his limit. He really doesn't want to pay that much, but he
doesn't know very well how this works. He doesn't think that the
auction will go up nearly that much. As soon as doofus places his
$72.50 bid into Ebay, the auction suddenly shoots up to 69 bucks from
37. What happened? Ebay's proxy engine working for both newbie and
doofus automatically and quickly bid against each other, and since
doofus is bidding more that newbie, and newbie's max is 68, and the
auction rises in $1.00 increments, the price for the radio is suddenly
$69.00. Newbie is done and leaves this auction. Doofus is high
bidder now, and is unhappy and wondering what happened to the price.
Time goes by and another bidder bids up one increment and now the
radio is $71.00 with doofus still the high bidder. From 69 to 70,
then Ebay's proxy engine on behalf of doofus goes up another increment
to $71.00. Later is see this auction and the current results, and I
calculate that this radio has a leatherette cover that is in dirty but
good shape, will dye nicely and the few bad spots will easily repair
with liquid vinyl patch. The latch is all there, the chart/log book
has it's dial, antennas all there as well as tubes, thumbscrews, and
suction cups. It even has a manual. The radio is inoperative but
that's fine since I will do an electronic restoration on it.
Restoration will not be too difficult and restored it will be worth
over $200.00. Shipping is a reasonable $24.00. I do not know what
others have bid, but I set my snipe at $86.00. My snipe program is
set to snipe at 8 seconds. That is about as close as you can get to
consistently snipe. The backbone of the Internet is routers, which
are computers that route "packets" of data. There are time lags in
each router. And between routers, bandwidth (read: speed of
transmission) has nothing to do with each other and vary greatly. Who
knows how many routers there are or what the bandwidth is between
each? Now there is another person (qtcat) that wants this radio
bad. She bids $75.00 and now the radio is up to $73.50; doofus's
$71.50 plus the bid increment of 1 dollar. If I was to get into a
bidding war with qtcat the radio can shoot up to well over $100.00.
But at 8 seconds Merlin Snipe puts in a bid, the bid arrives at 4.35
seconds later, the radio is now suddenly up to 76 dollars, qtcat can
do nothing about it, and I win the auction for 76 bucks. whew
That's the way it works

(OT) eBay and Sniping Service
 

On Feb 9, 8:53 pm, SamSez wrote:
You still don't get it. If you place a higher value on it than I do,
fine, you still don't need to 'snipe' it to get it. Just bid what YOU
want to pay.

The 'stupid' part is thinking you are getting one over on somebody bysniping.

If everyone bid the most they were willing to pay the FIRST (and only)
time they bid, you'd be right. But a large % of ebayers don't
understand proxy bidding and don't bid their max.

So you're wrong.

There are other reasons why sniping is the best strategy, but since
you can't get past the obvious one, I won't tax your brain with the
rest.

(OT) eBay and Sniping Service
 

On Feb 11, 2:44 pm, wrote:
On Feb 9, 8:53 pm, SamSez wrote:

You still don't get it. If you place a higher value on it than I do,
fine, you still don't need to 'snipe' it to get it. Just bid what YOU
want to pay.

The 'stupid' part is thinking you are getting one over on somebody bysniping.

If everyone bid the most they were willing to pay the FIRST (and only)
time they bid, you'd be right. But a large % of ebayers don't
understand proxy bidding and don't bid their max.

So you're wrong.

There are other reasons why sniping is the best strategy, but since
you can't get past the obvious one, I won't tax your brain with the
rest.


I do not believe that there is any further point in discussing the
matter of sniping. Perhaps the people who do not understand lack
experience, knowledge of the system, or just cannot get their minds
around the strategy. Let those that know what they are doing continue
to win auctions at the lowest possible price given the extant
circumstances, and let those who want to rely on Ebay's proxy system
continue to lose auctions, and pay more than they had to when they
win. If this debate continues, it may degrade into more name
calling. I'm done.

(OT) eBay and Sniping Service
 

Moonman wrote in
:


Very informative, tack!

The last part of your narrative represents just how I have always
understood that sniping can confer an advantage. The first part nicely
exemplifies why it's not good to bid your maximum early.

As regards the contest with qtcat at the end, however, are you saying
that your snipe doesn't leave eBay's proxy bidding software time to
respond before the auction closes? Because, true, if qtcat is
PERSONALLY watching the auction and bidding in small increments in
response to each opposing bid, you've got her. However, if she wants
the thing as much as you postulate, then she probably put in a top bid
of, say, $150, as soon as she saw it, and your snipe bid will be
instantly and automatically exceeded by $1 in the last second of the
auction.

Please respond. I may learn something.

Cordially,
Moonman

And you wound up paying $1 more than she considered it to be worth in the
first place. Whoopee. She goes away happy, and you go away stupid.
Have you never attended an auction? Do you not set a personal limit for
each item when you preview the goods? You could have bid $151 on the
first day, without giving up your personal details to a sniping service.

[Learn something? Yes, you have shown us all the kind of myopic
reasoning that leads one to believe that sniping is beneficial to anyone
other than the seller.]