[meteorite-list] The Sniper Mentality

From: Starsinthedirt at aol.com <Starsinthedirt_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:48:50 EDT
Message-ID: <3534d.3cc0602a.38d2d272_at_aol.com>

Hi Richard and List, I agree with your solution but not your objection to
sniping within the framework that is eBay.

Ebay has set up a situation where it is the smart thing to do. As you
suggest, if no item will officially end within even just one minute from the
time the last bid was placed, this would end the advantage of sniping.

I personally use a sniping service so when I see an item I want, I set up
the snipe bid that will be executed a few seconds before auction end. This
set up can be taken care of days before the auction ends.

I have saved many hundreds of dollars, mostly on microscope equipment.

It's not nice or fair but it is the way eBay is set up, so why not play to
win.

Tom



In a message dated 3/17/2010 5:58:10 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time,
damoclid at yahoo.com writes:
This mentality, waiting until the last few seconds before bidding, is
something I just don't get. Maybe someone can explain it to me.

I bid for lots on ebay just like I do when I bid at a real auction. I set
in my head what I believe the value of an item and what I have available in
my budget to bid for that item. I then bid that much and no more. If I get
the item, great. If not, someone wanted it more and we're willing to pay
more for the item...

While I will sometimes raise my ebay bid a little before the end of the
auction, I really don't understand the idea of sitting there and in the last
second or two, to try to jam in bids high enough to win the item.

Do snipers really want the item or are they just trying to screw others
out of the item? Are they just trying to get the item at a lower price,
thinking that their competitors will just rebid again, upping the price?

I see this on meteorite auctions every so often, but much more often on
the Daguerreotypes I bid on. The reason I was reminded of it was a lot I just
lost out on. There wasn't just one sniper, but two. The both bid at the
exact same time, 2 seconds before the auction ended...

As I said, it doesn't mater that I lost the lot. It went for more than I
was willing to pay, so I wouldn't have rebid even if I could.

Possibly someone can explain what is gained by bidding like this instead
of just bidding what you think it's worth and letting it go for that...

I'd really like to see ebay eliminate this foolery. It'd be pretty simple.
Any bids that occur within one minute of the closing time of the auction
automatically resets the end time by 10 minutes, or 30 minutes. The snipers
games are eliminated and the dealers (and ebay) gets more profits because
the auction remains open for the bidding to continue to higher levels. Just
like in a real live auction.

Thanks

--
Richard Kowalski
Full Moon  Photography
IMCA #1081
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Received on Wed 17 Mar 2010 08:48:50 PM PDT