Snipers

[Federico]

Pretty early on in my ebay career I noticed that no matter what auction I bid on, someone else would follow my handle and snipe me. It didnt matter what the piece was (hey for sentimental reasons I often bid on junk), if my handle appeared and there was time, Id be sniped. Now, pretty early on I had enough offers from other members not to snipe me, but then the collecting world is far bigger than just this forum, and while someone who knows me here may not bid against me, to a stranger I was just someone who seemed to find interesting stuff. So since then the only time I bid is in the last few seconds. Like Robert, I put stuff that interests me in my watched list, and bid if I remember and it has not risen above the price I want to pay. Keeps me from second guessing myself or getting into a bid war and bidding far more than I want. Out of courtesy, if I notice a forumite (and since we dont all know eachothers ebay handles this list is short) that I know personally, and like, I may not bid against him. However, I have noticed that many who mark their territory early, A. get outbid very fast and B. often never return to re-bid. So, if I am conscious of a handle, and they are the top bidder in the last 10 secs, sure Ill pass on the piece, but more often than not this is not the case. Furthermore, trying to inform everyone of every odd piece that gets my attention, just does not hold to be practical to me. Most of the stuff I like to bid on is not noticed by anyone else, and my eye is like a hungry man seeing a buffet, everything looks good. At least for me, Ive been sniped by enough forum members, early on, to view the gloves are off when it comes to ebay.

ps
Ill throw in this caveat, for those wondering why theve seen my handle on auctions more than a few seconds out. If the piece is not that interesting, and cheap I may throw in a low bid to see if I get lucky. It has rarely rarely worked. Anyways, waiting on the item ensures the price doesnt get overly jacked, as it seems like the more bidders on an auction the more that auction attracts attention. Ive had many auctions end where I was the only bidder on an obviously nice piece, but there was enough question where other bidders were to afraid to bid. Ive also had many auctions end exhorbatantly high because I was a bidder, and it drew out the wolves.

[Rick]

There's nothing worse than the dreaded 'search by member name' gambit .

While a legitimate strategy it reinforces the idea that it may be a good thing to switch your usernames fairly frequently .

I haven't changed mine in nine years but I never bid early .

[Lee]

Originally Posted by Federico

... I noticed that no matter what auction I bid on, someone else would follow my handle and snipe me...

The late Ewart Oakeshott, of medieval sword studies fame, had the same problem and had to resort to spending equal time with everything in the preview (so as to not highlight what interested him) and having a second party 'bark' for him...

[John]

Originally Posted by BluErf

Haven't been really reading this post, but I can empathize with the strong emotions felt when one sees someone familiar throwing in a bid on an item that has been eyed for days. But there's no easy resolution to such a situation and it also depends on how badly the person wants the item. Very sorry if I have sniped things that any of the fellow forumnites had wanted. Sometimes, I don't know which ebay ID is who in the forum, really.

*Ouch* pain... pain...

Personally I'm of the view "may the best man win" should there be an item one very badly wanted in an open auction. But I let it pass if I see a forumite that I know well has placed a bid and if I do not want the item as badly.

BTW Kai Wee, congrats on winning the luk 5 malela (or carita?). A super piece and another great steal. Saw that yesterday and was hoping one of the forumites pick it up. I'll be taking a long pause from keris collecting to concentrate on antiquities but will still be lurking and surfing to stay in touch...

[Andrew]

I snipe every auction. No exceptions. And everyone who knows my eBay handle knows this. Lately, I've taken to placing an early, low bid to tip off those friends that I'll be back exactly 6 seconds before the auction close, and I'll be packin' heat.

There is a small group of folks I will consult with prior to bidding on certain items, to guage relative levels of interest. I won't waste my time bidding on something someone else just has to have. This isn't false collegiality, it's good business, in my opinion.

[BluErf]

Originally Posted by Federico

Pretty early on in my ebay career I noticed that no matter what auction I bid on, someone else would follow my handle and snipe me.

Our Paul (De Souza) faces the same problem. The appearance of his ebay handle becomes a 'kiss of death' for 99% of his auction bids.

Hi John -- that is a carita. It's a beauty, but it won't be going into my collection though. I'm somebody's 'hired gun' in this case.

[punal]

Originally Posted by Rick

In my view it is unethical to try to purchase an item listed for auction on ebay privately .
I believe eBay frowns upon it also .

By doing this you subvert the entire process .

Rick, I understand the unethical part alright, but sad to say, I ain't the only one doing it. Since your concern about ethics, let me give you a hypothetical scenario that most of us sword collectors are incountering.

A listed sword caught your attention, duration time, 10 days. You wanted the sword badly but your budget is way short! you then tried to sell one of your unwanted say, dagger? to come up for the difference. You knew that the dagger won't sell much, but from no where, some one emailed you and offered you good amount of money, way enought to seal the difference of your wanting sword, you're given a deadline to respond back though, say 5 hours or the deal is off. On the other hand, one of our forum brothers put a $5.00 bid on your stuff, would you then pass this good opportunity because your good brother is on the way?

My point of view here is, respect for our forum brothers has it's boundaries.
Each of us has its own measurements of desire on such things, a few may give way due to their personal reasons? others may not! both I think is acceptable, but that's just me. . .

No my friend, I'm not Charles!

[Rick]

Personally speaking I would .
Integrity is an important thing in today's world .
Call me old fashioned .......

[punal]

Originally Posted by Rick

Personally speaking I would .
Integrity is an important thing in today's world .
Call me old fashioned .......

There is no such thing as old fashion when it comes to principle and I respect that my friend. I rest my case. . .

Good thread!

[Mark]

Originally Posted by Battara

Personally, I wear a helmet how when I bid on ebay because of the numerous times I get my brains beaten out. I sometimes pass (or pass out ) when I see a fellow formite bidding on something I thought about. At the same time, I undestand the desire to acquire toys, but there is much more to life than this. One time there was this wonderful dha with wonderful silver work, but alas Mark Bowditch got it, and you know, it may sting a little, but that's ok because there is more to life than this (a theme?). Besides, I guess I'd rather he get it than some lumax who would use it for cutting watermelons. I look at it like this, if God wants me to have something, I'll get, if not, then God has something better in store for me. I have been able to get some things that I could not afford, as one or two of you know. So I guess that God wanted Mark to get that dha. Since then, I have been able to get some other great toys. Again - toys .

On the matter of different names used, I use a different name on eBay before I came to this forum - seeker88 - not as catchy as Battara, but I was a young'in then.

Uh oh. I was hoping that you had forgotten that. On the positive side, Jose sent a very gracious congratulations e-mail that made me feel very guilty ....

[Yannis]

Very good thread

I know the Ebay id for very few members of the forum. Except one or two persons that I have a more close relation I have no problem to bid against the others or even snipe them. They have done the same to me, no problem.

Andrew is honest when he says

Originally Posted by Andrew

There is a small group of folks I will consult with prior to bidding on certain items, to guage relative levels of interest. I won't waste my time bidding on something someone else just has to have. This isn't false collegiality, it's good business, in my opinion.

I am not in such group, but if someone ask my opinion for an item I will not have a problem to share it. If I am lucky he will pay back the favor some other time. It happened few times.

[nechesh]

Originally Posted by BluErf

Our Paul (De Souza) faces the same problem. The appearance of his ebay handle becomes a 'kiss of death' for 99% of his auction bids.

Hi John -- that is a carita. It's a beauty, but it won't be going into my collection though. I'm somebody's 'hired gun' in this case.

Hi Kai Wee. That looks like a beauty. I hope before you pass it on to it's new owner that you have time to take some nice pics of it and post them. I had been watching this one myself, but it will be much easier for you (or the guy you won it for) to commission a sheath for it over there.....otherwise i would have sniped it from you myself!

[CharlesS]

Like many of us I have been on both sides of the sniper routine...won some, lost some. I can honestly say that when I put forth a sniper bid it is usually done at least 12 hours before the end of the auction, and I don't have a clue whose bidding, as I just wait to hear the results.

I do have a small group of forumites I confer with about items of mutual interest. I've stood down more than once, as have they.

Like so many of you, I am not sure there is a simple solution to this, but I do not believe that accusations or anger are beneficial.

[Bill M]

Originally Posted by Andrew

I snipe every auction. No exceptions. And everyone who knows my eBay handle knows this.

Me too. I usually take a look at something I want and then place my maximum bid with the sniper software. It will hit in the last 6 to 4 seconds.

Usually I don't know who is bidding against me because I don't follow the auctions that much once I have placed a bid.

I have beaten a few Forumites here, and in some cases have emailed the bidder and offered it to them for my bid unless I was really in love with it.

And, hey, I have been sniped also. My first eBay auction. A wonderful CHinese wedding bed went for a dollar more than my highest bid. WOW! That hurt!

But now I realize that the winning bidder could have bid hundreds of dollars more than me and only had to beat my bid by a dollar.

So I throw out the line and see what gets caught. No offense intended to anyone.

But I have been "shadowed" and have gotten into a "testestosterone war" with other bidders inching the price up.

I do not care to play that game. Just set my bid and go do other things. See what I have caught when the auction is over and eBay sends me a message:

"YOU WON!" Now pay the seller.

"YOU WERE OUTBID" Here is a list of more stuff. Go and bid some more.

[erlikhan]

Is it completely free according to ebay rules to use sniper software? Some say they would ban if they catch you sniping with software or would cancel your winning bid. And more important, is it safe to give your ebay name and password to the sniping sites?

regards

[VANDOO]

I GUESS HAVING THE SNIPEING SOFTWARE WOULD BE THE BEST THING CONSIDERING THAT IT EXHISTS AND PROFESSENIAL SELLERS USE IT. A PERSON SITTING AT HIS KEYBOARD HAS LITTLE CHANCE OF BEATING IT NO MATTER HOW FAST YOU TYPE. IT MAKES THE WHOLE AUCTION IMPERSONEL LIKE SEEING WHAT YOU WANT AT THE PREVIEW, LEAVING ABSENTEE BIDS AND NOT ATTENDING THE AUCTION. JUST READ YOUR EMAIL CLEAN OUT THE LOSSES AND PAY THE WINS EVERY SO OFTEN AND DO MORE PLESANT THINGS THAN SITTING IN FRONT OF A COMPUTER POISED TO TYPE.

I WONDER IF LIQUOR SALES ARE UP? A GUY GETS HAMMERED ON EBAY HAS A DRINK TO KILL THE PAIN, BIDS AGAIN GETS HAMMERED HAS A DRINK AND SO ON. AHA!! PERHAPS THATS WHY THE PRICES KEEP GOING UP ON EVERYTHING ON EBAY. STOP THE DRINKING GUYS YOURE KILLING ME

[Rick]

Originally Posted by erlikhan

Is it completely free according to ebay rules to use sniper software? Some say they would ban if they catch you sniping with software or would cancel your winning bid. And more important, is it safe to give your ebay name and password to the sniping sites?

regards

Here's an ebay forum thread on sniping Erlikhan :
http://forums.ebay.com/search.jspa?o...iping+software

[Yannis]

I remember now a very wild sniping few months ago. A fine 16th century sword got more than $10000 dollars the last minute to close in $22000. The buyer is a member of the forum and a profesional dealer. Do you think that he could get it if he had show his intentions? Probably not.

[BSMStar]

Interesting thread... and all this time I thought my wife was bribing you guys to snipe me.

[Tim Simmons]

What happens if several bidders on one item are all snipers? Does that not counter act any software or am I just really dumb . Tim

[MABAGANI]

I would guess the win still goes to the bidder with the higher maximum bid. So what happens if by coincidence two or more bidders using software happen to place the same maximum bid? Do the software companies offer the fastest nano sec reaction time...and what if its the same software?

[Andrew]

Good questions! I don't know the answers, but I've thought about this before.

I always bid in odd increments (e.g. $37.59) to reduce the chances of identical bids.

[erlikhan]

And not any one of you are afraid of giving your ebay name and password away to some sites which are officially nothing???

[MABAGANI]

The whole snipe software thing is totally non-personal, from now on if you got a beef with any of my snipes blame it on my computer...lolz. It makes sense for ebay to allow it because it forces buyers to put as much as they could afford as opposed to some collectors making contact to keep the price down.

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by erlikhan

And not any one of you are afraid of giving your ebay name and password away to some sites which are officially nothing???

Nothing's perfect, erlikhan. However, like any internet-based business, sniping sites won't make any money if they aren't secure and trustworthy. I've used one snipe service for several years without a single problem.

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by MABAGANI

The whole snipe software thing is totally non-personal, from now on if you got a beef with any of my snipes blame it on my computer...lolz.

Exactly! I usually place snipe bids immediately after I spot something I want. After that, I ignore the auction until I get an email notification. This strategy avoids bidding wars and prevents me from re-evaluating what I'm willing to pay for something.

I do much better spending as little time on eBay as possible.

[erlikhan]

Ahh ok then, I feel very comfortable and secure now . Which site have you used?

[Rick]

I'm not telling .........

[Ed]

I snipe everything. Frankly, it is self protection. I would bid, say $45 and tell myself "that's it." Then I'd watch and say "well, $55 is not that much more". By the end I'd be saying "that @#%%#$, if he thinks he's getting it for $356 he has another think coming". $500 later I have an authentic counterfit coin.

Now, I place a bid for what I am willing to pay and don't look again. Sometimes there is a pleasent surprise, sometimes not. Frankly, I don't really recall what I've missed.

[Spunjer]

"I would bid, say $45 and tell myself "that's it." Then I'd watch and say "well, $55 is not that much more". By the end I'd be saying "that @#%%#$, if he thinks he's getting it for $356 he has another think coming". $500 later I have an authentic counterfit coin."

ROTFLMAO!

...well, it might not be so funny if it's my hu hu's getting sniped