man.i am never successful on Ebay!

[vash]

god..can i win without sniping software? i dont buy from Ebay very often, and i hate ponying up the money to buy a single item.

do i have a shot? i have an ebay app on my phone so i could pop in very close to the end..just not in the last second.

[widebody911]

Anyone who isn't sniping is either an idiot or shilling.

[masraum]

Yes, you can snipe without software or a service, or you could the last time I bought something on eBay.

[craigster59]

Originally Posted by widebody911

Anyone who isn't sniping is either an idiot or shilling.

You ain't just a whistling Dixie, that's the ONLY way to win. You can also withdraw your bid at anytime up to 30 (?) minutes till auction end. I use Esnipe and buy maybe 6 times a year.

[herr_oberst]

You gotta snipe, plenty of free software. Try JBidwatcher.

[speeder]

There is no reason, (NO REASON!), to ever put a bid in before the very end of an auction unless you are trying to run-up the price you have to pay(?)

That said, if you still insist on bidding hours or days before the end, put in the absolute maximum that you are willing to pay and you might still get the item, if no one wants it as bad.

It baffles me that otherwise intelligent people cannot seem to understand how eBay works. It's frightfully simple; it's basically a sealed auction where all bids are not revealed until the auction ends, with the strange difference that people can choose to reveal their bid before the end. You can "watch" any # of auctions and be reminded when they are going to end and you can bid automatically through sniping programs that are practically free.

And of course, you only have to pay one increment more than the guy in 2nd place, not necessarily your maximum bid. If you put in a maximum bid of $100 on that Snap-on wrench set 12 hours before the end and go away, all I have to do is increase my max bid by $5.00 at a time until I reach $105.00 and I'm the winner. Capiche?

[lowyder993s]

Bidnip:

Auction Sniper and Sniping Service and Software for eBay Auctions (eBay auction sniper)

free trial...did it...gave them 20 bucks a few years ago; prolly have $18.00 still there. Works like a charm.

[89911]

You only need sniping software if the time the auction ends is impossible for you to bid. It's pretty simple, put a bid in from 10 to 5 seconds left with your absolute highest bid. As long as any potential bidders don't have time to counter bid, your job is done. Thats where you get burned, bidders mulling over bids, reconsidering, and then placing a bid again. If their proxy bid is still higher, who cares and move on. Unless I was buying something that was really off the wall or not high in demand, I never won an auction that I bidded early on.

[cashflyer]

I use Bidnapper.
It, and some others, allow you to buy a block of bids. Your bids are good until you use them, no matter how long it takes. Also, your bid (with Bidnapper) is only considered "used" if you win the item.

[widebody911]

I used to know a guy who ran an eBay sniping site. I don't know if this is still the case, but at the time, it was a constant arms race between the sniper software guys and eBay. Ebay was fighting against them tooth and nail because sniping means lower final values and hence lower commissions.

[zehnd]

Also bid odd ball numbers. ie $53.62. You don't know how many auctions I won by 2 cents.

[targa911S]

Originally Posted by 89911

You only need sniping software if the time the auction ends is impossible for you to bid. It's pretty simple, put a bid in from 10 to 5 seconds left with your absolute highest bid. As long as any potential bidders don't have time to counter bid, your job is done. Thats where you get burned, bidders mulling over bids, reconsidering, and then placing a bid again. If their proxy bid is still higher, who cares and move on. Unless I was buying something that was really off the wall or not high in demand, I never won an auction that I bidded early on.

This ^^^^^^^. Spot on.

[targa911S]

Originally Posted by NotaBRG

EBay should adopt the practice of bumping the time a minute or two every time a bid is placed within the last minute. A live auction doesn't end at 11:00am, it goes until the final price is established.

Gunbroker does that. Any bids in the last 15 minutes extends the auction another 15 minutes. No sniping there.

[Steve Carlton]

I comes down to who snipes the highest most of the time. Your snipe bid has to be the most you're willing to pay, and often times that won't be enough.

[vash]

thanks. i am taking this all in.

this will be my Second attempt EVER on ebay. i just dont get into it that much...i think my first purchase i just paid the "buy it now" price..

so technically this is my maiden voyage.

[Cajundaddy]

I used to buy on ebay but the sniped auctions annoy me so I buy most things on Amazon now.

[vash]

Originally Posted by Cajundaddy

I used to buy on ebay but the sniped auctions annoy me so I buy most things on Amazon now.

me too!

but Amazon isnt selling a 40 year old, high carbon steel, French chef's knife.. i wish they would.

[gr8fl4porsche]

I'm mostly Amazon as well. Much simpler and pricing is usually very good.

We are Prime members so the quick shipping makes buying everyday items possible.

We buy most household items from Amazon. Out of laundry soap? Grab phone out of pocket, place order and within a day or two the item is on the porch when you get home from work.

[id10t]

Originally Posted by NotaBRG

EBay should adopt the practice of bumping the time a minute or two every time a bid is placed within the last minute. A live auction doesn't end at 11:00am, it goes until the final price is established.

One of the reasons I like buying and selling stuff on gunbroker- the 15 minute rule. Get a bid in the last 15 minutes of an auction, the clock resets to 15 minutes left.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by Cajundaddy

I used to buy on ebay but the sniped auctions annoy me so I buy most things on Amazon now.

Smart shoppers use eBay, Amazon and other web sites plus face-to-face sources. I buy on Amazon all the time, I'm waiting for two items right now. But you will never find the selection of used items, or rare auto or MC parts, or a thousand other things on Amazon. Amazon is great for new stuff.

If an eBay item is something that I know is not high demand, I'll simply put in my max bid anytime during the auction. And almost always win, sometimes w/ no competing bids and for a lot less than I was willing to pay, i.e. much less than my max bid.

I like the way that eBay is run, other than their fee structure which has gotten too expensive for sellers and choked-off a lot of supply. It's still a great place to buy things. EBay has certain absolute advantages over buying from strangers in the "gravity world". Let's say that there is a rare, collectible car that you found out about for sale 1000 miles away. You found it by doing a nationwide CL search or on Autotrader. You talk to the seller and have a friend or Pelican brother in that town look at it and it's the real deal.

How do you wrap up the deal before someone else from 1 mile away comes over and buys it out from under you? Or even if it's local? This happens all the time in a big city like L.A. It always kills me when someone talks about looking for some certain car for years or taking a week or two to consummate a deal. If something is hot merchandise these days, it's gone in 60 seconds.

Not so on eBay. You'll generally never find a rare item underpriced because of the exposure on that site, but you actually have a chance to buy it. You also have a way to see the seller's online reputation for following through on eBay transactions, representing things accurately, etc. It is very rare to win an auction and not receive the merchandise. It happens, but rarely. If you bid the absolute maximum that you are willing to pay for that 1973 911S, or whatever the item is, you will either win it or it will sell to someone else for more than you were willing to pay. Just like any other honest auction. The difference is that a lot of times you will win for a lot less than you were actually willing to pay and only you and eBay knew that.

If I lose an auction, (which happens with sniping all the time), it either sold for more than I was willing to pay for it or I did not bid enough. Tough schit, on to the next one.