Sniper bidding

[RIBottleguy]

It all depends on how much you want a bottle. If I like something but isn't essential for my collection I'll just stick in a bid just in case I get lucky. If it's something I really have an interest in, I'll wait until the end. I've gotten by without sniping so far, but it does irritate me when I lose to one and I have considered it. I'll also occasionally put in bids on BIN bottles I think have too low BIN prices (as a courtesy to the seller). I've seen some bottles go for quite a bit over the initial BIN price.

 

[ncbred]

Had it happen a dozen times. Best thing you can do is set a max price you are willing to pay for that item and bid that first. Thats what I've started doing. Don't kick yourself in the rear end if you get beat by a $1. I've gotten just as many deals that way as if I were waiting towards the last few seconds.

Waiting the last second screwed me good the last time I tried it. Kept me from getting a local remedy at a third of what they usually bring. I bid $80 the first day on a $300+ bottle. I checked back when it was just a few minutes before the auction ended and surprisingly was still winning but just by $10. So I went to up my bid to the $175 I was willing to pay with 30 secs left. Did that with about 15 secs left to spare but noticed it did not increase my already winning bid. Went to enter it again but it was too late. Needless to say I was pissed off when I refreshed the page and saw that another bidder won the bottle for $81. For whatever reason, my $175 bid did not go through. Talk about a sick feeling as I've only seen two come up for auction in my 5 years of collecting. And they both went for $250+. Ever since then I've just placed an opening bid on what I was willing to pay and hoped for the best.

 

[SC pontil collector]

O.K. all you snipers out there. As mentioned earlier nothing wrong with using a sniping software.
I just never have to use the software because I usually can bid on something myself.
I have come to realize that the term "sniper bidding" has different meanings. There is the sniper software (that is the one I was referring to) and the last second type of sniping.
I am guilty of the last second type of sniping, I just never thought of it as sniping.
However, I out sniped a software sniper on a bottle that completed a soda collection of mine. It wasn't a high priced bottle, but I was willing to pay a lot more than anyone else, but still bought for a lot less than I have seen it go for.
So, raspberries to the software sniper.
Yes, if you really want to win a bottle just bid some insane amount and you'll win it.
SCPC

 

[baltbottles]

If its a bottle I really want for my collection I bid a bit higher then what I consider a fair market value at the last few seconds of the auction. Sometimes I get the bottle cheap sometimes I pay a bit more then its worth but in the end it all evens out. If its a bottle that I'm just looking to get cheap but just something I like not part of my main collecting interests. I will place a reasonable bid early and just let it ride and sometimes I win but most times I don't.

Chris

 

[KBbottles]

Personally,

I hate when people bid days before the auction closes especially when I want to keep the price down. I always watch the items I want and then go in for a snipe within the last 10-30 seconds. 75% of the time I win and sometimes get a great deal.

I had one scenario once where I suspected a seller had intentionally had someone bidding against me to drive the price up on a few items too and that sucked.

 

[AntiqueMeds]

I think some people use the following logic...
"OK I went to the trouble of coming here or logging on and waiting for the auction end, I may as well bid more than its worth or I leave empty handed and my time was wasted."

I think using sniper service gets some people out of that thought process and may be benefitial to them.

 

[Plumbata]

I manually snipe all the time. Just the way the game is played. At live auctions, if you read the auctioneer correctly, you can snipe as well.

 

[bostaurus]

many times I will put in a very low bid so I have it on my Bidding portion of the eBay screen. It is mainly just a reminder to me that I would really like to have that one as opposed to the many on my Watch list that I am just curious about. When it is close to the end I will put in my main bid. If there is a lot of action on it I may wait until the last minute...unless it has gone over my limit.
The other day I put in an early bid that was close to my limit as I was not sure I would be around for the end. Someone with a feedback score of 6 did one of those "pecking" bids. He just kept pecking away with one dollar bids until he found my bid limit. I think there was 7 or 8 bids in a row by this person. It actually made me miffed enough to wait out the auction and snipe at the last minute, spending a little more than I planned to spend.

 

[phil44]

It's easy for me to get sucked into a tit for tat bidding war. I determine the max I'll pay if I don't win then there's not enough time to bid any higher. So...... my name is Phil and I'm a sniper

 

[KBbottles]

Is it ethical or legal for a seller to pull an item someone one if somebody offered more privately after the interent auction ends?