[T206Collector]

There is absolutely no reason to bid on an item through ebay, either mid-auction or in the final seconds. The only people this makes happy are the sellers. If buyers would all agree to use snipe services exclusively, it would bring the prices down tremendously across the board.

The only proof you need of this phenomena is that ebay does not have its own sniping service. Heck, they haven't even done it with a fee.

In fact, in ebay's definition of "Sniping" they encourage you to put in "the maximum amount you're willing to pay for an item upfront" (see below), which is the opposite of sniping. If there was any money to be made by ebay or the seller through sniping, they would actively encourage it and participate in the market for sniping services.

Why would you ever want to signal to competing bidders or the seller that you are interested in an item with more than 3 seconds left in the auction? It's almost like going to a used car dealer and not trying to negotiate a lower price than sticker because you're comfortable with the asking price. You negotiate with a used car dealer. You snipe with ebay. Failing to do either will cost you money. Plain and simple. Irrefutable.


eBay's Definition of Sniping:
Placing a bid in the closing minutes or seconds of an auction-style listing. Any bid, placed before the listing ends, is allowed on eBay. To protect yourself from being outbid at the last moment, enter the maximum amount you're willing to pay for an item upfront, and eBay will bid automatically for you, making sure you're the high bidder until your maximum is reached. This system is sometimes called proxy bidding.