Do you use a sniping service?

[RGold]

Enjoying this thread. Makes me feel like this is 1999 all over again.

Most every sniping service will let you adjust the buffer time(seconds before end of auction). Studies have shown that 8-10 seconds is the optimum buffer time to have your bids placed. There is a disadvantage to setting your buffer time to 3 seconds or less.

First, having the sniping service place your bids so late may result in your bids not connecting with eBay in time. This would not be the fault of the sniping service, but a problem with the eBay servers.

Second, having the sniping service place your bids so late may result in you losing an auction with a bid higher than the winning bid.

Example: Auction with $2.50 intervals
Bidder A snipe bids $101.50 with 5 seconds left
Bidder B snipe bids $102.00 with 2 seconds left

Bidder A wins auction because Bidder B's bid did not meet required minimum interval bid of $104.00.

[MikeU]

Originally Posted by Leon

Since this seems to be a hot topic I wonder how many of us use a sniping service?

Need a both selection. When on mobile, access to my snipe service is cumbersome, so I don't use it. When online, I do typically use. Probably 50/50 actually.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by MikeU

Need a both selection. When on mobile, access to my snipe service is cumbersome, so I don't use it. When online, I do typically use. Probably 50/50 actually.

Not really Mike.... I chose the wording of the actual poll question very carefully.

" Do I ever use a sniping service? "



.

[clydepepper]

I have no experience with this and am not even sure I understand the concept. That being said, if I do understand what is involved, it seems borderline unethical to me. Sure, you can justify it by saying that others use it...but isn't that the argument for PEDs?

Maybe I'm a simpleton, but I do like to keep it simple.

signed, 'blissfully ignorant'

[tschock]

Originally Posted by clydepepper

I have no experience with this and am not even sure I understand the concept. That being said, if I do understand what is involved, it seems borderline unethical to me. Sure, you can justify it by saying that others use it...but isn't that the argument for PEDs?

Maybe I'm a simpleton, but I do like to keep it simple.

signed, 'blissfully ignorant'

Not being disrespectful, or maybe clarifying the concept here. But how is a sniping service (setting an automation to bid on one's behalf in the last few seconds of an auction) different from sitting in front of the compute and hitting the bid button in the last few seconds of an auction? Or having a human do it on your behalf (either at a live auction or online)? Or trolling ebay and stumbling on something with a few seconds to bid and putting in a bid? Or simply, not knowing if you want to bid on something and making that decision at the last second?

[Cat]

I used to use one. I haven't in the last five years or so. I can't remember the name of it, but the software was loaded on my PC, so once that PC went Kaput I no longer used it. Although it died with my PC, the primary reason I stopped using a sniping service is that I am not very active on EBay any longer.

[bobbyw8469]

Originally Posted by tschock

Not being disrespectful, or maybe clarifying the concept here. But how is a sniping service (setting an automation to bid on one's behalf in the last few seconds of an auction) different from sitting in front of the compute and hitting the bid button in the last few seconds of an auction? Or having a human do it on your behalf (either at a live auction or online)? Or trolling ebay and stumbling on something with a few seconds to bid and putting in a bid? Or simply, not knowing if you want to bid on something and making that decision at the last second?

It is no different, but a sniping service allows you to be not tied to a computer. You can forget about the auction and no matter what you are doing or where you are, the bid will go in. Your house can lose total power, and your bid will (should) still go through!

[chernieto]

Originally Posted by bobbyw8469

It is no different, but a sniping service allows you to be not tied to a computer. You can forget about the auction and no matter what you are doing or where you are, the bid will go in. Your house can lose total power, and your bid will (should) still go through!

Last night while reading to my daughter I won my 1st snipped auction well below my max price. What a great sense of freedom being able to set a bid and forget about it!

[CowboysGuide]

I've been using Gavelsnipe for about three years now. Love it! However, this past weekend I had two snipes set that did not fire off. I wrote to them to ask what the deal was and got back this response...

"There were connection problems over the weekend that prevented Gavelsnipe from completing the snipe records. These have been restored and you can now view the results for your missing snipes in your snipe history."

Did anyone else experience a problem over the weekend?

[freakhappy]

I've used Gixen for the past few years...I'm surprised no one has mentioned them yet. I've been very happy with them and I have no complaints.

At first I was hesitant because it just feels wrong giving some random website your eBay user and password, but it's great not having to worry about keeping track of an item for several days and eventually placing your bid. Plus, placing a late bid is usually your best bet for not getting run up.

[mawitzi]

I have been using Gavel Snipe for a few years now. I have never had a problem with it. I like to think that it makes it a little harder for people to shill bid against me.

[slidekellyslide]

I use Gavelsnipe...it had never failed me in many years of using it, but last week it didn't even register my bid, and nobody even bid on the item at all. It completely disappeared from my snipe list even as I was watching it end. I had to ask the seller to relist the item with a BIN and she did. I'm still baffled by that one.

Worked for me today though without a problem.

edited to add: Now I see above I was not alone in this problem.

[bobbyw8469]

Did anyone else experience a problem over the weekend?

LOL....uh....yea..........remind me never again to end auctions over Labor Day weekend!

[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by tschock

Not being disrespectful, or maybe clarifying the concept here. But how is a sniping service (setting an automation to bid on one's behalf in the last few seconds of an auction) different from sitting in front of the compute and hitting the bid button in the last few seconds of an auction? Or having a human do it on your behalf (either at a live auction or online)? Or trolling ebay and stumbling on something with a few seconds to bid and putting in a bid? Or simply, not knowing if you want to bid on something and making that decision at the last second?

Taylor-

I'm not offended at all...remember, I'm blissfully ignorant ( and I excel at playing dumb )...but I see your point. I guess I prefer the 'hands-on' approach, but I can remember missing out on wanted items because I did not have the opportunity to watch it through to the end & of course, that is the value. Maybe it's the negative label of 'sniping' that caught my ire.

[ATP]

As I mentioned before, it gives a lot of trepidation to running no reserve auctions, which it seems like people are always asking for more of.

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by freakhappy

I've used Gixen for the past few years...I'm surprised no one has mentioned them yet. I've been very happy with them and I have no complaints.

At first I was hesitant because it just feels wrong giving some random website your eBay user and password, but it's great not having to worry about keeping track of an item for several days and eventually placing your bid. Plus, placing a late bid is usually your best bet for not getting run up.

I mentioned Gixen in Post #30.

But yes- very surprised that nobody else has. For those not happy with their current service, give them a try. They are nothing short of perfect

[tschock]

Regarding sniping services... Another assumption is that one actually enters a snipe amount and time. Anyone else here ever load an auction into your snipe service of choice and then forget to enter the amount?

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by bbcard1

Long, long ago, you could actually look at the items on ebay someone was bidding on. I got a chaser who would check what i was bidding on, which was fairly unique, and snipe me which necessitated me finding a service.

Exactly what got me to auctionstealer. I had a number of 'followers' who would not only piggy back on my work ferreting out stuff but would also run up my bids. That doesn't happen any more since eBay made it impossible to track bidders, but the service remains valuable to me:
--I no longer worry that my max bid will be run up or chipped at all week long. My max isn't revealed until the last seven seconds.
--I am terrible for forgetting to bid on something. More than one time I have checked my inbox to find that I'd won a card that I really wanted but that I neglected.

Taylor, it is very liberating not to have to pay attention to when an auction ends and not to have to be online to bid into the final seconds of it. When something important to my collection pops up, I enter a placeholder bid and set a max bid with auctionstealer and then forget about the card. Just not having to actively track ebay auctions is worth the cost of the service to me.

[tschock]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Taylor, it is very liberating not to have to pay attention to when an auction ends and not to have to be online to bid into the final seconds of it. When something important to my collection pops up, I enter a placeholder bid and set a max bid with auctionstealer and then forget about the card. Just not having to actively track ebay auctions is worth the cost of the service to me.

Adam,

I generally do that as well. Placeholder and snipe for something I really want. Placeholder or snipe alone for stuff I might like (at the right price), depending. But also, in the midst of multi-tasking, I have added an auction to snipe and forgot to set the bid. Thus while close, I demonstrate how it is not totally foolproof for this old fool. LOL

[slidekellyslide]

I'm surprised at the number of members who believe it is somehow underhanded and shady to use a sniping service. Ebay is not a true auction, you don't go to a live auction and watch them place a time limit on an item, they don't stop the bidding at straight up noon, and say sorry, no more bids will be accepted.

Sniping allows one to bid without being shilled, and to bid while not being anywhere near your computer or unable to use your phone app.

[jandr272]

I do now after reading this thread.

[Jeffrompa]

I was using a sniper for collectibles before I started to buy Pre War baseball .

[midwaylandscaping]

Nope. Would remove some of the fun for me

[Davino]

I used to use justsnipe and it was great.