6 seconds seems to be the magic number

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Posted By: Bob

As I was sitting at the computer hitting "refresh" I noticed that all the cards I was bidding on which I didn't use a sniper on, got outbid with exactly 6 seconds left. Seems like that is the magic number. For cards I REALLY want, I use the sniper, for cards that I'd like to have or are a good deal or nice for future trades or sales, I don't. It's become almost impossible these days to go wire to wire...

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Posted By: mr. moses

auctionsniper when I gotta be sure my bid at least has a shot of being placed even if I'm home. Over 10+ years on eBay I've lost 3/4 super items as I sat in front of my computer waiting to bid and something happened to derail me. My snipe program's default bid executes with 5 seconds left.......

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Posted By: barrysloate

But at the end of the day isn't it about getting in the highest bid? If you place your bid 10 seconds before the sniper and yours is higher, you win it. If you bid with half a second left in the auction but don't have the high bid you lose it.

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Posted By: T206Collector

You want your high bid in, without someone being able to see that you've outbid them to make them want to bid again.

If everyone only put in their max bids once, with no revisions, then sniping would be unnecessary. It's the people that bid once, don't become the highest bidder, and then bid again to try to top you that sniping is designed to defeat.

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Posted By: Silver King

I think we have all been sniped. I always put in my highest bid with about 10 seconds to go and I have only been shut out once from a slow connection. I'm pretty confident that when my bid is placed that nobody else is going to manually have time to see the bid and get their bid in. If somebody is sniping with a higher amount then it won't matter what I bid or when because they are going to win it anyway. These days I am just pleasantly surprised when the 6 seconds passes and the bid doesn't increase.

robert shaw

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Posted By: mr. moses

and give them something to shoot at - the absolute last second is when you want your bid to go in WHATEVER it is with regard to the amount. That's in eBay format auctions. Occasionally in non-eBay format auctions where one can make a flat up front bid (shutting out some people that might be placing early "look and see" and making sure I bid before deadline bids) it can be a valuable tool. I believe I have in fact used a "jump to" bid in your auction Barry. I tried to go immediately to a number; making it an amount that would force the next bidder to overpay even more than I - with the hope that they might give up. It was an N43 baseball player. I lost the card btw In any event, the earlier i make a bid like that the better. On eBay just the opposite.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Henry- if I place a bid with say 20 seconds to go, and your snipe comes in with 10 seconds to go, and you happen to be watching, and you see that you are not high, there is probably about 5 or 6 seconds left at that point. How are earth would you be able to place another bid in time?

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Posted By: mr. moses

when I snipe I make one bid. But if it applied say 20 seconds before the end that gives possible bidders time to make another bid.

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Posted By: Steve Dawson

The quickest I've ever been able to put in a bid is 9 seconds; i.e., if I hit refresh with 9 seconds left and see that I've been outbid, I was able to get in another bid right as the auction ended (0 seconds left).

I normally place my snipe at 5-7 seconds left in an auction. If another sniper outbids me after that, then it was a clean snipe on their part, and not a result of them seeing my bid and trying to outsnipe me.

Steve

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Posted By: barrysloate

I'm just taking the contrary position that the snipe is overrated. You can manually place a bid with 20-30 seconds to go and the chance that other bidders will refresh their screens, see they need to place another bid, and be able to execute it in time is small. I think sniping is 10% of the formula, being the high bidder is 90%.

I would rather the be the high bidder with a minute to go than the second high bidder in the last millisecond.

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Posted By: mr. moses

part of the formula - 10% too low but much higher it's not. I'm sure there are many people without snipe programs doing it the "old fashioned" way with many windows open. Also eBay now has that instant refresh in the description that works usually within 2 seconds. Leaves lots of time for lots of people to bid after your 20 second left bid. It's not the amount. It's the - I've got to get this damn my bid wasn't high enough I'm going in again bidder - that I'm trying to get out of the equation.

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Posted By: barrysloate

I know it's best to bid near the end, and I do like the new refresh, but I think there is too much obsession over getting in a bid with 8 seconds, 6, seconds, 5 seconds... there's just a certain amount of time it physically takes to bid, and while I am only an occasional ebay bidder I've never won anything by being the last bidder. But I have won many great things by be the highest.

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Posted By: boxingcardman

Snipe services free you from having to close down an auction. I set the bid, forget about it. I don't understand what the allure is of sitting there manically refreshing the page trying to do in person what a snipe program does effortlessly. Don't you people have better things to do

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Posted By: Bob

Adam- Slow day at work
What was exasperating was to see the days, hours, minutes and seconds tick away and that T207 scarce back is almost yours as you wait to see the name okday or huntleyj or r333man or the usual 207 characters appear and then with 6 seconds like a bolt out of the blue comes a user name never seen before. Sheesh

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Posted By: Alan

I agree with Barry completely. He or she who puts in a larger amount wins regardless if they put it in with 3 days to go or the last second.

Adam - Part of the enjoyment of this hobby is bidding manually. If that wasn't the case, many collectors wouldn't bother with auctions... I guess like negotiating on a price with a dealer at a show.

Alan

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Posted By: Jim Dale

If I get out bid someone paid too much - thats how I always look at it

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Posted By: David Vargha

Henry- if I place a bid with say 20 seconds to go, and your snipe comes in with 10 seconds to go, and you happen to be watching, and you see that you are not high, there is probably about 5 or 6 seconds left at that point. How are earth would you be able to place another bid in time?

There is a very simple solution Barry. Should I make it public knowledge, keep it to myself or sell the information to the highest bidder?

DavidVargha@hotmail.com

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Posted By: James Feagin

I snipe because I don't want to be a slave to the computer and wait up all night for an auction. It also eliminates not being able to bid because of pesky computer problems or family committments. It is a valuable tool.

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Posted By: barrysloate

David- you do need to get a bid in near the end; I'm just saying that with 20 seconds to go I think you will be fine, and you still have to be the highest bidder. Bob made a good point that he isn't losing a T207 because he's bidding too early, he's losing it because one of the usual suspects has bid higher.

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Posted By: David Vargha

I think that we pretty much all agree that if your bid isn't the highest, you will lose. The one exception to this is if your snipe bid (manual or otherwise) comes in a second or two after a lower bid that causes you fail to meet the incremental bid amount necessary to win it. (Man, that is some horrible grammar.)

Here's what I mean: With 10 seconds to go, a proxy bid of $1,500 is placed. At the 7-second mark, a snipe bid of $1,499 pushes the proxy bid to its maximum. One second later a snipe comes in for $1,515. Because it does not meet the necessary requirement of being at least $25 more than the current high bid, it fails to register. This is one problem with sniping, albeit an infrequent one. The timing game becomes a big issue. Had the snipe for $1,515 come in at any time before the one for $1,499, it would have been the winner. So the gamble on timing for the sniper is does he bid a little bit earlier and risk being outbid by the manual sniping junkie or does he risk losing with the highest bid placed per the scenario above? That is the trade-off.

For you manual sniping junkies, here's the key to overcoming getting outbid at the 8-second mark and not being able to manually place another bid -- open multiple browser windows to the bid screen page and if you get outbid, place the bid in the next browser. It's as simple as that.

DavidVargha@hotmail.com

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Posted By: sagard

I hate losing when my snipe is larger than the winning bid. That has happened only once to me, but I don't bid alot. The other tough loss was when my snipe was the same as someone elses bid, but their bid went in 1st so they were the winner.

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Posted By: Dylan

Sniping services are good because of people like me! Now i use snipe service on competitive items, but I used to place a bid with 20 seconds left telling myself its my highest im willing to go... That is until i realize my bid didnt top the previous bidders cap, then i get all competitive and end up placing another much higher bid, that i had no intention of placing in the first place. If you use a snipe service someone like that never gets that chance cause your bid doesnt register until the last 2 or 3 seconds. Dont use the snipe service and your cap just got bumped up for a second time, or you lose the item...

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Posted By: Glenn

I once ran an auction offering free shipping if the winning bid was placed with more than 24 hours to go. Winning bid came in the final 10 seconds, from somebody who had placed a bid the day before.

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Posted By: joe brennan

It always amazes me the things that stir a discussion here. There is no reason not to use a snipe service. Why let anyone know you are bidding so they can bid you up to your max? Place your snipe, walk away. If you want it bad enough you will win. If you get outbid, they payed too much. You never pay more than you want and get caught up in auction fever.

In Rememberance of James W. Brennan Sr. 1924-1982. Dad, thanks for everything you did for me.

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Posted By: Jerry Hrechka

What I like to do is place an early bid at the opening bid. I then place the snipe bid at my real high price. Kinda keeps the item on my radar screen. I've been pretty succesfull using this technique.

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Posted By: Mike

i always use 3 seconds. it's always worked for me.

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Posted By: David Vargha

I use the three-second rule as well. But mostly it's for when I drop food on the ground.

DavidVargha@hotmail.com