Lesson learned; Max bid on eBay

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by calvindog

And yes, when consignors use hidden (illegal) reserves there's a limit to what a sniping service can do; however, it still provides some protection.

Jeff, no it doesn't. It works out the same. Let me give you the same example (using the same bid amounts), but this time you bid during the auction rather than snipe.

Example: You’re watching an item that has a current high bid of $1650 (it’s a legitimate bid). You really want the item and place a proxy bid (instead of a snipe) of $2200. You're then current high bidder at $1675. The seller is concerned that the item will go for less than the $2K he has into it, so he has his friend place a shill bid of $2000. The current high bid is now $2025, but you're still the current high bidder. There are no other bidders and you end up winning the auction for that amount.

In both examples, you're still artificially bid up by the same amount ($350). So, it made no difference whether you would have sniped our not.

I'm not being facetious, but I really don't get it unless somehow it makes you feel better about the situation to be artificially run up at the end of the auction (by placing a snipe) rather than to be artificially run up during the auction (by placing a proxy bid). To me, they're one in the same.