Is snipe bidding killing the hobby?

[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by vintagesportscollector

Yes, eventually there is a max price you are willing to pay, of course there is, but everyone finds it that easy to lock in their max price up front?? Maybe it’s just me…(my wife says I am too emotional ).

In Theory, Travis, I hear what you are saying. I suppose MY problem is determining exactly the highest amount I am willing to pay or the “that’s enough not 1 penny more” point as you have described. BUT maybe that is just me and most everyone else finds that as EASY as you describe it. I admit I am flawed – call me human. My recent experience that I described is unique and specific (its not always as clear as $1 more will win it). Do you think I should have not bid the extra $1? (BTW - I am looking at the item now on my desk and really glad I won it).

But let me ask you this again? You go through your thought process to come up with your highest amount, following the steps you described for an item you really want. You’re perfect so you know you have confidently figured out your highest amount, because it is an exact science they way you described it. You snipe your bid and are losing but realize if you bid 1 penny more you would win it…would you bid the extra penny? You don’t have to answer because I am sure your response would be your bid would have already thought about that penny.

How many people out there have set a snipe bid and change/raised it at some point?

Edited to add: BTW, Travis, please don’t take my sarcasm as criticism, just provocative to stir the debate. It’s a good discussion, and honestly you do make a point and I am going to try to apply that in the future.

I "get" both sides of the argument and, yes Joe, you did have a unique circumstance where you knew $1 more would win it. That said, I may NOT have bid that extra buck because most times I'm thinking "Please, don't take my max bid to win!"

Case in point was a pinback I just won for $17.50 but had a $101.01 snipe on. Yes, I wanted it but it's probably not a $100 pin.

[vintagesportscollector]

Rob – That’s a good point. I too often place snipe bids hoping/praying it doesn’t take that max bid. In your example, that would be like me placing a $125 max bid on the $111.11 item (I previously said I won’t even go as high as $120) and hoping it wouldn’t go that high. If I place a max bid that possibly exceeds that value that I even place on the item – but place that bid to be extra extra extra sure I win it - I too wouldn’t go any higher. BUT, in my example no way was I going to lose placing a matching high bid, but still losing out - that just leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

[perezfan]

That "early bid" scenario is still flawed. If you plop down your highest bid early in the game, you are giving competing bidders much more time to act upon it. Why reveal your hand so early? There is absolutely no competitive advantage to doing so. You are just giving the "competition" an increased ability to top you.

Another problem is for those of us with "finite" budgets. If I win something unexpectedly early in the week, I may have less money to spend on the auction in question. No problem... I just reduce (or cancel) the snipe amount. It takes all of 15 seconds. Same holds true if a Catalogue comes in the mail that week.. and the eBay item subsequently loses some of its lustre.

I've changed snipe amounts as many as 6 times per week... and really don't think it's contributed towards killing the hobby!

[egri]

I've always sniped to prevent other people from outbidding me, but also because I don't want to be locked in to paying a certain amount for an item six days before the auction ends. I like having the flexibility of being able to lower or cancel my bid in case something in better shape/higher up on my wantlist/cheaper comes along.

[cfhofer]

Makes complete sense for buyers to snipe. Most of us agree on that. However, the lifeline of our hobby is the steady infusion of high quality material into the market - which clearly has either dried up, listed with an insane BIN, and/or moved to other auction sites. If snipe bidding isn't causing this shift, than what is?

Curious what the sellers on this forum think.

[vintagesportscollector]

Originally Posted by cfhofer

Makes complete sense for buyers to snipe. Most of us agree on that. However, the lifeline of our hobby is the steady infusion of high quality material into the market - which clearly has either dried up, listed with an insane BIN, and/or moved to other auction sites. If snipe bidding isn't causing this shift, than what is?

Curious what the sellers on this forum think.

I feel like this has been asked and answered already. Perezfan and others brought up great points, plus I feel sellers have become more sensitive to price, with great awareness of market value, and do not wish to give items away below market value with a crap shoot regular ebay auction.

[Lordstan]

I don't think there is a lack or decrease of high quality stuff being sold. I think there is just less of it on ebay. I think the biggest reason is that small sellers would rather wait on getting paid by a large auction house than deal with the hassle that ebay has become for all but the largest sellers.

I think the fact that less is on ebay and more in AH's has led to more people no longer putting in the search time on ebay and just waiting for the AHs to come around. This has led to lower final prices on ebay and more people just using BIN with BO and waiting for the right offer to come around.

[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by Lordstan

I don't think there is a lack or decrease of high quality stuff being sold. I think there is just less of it on ebay. I think the biggest reason is that small sellers would rather wait on getting paid by a large auction house than deal with the hassle that ebay has become for all but the largest sellers.

I think the fact that less is on ebay and more in AH's has led to more people no longer putting in the search time on ebay and just waiting for the AHs to come around. This has led to lower final prices on ebay and more people just using BIN with BO and waiting for the right offer to come around.

Some people would say I don't deal in "high quality stuff" to begin with since I concentrate on a team that has only been around for 57 years. Whatever you call the stuff I collect, I can't even find rare or unusual stuff very often on ebay anymore. 99% of what I see is either less than 10 years old or extremely common. I do my 50+ searches once every six days and I more often than not find nothing I want to bid on. I'll watch items I already have but usually only find maybe two items a month to bid on.

[egri]

I'm thinking maybe the rare and unusual stuff you're looking for went into personal collections. Personally, I'm planning on keeping all my stuff until I kick the bucket, at which point my kids may or may not sell, so what I have won't hit the market for several decades at least. Maybe it's the same thing at work here.

[Lordstan]

Originally Posted by ooo-ribay

Some people would say I don't deal in "high quality stuff" to begin with since I concentrate on a team that has only been around for 57 years. Whatever you call the stuff I collect, I can't even find rare or unusual stuff very often on ebay anymore. 99% of what I see is either less than 10 years old or extremely common. I do my 50+ searches once every six days and I more often than not find nothing I want to bid on. I'll watch items I already have but usually only find maybe two items a month to bid on.

Rob,
You are absolutely correct. "high quality Stuff" is a relative term. A rare SF pin may be a holy grail to you, but not to me. I meant no disrespect to anything anyone collects.
My point is that sniping isn't the reason stuff doesn't seem to be as commonly found on ebay. I think your situation is a little different than my example. Your SF collection is so advanced that the things you needs are going to be really really rare. Even if they aren't super expensive, the likely hood of you finding these things is small regardless. 20yrs ago, when ebay first started, I would be willing to bet,you had a much larger want list then than now. It stands to reason the more advance a collector or collection the slower it can be added to.