Sniping - For it or 'agin it?

[Archive]

Posted By: Jim VB

Tim,

I don't think you're crazy or stubborn. I'm just not sure I understand exactly what you mean by "price manipulation." If you mean buying the item at the lowest possible price I can, then I'll plead guilty. But if you mean doing something to artificially hold down the price, I don't see it.

Leon pointed this auction out last week.

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=300271118332

The winner paid $600. The second highest legitimate bid on this card was around $225. After that, he was bidding against the seller and his shills (looks like 2 of them.) Had the winner sniped, even at if his snipe was the $600 bid, chances are he would have had the card in the $250-$300 range.

Even with sniping you can get shilled but it's a little harder. The seller runs a greater risk of buying his own card. This happened to me a couple of weeks ago. A card had sat at @$20 for 7 days. I sniped $40. (Thanks to VCP I knew the seller had purchased the card around that price.) The seller had shilled it once at $30, but apparently wanted to protect his cost price so he shilled it again and "won" it at $41. Within an hour I got a "Second Chance Offer" to buy the card at my $40 price. I passed. The way I looked at it, the card should have been mine at around $22.50. He just re-listed it today. I won't bother to ever bid with him again. (I hope he's not a board member.)

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=220301846226