Is snipe bidding 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.

[Scott Garner]

Not to hijack this thread because it is about sniping, but what Mark just said is also true of The National. Although I still love going to The National, the buying experience is not as fertile for finding items on my want list simply because the list is getting much shorter as my collection becomes more and more advanced.
Just sayin'...

Still, you never know what you might find...
The thrill is still in the hunt!

This has ended up being a very good thread, BTW

[cfhofer]

Aren't their some items you need for your collections that the amount you would be willing to pay is $10-20 more than anyone else? Not to sound arrogant but there are just certain pieces we need that are worth overpaying for.

I know a few collectors who snipe $2000-4000 on every item, even ones which are worth only a few hundred dollars. Why? Because they are playing a game of Russian roulette that you won't be as crazy as them. This ensures they get that piece by paying $10-20 more than you. They can get away with that only because of the hard-ending.

Some of the reasons given above for snipe bidding should apply to auctions with a soft-ending too. Yet action on auctions with a soft-ending is much better throughout the listing period. Take a look at the current Leland’s auction. Why the difference? As a seller, which style would you have more confidence in?

[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by Lordstan

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.

None taken..it didn't even cross my mind.

Originally Posted by Lordstan

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.

Very good points. When I started with ebay in 1998, I was like a kid in a candy store. I'm sure I bought stuff back then that I would pass up now. That said, I did acquire some really good stuff in the early days...stuff I haven't seen since.

Back to topic...sniping MAY have a small part in ebay "drying up." Prices realized probably are a bit lower in that the "dammit! you're NOT going to beat me" bids have become more rare.

[Jewish-collector]

3 things to remember:

There's always someone who has more money to spend for a specific auction item.

The item you really want will be in another auction very soon, perhaps a few weeks or a few months.

As Tom Cruise in the movie Risky Business said, "Sometimes you gotta say...."