Snipes are killing ebay auctions

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

If I remember correctly, you can't retract your bid within the last 12 hours of an auction (is that correct?). It should work the same way with sellers - they shouldn't be able to end the auction early if the auction has less than 12 hours. That's just my opinion.

I understand that viewpoint, but on the other hand, if it's my card (and I have not turned it over to a third party seller, i am just using a service to sell it), why can't i change my mind?

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I understand that viewpoint, but on the other hand, if it's my card (and I have not turned it over to a third party seller, i am just using a service to sell it), why can't i change my mind?

+1. Ebay goes out of its way to state that it isn't an auctioneer, isn't responsible, and so on. I don't think it could make those claims if it prohibited sellers from withdrawing their items at will. That said, I don't think a consistent pattern of those sorts of shenanigans will go on for long before the Ebay police start closing down the accounts of the offenders.

[Peter_Spaeth]

I'm not sure it's in ebay's interest to close down accounts. It apparently is not in their interest to take action against obvious shills, judging by their inaction in response to complaints.

[53Browns]

It's time for my "stupid question" of the day. What is an auction snipe? Help? Thanks in advance!

~Bill

[Rich Klein]

That Barry or it might have been another dealer that when no bids come in on items earliy -- that could be a sign that there is no interest.

From the seller's view, I understand this totally, instead of risking a major loss thay cancel the item and go home.

WHat might work for BOTH sides is for a "middle ground" bid to be put in, that middle ground bid would show the seller that the items do have interest but you are still not tipping your hand as to how much you want to bid. If I were a seller and I had a item which usually sells for $100 and saw a $50-60 bid, I might let it continue to run. If I only see a $20-25 bid -- I might say enogh is enough and take the item off.

Regards
Rich

[mintacular]

What is an auction snipe? Help?--There are programs such as Gixen that I use whereby you can set a snipe or high bid on eBay auctions, sniping is perfectly legal/acceptable.

So if you see a 1954 Aaron you like with 6 days left or whatever and don't want to wait around you just simply place your snipe/high bid and the program will place your bid with 1-5 seconds left in the auction. This sniping allows you to place a bid at the last moment so no person will see your bid in enough time to counter it with a higher one. In theory you should win more auctions, and for a better price.

[insidethewrapper]

The sellers on Ebay should set a "Reserve" Minimum and not allowed to end their auction early. That's the purpose of a reserve.

Also, how to the snipe websites make money if it is free. Any problems with giving them your ebay password ? Thanks

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I understand that viewpoint, but on the other hand, if it's my card (and I have not turned it over to a third party seller, i am just using a service to sell it), why can't i change my mind?

You can change your mind. That’s my point. I’m asking why can a seller change their mind and end the auction early, but a buyer cannot change their mind and retract their bid within the last 12 hours?

If you’re selling a card that ends in 5 minutes and want to pull the auction early for any reason, there’s nothing keeping your from doing so.

However, if I place a bid on a card on Sunday for a card that ends tonight and I change my mind an hour before the auction ends because I would rather spend the money on something else, why shouldn’t I be able to retract my bid?

All I am saying is that is should work both ways. It just seems like a double standard. Ebay is saying it’s okay for the seller to change their mind, but it’s not okay for the buyer to change their mind.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

You can change your mind. That’s my point. I’m asking why can a seller change their mind and end the auction early, but a buyer cannot change their mind and retract their bid within the last 12 hours?

If you’re selling a card that ends in 5 minutes and want to pull the auction early for any reason, there’s nothing keeping your from doing so.

However, if I place a bid on a card on Sunday for a card that ends tonight and I change my mind an hour before the auction ends because I would rather spend the money on something else, why shouldn’t I be able to retract my bid?

All I am saying is that is should work both ways. It just seems like a double standard. Ebay is saying it’s okay for the seller to change their mind, but it’s not okay for the buyer to change their mind.

Because allowing buyer retractions would make the whole system unworkable. Only result of allowing seller retractions is a non-transaction.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Because allowing buyer retractions would make the whole system unworkable. Only result of allowing seller retractions is a non-transaction.

I understand what you're saying and agree. But the system isn't working now if eBay is going to allow sellers to end auctions early just because they don't like where the current price is at. That's the whole point of this thread. I had one happen to me last week and I was pretty upset about it.

My suggestion is to not allow sellers to end auctions early (say within the last 12 hours). This would incude most items (yes, cards), but some things would have to be excluded. If anybody has a better idea, I'm all ears.

[barrysloate]

I blame the state of the economy. In better times sellers could almost count on a tremendous bid in the last few seconds, and a great final price, so auctions were rarely closed early. Today sellers are afraid of what the final price might be, so if their lots look like they may do poorly, they may just decide to close them. If the money is there the lots stay open. That has nothing to do with ebay, they're just the messenger.

[glchen]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

I understand what you're saying and agree. But the system isn't working now if eBay is going to allow sellers to end auctions early just because they don't like where the current price is at. That's the whole point of this thread. I had one happen to me last week and I was pretty upset about it.

My suggestion is to not allow sellers to end auctions early (say within the last 12 hours). This would incude most items (yes, cards), but some things would have to be excluded. If anybody has a better idea, I'm all ears.

I don't really think this is a problem because ebay limits sellers to only 50 free listings per month. After that, sellers must pay an insertion fee based on the starting price of the item. The higher the starting price, the higher the insertion fee. Therefore if a seller ends an auction early, they either lose out on their freebie listing or they lose their insertion fee. This is how ebay tries to prevent sellers from ending early especially because we all know snipes are out there. What sellers do is to look at the current price and the # of watchers, and if there aren't enough watchers, they end the auction early because they likely won't get their price. Frankly, as I've had some auctions set all time lows for VCP by hundreds of dollars, I've been burned by the 99 cent start price and can completely understand seller rationale here.

[alanu]

I agree that's it's wrong for sellers to end auctions early if there are already bids on the item, but I find myself bidding on a lot of items using snipes that I wouldn't normally bid on because I' m busy during the ending time (at work, at a meeting, driving to or from work or asleep for those early ending east coast auctions) or if I'm out of town.

Also, I used to miss out on bidding on items just because I forgot about them and the actions ended before I got my bid in.

-Alan