Snipes are killing ebay auctions

[Big Ben]

Originally Posted by mintacular

When I see reserve my first reaction is that seller probably has set it too high/has an unreal expectation like most BIN sellers....therefore why participate in bidding all week and probably never reaching the reserve? I would prefer that a seller open an auction with a lower min bid rather than a reserve

I very much agree with you when it comes to auctions with reserves. If I am interested in that item, I may save the item to my watch list for a good laugh. As for BIN, I agree that most are overpriced, but I have also been able to find a fair share of fair deals as well.

[nolemmings]

If it's a card I really want (but don't HAVE to have), I will bid about 60% of my snipe price early to mid-auction, which I figure is a reasonable seller's reserve. If I get chased or even shilled to that bid, I still figure I came out way ahead, plus the seller does not have to wait until the last moments with the fear he's going to take it in the shorts. Then I have the snipe waiting if needed.

[doug.goodman]

Sniping hasn't killed ebay,

Ebay has killed ebay.

[CW]

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

Sniping hasn't killed ebay,

Ebay has killed ebay.

Yep, agree wholeheartedly.

Let's face it... baseball cards are a fairly small niche market for
eBay, both in terms of revenue and number of items. Snipes don't
even play a factor in over 80% of eBay's "auctions", and that's
just how eBay wants it. They've pissed off enough power sellers
over the years with increased fees, not to mention their abolition
of sellers being able to leave negative feedback. Plus, you've got
more competition for eBay these days, especially with the emergence
of Craigslist in the mid-2000's.

Sniping has played a minor role in the demise of the regular auction,
and the demise of eBay in general.

[doug.goodman]

Sniping has nothing to do with hurting ebay. Sniping is the most logical way for a bidder to win for a little as possible, which is the buyer's goal, in any auction. Bid at the very last second, because your competition may have fallen asleep, left for dinner, gone to pick up the kids from practice, etc.

When I snipe, I snipe with the highest amount that I am willing to pay, knowing full well that I will not get a second chance, that sounds like it's a pretty good thing for the seller, a buyer giving him his highest price. I'm not haggling, I'm not trying to be crafty or tricky, I don't have time for that, it's a snipe. I snipe in every auction I participate in. I sniped in the CCA29 auction last night. It works for me, and based on my winnings, I assume that it worked for John and Judy. If it didn't, well then they should have set they opening bids higher. In at least one case, that would have meant that the item I won wouldn't have attracted a bid.

In the days when ebay was an auction site and not an overpriced window shopper's paradise, if you had an item that you felt was worth X, and you were willing to part with it for no less than Y, you put it on auction with a starting bid of $1 and a reserve of Y.

The final bid was a number that we will call Z and define as "the market value".

If the Z < Y then you either put your item back in your closet, or you contacted the high bidder (or he contacted you) and a deal was made (or wasn't).

If Z > Y then everybody was happy.

All this whining about sellers taking down auctions because there wasn't enough action early is just that, whining.

As a buyer, if a seller took an auction down, bummer, on to the next one.

As a seller, yes, I will admit to a being worried that my non-reserve price items sometimes scared me on that last day, but that is what is called "the cost of doing business" if you don't like it, then don't sell stuff in an auction, instead sell it at a yardsale with retail price tags, so that 99% of the people walking on your lawn will ignore it but maybe, just maybe, some dork will fork over the cash.

Wow - sounds like I just described the majority of the baseball related items on ebay today.

Ok, enough of my ranting, time to get ready for my Dodgers to look like crap again...

Doug

[CW]

I saw this posted on the CU forums, a very interesting article analyzing the factors that killed the internet auction, and pertinent to this thread. I will admit that they do name sniping as a factor, and I will admit I was wrong in dismissing it so much. Anyways, here's the link:

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/05/ff_endofauction/

Really, though, the biggest factor in the decline of the auction may simply be that the novelty of bidding wore off. “The Internet stopped being a source of wonder and became a place to do certain kinds of business,” Koehn says. “Once that happens, you start to think about things like ‘Does it make sense to spend this much time on an auction when I might not even get the item in the end?’” In econospeak, the hedonic benefits of bidding on eBay diminished.

[mybuddyinc]

Originally Posted by nolemmings

If it's a card I really want (but don't HAVE to have), I will bid about 60% of my snipe price early to mid-auction, which I figure is a reasonable seller's reserve. If I get chased or even shilled to that bid, I still figure I came out way ahead, plus the seller does not have to wait until the last moments with the fear he's going to take it in the shorts. Then I have the snipe waiting if needed.

Yes , Todd, +1
Of all the opions so far (all are justified) .......... That's what I do. Throw a "good'' bid in there (maybe I'll go a bit higher, i.e. 73.67 % ) .......... then snipe it ........... a good way to win, but if you don't, you aren't so bad off ..............