Very Upset With Myself

[travrosty]

What I do is I bid the very highest I am willing to go right off the bat, then no need to get outbid or sniped at the end.

No need to try to snipe either. Just bid the highest amount you would possibly pay for the card, an amount you absolutely wouldnt pay 1 penny more if someone was breaking your arm, then if you get outbid, no regrets, and you don't have to try to outbid someone else either.

You might get it for less than your top amount too.

[Robextend]

I'd much rather just set a snipe and not have to worry about anything else.

I set a snipe over an ebay max bid because I don't want the price to keep being driven up because of my max bid.

[smtjoy]

Agree with Rob, you win a whole lot more when you start snipping and pay a lot less.

[slidekellyslide]

At least it's nice to see that someone bought that for the card and not the holder. That's a great looking card.

[Gary Dunaier]

Originally Posted by travrosty

What I do is I bid the very highest I am willing to go right off the bat, then no need to get outbid or sniped at the end.

No need to try to snipe either. Just bid the highest amount you would possibly pay for the card, an amount you absolutely wouldnt pay 1 penny more if someone was breaking your arm, then if you get outbid, no regrets, and you don't have to try to outbid someone else either.

You might get it for less than your top amount too.

Thank you!

If somebody is willing to pay more for an item than you are, it doesn't matter if they place their bid at the start of the auction or with one second left to go. I understand it's a strategy thing - I do it myself sometimes - and if the item is a rare one, losing out on it can be very frustrating. But the fact of the matter is that even if you wind up losing by one increment over your top bid, you have absolutely no idea what the guy's max bid was.

[HaloFan]

Originally Posted by Gary Dunaier

Thank you!

If somebody is willing to pay more for an item than you are, it doesn't matter if they place their bid at the start of the auction or with one second left to go. I understand it's a strategy thing - I do it myself sometimes - and if the item is a rare one, losing out on it can be very frustrating. But the fact of the matter is that even if you wind up losing by one increment over your top bid, you have absolutely no idea what the guy's max bid was.

I know virtually everyone here snipes, but I am of the camp that prefers to put in the max bid right from the start and make someone knock me off. I have not done the statistics, but for me when I've sniped the results has been mixed. Often I did not win and if I did, got it at a price much higher than comparable BINs. I just make sure that if I'm going to lose, the other guy will not get a deal. With scarce cards that you don't see too often and is up auction style you don't have much of a choice; you will see sniping in the end, but with more common cards, I don't get too upset getting knocked off with a snipe. Just saying.

Craig

[travrosty]

Originally Posted by HaloFan

I know virtually everyone here snipes, but I am of the camp that prefers to put in the max bid right from the start and make someone knock me off. I have not done the statistics, but for me when I've sniped the results has been mixed. Often I did not win and if I did, got it at a price much higher than comparable BINs. I just make sure that if I'm going to lose, the other guy will not get a deal. With scarce cards that you don't see too often and is up auction style you don't have much of a choice; you will see sniping in the end, but with more common cards, I don't get too upset getting knocked off with a snipe. Just saying.

Craig

Right on target.

if everyone snipes, then no one is really sniping. its just putting in your max bid and it doesn't matter if you put it in right away or with one second left.

now if someone snipes and you lose out because you would have topped his last second snipe bid, then you yourself did not put in your max bid, either right away or sniping. that's your fault. why would you not put in your absolute maximum bid and let it get away? that's what i don't get.

sniping isn't a surprise move. everyone knows the other guy is going to snipe, all the more important to put in your absolute max bid, and let the chips fall where they may, whether you snipe or not, so it doesnt really mater if you snipe. It's a strategy but not really.

now many people say that they would have paid another dollar for the item, even over their absolute max bid, but then again, you don't know the max bid of the other guy, so one dollar more turns into 20. turns into 100. turns into 300. Figure out your super absolute crazy max bid and bid it and stick with it and there is never a need to snipe. if people like to snipe, that's fine, but its not really sniping anything.

[bn2cardz]

Originally Posted by travrosty

Right on target.

if everyone snipes, then no one is really sniping. its just putting in your max bid and it doesn't matter if you put it in right away or with one second left.

now if someone snipes and you lose out because you would have topped his last second snipe bid, then you yourself did not put in your max bid, either right away or sniping. that's your fault. why would you not put in your absolute maximum bid and let it get away? that's what i don't get.

sniping isn't a surprise move. everyone knows the other guy is going to snipe, all the more important to put in your absolute max bid, and let the chips fall where they may, whether you snipe or not, so it doesnt really mater if you snipe. It's a strategy but not really.

now many people say that they would have paid another dollar for the item, even over their absolute max bid, but then again, you don't know the max bid of the other guy, so one dollar more turns into 20. turns into 100. turns into 300. Figure out your super absolute crazy max bid and bid it and stick with it and there is never a need to snipe. if people like to snipe, that's fine, but its not really sniping anything.

Sometimes you do know that the other person's max bid wasn't much higher than your own.

Recently I won an ebay auction with a bid just 12cents higher than the under bidder. My max bid just happened to beat the other buyer by that much. Since I got mine in first it didn't matter that my bid wasn't at the actual bid increment that it was suppose to be. So in this case had the under bidder had time he (or she) could have quickly increased their bid by the minimum increment amount and won it.

[Jewish-collector]

I never did understand sniping. I agree with the previous posts. Just put in a bid the most you want to pay. If you win great, if you lose, that's OK because a similar card will be listed the next day or in a week or a month. It never ends.....

I think with sniping, you just don't show your interest in the auction. That's all.

[t206hound]

Originally Posted by Jewish-collector

I never did understand sniping. I agree with the previous posts. Just put in a bid the most you want to pay. If you win great, if you lose, that's OK because a similar card will be listed the next day or in a week or a month. It never ends.....

The entire reason that sniping exists is to combat the bidders (or potentially shillers) who chip away at your max bid... essentially the less disciplined bidder who continually bids "just one more time" to see if he/she can be top bidder.

There was a card I sniped last night at a price roughly half of what I was willing to pay. If I had put in a max bid, I believe that I would have ultimately paid a higher price on that item as it would have given one or more people more time to chip away at my bid.

[travrosty]

Originally Posted by bn2cardz

Sometimes you do know that the other person's max bid wasn't much higher than your own.

Recently I won an ebay auction with a bid just 12cents higher than the under bidder. My max bid just happened to beat the other buyer by that much. Since I got mine in first it didn't matter that my bid wasn't at the actual bid increment that it was suppose to be. So in this case had the under bidder had time he (or she) could have quickly increased their bid by the minimum increment amount and won it.

but then you could have increased it too, then him then you, and it goes on forever until the price is 50 bucks higher. if he was willing to pay 50 more bucks for the piece, then why didnt he enter the higher bid right away?

thats what i dont get? if you enter the price you are willing to pay but not one cent more, and i mean the price that would almost make you cry, a price that you wouldnt add 1 cent if your life was on the line, then it doesnt matter if you are outbid by 12 cents, because if you were willing to bid 13 more cents to win it, why didnt you make a max bid that was 13 cents higher, or 10 dollars higher.

a max bid is a max bid, and if you were willing to pay more just to be the winner, then increase your max bid the first time you bid and be content, you cant win them all! There is always another dollar to chase, its fruitless.

If i wanted a card and it is generally worth 200 dollars in the condition that it is in, and i have been searching for this card for 20 years and i want it really bad, i imagine a bidding war in my head ahead of time, and i decide the absolute max that i would bid because i might never see it again the rest of my life. if i decide i would be willing to pay 450 dollars for it because i want it bad, then i enter my max bid of 450, and if someone else wins it for 450.01 then he wins. if i was willing to bid 2 cents more to win it, then 450 wasnt really my max bid, now was it. You got to stop sometime. If I WAS willing to go higher, then i need to figure out my max bid, a bid where i wouldnt bid even one cent more. if it is 500, 600 or 1000 for a 200 dollar card, then so be it. but if someone wants it more than me, he can bid higher. but there will be a price that i say to heck with it, i am done, and if you figure out that price before you bid for the first time, you can just bid right away and be done with it, and if someone wins with a 12 cent higher bid, then good for him!

[Leon]

If I really want a card on ebay I figure the price it should go for, multiply it by 4-6x, and make that my snipe....and forget about it. Last night I won an auction for about $73.....my snipe was $397.77. I had never seen those cards before. If someone else wanted them then they were going to have to pay. If they did win them then I would have just felt they wanted them more than I did. I snipe approximately 98% of the time.....heck, maybe more. I don't care for the drama in manual last minute bids. Forget about all of the psychology, I just set my bid at the max I will pay. If I bid early it usually means I don't really want the card. Interesting subject. regards

ps...I should add that many times I do adjust my snipes before the end of the auction, depending on how I feel about the item...the one last night, I really wanted and upped it another $100, before the end, to be sure...

[steve B]

Some of sniping is psychological, but there are a few real advantages.

it does limit the degree of shilling possible. Of course a dedicated seller could enter a shill at a fairly high price. Some do it to avoid paying for a reserve.

It also eliminates the "bid big then cancel to find the other bidders max" strategy (which I have never used even though it's possible)

Done manually it allows those of us with poorer organizational skills and/or less budget to make the decision to bid and how much at the last moment.
For example, I may have a few cards in watching, all of which I want and can afford. Say it's 5 T206s that I expect to be about $40 each. But then I see one listed that's maybe a tough back or a really nice one. If I've bid my max on the other 5 I have to continue as if I will win all of them. If I'm waiting to snipe I can pass them by freeing up budget for the more interesting one.
Yes, with a service I could cancel the outstanding snipes, but I'd be likely to forget or get busy with something else and end up with a problem. I've only used credit once for a collectible, and that was a once in a lifetime or two opportunity.

Doing it manually also allows a two tiered snipe. On a very few items I'll place a bid at what I think is full price at about 10 seconds, or as early as a few days before the end. And I have another waiting to use at somewhere under 5 seconds. (This might only be possible with a fast connection like cable) I only do this on stuff I really want, and the crazy bid is only there for those cases where my realistic max might fall slightly short. And it usually means I'm done buying for the month.

The downsides?
The biggest problem with doing it manually is forgetting or missing the end time. But as others have said there's usually another cool item coming up soon.

And you really have to bid your actual maximum which can be a bit of a budget buster if two people place fairly high bids. I've had that go both ways.

Steve B

[travrosty]

Originally Posted by Gary Dunaier

Thank you!

If somebody is willing to pay more for an item than you are, it doesn't matter if they place their bid at the start of the auction or with one second left to go. I understand it's a strategy thing - I do it myself sometimes - and if the item is a rare one, losing out on it can be very frustrating. But the fact of the matter is that even if you wind up losing by one increment over your top bid, you have absolutely no idea what the guy's max bid was.

This is exactly right, that's why there is really no such thing as sniping.

You don't know what his max bid was, and if it is larger than your max bid, it doesnt matter whether you snipe or bid your max bid right away, as long as you max bid the largest amount you would possibly ever consider paying if your life was on the line and you wouldnt pay one penny more, then you have bid your max bid and if someone bids more, they get it, if they don't, they don't.

[T206Collector]

Originally Posted by travrosty

What I do is I bid the very highest I am willing to go right off the bat, then no need to get outbid or sniped at the end.

No need to try to snipe either. Just bid the highest amount you would possibly pay for the card, an amount you absolutely wouldnt pay 1 penny more if someone was breaking your arm, then if you get outbid, no regrets, and you don't have to try to outbid someone else either.

You might get it for less than your top amount too.

And you might get someone eating into your ceiling bid. Better just leave a snipe. It's free and easy:

www.gavelsnipe.com