Very Upset With Myself

[mrmopar]

Bingo.

Whether or not you are willing to pay more, there are bidders who just have to be high bidder no matter what. If you use a large proxy bid right off the bat and one of those bidders comes along, you will see your bid eclipsed and the item may very well sell for much more than had a snipe bid been used.

This is not necessarily a realistic example, but it shows the logic:

For example, let's say you are willing to pay $1000. You bid $1000 and along comes the "has to be high bidder at all times" guy. He just keeps bidding and bidding until he is the high bidder. You are out, but since you placed your max bid, you walk away and say oh well, maybe next time.

However, let's say that you only bid $100 initially and then set up a snipe for $1000. That "has to be high bidder" guy then goes to work and becomes high bidder at $101.00 and then assuming no other bids, your snipe takes the win at $102.

I have found that almost every time I place a bid when I don't feel a snipe is necessary, I lose because someone outbids me early, not just snipe bids. I still lose when sniping, but I win more often and I believe I pay less along the way.

Originally Posted by t206hound

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.