eBay sniping at its best

[EJ1]

Just had an auction of mine end and this guy sniped it with 2 seconds left. Crazy eBayers! I think eBay should adopt Audiogon's auction system in regards to that.

"Audiogon auctions can sometimes go into "overtime", in the case of last minute bidding activity. If you are outbid within the last five minutes of an auction, it will extend into overtime, to allow you five minutes to respond. Likewise, if you outbid someone with 10 seconds left in the auction, it will email the previous bidder, and extend the auction by 4 min and 50 seconds, thereby giving the other bidder 5 minutes to respond."

 

[mouettus]

This my friend has happened because the other guy owns a program that makes you bid at the last second. He probably wasn't even in front of his computer at that time.

 

[aberkowitz]

But if you were willing to pay more for the item, why didn't you have a higher bid? I remember writing a paper on this in college for an economics class over 8 years ago now. If bidders would be upfront on the amount they were willing to pay for an item, they would less pissed off about sniping. If in your mind an object is worth $400, then your first, last, and only bid should be $400. Since eBay goes up in increments as the bids rise, it is still possible to get the item for less. It won't matter then if you're beaten by $5, $10, or $100. Buyers get sniped when they try to get sneaky. If you were willing to pay more, you should have bid more from the start.

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

I always wait until the last minute to bid.

That's why eBay has the commercials, "Shop victoriously."

 

[aberkowitz]

I always wait until the last minute to bid.

That's why eBay has the commercials, "Shop victoriously."

Obviously eBay will promote it because it drums up business for them. From the consumer side, however, it's actually an illogical and inefficient way to bid.

 

[EJ1]

But if you were willing to pay more for the item, why didn't you have a higher bid?

I was the seller.

And yes, I just realized they have programs that do this for you. Crazy!

 

[10010011]

While I understand your frustration. I have to wonder if you were willing to pay more that you bid. Why didn't you just bid your maximum to start out with?

 

[Djizasse]

I'm a snipper. Many times, the only bid I make is the last one, at the last few seconds. Some times I lose, sometimes I win.

And it helps to bid what you're willing to pay for the item. If your bid is lower than the the other guy's maximum bid you wont have time to bid again.

I only do this because I hate bid wars. Sometimes people keep bidding and bidding just to win the auction, even if the bidding get higher than the actual market price of the item. Now, this is crazy! I've seen many items being won with prices much higher than what I see in the streets and online.

 

[Pyrrho]

I was the seller.

And yes, I just realized they have programs that do this for you. Crazy!

If you are the seller, what is your problem? If the "sniper" had not bid, you would have gotten less. Would that make you happier, to get less?

And for the bidders, they have nothing to complain about either. They can put in their maximum bid at any time before the auction ends, just like anyone else. And if someone bids above their maximum bid, then they don't get it, because it sells for more than they are willing to pay. If they bid less than what they are willing to pay, then someone might outbid them and get it for less than they are willing to pay. But that would be their own stupid fault for not bidding what they were willing to pay. I think people who complain about "sniping" are just being whiny. If they are too stupid to bid what they are willing to pay, then they deserve to lose.

 

[darien87]

If you are the seller, what is your problem? If the "sniper" had not bid, you would have gotten less. Would that make you happier, to get less?

And for the bidders, they have nothing to complain about either. They can put in their maximum bid at any time before the auction ends, just like anyone else. And if someone bids above your maximum bid, then you don't get it, because it sells for more than you are willing to pay. If you bid less than what you are willing to pay, then someone might outbid you and get it for less than you are willing to pay. But that would be your own stupid fault for not bidding what you were willing to pay. I think people who complain about "sniping" are just being whiny. If they are too stupid to bid what they are willing to pay, then they deserve to lose.

It's not about not paying what you're willing to pay. It's frustrating because you think you're getting a deal and then someone comes along and snatches it out from under you at the last second. Everyone likes to think they got a deal when they buy something. Just like all of the jerks on Craigslist that come out of the woodwork and try to offer me less than half the price of whatever item I'm selling. It happens EVERY time!

I now don't bother to bid until the last few minutes of an auction because so many people snipe. It just doesn't make sense to bid any sooner, because chances are, some shmuck's gonna come along at the last second and try to out bid you.

 

[Pyrrho]

It's not about not paying what you're willing to pay. It's frustrating because you think you're getting a deal and then someone comes along and snatches it out from under you at the last second.

In that case, you are thinking about it incorrectly. You are not getting anything until the auction ends. You can be the top bidder for several days, but that means nothing in the end; it is who bid the most before the end that matters. Keep that in your mind, and bid accordingly.

Everyone likes to think they got a deal when they buy something. Just like all of the jerks on Craigslist that come out of the woodwork and try to offer me less than half the price of whatever item I'm selling. It happens EVERY time!

I have not had that problem, though I have had people offer less than what I was asking. If you don't want anyone to offer less on Craigslist, I suggest that you say in your listing that the price is firm and you won't take a penny less. And then don't bother responding to people who offer you less; just delete their email.

I now don't bother to bid until the last few minutes of an auction because so many people snipe. It just doesn't make sense to bid any sooner, because chances are, some shmuck's gonna come along at the last second and try to out bid you.

Bid any time you like. Someone may or may not bid in the end to take it away from you. At least twice, I got working audio gear for 99 cents that I bid on instead of putting in my watch list (sometimes my watch list is full), and anyone could have bid at the last minute, or the last couple of days, to get them away from me, as I was just interested in watching them. Of course, I fulfilled my part when I won, and the items were as advertised. (Naturally, you need to make sure shipping isn't going to ruin the deal, which, in these cases, was no problem; I got a couple of great deals, and the sellers were not overly happy about it.) I much prefer buying on eBay to selling on it because of things like that.

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

Obviously eBay will promote it because it drums up business for them. From the consumer side, however, it's actually an illogical and inefficient way to bid.

Not sure why it's inefficient. Works every time.

 

[aberkowitz]

Not sure why it's inefficient. Works every time.

It's inefficient for the buyer, particularly from an economic perspective. You, as a buyer, have a set value for a particular item that's up for auction. Let's say that the most you are willing to pay for an item is $500. If that's the case the most efficient way to bid is to put up a $500 bid at that moment and then forget about the auction. If you win for $200, $300, or $500, you should be totally indifferent because the value of the item to you is $500. If it sells for less, you've "received" a consumer surplus because you paid less than your individual clearing price, but if you value an item at $500 you should be indifferent as to what you have in your hand- the item or $500 in cash.

If the item goes for $505 and you only valued the item at $500, then as a consumer you shouldn't feel cheated.

The inefficiency comes in when people are not honest in their valuations of items they want to buy and have to place multiple bids. People think that it's easier to get a deal by only placing a bid for a percentage of what they're actually willing to pay. In an open auction (think Sotheby's) this is the correct strategy because all bids are known to the public and the only way to get a deal is to lowball your bid and work your way up. This is insanely stupid in the eBay system where your top bid is hidden and only goes up as somebody tries to outbid you.

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

It is very efficient if what you are willing to pay is only a few dollars more than what the current bid is.

Which is why I do it. I don't WANT to get into a bidding war sending the price up to $500.

It's not my fault they didn't pre-bid $500 forcing me to try to outbid that.

 

[darien87]

It's inefficient for the buyer, particularly from an economic perspective. You, as a buyer, have a set value for a particular item that's up for auction. Let's say that the most you are willing to pay for an item is $500. If that's the case the most efficient way to bid is to put up a $500 bid at that moment and then forget about the auction. If you win for $200, $300, or $500, you should be totally indifferent because the value of the item to you is $500. If it sells for less, you've "received" a consumer surplus because you paid less than your individual clearing price, but if you value an item at $500 you should be indifferent as to what you have in your hand- the item or $500 in cash.

If the item goes for $505 and you only valued the item at $500, then as a consumer you shouldn't feel cheated.

The inefficiency comes in when people are not honest in their valuations of items they want to buy and have to place multiple bids. People think that it's easier to get a deal by only placing a bid for a percentage of what they're actually willing to pay. In an open auction (think Sotheby's) this is the correct strategy because all bids are known to the public and the only way to get a deal is to lowball your bid and work your way up. This is insanely stupid in the eBay system where your top bid is hidden and only goes up as somebody tries to outbid you.

I see your point, but what's weird is that sometimes this feeling of not wanting to lose takes over and you end up paying way more for an item than you originally wanted to. It's happened to me.

I guess you just have to get lucky and find an auction that no one else is looking at. I've been sniped quite a few times. Most of the time I don't really care. But when you wanted something and someone else comes along and gets it for $1 over what you were offering, it's frustrating. I just don't understand where this eBay culture of sniping came from? I used to just go ahead and bid whenever I saw something I liked. But if I do that, I always seem to get outbid at the last second.

Originally Posted by darien87
Everyone likes to think they got a deal when they buy something. Just like all of the jerks on Craigslist that come out of the woodwork and try to offer me less than half the price of whatever item I'm selling. It happens EVERY time!


I have not had that problem, though I have had people offer less than what I was asking. If you don't want anyone to offer less on Craigslist, I suggest that you say in your listing that the price is firm and you won't take a penny less. And then don't bother responding to people who offer you less; just delete their email.

I guess you're just lucky. It seems to happen to me EVERY time. Right now, I'm selling an entertainment center that was $2,000 new for $500 and it's worth every penny. I had a guy e-mail me and offer me $225!! I e-mailed him back and told him he had to be joking. He admitted that it was a cheapskate offer, but that it works for him more than half the time.

I was also selling 20 DVD's for $50. That's less than $3 a DVD, and I still had people e-mailing me and offering me $30 or $35! Gimme a break.

I have since added, "I'm not interested in haggling" to my entertainment center ad.

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

Oh, if the item has a "Buy it Now or Best Offer" next to it, I'll send them a lowball best offer every time. Why pay the Buy it Now price?

 

[Jack Hammer]

I always found sniping to be effective but too much of a pain for me to keep track of multiple auctions. I usually would just put my max bid in a few hours before the end. If I got it I got it, if not, I didn't. Just wait for the next time the item listed and start again.

Jack

 

[jonnythan]

I always snipe. I love it.

 

[aberkowitz]

It's not my fault they didn't pre-bid $500 forcing me to try to outbid that.

Thank you for proving my point!!! I'm not saying you're inefficient for sniping, what I'm saying is that people who whine about being sniped for an item are being inefficient for not bidding the full value in the first place. If you try to snipe an auction you only have a limited time to make your bids. If most eBay buyers smartly decided to bid the way they valued an item, then most of the time they wouldn't be subjected to sniping because they would generally end outbidding the sniper.

 

[The Dukester]

It's not about not paying what you're willing to pay. It's frustrating because you think you're getting a deal and then someone comes along and snatches it out from under you at the last second. Everyone likes to think they got a deal when they buy something. Just like all of the jerks on Craigslist that come out of the woodwork and try to offer me less than half the price of whatever item I'm selling. It happens EVERY time!

I now don't bother to bid until the last few minutes of an auction because so many people snipe. It just doesn't make sense to bid any sooner, because chances are, some shmuck's gonna come along at the last second and try to out bid you.

That's me, exactly! It doesn't make me mad so much that someone is willing to pay more for an item than I am, but how they go about doing it. Just when you think you are really getting a deal, some creep comes in at the last second and outbids you.
I don't bid on many items early because I know that the bidding only begins in the waning moments. I watch, then if I want something, see where the bidding goes. If it goes out of sight near the end, there is no use in me even bidding. I go there for two reasons; to get something I can't find anywhere else or to find bargains.
In the case of the former, I often place my bid earlier for what I'm willing to pay or email the seller to see if they have a buy it now price in mind to end the auction early if they don't have one listed.