Curse you eBay snipers!!!

[Izrabeth]

I usually bid on the very last seconds when people can't do nothing to top me up. You might hate it, but that's my way of doing things

I do this too honestly, I don't see anything wrong, it's an auction if you really want an item stay there when it's going to end. If I cannot be there I just put my max bid, sometimes I am outbidded and sometimes I win. I know it's frustrating when you don't win but I don't see something wrong to try win bidding last seconds or using programs if you can't be there 

[MnDancer]

I wish if somebody bid with less than 5 minutes left, it would reset to "5 minutes remaining", real auctions aren't ruled by a deadline necessarily. Ebay could make a lot more money that way but what do I know...

This makes the most sense to me! Especially as a seller!

I wasn't talking about auctions where someone bid alot higher and it only went one bid increment higher than me, that's fine. It's when I bid say $25.00 as my max then someone else puts like 25.01 and win it. That just isn't right! I certainly would have been willing to go another dollar higher, so it's like cheating the seller out of a dollar or more, too.

[Mlphammy]

I admit, I do snipe. But I have been sniped before

[xkelpiex]

This is why I rarely do auctions! I am so slow at the computer hat there is no way I could snipe someone lol

[josiekat]

I refuse to use sniping programs. I have sniped by watching the auction down to the last few seconds and bidding then. Although that is hard to always do, so I have pretty much stopped buying on ebay. I don't know why, but I feel like those programs are a version of cheating, eventhough there is nothing against them in the ebay rules. Meh......I know when I lose on ebay it wasn't meant to be. I'll find the pony elsewhere soon enough.

[Nienna]

I wish if somebody bid with less than 5 minutes left, it would reset to "5 minutes remaining", real auctions aren't ruled by a deadline necessarily. Ebay could make a lot more money that way but what do I know...

This makes the most sense to me! Especially as a seller!

I wasn't talking about auctions where someone bid alot higher and it only went one bid increment higher than me, that's fine. It's when I bid say $25.00 as my max then someone else puts like 25.01 and win it. That just isn't right! I certainly would have been willing to go another dollar higher, so it's like cheating the seller out of a dollar or more, too.

Then do as I suggested and always always always enter your max bid! I keep preaching this but I swear it helps. Also, you cannot see how much the other person has bid, and there isn't an increment of 0.01 when the auction is already above a certain amount, I think. So, you simply don't know by how much the other bidder has actually outbid you.

I'm repeating myself, but it always comes down to who ever is willing to pay most, so to avoid frustration, don't just put any bid in you *think* will win it, but whatever you will be willing to lay down for the item.

As an example, something I really want on eBay is at $30 right now. I'm going to bid in the last ten seconds, I know that already. I will be putting in $80, which is the max amount I am prepared to spend on this, regardless of whether it's still at $30, or $40 or whatever. I might get a good deal, I might have to pay $80, or I might get outbid. If I get outbid, fine, it's too expensive for me. I'll look for another one!

[RedLynx]

I used stalk and stress and just be miserable over eBay.  But I learned two things.  The pony will come around again at dome point.  And...don't play the sniper game!   I decide how much I'm willing to pay, make that my max bid and don't pay pa y attention further.  I don't feel hurt over sniping anymore since I know it was more than I would pay and I'm not tempted to go ridiculously high in a "must win" heat of the moment. 

[Desert Rose]

Well... I am a sniper and I won tons of stuff that way, although I also lost to snipers.

To me, the point of Ebay is to spend the least money as possible from the base price, so why start bidding on stuff when the auction has still a week to finish? It will only increase the price for nothing. But that's my view, really.
 
I usually bid on the very last seconds when people can't do nothing to top me up. You might hate it, but that's my way of doing things

This is exactly my point of view aswell. I can find an auction of an item I really want, it has 1 week to go and during that week I just see the price go up and up and up from people outbidding eachother.
Granted, this is great for the seller. But for the buyers not so much.

I usually stick to "Buy It Now" as I do sincerely hate auctions. I get completely worked up over them But if there's no other item like that other than that one auction and it ends at a time I can be up at the computer I do snipe. I admit it
I do it manualy however. I wait untill the last 10-20 seconds or so, I enter my absolute max bid I'm willing to pay and see what happends. If it's enoughand I win then great, if I'm still outbid then meh - I wasn't willing to spend more on it anyway, if I get sniped myself then well... I get all worked up for a few seconds untill I realize I did actually put in my max bid that I was willing to pay so no matter if that person sniped me or not.


As others have said, it's not wether you get outbid with one week, one day or one minute to go. It's by how much money you get outbid by and there's no way you can know that.

[achab1984]

Are you serious there is a program for that!!!!  That is not right at all! There has been so many things I was all excited about and got out bid by .50 Cents!!!!!!!!!!!   .50 cents at the last second!!!!!!!!   I had a very high bid on it to!!! GRRRRRRRR

[hathorcat]

Just remember: you don't lose because they put in their bid later. They win because they want to spend more than you.

That sums it up for me.

I have been sniped in the past and I have been the sniper. That's the way ebay seems to be moving unfortunately and to be honest I kicked myself too many times about being outbid in the final seconds, grumbled over others using such programs and fell asleep at my keyboard repeatedly for late night auctions...and that's how I ended up using a sniping program.

I don't use it on every auction lol as that can become expensive but when you get to the stage in collecting that you are searching for items which maybe only come up for sale once in a blue moon and you know you have serious competition I find it worth it.

I should point out that being a sniper does not guarantee you will win an item. If bidder A puts in $100 and the bid is sitting at $20 then I as bidder B comes along and tells my sniping program to bid with a couple of seconds to go and bid to $80. Then as the sniper I will loose. And I have had this happen to me in the past as well.

Sniping is not a guarantee of winning anything it just lets you put in a last second bid - if someone else has bid higher than my snipe then that other person will win.

[svleonard]

I don't think it's fair to use a sniping program.  Getting outbid in the last second by a few cents when you've been checking an auction constantly for days really blows. It takes all the fun out of bidding and is disrespectful to other bidders.

[ashes]

I usually snipe - I see no point in bidding until the very end.  Why get into a bidding war with someone just to increase the price?

[Sunshine]

I hate being sniped from auctions... heh but like I've read some people here - I just try to prevent it... sometimes I don't place a bid at all until the very end to help me win it... I don't bit 6 days out from the auction end, because then you put yourself in a position to get outbid. Honestly, when I win an auction that I bid on 4 days ago, and no one has outbid me, I'm always surprised when I get a notification on my phone like, "You  won so and so!" - I expect snipers, especially when it's for an auction for something that's too good to be true, you have to realize there are probably 10 people watching, waiting and wanting to bid in that bidding war that lasts just a few seconds...
That's why you see eBay prices go so overboard all the time I think, it's the last minute bidding wars that drive prices up. If I bid on something like right away when it's listed, and has 7 days left... usually I'm bidding on it as a reminder for myself to keep an eye on it when it does come to a close, I don't usually expect to win anything on eBay at a ridiculously low price - BUT it has happened before, so it is possible

I also do not think it's okay to use a sniping program - I mean really? Just do the work yourself. I've won a number of auctions in last minute bidding wars that have not caused me to overspend, and I don't use any sniping programs... if the auction ends too late, stay up or miss it, don't send a program to win a pony... I just really don't like thinking about someone on the other end, sitting back, eating cheetos and winning all the wonderful ponies I'm trying to bid on while I sit and wait patiently, typing and entering my bids manually...

Ebay is too much for me though with fees, sniping programs and those bidding wars, which is why I love joining the Arena and talking with all of you!
I just hope that none of you get sniped for auctions that you really want, good luck in bidding everyone!

[KarentheUnicorn]

 I get limited time to look on ebay. If I happen to be on and there is a minute left, 20 seconds left or 5 seconds left on an item I want, yea I'm gonna bid in the those limited amount of seconds I have left to buy the item.

I don't think we can give a lecture to last minute bidders because other people harp for a week on a auction. It's up to the individual how long they want to look at a auction and how many times they want to bid on it.

Personally, I don't usually play around with trying to get a wanted item for cheap, so I'm not going to monkey around every day bidding a $1 or $2 above the price. IF the item is still in my price range I'm going to play for keeps.

[Oneleo1]

Just remember: you don't lose because they put in their bid later. They win because they want to spend more than you.

This is SO true!

I get sniped all the time, but it comes down to the fact that they were willing to spend more than my max bid was.