brentrocks
Well-known member
what did you get outbid on? did you say or did i miss that part?
- Thread starter Big Poppa
- Start date
Fuzzy Dustmite
Well-known member
I know the Dude uses a website http://www.esnipe.com to do his last second bidding.
I use a program called Auction Sentry that does the same thing. You tell it when to bid and what you want to bid, and it does the bidding for you. Not 100% perfect, as it's bid too late (I have my bid time set at 5 seconds before the auction ends) on me a couple of times, but it does the trick.
Before I used the software, I'd do the two window thing. Open two Internet Explorers and bring the auction up on both. Fill everything in to the point of the final "submit bid" button on one and then switch to the other window. I just keep hitting refresh and/or, or use a watch with a second hand and with a few seconds left switch over and hit the submit button on the other one.
That worked for me, but it also failed for me a couple of times when the internet connection crapped out or the page didn't submit in a timely enough fashion.
Sniping isn't at all like a 'real' auction, as ebay is all based on a set close time. In a live auction, what usually happens is that the bidding continues until no one outbids the high bidder. I've seen online auctions that sort of do this. If someone bids within the last minute of the auction, the auction is automatically extened by 5 minutes.
I prefer to snipe, as it doesn't let any other interested parties know whether someone is looking at something that may not have any bids until the last few minutes. I've bid my max on a couple of things early on, and then watched as someone chipped away, betting $1 every once in a while till they outbid me.
I'm pretty set on my maxes. I know what I'll pay, and if it goes higher than that, I let it go. It's not like it'll never show up on ebay again, and I don't buy anything outrageously expensive.
I use a program called Auction Sentry that does the same thing. You tell it when to bid and what you want to bid, and it does the bidding for you. Not 100% perfect, as it's bid too late (I have my bid time set at 5 seconds before the auction ends) on me a couple of times, but it does the trick.
Before I used the software, I'd do the two window thing. Open two Internet Explorers and bring the auction up on both. Fill everything in to the point of the final "submit bid" button on one and then switch to the other window. I just keep hitting refresh and/or, or use a watch with a second hand and with a few seconds left switch over and hit the submit button on the other one.
That worked for me, but it also failed for me a couple of times when the internet connection crapped out or the page didn't submit in a timely enough fashion.
Sniping isn't at all like a 'real' auction, as ebay is all based on a set close time. In a live auction, what usually happens is that the bidding continues until no one outbids the high bidder. I've seen online auctions that sort of do this. If someone bids within the last minute of the auction, the auction is automatically extened by 5 minutes.
I prefer to snipe, as it doesn't let any other interested parties know whether someone is looking at something that may not have any bids until the last few minutes. I've bid my max on a couple of things early on, and then watched as someone chipped away, betting $1 every once in a while till they outbid me.
I'm pretty set on my maxes. I know what I'll pay, and if it goes higher than that, I let it go. It's not like it'll never show up on ebay again, and I don't buy anything outrageously expensive.
muggsy
Well-known member
Absolutely true. I got a bogus second chance offer on the CLB Bongo a few days ago. This one even looked legit, as if it was coming from ebay, but the response address was a hotmail account.
As for sniping, I've been on both sides, as sniper and snipee. Nothing wrong with it IMO, but it does take some of the fun out of ebay. Of course, the scammers took most of the fun out of ebay a long time ago.
muggsy
Well-known member
That's the way I approach it too. I used esnipe once and it worked like a charm. Picked up a F*nd*r CS bass for about $1200. Kept it a couple of years then sold it for a $400 profit, and used the proceeds to buy a 30th Anniversary Stingray.
Adwex
Well-known member
If you bid early, you're only giving other bidders the opportunity to drive the price up. The only reason to bid well before the auction ends is if you can't bid seconds before it ends.
candid_x
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2006
- Messages
- 3,272
I’ve received info on fallacious “second chance offers”, and have almost gotten taken on one once before. Now I discard any such offer.
I also got a bad guitar trade deal off an eBay auction before the auction ended. There were no prior bids riding, so I didn’t feel it was taking the item from another bidder. But - because I forfeited the eBay feedback feature, the guy – who btw has an excellent eBay feedback rating – decided to use the opportunity to unload a completely worthless guitar case, and masked together an atrocious excuse for a shipping box. The guitar turned out to be awful, and the pickups were not what he had advertised. His advertising was misleading and false in other ways also. There was nothing I could do about it. I still see this guy selling guitars on eBay, and rest assured I’d never buy from him again. I’ve seen a couple of his eBay Ball offerings mentioned here on this forum, and wanted to raise a red flag on him, but with his great eBay feedback rating, I thought perhaps he only takes advantage of off eBay buyers. I’ll mention his name here once and that’s it: Crescendo Guitars. Let the buyer (or bidder) beware.
I also got a bad guitar trade deal off an eBay auction before the auction ended. There were no prior bids riding, so I didn’t feel it was taking the item from another bidder. But - because I forfeited the eBay feedback feature, the guy – who btw has an excellent eBay feedback rating – decided to use the opportunity to unload a completely worthless guitar case, and masked together an atrocious excuse for a shipping box. The guitar turned out to be awful, and the pickups were not what he had advertised. His advertising was misleading and false in other ways also. There was nothing I could do about it. I still see this guy selling guitars on eBay, and rest assured I’d never buy from him again. I’ve seen a couple of his eBay Ball offerings mentioned here on this forum, and wanted to raise a red flag on him, but with his great eBay feedback rating, I thought perhaps he only takes advantage of off eBay buyers. I’ll mention his name here once and that’s it: Crescendo Guitars. Let the buyer (or bidder) beware.
ernie1966
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2002
- Messages
- 1,271
Yep, I makes no sense to put in a bid early and have others drive up the price.
Knox
Well-known member
Auction stealer works well for me....it's the only way to guarantee you'll get something!
DaveB
Well-known member
I recently won an auction on a Lava Fully Loaded Petrucci which I can pick up in Dallas <G>
But I received a second chance offer through e-mail - after I had won (and paid for) the guitar.....
You should have seen my emailed response!
Dave
But I received a second chance offer through e-mail - after I had won (and paid for) the guitar.....
You should have seen my emailed response!
Dave
brentrocks
Well-known member
i just got a second chance offer on a natural EVH from Itally...these people must think that we are stupid!
This happened to me once on a Road King combo. It was supposedly in new condition. My max bid was like $900 and I was only the 3rd or 4th highest bidder. Of course, it was a scam.
SteveB
Well-known member
Ha.. my buddy JaffT and I are very familiar with said Thermos joke.
We use that phrase here and there as well.I've never bought or sold anything via eBay (although I do have an account for browsing)... it just seems like such a seedy place these days. They really ought to make it more sporting by setting limits like 1 bid per hour from a particular buyer on any one auction item. Maybe they could create a separate type of auction with these limits... call it a "gentleman's auction" or something. (No offense to the ladies.) Sellers listing an item could choose which type of auction to run. Of course, most sellers probably don't mind sniping, as it helps their bottom line.
beej
Moderator
Sniping is the reality, and if there's something you really want that's how to get it ... I echo what Ernie and everyone else said on that topic.
I dunno ... eBay is an open marketplace. I favour fewer rules, let the market decide how it wants to operate. If people really don't like it there will be an opportunity for another company to come in and take some market share away.
I dunno ... eBay is an open marketplace. I favour fewer rules, let the market decide how it wants to operate. If people really don't like it there will be an opportunity for another company to come in and take some market share away.
candid_x
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2006
- Messages
- 3,272
I hear ya.
On the bright side, eBay and it’s affiliate (Pay Pal, etc) contributes to a robust economy. It provides the entrepreneur the means to run their own business, the buyer to buy used items at a fair or bargain price, the casual seller to get rid of what they don’t use, and something for us to talk about.
I’m a casual eBay user. I have 66/100% positive feedback transactions on sales and purchases. While there were a couple of snags, they were resolved satisfactorily. All transactions were handled with integrity, both ways. I have no complaints. I’ve found it to be a whole lot safer and more reliable than buying or selling online without mediation.
