sniping, Xebec example

From: Mike Ford <mikeford_at_socal.rr.com>
Date: Fri Dec 22 13:21:09 2000

Aack! Yesterday and this morning there were auctions for Xebec SASI Sider
(old hard drive for apple) controller cards. Both early on had bids of like
$1, and I slipped in 20 minutes before the close yesterday and bought the
first card (with a 25 pin controller cable) for $2.25 using a proxy bid of
$6.58. I talked to the seller last night and made a combo deal on shipping,
then forgot to bid on the second card this morning (37 pin cable) which the
guy I sniped yesterday won for about $5.

Now I don't "need" both cards, but Murphy's law says my Sider uses a 37 pin
cable, and I haven't checked yet. For the first one I figured my max bid as
$10 including $3.20 for shipping. Since I made a deal on shipping the
"meat" of the second bid would have been maybe just over $8.

As a snipe I "think" that $8 might have won the second auction, but I
really doubt it would have won if I placed it last night as a proxy limit.
I "know" if the tables were turned and I lost the first bid to a snipe,
woke up the next morning with the same person topping my bid on a card that
is both rare and one I need, that I would attempt to outbid them with a new
more agressive maximum, and yes, as a snipe at the last moment too late for
them to react and bid higher.

Making it clear.
I want this card. I have a Sider without a controller, so its a real need.
A real need with a finite budget, ie I wouldn't even think about paying $25
for a card, and $10 is even pushing my limit, but bidding say $15 with a
"fair" chance of getting it for less than $10, is a gamble I am willing to
take. By fair chance, I mean that over several such operations, the
"average" is less than $10. That just doesn't happen with a early proxy bid.
Received on Fri Dec 22 2000 - 13:21:09 GMT