E-bay sniping.

From: Ian Koller <vze2mnvr_at_verizon.net>
Date: Fri Jan 25 15:55:16 2002

 Joe,

  After reading your three messages, it seems you also
see the disparity.

  There is one point that the author of that page about
sniping did not seem to consider. If auctions did automatically
extend, but in each extension period, the minimum increment
doubled, it could autoextend, yet still come to an end fairly
quickly.

  Because of the sniping issue, I feel that eBay can't really
be held as a true measure of the value of things. Only in auctions
that had a chance to "settle" at the highest price someone was
willing to pay for something, would it be valid measurement tool,
of that aspect only of an overall market system, also keeping in
mind the terms, i.e. untested, "as-is", tested, guaranteed, etc.

  The on-line auctions run by the GSA use a proxy bidding
system, and also have an autoextend feature. Bear in mind
that their prices are not a true measure of actual value
either, because some of what they sell is broken damaged stuff,
and you don't know what is what until you've bought it. They
also don't entertain complaints.



Joe wrote:
>
> Ian,
>
> I don't like sniping but I understand why it's done. Good info, I'm
> keeping a permanent copy of it.
>
> Joe
>
> At 01:28 PM 1/25/02 -0500, you wrote:
> >
> >
> >Hello Pat,
> >
> > If you read these links, it gives other "perspectives" on
> >the issue of sniping. I guess you don't like sniping, because
> >you would like to get the best price you could for your items.
> >This we do respect.
> >
> >
> >http://www.geocities.com/phillipcreed/myths.html
> >
> >http://www.geocities.com/phillipcreed/
> >
> >http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/supersniper/
> >
> >
> > But the ones who complain that they didn't win an item because
> >someone sniped them, we have no respect for what so ever. No one
> >ever lost an item because someone out bid them. They lost the item
> >because they didn't bid the high bid utilizing the "proxy" bidding
> >system. Period. These are people that want to blame others for their
> >own failures which they themselves brought about. They seem to act
> >like the world owes them something, when in reality, their failure
> >is brought on because they are too cheap and selfish. They want what
> >other people have, but are unwilling to give much of themselves to
> >get it.
> >
> > A note to all. You'll win whatever item you bid on, if you put
> >in the high bid while the auction is running, regardless of when
> >that bid is placed.
> >
> >
> > As for the ones that complain about prices of goods being
> >sold on eBay as being so high, these people have been deemed
> >unsuitable for employment in our organization for being too
> >ignorant of commerce and economics. It's indicative of serious
> >flaws in personality, attitude, and intelligence. Generally
> >things on eBay often sell for a third to an eighth ( and
> >sometimes even 1/25 ) of what they are actually worth, and
> >we have hard data to prove that fact. So any that end up out
> >of work, just know, we'll learn more about what you're really
> >like by reading the messages you've posted, than we'd ever learn
> >in an interview. And we do research prospective applicants
> >in this manner. Thanks Google.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >Pat Barron wrote:
> >>
> >> On Fri, 25 Jan 2002, Ian Koller wrote:
> >> > I looked at it, then checked your "me" page, then gave up.
> >> >
> >> > If you want auctions that automatically extend, you have
> >> > that option as a seller on Yahoo.
> >>
> >> I'm sorry that put you off; I've been thinking about toning down or
> >> eliminating that section, but I haven't done anything about it yet because
> >> this is a really sore point with me - it's particularly aimed at people
> >> who run "outbid-bots", that track auctions and place bids in (literally)
> >> the final 15 or 30 seconds of the auction, to ensure that the previous
> >> high bidder has no chance to rebid.
> >>
> >> In a "real" auction, the auction generally continues until activity
> >> ceases; if that's doable on Yahoo! Auctions (like the old Onsale.com
> >> system, in which a bid in the last 5 minutes of an auction automatically
> >> extended it), then that might be a better option for me. Though I haven't
> >> listed anything there for a long time, because I've had the impression
> >> that very few people use Yahoo! Auctions (as opposed to eBay)....
> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >> --Pat.
> >
Received on Fri Jan 25 2002 - 15:55:16 GMT

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0 : Fri Oct 10 2014 - 23:34:58 BST