eBay sniping

From: Mail List <mail.list_at_analog-and-digital-solutions.com>
Date: Thu Apr 24 11:18:00 2003

Hello Mike,

> But with sniping, people often bid a little higher just to protect their
bid.

That might be the case some of the time, but with extensions, a bidder
has the opportunity to re-evaluate their decision, and go higher if they
want to. With the snipe, you calculate what you think might do it, enter
the bid, and then see how it ends ( for the seasoned bidder anyway ).

> "I guess I got stuck. I was just trying to protect my bid."

That "protecting the bid" strategy can backfire on the bidder just as you
saw.

> The people that whine the most about sniping, NEVER win auctions

I hope you don't interpret my discussion as whining about sniping. I
always snipe and usually win whenever I really want to.

> The people that whine the most about sniping, NEVER win auctions, ...
> they just NEVER bid high enough and would lose anyway.

You're generally right. Most buyers that might whine about sniping are just
expressing their disappointment that they couldn't buy the item as
inexpensively
as they had wished to. But from the sellers perspective, the exact ending time
and the sniping would sometimes prevent their from being able to reach their
best potential selling price.





At 08:12 AM 4/24/03 -0700, you wrote:
> > > a much preferred model for me. It is where the sale is extended by a
> > minute or two
> > > when each bid comes in at the end of the auction.
> >
>
>This hurts the seller and should make no difference to the bidder.
>
>NO ONE should ever bid more than they are willing to pay. But with
>sniping, people often bid a little higher just to protect their bid. If
>there is an extention bids will still not rise higher than anyone is
>willing to bid.
>
>I have seen auctions go for $400 on items that normally wouldn't sell for
>$300. One bidder contacted me because two people bid that $400 and he
>said, "I guess I got stuck. I was just trying to protect my bid." He
>paid the auction but clearly bid more than he ever expected or wanted to
>pay.
>
>The people that whine the most about sniping, NEVER win auctions, unless
>they are the first to see a "low" buy-it-now, on popular items. They just
>NEVER bid high enough and would lose anyway.
Received on Thu Apr 24 2003 - 11:18:00 BST