TOPIC:

I often use a Sniper to get my bids in at EBay.
Do you?
I have used given.com for quite some years. It's a free service and I have never had a bid come in too late.
I find the Sniper useful for remembering to place bids, and not having to stay up all night to put the bid in at the last minute.

Do I snipe? badword yeah! Can't say I've ever used an automated tool for it though...

I know eBay say you should put in your maximum bid at the earliest opportunity - but they would say that as it drives up the price, and therefore what they get in fees, both "final value" and from Paypal transfers.

I don't believe that anyone puts in the maximum of what they were prepared to pay, at least not very often - how often do you see something with a reasonable "Buy It Now" price and a very low start price get the BIN opportunity wiped out within a few minutes by someone putting in the miniumum bid (like 99p) as a "banker", in the hope that no-one else will see the listing and they'll get it for that? Then a couple more people come along & put equally paltry bids (2 & 3 GBP) in the same hope ...

"Sniping" I feel is far more honest - I might not bid until the dying seconds, but a least I've put in the absolute maximum that lot is worth to me (plus a small random amount so I don't lose out by a few p). Sometimes I'll win with that bid, sometimes I'll lose out to someone who was prepared to pay more, and sometimes I'll win for less than my mamimum.

When people badword about being sniped it's usually because they didn't follow the "rules" either - if you put in a bid early for less than the amount you were prepared to pay then you have no cause to bleat "I didn't have time to put in a higher bid", if you _did_ put in your maxiumum & you still lost, that's equally tough.

TBH when I do see a lot of bid activity a long way before the end of an auction, I tend to think it's a either a bidding war between two people with a lot of cash who really want it, or, more likely, one of them is shill bidding to drive the price up - and I won't get involved.

Usually "Buy it now" for me...
I've done some live sniping (checking the last few minutes myself) but then I often spend more than intended.

I always manually snipe & I always bid what I'm willing to pay. Works well for me for 2 reasons - 1) you're opponents get the shock of their life in the last few seconds after a week of thinking they'll get the item for 99p (Which entertains me no end) & 2) if I get outbid I don't have time to put a higher bid on, which stops me overspending on a whim. On the other hand though, as a seller it's a nuisance as you miss out on the people who might bid a bit extra when seeing they've been outbid, & when everybody thinks they're gonna get the item for next to nothing, that means the final value will be low. I'm also seeing people being put off by the higher starting prices, postage costs & collection only listings - there's a lot of skinflinting, lack of knowledge over costs to sellers/dispatchers & lack of understanding over exactly what "Dispatch time" "Postage cost" & "Used/second hand goods" actually means, with people thinking their gonna get stuff cheap, delivered free, tomorrow, in "New" condition & that the seller has nothing better to do than jump to whatever they want & slate them when they don't

I haven't used an automated/service, but do/have used live snipe techn's. Very rarely has worked. If I have the coin, I don't have the time and visey versy. Recently, I have used a diff approach, if they are selling more than 1 item and they have others with no bids (at time of me buying/bidding). I purchase 1 item using a "by now" option and then contact them to hold while i bid on other to get combo shipping, but actually counter. offer a "bulk deal" on the items w/ no bidds at a cheaper $. But this is only when they have several items and it has only worked once. I got a Trax bullet, frog, and rc10 all in great shape, but had to buy 4 other misc part lots i really didn't need, total, $180 US, the bullet was worth that and the shipping cost wasn't bad.

Hello Gents,
I am a new member and this is my 1st post. My complements to the behind the scenes folks.

I felt compelled to contribute because I have been at times, on the receiving end of some not so nice emails directed at my online purchasing techniques. One seller even refused to send me my item and gave it to the next highest bidder. He said bidding in the last seconds to win a item was in bad taste. It read like this (@%@*&(****T!!@!!!!XxXx:;;!!!! You get the picture.

But that only happened once in over 1300 successful bids .
In my defense I state that I spent a great deal of time searching the web for what it is I am looking for at the time. I would compare price, condition, as well as the always varying shipping costs.
This investment of time and effort would be a waste if I was to have the item go to another bidder because they used a more efficient way of placing a bid.
In the end it is "Price" that decides the "Winner" and no matter what tech aids are utilized, the second highest bidder must find another item.
Fret not though my fellow Tamiya nuts, as sometimes I have lost an item due to price only to find it's sister. A slightly prettier and considerably less costly same, from a seller who knew not what he offered.
99% of my bids have been for Tamiya gold and winning them only made the build that much more sweet.
I have a family to support and can only justify participating in this great hobby if it doesn't have a negative effect on the family budget. So I look for the advantage wherever I can find it.

Sorry to be so long winded. I guess those scathing emails I received all those years ago kinda hit a nerve.
Thank you for the ear.

Yes, of course, that's the other thing isn't it - all the weirdos & socially incapable people with their own rules on how Ebay sales should progress. It can be a real head-banger when you get one & try to reason with them!

Welcome Tamiya Jones! Thanks for your input.
Hope you'll also be showing some of your work. The Tamiya gold...

Tamiya wrote:

My complements to the behind the scenes folks.

I can tell you it's all Lars' creation. And I organize the forum a bit for him.
But I'm guessing there'll soon be more guys...

Not yet, I guess when it comes to that last remark.

What's the best sniper - Gixen?
Nobody concerned about giving up their eBay password?
I was thinking about starting to use a service like that...

I generally do snipe auctions, but normally do so manually, although this has lead to me losing a couple of items because I forgot to bid . Ebay phone app means you can you can do it pretty much anywhere or anytime (need a fast connection though).
I have used Auction Stealer in the past.

I can understand sellers' frustrations at sniping - sitting watching your item at 99p until the last 30 seconds of the listing

What I normally do is if the item has no bids, I will put a low bid on (e.g. 99p) for two reasons: 1. To "bookmark" the item. 2. To prevent the seller changing the listing (particularly the title if it has been mis-described). How often have you been watching an item listed as "RC car" when someone then helpfully tells them it is a super-rare Tamiya Scorching Thunder or something? The seller then edits the title (which comes up on the search by default) and biddimg goes mad.
Putting a bid on should also prevent the seller agreeing to one of the "Have you got a BIN price, mate?" offers that always appear (although it is not guaranteed). (edit: That's 3 reasons then ).
I then put my "real" bid in the last 5-10 seconds of the listing (or don't bid at all if it has already gone over what I want to pay).