I need to vent!

[Sky Shadow]

You have to snipe on Ebay or you loose. It's a dirty practice but its mandatory if you want to compete.

It's basically a game of poker, by bidding early you are simply giving away your hand so you have to bluff them until the last minute where you drop your bomb. It's horrible but the ebay system allows it and you can't win without it.

Kup, that's not right - I've won heaps of auctions on eBay at decent prices by bidding early and just leaving it. Looking at my bid history, I've won three items in total on eBay this past month - one by bidding 2 days 23 hours before the end, another 1d 23h and the other 7 hours before the end.

There would be nothing worse than living my life around the end of an auction just so I can snipe a toy. Life's too short.

[kup]

Kup, that's not right - I've won heaps of auctions on eBay at decent prices by bidding early and just leaving it. Looking at my bid history, I've won three items in total on eBay this past month - one by bidding 2 days 23 hours before the end, another 1d 23h and the other 7 hours before the end.

There would be nothing worse than living my life around the end of an auction just so I can snipe a toy. Life's too short.

Sorry but in my experience the way you propose only adds to higher prices and a higher chance of missing out on the item. For most of the years I have known ebay, I usually went for bin or low in demand items not requiring a snipe but in the last couple of years I started collecting Transformers and got fed up of being sniped constantly by just a dollar and begun sniping myself which most certainly improved my chances by a lot.

If I can take 2 minutes to write a forum post I can take the last 2 minutes of an an auction to bid. You seem to think that sniping is a daily thing for someone practicing it. On average I only snipe something like once every 2-3 weeks since I usually go for bin prices and resort to auctions when I have no other choice.

[Sky Shadow]

Sorry but in my experience the way you propose only adds to higher prices and a higher chance of missing out on the item.

If you were right then it wouldn't matter if the price went higher if I missed out on the item - I wouldn't have to pay for it. And if I did get the item then I'd get it at a price I was willing to pay, since it's at or below the price I bid in the first place. In my experience, it's the sniping that leads to higher prices - there's always a whole bunch of people all bidding in the last minute who get caught up in the adrenaline of it and bid more than they would have if they'd just made a single bid in the first place.

If I can take 2 minutes to write a forum post I can take the last 2 minutes of an an auction to bid. You seem to think that sniping is a daily thing for someone practicing it.

For many people it is. And I can write a forum post at my own leisure at any time that I just happen to be on the computer. If I want to snipe, I have to put my life on hold, break off ties with the people around me and ensure I'm going to be at a computer at that moment and ready to bid. I'd rather have my life and live it doing what I want rather than live it around the end of eBay auctions. If "time is money", then even if I was allegedly paying more by bidding early then it would be worth it, since I'm not wasting my time or interrupting my life around internet auctions.

[kup]

A have gotten a lot of good bargains from a snipe fest - Only when someone drops a bomb in the last minute like $200 for a $60 item that's when things get out of hand but that hasn't been that common in my experience although it has somewhat become more common in rarer items such as the Micromaster Transports and Pretenders.

Also when you are after items that do not appear that often on ebay, you can't just make your bid early and let it be as you don't only drive the price up as other bidders try to figure out your max but you will also most likely loose to the snipers waiting for it at Auctions end who will get the item for a $1 more than your max. You'll potentially miss out and it could be another year or two before the figure appears again in a reasonable condition - I am sure that the snipe is more time saving that searching ebay constantly for months until the item reappears again only to likely loose it again by bidding early.

I am happy that bidding early has worked for you but its been the exact opposite for me. I lost far too many auctions by bidding early to go back to it and its hardly a time intensive thing as they usually end while I am at work so all that I have to do is keep a window open in the back with the auction, put an alarm the minute before it ends, Alt-tab and bid and then Alt-tab back and hope for the best - That's it. I have probably taken longer writing this post than making a typical snipe and I am sure that I have wasted more time doing unproductive things like day dreaming or reading some wikipedia article than sniping.

[Sky Shadow]

I am happy that bidding early has worked for you but its been the exact opposite for me. I lost far too many auctions by bidding early to go back to it and its hardly a time intensive thing as they usually end while I am at work so all that I have to do is keep a window open in the back with the auction, put an alarm the minute before it ends, Alt-tab and bid and then Alt-tab back and hope for the best - That's it. I have probably taken longer writing this post than making a typical snipe and I am sure that I have wasted more time doing unproductive things like day dreaming or reading some wikipedia article than sniping.

Fair enough. And I have nothing against sniping or snipers at all - there's nothing wrong with it and (unlike may practices on eBay: shill bidding, bumping up postage rates, etc) it's completely moral and legal. I just find for myself that bidding before the end is better. Sniping can be disappointing for me too - I go to all the trouble to wait for the end of an auction only to find that:

a.) Some other sniper outbids me anyway.
b.) The internet inevitably chooses that minute to have a spack attack and so my bid doesn't get through. Or
c.) The phone rings or something happens or I get distracted and don't get a chance to snipe anyway!

[kup]

a.) Some other sniper outbids me anyway.
b.) The internet inevitably chooses that minute to have a spack attack and so my bid doesn't get through. Or
c.) The phone rings or something happens or I get distracted and don't get a chance to snipe anyway!

I had c) on an number of occasions. When C happens there is nothing that can really be done - Sometimes something at work or a social occasion - The scary thing is that now I have a web enabled smart phone which allows me to be connected anywhere at anytime which means that I theoretically can be sniping when:

- Out with friends
- On a date
- and if I want to pull a George Costanza: Having sex

Luckily I am yet to use the phone for anything more than transferring money to my mainstream account when I need some but the possibilities are endless..

[1orion2many]

I'm too lazy to snipe, put on your max bid and let it roll. If I'm outbid I just think OMG O_O you paid that much you fool. On the rare occassion I might up my bid, that is only if I'm on and an auction I'm bidding on is ending, nothing I like more than annoying the hell out of snipers (sorry guys) even if I don't win it makes them pay more(sorry again guys) Yes I'm spiteful sometimes.