Auction Sniping advice.

Johnnytoxic

Johnnytoxic

Johnnytoxic

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I'm currently using Baygenie for the first time.

Does anyone know what the best setting is for the default sniping time? The default is 5 seconds, is this low enough?

Also, when I put the maximum bid in and two people are bidding, will it go back and forth incrementing your bid to the lowest value until it hits the maximum or does it bid your maximum straight away?
 
Don't really see the point in it much any more with the maximum bid - it bids in increments for you up to your maximum bid. So if you "snipe" it but someone else has a higher maximum bid, it won't beat the other person.

I think the best strategy at the moment is to put in obscure prices - if you're bidding on something that you think will sell for £15, put in a maximum bid of £15.34 or something as most people will bid in integer numbers.
 
i used to use a sniping program but for me it's better just to put a bid in which is your maximum you want to pay.

if you dont win then there is plenty more.
 
I wouldn't bother with it either, as Dave said set a max bit that isn't a whole number, as many people set nice round max bids so you are more likely to pip them at the post should you both have similar maximums. Sniping programs just tend to compete with each other over the last few second and to be honest as thebay will up the bid automatically for you there isn't really any point.
 
Halfmad said:
.... and to be honest as the bay will up the bid automatically for you there isn't really any point.
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This is exactly the reason why people use sniping sites. They don't want to pay as much as possible, they want to pay as little as possible. Complex to understand i know, but that's how it is.
 
Sniping stops the other person from going "ooo if I just paid a bit more I could get it, sod it lets go for it" as they wont KNOW that they can afford that bit extra unless they know what the other person has bid i.e. by the time they realise they could go a wee bit more than their previous max, its too late.

Hard to describe but hope you know what I mean....
 
SB118 said:
This is exactly the reason why people use sniping sites. They don't want to pay as much as possible, they want to pay as little as possible. Complex to understand i know, but that's how it is.
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what, ok so you are saying if you intend to win the item no matter what the cost, then yes use sniping sites.. as you will get the "lowest price," but with no upper celling, potentially should 2 people really want it.
 
It's clear now. So if you wait until 4 seconds to go, you won't beat another person who has already set a maximum bid higher than yours but you will stop them from having time to rethink a better offer.
 
Efour2 said:
what, ok so you are saying if you intend to win the item no matter what the cost, then yes use sniping sites.. as you will get the "lowest price," ...
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That's the exact opposite of what i said. You use a sniper to get the lowest price. Using the "maximum bid with 5 days to go" method makes sure you either pay more or the person that wins it pays more.

Efour2 said:
... but with no upper celling, potentially should 2 people really want it.
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If you get two people who enter a £300 and £2000 bid using a sniper for an item worth £50 then yes, somebody will end up paying a lot more than they expected.
 
Johnnytoxic said:
It's clear now. So if you wait until 4 seconds to go, you won't beat another person who has already set a maximum bid higher than yours but you will stop them from having time to rethink a better offer.
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Spot on.

I've tried explaining this to my mother several times, it never seems to get through :(
 
right so 2 snipers will just rack up 4 seconds over and over or does it not work like that any more? Until one reaches there original ceiling then the other sniper goes 4 sec over and wins ?
 
Efour2 said:
Hmm that assumes that they are sitting there like a freak watching their winning bid? ;)
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That would be me then :( :p

Efour2 said:
right so 2 snipers will just rack up 4 seconds over and over or does it not work like that any more? Until one reaches there original ceiling then the other sniper goes 4 sec over and wins ?
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No, they bid at the last possible moment before the listing ends. If my example listing was on £30 (bidder A has entered a max bid of £50 and is currently winning) and two snipers went in at the end of the listing, bidder B snipes in with £300 and is then winning the listing @ £55. However bidder C snipes in with £1000 and is then winning the listing @ £305. A few seconds later the listing ends and bidder C has just paid £305 for an item maybe worth £50. :eek:

Snipers aren't so great if you just enter a big value, as somebody else may have done the same.

Personally i'm the sad bugger who sits on the listings with two pages open in opera and confirms the bid in the last few seconds.
 
hehehe

this is why i find it so hard to understand, interesting stuff to learn, to me at least
 
No, the auction ends as normal but if one sniper has put a higher max bid in than the other then they will win as the snipe site passes the max bid to ebay which will automatically make the highest bidder win e.g.

Snipe 1 - Max bid 200
Snipe 2 - Max bid 180

The snipe sites will send these bids to Ebay which will place them against the auction and Snipe 1 will win.

Sniping does not stop someone with a higher auto bid from winning, it simply stops the other bidder(s) from having time to think "I can afford a few quid more" and bidding.
 
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