Seriously - the last 15 seconds of an eBay bid are like a drug rush!
Heart-beat in my teeth, bounding along at about 130, fingers shaking.....
Anyone else get this?
However, I am the owner of a bargain new giro xen helmet! (which seem to have gone up from £80 to £120 now!!)
DrP
Yup, happens every time 🙂
Now repeat after me...
"Hi, my name is DrP, and I'm an eBay addict".
The best bit is I [b]WON [/b]it! Like a competition you hear!
"My name is DrP - I've been an addict for many years now..."
DrP
not a fan of the sniper then?
some people object, but i think they are perfectly fair.
and better on your wallet too!
none of this "chasing up the bids" thing.
it was a bargin, and before you know it, youve paid just under rrp for a second hand scuffed product!
set you absoloute maximum amount your willing to pay, and leave it.
if you win you win, if you dont you dont.
I used to use sniper software, but now ebay always thinks I'm a computer, and makes me type in the 'scrambled digits' - surely snipe gear can't get past this?
I never get into bidding wars TBH - just think of the price i'd put into snipe software and only enter that. If the bids go past it, I close the (firefox) window...
DrP
I don't rate sniping really. Only works if you're the only one (or there are few) doing it.
Also, why not just bid your maximum and walk away - if you win it or not, you've bid what you're prepared to pay.
I've had this conversation before with someone who pointed out that they would lose by a few pence in some cases. To which I replied that in any auction that's going to happen, cos the winning bidder isn't going to keep bidding once they've won it.
The only thing I really do different is bid odd amounts, so for example if my max is 3.00 then I'll bid 3.07 for example, it will mean I'll outbid someone who's maxed at 3.00.
[/boring post]
[i]Also, why not just bid your maximum and walk away[/i]
The reason I (and others) rate sniping software, or bidding at the last second, is to stop those who [b]can't[/b] just walk away!
For example: Say I bid £63 with seconds to go,and I'm the highest bidder at that time, there isn't the time for someone to lose control and 'up' their bid by a few pounds (i.e. they get into a bidding frenzy!). You're right - if someone 2 weeks ago put a highest bid of £80, then they will always win the auction and there's no way around that apart from 'bid higher'!
Also, some people really don't know how to use eBay, and if [b]they[/b] treat it like a 'normal' auction and not a 'proxy' auction (i.e they 'up' their bid bit by bit, and don't realise whacking in a max bid will do this for them) then sniping etc 'beats' these people...
DrP
What DrP says... any (reasonable) bid made before the last 10 secs of an auction simply ensures that the item gets sold to someone else for a little bit more, and the seller then silently thanks you for your contribution
I guess this is the same rush that makes some people pay more than the new RRP for a second hand item 🙂
I decide what I'm going to bid - then put in a bid in the last 20 seconds - I landed a boxed hope pro II rear hub last night for 1/2 price 🙂
But yeah - it is a buzz LOL.
what snipers do people use?
Also, why not just bid your maximum and walk away - if you win it or not, you've bid what you're prepared to pay.
Because you are much more likely to win and probably pay less if you use a sniper.
I use bidnapper, not sure if there are better alternatives.
grumm, how much do they charge after the free trial? i'm giving ez sniper a go on an item at the mo. i'm intrigued to see how it fares, my first foray into the world of sniping!
Think it's 50p per snipe or something similar - not worth it for smaller items but well worth it for more expensive stuff imo.
I like being able to have 'contingencies' as well.
