ebay auction sniper software

[nullogik]

I use Goofbay which is free to use and lotsnipe (which has a free service as well but is limited to the last 10 secs of the auction).

[verytalldave]

Some sellers dont allow sniping software to be used. I have seen this many times in the past.
If you havent placed an earlier bid and then place a bid within a few seconds of auction end, the seller can, at his/her discretion remove your sniping bid.
I can understand this as it can prevent a proper auction over the normal 10 day period where 95% of bids are placed in the last 5 seconds.

[desilva]

Originally Posted by verytalldave

Some sellers dont allow sniping software to be used. I have seen this many times in the past.
If you havent placed an earlier bid and then place a bid within a few seconds of auction end, the seller can, at his/her discretion remove your sniping bid.
I can understand this as it can prevent a proper auction over the normal 10 day period where 95% of bids are placed in the last 5 seconds.

So how do you stop it from being used as a seller ? Surely if you have made a bid and won regardless of when the bid has been made, that should be binding ?

After all, if you go to any auction house and make bids in the last few seconds, nobody complains.

[verytalldave]

You cant stop it. But what I have seen quite a few times is the seller stating in the details that they dont allow sniping - ie - first bids placed within say 10 seconds of auction end. This prevents most sniping software being used to win the item.
The seller always has the right to withdraw the item from sale if they so wish.
This is normally done to ensure a fair as possible auction for all those wishing to take part. Not just those that use sniping software.
I can see both sides of the coin here and personally not care either way if I was selling something. Providing I got what I wanted for the item, then why care?
I am just saying some place this proviso in their details.

[Rory]

I've bought a fair bit of stuff on eBay and only ever bid now by sniping (manually) at the end of the auction. I've tried various ways and I'm convinced that if you bid early it simpy encourages other people to bid. I used to think that maybe if you got in early it would put others off, but it has the opposite effect.

It's quite bizzare that you can look at the same item - for instance I bought a VAG coil pack the other day - from several, all decent looking, sellers and some will have several bids and other none. I waited on one that had none and got a £50 coil pack for a fiver.

[BTB 500]

I've used BidNapper in the past, it's not free but you want to be pretty sure the company is reputable if you are divulging your eBay details to them (necessary so they can enter the bid on your behalf). When I used it you could either buy a certain number of successful snipes (with no time limit as to when they were used), or unlimited use for a period of time.

As per Rory I've also done manual sniping using a carefully synchronised stopwatch or countdown timer

[BTB 500]

Originally Posted by verytalldave

The seller always has the right to withdraw the item from sale if they so wish.

Is that true? I thought once there were bids you could not withdraw the item (with the exception of cars)?

[verytalldave]

I believe so. Some sellers add a note like...... "as the item is advertised elsewhere, I retain the right to cancel the auction at any time".
Whether or not ebay do allow this, but I have seen this done quite a few times.

[BTB 500]

Originally Posted by verytalldave

"as the item is advertised elsewhere, I retain the right to cancel the auction at any time".

I put that on an item last year and eBay removed it (without any warning). I guess it's down to luck whether you get spotted or not.

AFAIK you are only allowed to do it with cars.

[desilva]

Originally Posted by Sp!ke

I have used JBidWatcher for years now, works like a charm.

Its also open source so completely free.

I use this as well. The good thing about it is the application sits on your PC so you don't have to give your details away to an externam company.

The only drawback though is if you are away, you have to leave your PC with the app running in the background.

[stevesey]

Originally Posted by verytalldave

You cant stop it. But what I have seen quite a few times is the seller stating in the details that they dont allow sniping - ie - first bids placed within say 10 seconds of auction end. This prevents most sniping software being used to win the item.

I am just saying some place this proviso in their details.

Originally Posted by Rory

I've bought a fair bit of stuff on eBay and only ever bid now by sniping (manually) at the end of the auction.

Likewise I often manually snipe, far more satisfying than letting the PC do it for you (adrenaline junky?)

A seller wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

[Tuco01]

Hidbid.com is another good sniping service, you get five free snipes per week.

It doesn't make any sense for a seller to try to prohibit snipes on items that they are selling. Speaking as a former eBay seller, I was always happy to get another bid regardless of when it was placed.

Some snipers think that they get "out-sniped" on the auctions that they lose because as soon as they place their bid, they are immediately outbid. This is not the work of a sniper, it's eBay's proxy bidding system raising the amount of a bid placed earlier.

However, because it is thought by some to be getting "out-sniped", they then think that their bid should be placed in the last possible second, which is not the best idea. Any temporary delay in communication with eBay could prevent your bid from being placed at all. Plus, if two bidders have the exact same bid or there is not enough of a difference between them to meet eBay's minimum bid increment, the first bid in wins.

So, if humans were completely rational, the best strategy would be to place your bid the second that the item that you want is listed on eBay. I don't think we have to worry about humans turning completely rational all of the sudden however.

Bidding with five seconds left in an auction seems to be the best idea - too late for manual snipers to react and hopefully before any other automated snipes from other bidders are executed.

[Geoff2]

So if the seller manages to obtain some software to extend the time on his auction, the price would go up, if I am reading this correctly. That surely make that software something an ebay seller would give his right arm for. Add the two bit of software together and you may get a real auction. Just my2p

[Tuco01]

Originally Posted by Geoff2

So if the seller manages to obtain some software to extend the time on his auction, the price would go up, if I am reading this correctly. That surely make that software something an ebay seller would give his right arm for. Add the two bit of software together and you may get a real auction. Just my2p

I don't think that would be possible, eBay controls when the auctions end.

eBay themselves could easily reduce the effectiveness of sniping just by adding a little bit of time to the length of the auction each time a bid is placed when there is less than five minutes (or whatever) left in the auction. Swoopo.com and others like it have this sort of auto-extend feature.

[yachtman]

Originally Posted by IMD

Ok..heres how it works...

With the normal ebay, you either place your maximum bid and ebay bids for you or you keep bidding randomly when you wish, hopefully up to and not beyond your maximum!

The problem with entering your maximum bid, is that Ebay bids automatically, so that in a short period of time, a bidding war begins and the price shoots up e.g:

I want a e500 (dont we all) for £1000 (!). Its currently at £25.00 without reserve, with 1 bid.

I put in my maximum at £1000 and leave ebay to bid for me. Unfortunately, the other bidder has also put in a maximum bid via Ebay for £800, so as soon as I place mine, Ebay bids on both of our behalfs, up to the £800 and then finally to my slightly higher bid. This could theoretically take place within minutes of me placing my bid. This then leaves hours or days for the other bidder to decide to up their bid in an auction frenzy, resulting in the price increasing and potentially ending up more than I want to pay.

Esnipe (and other software) works by bidding on your behalf, up to a maximum that you set, but only within the last few seconds of the auction (usually 5 seconds before the end. This is done automatically. This means that in the above case, the first E500 may stay at £25.00 until the last 5 seconds, lulling the bidder into a false sense of security. 5 seconds before the end, esnipe puts my bid in and the final price is just over the £800 maximum of the other bidders. He or she does not have any time to decide to start the bidding war!

Its also good when an item does not have any bidders, as esnipe bids are hidden, therefore people again are lulled into a false sense of security and assume that no one is interested, resulting in a hopefully lower price.

Esnipe is free to set up, but there is a small percentage fee if you win.


Hope this helps!

Ian

Many thanks I was wondering why I either just lost something or had the price pushed up seconds from the end.

what happens if a lot of snipers snipe together? can e bay accept multiple bids at the end? or would you just loose out if your bid was in the queue?