What does eBay think of sniping?.....

[Jim Kaiser]

Until recently, eBay has never taken an official position on their views on sniping (at least not that I know of).

Yesterday, I used a new service that can be found on every eBay listing.

In the top section of your listing, above the description and right under the bidder info, take a look at this....

http://img.inkfrog.com/pix/AZgotstuff/Picture_1.jpg

Now, click on the "Phone Call" link and it will walk you through the process of setting up the service.

What happens once it is all set up is that you can click on that link on any auction you are interested in bidding on, and 3 minutes before the auction ends, you will get a phone call that will give you the current auction info including time left (to the second) and current bid price.

It then allows you to place your bid by phone and submit it with less than a minute to go on the auction.

In my personal opinion, it's not quite as convienient as an actual sniper service such as www.AuctionSniper.com but for people that don't like using a sniper program, this looks like a real good alternative.

Give it a try and jet me know what you think.

Jim

[Jim Wilson]

Until recently, eBay has never taken an official position on their views on sniping (at least not that I know of).

Yesterday, I used a new service that can be found on every eBay listing.

In the top section of your listing, above the description and right under the bidder info, take a look at this....

http://img.inkfrog.com/pix/AZgotstuff/Picture_1.jpg

Now, click on the "Phone Call" link and it will walk you through the process of setting up the service.

What happens once it is all set up is that you can click on that link on any auction you are interested in bidding on, and 3 minutes before the auction ends, you will get a phone call that will give you the current auction info including time left (to the second) and current bid price.

It then allows you to place your bid by phone and submit it with less than a minute to go on the auction.

In my personal opinion, it's not quite as convienient as an actual sniper service such as www.AuctionSniper.com but for people that don't like using a sniper program, this looks like a real good alternative.

Give it a try and jet me know what you think.

Jim

Sniping is the ultimate way to save money and it just feels more fun. You almost feel as though you just got away with legal theft as you "Watch" an item right up until the last moment and then you shoot in what you know will be a winning bid.

The software programs and online services are almost just as much fun and they are extremely effective. In the time I have used AuctionSniper I never once lost a bid. And I have gotten some INCREDIBLE bargains!

One thing that still applies to eBay that many people don't understand is the fact that once an item gets a bid it naturally gets more attention. People just seem to naturally want to see things that other people want. Therein lay the competition of eBay and ultimately, in many cases, people pay much more than they should or could have if they had just held back on their bids until the last minute.

Recently I sniped a gift for my wife. (digital camera) Locally I could not get one for less than $800 for the model I wanted. I found it on eBay starting at $380 brand new and with factory warranty. I knew that if I bid on it others would then be interested and the bidding would go up. I held out and placed my bid (successfully) with only 10 seconds left. I got it for just over $400 shipped, insured, and warrantied.

Some sellers don't like sniping because it means less profits for them.

Some buyers don't like sniping because they don't know how to do it and they lose items constantly to others who do.

And eBay also loses income when people who are buying save money because it effects their percentages.

But it is and always has been a part of being an eBay buyer. It is fun, it is effective, and it can save you a ton of money.

Thanks for the post, Jim.

Jim Wilson

[shoreboi]

I may sound like an idiot but what is sniping?

[Natalie Williams]

Sniping is waiting until the last few seconds of an auction and out-bidding everyone to be the winner.
A sniping service is one where you can set it up so you don't have to manually watch an auction like a hawk... the service will automatically place your bid for you, so you can be away from your computer or home but still win the auction.

You may ask why doesn't the person just place their bid at the highest they are willing to pay and let eBay's proxy bidding do the work.
The answer to that is that when you place a bid, the other bidders or potential bidders know there is some competition.
If you use a sniping service (or manually place your bid at the last seconds), then another bidder will be comfortable that they will most likely win because they have no idea anyone is out there ready to bid at the last second. Their guard is down and you can swoop in and snap up the item without a bidding war starting so you will get the item at a lower price than if you and another had been bidding eachother up all week.