Sorry guys, got to vent a little bit.

Last night I was beat out on TWO auctions at literally the very last second. Both of these auctions I wanted pretty bad, and both I had my bid limit set considerably high.

I completely understand having a sniper for ebay, but when you've been the leading bidder for HOURS (or days for that matter), only to loose the auction in the very last second is pretty unnerving! Especially when you're watching it happen right before your eyes!

Hate to hear you missed out on them Chris. I know how you feel. I had the same thing happen the other day, no chance of adding a new bid in what-so-ever. I think they should ban crap like that. I you want it bad enough to where you have to snip it, sit there and watch the auction and bid like everyone else.

I've recently lost out on an item too, but I did snipe.

I was watching this early bird kit My snipe went in at the last 10 seconds and I was the highest bidder at $52. The timer went to 0 and showed no new bids, so I thought I won. I refreshed the page and it actually ended at the $104. I'm glad I didn't win now though as a watchout thread exists for him on RS that I didn't know about.

It always happens to me. I lost out as well on this:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280434317605&ssPageName=STRK:MEDWX:IT

I actually hate snipes but I have to be the disenting voice here. If it's down to the last hour or it's your final chance to be in front of a PC why don't you just increase your max bids? If someone bid more than your max bid than its nobodys fault but your own.

I wanted that Harbert Vader in the worst way. I put in a $250 max bid and I was the leader, with people chipping away at it. By the final 8 hours the bidding stopped at $203.50. With 45 minutes to go I went back in and raised my max bid just to cover myself.

Unless I misunderstand everyone you put in the most you would buy it for anyway. I feel bad for those who lost items but in this Ebay age sniping is a fact of life.

Sorry you missed out on stuff but if you really want it then protect yourselves.

Darthberizing wrote:

I actually hate snipes but I have to be the disenting voice here. If it's down to the last hour or it's your final chance to be in front of a PC why don't you just increase your max bids? If someone bid more than your max bid than its nobodys fault but your own.

I wanted that Harbert Vader in the worst way. I put in a $250 max bid and I was the leader, with people chipping away at it. By the final 8 hours the bidding stopped at $203.50. With 45 minutes to go I went back in and raised my max bid just to cover myself.

Unless I misunderstand everyone you put in the most you would buy it for anyway. I feel bad for those who lost items but in this Ebay age sniping is a fact of life.

Sorry you missed out on stuff but if you really want it then protect yourselves.

I should have put that my max bid was $101 on my snipe, so yes I did have a max bid. That was as high as I wanted to go for that Early Bird stand mainly because the cards were detached. When the timing is right I will pay more for one is better condition. So really I only lost by a few dollars. The main reason that I use a snipe tool is the fact that sometimes I am actually not at a computer. On weekends especially, my wife likes to go out, so with the snipe I am able to bid even though I can't actually watch the auction like a hawk. I do sometimes bid the old fashioned way. Even then I don't bid until the last seconds of the auction. I feel there is no point in placing a bid hours/days before as it just raises the price that much more.

shawn_k wrote:

Darthberizing wrote:

I actually hate snipes but I have to be the disenting voice here. If it's down to the last hour or it's your final chance to be in front of a PC why don't you just increase your max bids? If someone bid more than your max bid than its nobodys fault but your own.

I wanted that Harbert Vader in the worst way. I put in a $250 max bid and I was the leader, with people chipping away at it. By the final 8 hours the bidding stopped at $203.50. With 45 minutes to go I went back in and raised my max bid just to cover myself.

Unless I misunderstand everyone you put in the most you would buy it for anyway. I feel bad for those who lost items but in this Ebay age sniping is a fact of life.

Sorry you missed out on stuff but if you really want it then protect yourselves.

I should have put that my max bid was $101 on my snipe, so yes I did have a max bid. That was as high as I wanted to go for that Early Bird stand mainly because the cards were detached. When the timing is right I will pay more for one is better condition. So really I only lost by a few dollars. The main reason that I use a snipe tool is the fact that sometimes I am actually not at a computer. On weekends especially, my wife likes to go out, so with the snipe I am able to bid even though I can't actually watch the auction like a hawk. I do sometimes bid the old fashioned way. Even then I don't bid until the last seconds of the auction. I feel there is no point in placing a bid hours/days before as it just raises the price that much more.

Shawn - I actually wasnt refering to you but I understand why you did it and it makes sense. My comments were to those who were the underbidders. We all want to get a deal on Ebay but if you really want something than either bid at the end or, if you bid earlier, put your bid to the most you'll pay. Plain and Simple.

Another thing to remember is that if you lost by $1 it doesnt mean you win it for another $1. People tend to forget that. The winner may have bid much higher but Ebay only takes the bidder over the next highest. I dont loose any sleep if I loose by $1 or $2 because if I wanted it I wouldve gone in for more.

Using Vader again as an example, I was damned if I wasn't going to win it. I bid $250 and watched it get chipped away.When I saw the bidding stop I thought that snipers were getting ready so I went back into Ebay and upped my max bid to $350 and made peace that if I lost it thats fine. It wasnt worth $351 for me.

Shawn I was watching the early bird kit as well. I don't use snipe because I enjoy bidding away lots of times. Except when it's on the other side of the world and I have to get up at 3 in the morning. I get outbid 9 out of 10 times sp i am well used to it. But it still sucks loosing

Darthberizing wrote:

shawn_k wrote:

Darthberizing wrote:

I actually hate snipes but I have to be the disenting voice here. If it's down to the last hour or it's your final chance to be in front of a PC why don't you just increase your max bids? If someone bid more than your max bid than its nobodys fault but your own.

I wanted that Harbert Vader in the worst way. I put in a $250 max bid and I was the leader, with people chipping away at it. By the final 8 hours the bidding stopped at $203.50. With 45 minutes to go I went back in and raised my max bid just to cover myself.

Unless I misunderstand everyone you put in the most you would buy it for anyway. I feel bad for those who lost items but in this Ebay age sniping is a fact of life.

Sorry you missed out on stuff but if you really want it then protect yourselves.

I should have put that my max bid was $101 on my snipe, so yes I did have a max bid. That was as high as I wanted to go for that Early Bird stand mainly because the cards were detached. When the timing is right I will pay more for one is better condition. So really I only lost by a few dollars. The main reason that I use a snipe tool is the fact that sometimes I am actually not at a computer. On weekends especially, my wife likes to go out, so with the snipe I am able to bid even though I can't actually watch the auction like a hawk. I do sometimes bid the old fashioned way. Even then I don't bid until the last seconds of the auction. I feel there is no point in placing a bid hours/days before as it just raises the price that much more.

Shawn - I actually wasnt refering to you but I understand why you did it and it makes sense. My comments were to those who were the underbidders. We all want to get a deal on Ebay but if you really want something than either bid at the end or, if you bid earlier, put your bid to the most you'll pay. Plain and Simple.

Another thing to remember is that if you lost by $1 it doesnt mean you win it for another $1. People tend to forget that. The winner may have bid much higher but Ebay only takes the bidder over the next highest. I dont loose any sleep if I loose by $1 or $2 because if I wanted it I wouldve gone in for more.

Using Vader again as an example, I was damned if I wasn't going to win it. I bid $250 and watched it get chipped away.When I saw the bidding stop I thought that snipers were getting ready so I went back into Ebay and upped my max bid to $350 and made peace that if I lost it thats fine. It wasnt worth $351 for me.

I totally understand where you are coming from. Trust me, if it's something that I won't take no for an answer for, I always up my bid.

And trust me, it wasn't the fact that I was looking for a deal for these two pieces. They both weren't touched until the auctions where sent to me by Chris. They both started out at $50 and I put my bid in for $250. Then literally at the very last second, I end up loosing at a price of $255 for both auctions.

Sure, someone obviously wanted it worse than I did and was willing to pay more than $250 for it. And trust me, I'm fine with it. What I'm venting about is the fact that the snipe came in with 1 second to go. That's the frustrating part for me. Fact of life, sure, do I have to like it... no!

I haven't bid on anything for months now, I don't even have a watch list, I occasionally run my searches through but end up getting bored trawling through the auctions and just go back to check the forum sale threads.

I know perfectly how you feel Chris, there have been many times where I was the winning bidder for days let alone hours, when it goes like that you tend to get comfortable and think its safe or that no-one else saw it, sometimes you go out and come back to a loss and its disappointing sure but when you are right there watching and waiting in the final minutes (and in the past before they changed it, hitting refresh every second ) to see it suddenly hit a few dollars more than you had on it is pretty gutting lol.

Sometimes I have bid my max because I just didn't have more in the pot and of course everyone wants a bargain, whats the point in ebay bidding if you are just going to whack a huge price on it, might as well go buy one outright from another seller if thats the case, I think the thrill of ebay really lies in the bargain hunting and convincing yourself you "got a good deal" (and on some occasions actually getting one )

Like I said if every auction you came across you just plonked $600 on to win it with no contest you probably are best buying them at fixed prices elsewhere, equally if I wanted something bad enough I would probably bid a bit more than I wanted but thats not a regular thing for me They don't call me Mr $5 budget for nothing

And Chris,........I trust you

aussiejames wrote:

Shawn I was watching the early bird kit as well. I don't use snipe because I enjoy bidding away lots of times. Except when it's on the other side of the world and I have to get up at 3 in the morning. I get outbid 9 out of 10 times sp i am well used to it. But it still sucks loosing

I hope we weren't competing for it. I just thought that it might end at a decent price where the seller didn't even put Star Wars in his auction title. I actually had my eye on a decent one on Brianstoys, but it sold before I was ready to splurge on it. It was even a decent price which is rare for them.

Joe_O wrote:

They don't call me Mr $5 budget for nothing

You might lose that title soon as I think your budget has gone up a bit in the last few months.

shawn_k wrote:

Joe_O wrote:

They don't call me Mr $5 budget for nothing

You might lose that title soon as I think your budget has gone up a bit in the last few months.

Yes that might be true but it also made me skint

Joe_O wrote:

And Chris,........I trust you

Trust me Joe, I don't know where I would be without trust. Especially if I'm really serious about something... like Trust.

Good lord, can I use that phrase anymore?

I know what your saying John. I dont mind loosing out if I'm not watching it up to the end, but like Chris said, those 1 second snips is what kills me. At times, I hope someone does outbid me because I found something better. But when your the highest bidder with an 1/2 hour or less left until it ends on a piece you really do want and with 1-4 secs left someone snatches it out from you, it drives you nuts. Look at the German 3 packs. Something that should've went to someone who really wanted them for their collection, but ended up with some nut case who tried to sell them 2x higher than what they went for.

I understand where everyone is coming from. And like I said I don't like sniping. I guess my point was that if you are going to bid during the auction (as opposed to under 1hr left) you need to realize you're carrying a bullseye and need to protect your bids.

The only time I don't bid near the end is if it's something I know I want and then I place my bid to the highest amount I'm willing to pay. That way if I am outbid its for a price I knew I wouldnt pay.

"I hope we weren't competing for it" nah, I was just watching

I ONLY bid by sniping. I sent my top price from the beginning & don't change it. If i win, i win. If i lose there's no more last minute emotional bids. Keeps the price from rising as well sometimes. That's the way i do it, & i ain't changing. I expect snipes on every thing i'm bidding on.

"no more last minute emotional bids. " that's the fun part for me

& i bet that fun costs you a fair bit of cash too James, lol!

"& i bet that fun costs you a fair bit of cash too James" Yep but since when was fun free I must admit I am pretty good at keeping to a budget, it's just the quantity of purchases that hurt. Ten $10 items is still $100 no matter what excuse I try and give it

I thought i would pull a thread from 2009! (has it been that long!)

I'm a purist i dont do ebay snipes i love the thrill of live bidding and watching the countdown. Its has it draw backs if you internet fucks up mind but that hasn't happen to me in years now.

I have never used snipe software before is there a specific one people would recommend?

Now we have more members how many folk actually use snipes?

Jay

I still don't. I just got use to putting in what I'm willing to go and if someone wants it more than me, they can have because another will pop up and usually for cheaper.

Darthberizing wrote:

I understand where everyone is coming from. And like I said I don't like sniping. I guess my point was that if you are going to bid during the auction (as opposed to under 1hr left) you need to realize you're carrying a bullseye and need to protect your bids.

The only time I don't bid near the end is if it's something I know I want and then I place my bid to the highest amount I'm willing to pay. That way if I am outbid its for a price I knew I wouldnt pay.

Same stance as last year!