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Randy Petersen asked a similar question a few months ago:
http://web2.flyertalk.com/forum/show...highlight=ebay |
I've used esnipe but now I've moved to phantombidder.com
It charges a set fee per successful bid instead of a value based fee used by esnipe. You can also sign up for unlimited bids. Another good thing is that you can set up bidding groups. If you win one item in the group, the remaining bids are canceled so you don't risk winning multiple items if you're away and can't cancel sniping bids manually. |
Originally Posted by fredman
Ok, sniping: one thing to be careful about:
In some instances, if you set up your snipe to bid in, say, the last 5-6 seconds of an auction, you MUST make your bid increment high enough that it actually 'goes thru', and by that I mean, the first two times I sniped an item, I didn't get it, even though I sniped at like 2 seconds before the end of the auction at a higher amount, and the winning bid went thru 5 seconds before mine. I'm not sure how to explain this real well, but maybe you will get what I am saying: there was a $150 item I wanted, I bid $50 as my limit, and with 8 seconds left a guy bid $65, and I previously set my snipe to bid in 4% increments to out-bid anyone else 'automatically' up until my actual top-end limit, which I programmed in at $75, so it went from 50 to 54, not enough, 54 to 58, 58 to 62, not enough, and for some reason my snipe went thru at $66, and my bid was rejected due to 'not enough of an increment', or some BS reason like that, and by then the item had closed. All I am saying is, when you set up your snipes, BE SURE to increment as high a dollar amount as you can afford, depending on how bad you want the item. If you were willing to pay $75, why not put in the snipe at $75? You then have an opportunity to purchase the item at the minimum price of prior bid plus minimum increment(which is not BS). The only advantage your system has is shutting out someone who does not bid high enough to include the minimum increment. In many auctions, the min. increment is 5-10% of the bid. I bid on an item that went for $31100. 40 bids, as min increment was $100. can you imagine how many bids if min is $1? |
Originally Posted by fredman
Ok, sniping: one thing to be careful about:
In some instances, if you set up your snipe to bid in, say, the last 5-6 seconds of an auction, you MUST make your bid increment high enough that it actually 'goes thru', and by that I mean, the first two times I sniped an item, I didn't get it, even though I sniped at like 2 seconds before the end of the auction at a higher amount, and the winning bid went thru 5 seconds before mine. I'm not sure how to explain this real well, but maybe you will get what I am saying: there was a $150 item I wanted, I bid $50 as my limit, and with 8 seconds left a guy bid $65, and I previously set my snipe to bid in 4% increments to out-bid anyone else 'automatically' up until my actual top-end limit, which I programmed in at $75, so it went from 50 to 54, not enough, 54 to 58, 58 to 62, not enough, and for some reason my snipe went thru at $66, and my bid was rejected due to 'not enough of an increment', or some BS reason like that, and by then the item had closed. All I am saying is, when you set up your snipes, BE SURE to increment as high a dollar amount as you can afford, depending on how bad you want the item. As slawecki says, this makes no sense. Just snipe your max of $75 in one bid. Then you wouldn't have run out of time or whatever happened to you at $66. What your max is and how you get there by increments and what you win the item for are not related so far as I can see; it all depends only on what the other guy does, except as below. One problem that occurs sometimes is that you outbid somebody by a hair, but not by enough to cover the increment. Say you snipe $102.05 at 4 seconds. But somebody else snipes $102.00 at 5 seconds. You are higher, but lose anyway. But if you'd sniped at 6 seconds, you'd have won. So you might snipe a couple seconds earlier than other programs do to avoid this, if your sniper allows it. Or just bump your max up by a couple dollars. www.bidnapper.com has always worked perfectly for me, but it does cost $45 a year or so. |
Originally Posted by fredman
Ok, sniping: one thing to be careful about:
I'm not sure how to explain this real well, but maybe you will get what I am saying: there was a $150 item I wanted, I bid $50 as my limit, and with 8 seconds left a guy bid $65, and I previously set my snipe to bid in 4% increments to out-bid anyone else 'automatically' up until my actual top-end limit, which I programmed in at $75, so it went from 50 to 54, not enough, 54 to 58, 58 to 62, not enough, and for some reason my snipe went thru at $66, and my bid was rejected due to 'not enough of an increment', or some BS reason like that, and by then the item had closed. |
I also have used esnipe for years. I may look into some of their competitors mentioned on this thread, however.
The main reason to snipe IMHO is that too many people will be determined to outbid you no matter what bid you enter. By putting in your actual highest bid at the end, they don't get the chance. |
Originally Posted by RLG
The main reason to snipe IMHO is that too many people will be determined to outbid you no matter what bid you enter. By putting in your actual highest bid at the end, they don't get the chance.
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