Does ebay pi$$ anybody else off besides me?

[johnsdeere850j]

Trying to get me a set of snap on impact sockets off ebay today. I was winning the auction with 3 or 4 seconds left at $388.00 and I had my max bid set at $501.55 I thought FOR SURE it was not humanly possibly to guess my max bid, but somehow they beat me by 5 dollars at the last second... WTF!!! EBAY is a piece of **** I would have gladly paid more than that other guy. Really dont understand this... Anybody else get screwed by ebay lately on tools?

 

[SMKS]

someone used a sniping program, most likely. It puts a bid in for you at the last second.

Or someone waited and just bid at the last second. It's happened to all of us, just the nature of the beast, I guess.

 

[MalibuLX3]

With eBay I find I need to set my maximum bid at the absolute most I'm willing to pay and walk away. Otherwise, if I sit there watching the end of the auction I find myself saying, "oh, what's another $10, it's worth it" and then end up paying more than I wanted to and most the time feeling like I shouldn't have bought the item.

 

[cj610]

With eBay I find I need to set my maximum bid at the absolute most I'm willing to pay and walk away. Otherwise, if I sit there watching the end of the auction I find myself saying, "oh, what's another $10, it's worth it" and then end up paying more than I wanted to and most the time feeling like I shouldn't have bought the item.

Yea, I never get into a bidding war. Set your max in there and step away. If someone outbids you it's because they'll pay more for the item.

eBay can be a dangerous place........

 

[thrifty bill]

+1 If you want to be successful buying on ebay, use a sniping program, and do not bother to bid before then. Bidding before then just alerts others of your interest, and newbie ebay bidders will adjust (raise) their bid when they see others are bidding. Keep your interest secret by only sniping.

Winning on ebay takes a different strategy than a regular, in person auction. The sooner you adapt to these differences, the sooner you will be winning auctions at prices you find acceptable.

+1 I always bid the maximum an item is worth to me. If it is worth more to someone else, I let them have it. No regrets on my part. But I only snipe bid, so my competition does not know of my interest until the auction is over. I win maybe a third of the time. And most of the time, when I do win, I get the item for well under my maximum bid.

 

[johnsdeere850j]

someone used a sniping program, most likely. It puts a bid in for you at the last second.

Or someone waited and just bid at the last second. It's happened to all of us, just the nature of the beast, I guess.

ARRRGHH that has got to be against the rules right???? Freakin people always trying to cheat other people. I wish ebay would just go to pure auction style like at farm auctions and the like... Going once going twice sold... I guarantee the sellers would get more and the buyers would be happy. This "snipe program" business you are talking about is wrong.

 

[johnsdeere850j]

+1 If you want to be successful buying on ebay, use a sniping program, and do not bother to bid before then. Bidding before then just alerts others of your interest, and newbie ebay bidders will adjust (raise) their bid when they see others are bidding. Keep your interest secret by only sniping.

Winning on ebay takes a different strategy than a regular, in person auction. The sooner you adapt to these differences, the sooner you will be winning auctions at prices you find acceptable.

+1 I always bid the maximum an item is worth to me. If it is worth more to someone else, I let them have it. No regrets on my part. But I only snipe bid, so my competition does not know of my interest until the auction is over. I win maybe a third of the time. And most of the time, when I do win, I get the item for well under my maximum bid.

You snipe bid huh? You think that is ok? Its sneaky, like cheating with my wife or something

 

[reptilezs]

use j bid watcher and the multi snipe. find a few auctions that you like of the same product, set your price for each one and hit multi snipe. if you win one it will cancel the other snipes. free too

 

[johnsdeere850j]

Yea, I never get into a bidding war. Set your max in there and step away. If someone outbids you it's because they'll pay more for the item.

eBay can be a dangerous place........

But they always steal it from me for a couple bucks at the last second, thats not fair I'd gladly pay the few extra bucks if it comes down to that... Guess I will just pay retail from now on.

 

[Stephenw]

If you would have paid more, you should have entered a higher maximum bid.

eBay uses an incremental bid system. It does not work like a live auction. Someone is always complaining about eBay because they do not understand this system.

I don't use sniping services.

I set my max bid at the most I'm willing to pay. I place the bid with a few seconds left in the auction. I usually win, but sometimes I lose.

That's how the game works.

 

[Zebu Fellenz]

Trying to get me a set of snap on impact sockets off ebay today. I was winning the auction with 3 or 4 seconds left at $388.00 and I had my max bid set at $501.55

I would have gladly paid more than that other guy. Really dont understand this... Anybody else get screwed by ebay lately on tools?

If you would have gladly paid more than the winner did why did you set your max bid for $501.55?

The guy who won didn't have to guess your max bid, all he did was put in a max bid that was higher than yours and Ebay automatically put in his bid for $5 more than your max bid because that's the increment for the price range the bidding was in.

I don't see anything wrong or dishonest with this. If you want an item set your max bid to the most you're willing to spend, if you win great, if not it just means someone wanted it more than you.

Sniping doesn't bother me in the least because the only time the snipe wins in when the person sniping is willing to spend more than me.

 

[mrholeshot]

They pissed me off but not for that reason. We have all been sniped. In most cases I'm releived.

 

[outlander800]

Nothing wrong with sniping, thats how I roll too. It feels good winning an auction that alot of people are bidding on, almost an adrenaline rush LOL. You gotta snipe bid man, otherwise your just gonna get your *** kicked on every auction.

 

[bart1]

I don't really like eBay and have lost out on a couple auctions at the last minute lately, but I have gotten good deals, too. I don't snipe, usually just put in a price somewhat lower than I think I could find the item for elsewhere.

 

[schloe]

ARRRGHH that has got to be against the rules right???? Freakin people always trying to cheat other people. I wish ebay would just go to pure auction style like at farm auctions and the like... Going once going twice sold... I guarantee the sellers would get more and the buyers would be happy. This "snipe program" business you are talking about is wrong.

Cheating???

The other person was willing to pay more than you so they got the item and you didn't. It's as simple as that. If you had put in your max bid higher, perhaps you could have won the item.

 

[srmofo]

I wait till the last 1-2 seconds before placing my max bid. Its funny because when you lose the other person is sitting there like "WTF, the price just doubled?"

Or I win, either way Im happy. Someone was willing to pay more so they won, simple as that.

I dont use any programs because Im too feaked out about giving all my info to some mysterious program on the net that promises to win auctions for me. Im paranoid like that.

If I see an item for 1$ I will put a bid in on that also, but just for the starting bid. You would be surprised at how often I win items because no one bids on them. Theres not a worse felling than seeing an item with no bids at .99 because I forgot to bid on it.

I often wonder how many times people have dummy accounts set up to bid the items up?

 

[spongerich]

Theres not a worse felling than seeing an item with no bids at .99 because I forgot to bid on it.

That's for sure. I had a Wilton 2" Bullet vise in my watch list and forgot to set a snipe. The seller had started it at $.99 with no reserve.

I was out all day and was infuriated at myself when I saw that it drew no bids.

Unfortunately, the seller realized his error and relisted it for $300 the next day.

 

[WVBrady]

I wait till the last 1-2 seconds before placing my max bid...

I did that on something that I wanted and got the message:"Internet Explorer is not responding."

 

[carder69]

I seem to have a minority opinion, but I like to find cheap buy it now and bid early on items I want. I am about 10-15% successful, but at least I own the bidding range I am willing to pay, sniping relies on timing and luck and I seem to not have much of either.

 

[Blacknwhitepit]

Trying to get me a set of snap on impact sockets off ebay today. I was winning the auction with 3 or 4 seconds left at $388.00 and I had my max bid set at $501.55 I thought FOR SURE it was not humanly possibly to guess my max bid, but somehow they beat me by 5 dollars at the last second... WTF!!! EBAY is a piece of **** I would have gladly paid more than that other guy. Really dont understand this... Anybody else get screwed by ebay lately on tools?

I would have gladly paid more than that other guy

Then you didn't truly didn't enter your maximum bid!.... The thing about EBAY is that the Highest bid wins, whether the bid was entered 1 seconds after the bidding started or 1 seconds before it ended......

The high bid always wins.... I know it is an oversimplified concept, but true... All sniping does is put in a bid at the last second....

-BWP

 

[BBQ&Love]

I almost always use esnipe to bid on eBay. Sniping rules! Set you max and walk away.

I have over 2,500 feedback on my selling account on eBay and I loved snipers. Snipers are serious bidders.

 

[Skin]

If you would have paid more, you should have entered a higher maximum bid.

eBay uses an incremental bid system. It does not work like a live auction. Someone is always complaining about eBay because they do not understand this system.

I don't use sniping services.

I set my max bid at the most I'm willing to pay. I place the bid with a few seconds left in the auction. I usually win, but sometimes I lose.

That's how the game works.

Pretty much going to echo the above. If you would have paid more you should of entered a higher amount.

And it annoys me when people dont understand ebay as well, they did not magically "guess" your bid, its an incremental system. They could of entered $600 but ebay will simply put the maximum winning amount at whatever it took to beat your bid. In your case it was your max + about $5. As stated above, you should have entered a higher number if you would of paid it.

As far as sniping goes, the program is only good for as high of an amount someone puts, it doesnt guarantee you anything. Personally i like to watch my auctions of interest end and i'm perfectly capable of manually entering an amount within the last 5 closing seconds.

 

[johnsdeere850j]

Whatever

 

[Jim C.]

I would have gladly paid more than that other guy. Really dont understand this... Anybody else get screwed by ebay lately on tools?

What don't you understand? If you REALLY would have gladly paid more than the other guy, then why didn't you set your maximum bid at a higher amount? It looks like the "other guy" was really the one who gladly would have paid more for the item...... And did!!!! Ebay didn't screw you. You screwed yourself by underbidding and hoping that no one else was willing to REALLY pay for the item. Ebay usually favors the seller. If there's a popular item up for auction, expect to pay at the top end of the reasonable price range or even higher. Remember, you're bidding against the entire world!!!! Trying to "steal" a desirable item on Ebay rarely works. If you were willing to pay more than the other guy, then you should have bid your max and then seen where the chips fell.

 

[johnsdeere850j]

What don't you understand? If you REALLY would have gladly paid more than the other guy, then why didn't you set your maximum bid at a higher amount? It looks like the "other guy" was really the one who gladly would have paid more for the item...... And did!!!! Ebay didn't screw you. You screwed yourself by underbidding and hoping that no one else was wiling to REALLY pay for the item. Ebay usually favors the seller. If there's a popular item up for auction, expect to pay at the top end of the reasonable price range or even higher. Remember, you're bidding against the entire world!!!! Trying to "steal" a desirable item on Ebay rarely works. If you were willing to pay more than the other guy, then you should have bid your max and then seen where the chips fell.

Thanks for the help Jim

 

[2chipped]

Enter the highest bid.........don't take a knife to a gunfight.

 

[toolnut]

It is truely amazing at any auction how people will over pay for any item. Be glad that you didn't over pay and stick with that. Works for me.

 

[gatewaysysop]

Enter the highest bid.........don't take a knife to a gunfight.

This is my feeling as well. I don't snipe at the last second, but I rarely put in a bid on something until the last few minutes of the auction. If I really want the item, I put in as much as I can live with or slightly more. At least that way, if I lose I'm kinda relieved rather than kicking myself over not bidding enough.

I've found that bidding only towards the end keeps the n00bs from inching the current bid up before they figure out they've hit their limit. When there's only seconds to go, they don't have time to try one amount, then jack it up again, then again, before they give up. I like to think it saves me money sometimes when the other bidders can't make up their minds about how much they want to spend.

A few things that I must have, I put a high enough bid that no sane person would outbid me, certainly not in the last 2 minutes. Anyone wants to spend more than that, more power to 'em.

 

[Adam McLaughlin]

I actually like the auction sniper aspect of the game; this truly does configure the auction to more of a silent auction type. Everyone puts in the max that they are willing to pay and then at the end of the show; the highest bidder does win. Simple as that. None of this one-up-manship **** that leads eBay to drive prices to the moon.

Adam

 

[treasureseeker]

I just bid the most I will pay and some weeks I win a lot at a good price and other weeks I win few items or close to the limit. I don’t have many one of a kind item I want to win so there is always tomorrow. To me the weekend is the worst for getting a deal but that doesn’t always hold true either.

 

[Toolhorder]

I dislike sniping too. I understand how ebay works and dislike that as well. Ebay needs to act like a real auctioneer and extend the auction a couple minutes when a last minute bid comes in giving others a chance to increase their bid or let the new bid take the auction. It would be better for everyone actually except the sneaky buyers who cheat the system. Ebay would collect more fees and sellers would get more bids.
When ebay was created I'm sure buyers with snipe programs were not in the business model.

 

[Busted_Knuckles]

At the end of the day, its a fricken auction, high bid wins, whats not to like, you no like, you walk away, pretty simple. I agree that ebay should extend the bidding when bids keep coming in, for other bidders to bid again, but its their game, you play by there rules. I dont see the problem. I snipe and I get sniped, I dont get pissed, I just realized that I didnt bid enough. I too dont like ebay either, but I dislike buying new on the SO truck allot more than I dislike ebay.

 

[canuckian]

. Ebay needs to act like a real auctioneer and extend the auction a couple minutes when a last minute bid comes in giving others a chance to increase their bid or let the new bid take the auction. .

then all the sniper would have to do is come in at the end of the couple of minutes given at the end of the auction. no matter if you're taking part in live auctions or online auctions, you have to be present at the end of an auction and actively bidding to win. The way i see if is if you set your maximum bid to the absolute highest amount you're willing to pay for an item, then that's just as effective as sniping. when I snipe, I just jack it up to my maximum price in the last few seconds and let it go. If another sniper is willing to pay more during those last few seconds, they will win. It wouldn't matter if I set my price at the beginning or the end of the auction. higher bid always wins. The "one click bid" option itself is a form of sniping - and Ebay invented it!

 

[treasureseeker]

I used to hate snipers as a seller until I started reading the discussion forums on EBay. Without the last minute bidder my item would sell for less. On gun Broker they do the extent an auction in the last minutes if a bid comes in and I found it annoying. I would bid then the other bidder and it just went on until one of us got bored enough to quit. I think the snipers give some excitement to Ebay. I have had a few ties in the last seconds on EBay and the earliest bidder wins. I won some and lost some with a tie.

The one click bid doesn’t always go through according to upset bidders posting to the discussions forum on eBay.

 

[Toolhorder]

then all the sniper would have to do is come in at the end of the couple of minutes given at the end of the auction. no matter if you're taking part in live auctions or online auctions, you have to be present at the end of an auction and actively bidding to win. The way i see if is if you set your maximum bid to the absolute highest amount you're willing to pay for an item, then that's just as effective as sniping. when I snipe, I just jack it up to my maximum price in the last few seconds and let it go. If another sniper is willing to pay more during those last few seconds, they will win. It wouldn't matter if I set my price at the beginning or the end of the auction. higher bid always wins. The "one click bid" option itself is a form of sniping - and Ebay invented it!

Maybe I wasn't as clear or you didn't see my point. What I'm saying is at the last minute a snipe comes through. Ebay extends the auction say 3 mins. for any other bidders. Snipe #2 comes in and Ebay extends again until nobody else bids. That's how REAL auctions work and that's how Ebay should work too.
Personally I think Ebay has hit a wall for future growth. Their solution to fixing problems is usually to ignore them and when the profits fall they like the USPS increase their price in fees.
I hope another company comes along and refuses to sell to them (in case you don't know Ebay likes to buy out competition)

How they don't get hit with a federal suit for running a monopoly like Microsoft is beyond me. How they get away with running auctions also makes me wonder.

 

[BJ42LX]

Ebay has been around a while and has changed some things over the years: Buy-It-Now, Dutch auctions, dynamic B-I-N, etc. It's all been done in the context of maximizing (eBay) profit through attracting buyers and sellers and adjust fees accordingly.

While I have no evidence of it, I'm sure eBay has considered allowing auctions to continue as bids are entered near the end of the auction. In my opinion the reason they don't do this is auctions can end any day at any time and bidders can't be expected to hang out at 3am on Easter morning to check on their bids.

Think of it as online auction darwinism. It is what it is because no one has developed anything better (yet!).

If you really have a better idea, have at it!

Ebay needs to act like a real auctioneer and extend the auction a couple minutes when a last minute bid comes in giving others a chance to increase their bid or let the new bid take the auction. It would be better for everyone actually except the sneaky buyers who cheat the system. Ebay would collect more fees and sellers would get more bids.
When ebay was created I'm sure buyers with snipe programs were not in the business model.

 

[Toolhorder]

Ebay has been around a while and has changed some things over the years: Buy-It-Now, Dutch auctions, dynamic B-I-N, etc. It's all been done in the context of maximizing (eBay) profit through attracting buyers and sellers and adjust fees accordingly.

While I have no evidence of it, I'm sure eBay has considered allowing auctions to continue as bids are entered near the end of the auction. In my opinion the reason they don't do this is auctions can end any day at any time and bidders can't be expected to hang out at 3am on Easter morning to check on their bids.

Think of it as online auction darwinism. It is what it is because no one has developed anything better (yet!).

If you really have a better idea, have at it!

I dunno about that. If I could make my own site I would, that doesn't mean I can't complain about how they ****.

 

[Stephenw]

Those who say the auction should be extended if a snipe bid is entered do not understand how the incremental bid system works.

If the current bid is $500 and I snipe $510 dollars with one nano second left in the auction, I may still lose. If the high bidder's maximum bid was $600, my $510 dollar bid would be entered and the current bid would increment to $520. The high bidder would still win with a closing price of $520.

The highest maximum bid always wins, whether entered at the start of the auction, or with 1 nanosecond left. It doesn't matter if the bid is entered manually or with a sniping service.

 

[peterbilr98]

got to love those 2nd chance bids when you get sniped i got sniped on a set of snapon hex bit set got a second chance offer on my low bid

 

[canuckian]

Maybe I wasn't as clear or you didn't see my point. What I'm saying is at the last minute a snipe comes through. Ebay extends the auction say 3 mins. for any other bidders. Snipe #2 comes in and Ebay extends again until nobody else bids. That's how REAL auctions work and that's how Ebay should work too.
Personally I think Ebay has hit a wall for future growth. Their solution to fixing problems is usually to ignore them and when the profits fall they like the USPS increase their price in fees.
I hope another company comes along and refuses to sell to them (in case you don't know Ebay likes to buy out competition)

How they don't get hit with a federal suit for running a monopoly like Microsoft is beyond me. How they get away with running auctions also makes me wonder.

I guess I'm a little different in my way of thinking. If i have a maximum price I'm willing to pay, whether I put it in at the beginning or at the end of the auction, that's the most I'm willing to pay.period. Adding more time at the end of an auction would only be beneficial if i hadn't already reached my maximum bid by the end of the auction so IMO, the extra time at the end would totally defeat the purpose of a timed auction. There are, however auction sites that somewhat do what you speak of, though tediously. Just do a google search on penny auctions....those can go on forever!! Endurance is the only thing that wins those auctions!

Ebay is what Ebay is. and incremental, timed auction. I've gotten sniped hundreds of times.... Ah well. I've also sniped and won. the beauty about Ebay is that the item I get sniped out of one day will usually re-appear in short order. Eventually, I'll get what I want at a price I'm willing to live with.