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Anyone else get sniped lately

Discussion in 'Other Militaria' started by AndyPants, Apr 5, 2011.

  1. AndyPants

    AndyPants Ace

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    .....Im not a very active '*bayer' so sort of forgot about all the guys that wait till the very end (3 seconds) to snipe .........and boy did I get sniped tonight :headbonk:

    Due to the sellers location, (hence high postage cost) no one else had bid on a fantastic group of British WW1 / WW2 ribbon bars .....some serious good ones with a Mons Star Rosette ribbon included. .......Well I lost out at 3 seconds to go by 50 US cents :(

    .......rant over, no point crying over spilt milk, anyone else get sniped/burnt lately.
     
  2. m kenny

    m kenny Member

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    When I am the top bidder I spend the last 2 minutes putting in several bids slightly in advance of the current bid.
    say I am bidding '6' then I make bids of 6.5, 7.00, 7.5, 8.00 ect.
    That will not stop someone who is prepeared to pay greatly more than you but if someone is just trying to trump you by a small amount they have to make a few attempts to get there and hopefully will not manage it in the time left before the end of the sale.
     
  3. RRCOLLECTOR

    RRCOLLECTOR Member

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    I 'snip' bid to try and prevent 'shill' bidding from happening to me. Ebay and the likes can try and claim that they work at preventing 'shill' bids from taking place but it happens nonetheless.

    Rich
     
  4. AndyPants

    AndyPants Ace

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    Thanks m kenny, I may try that next time. ......Is there a book on *bay tactics lol ;), ......tonight though, it actually took me a second or two to realise that I had lost out. I think Id be too scared to leave my bid to 5 or so seconds in case it does'nt 'go through', but clearly it can work out....to my disadvantage
     
  5. AndyPants

    AndyPants Ace

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    Hey Rich, sorry but what's 'shill' bidding?.....as in putting in a high bid?
     
  6. RRCOLLECTOR

    RRCOLLECTOR Member

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    Andy,

    'Shill' bidding is when a seller either uses another Ebay account or has a friend use his/hers to drive up your bid to you maximum bid or proxy bid. This is illegal and there are cases where legal action has been taken against a seller for such actions.

    Rich
     
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  7. AndyPants

    AndyPants Ace

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    Thanks Rich,

    I know exactly what you mean, didn't know it was called 'shill' bidding.
     
  8. C.Evans

    C.Evans Expert

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    I get sniped all the time. Sometime it ticks me off, sometimes I also bid a few times on an item I want, but not near as much as another item. So therefore, to get back at two I know who love sniping me everytime I get on, I shaft them by making them pay more than they want for mundane photos and such. One guy I snipe as much as possible-getting some revenge for all the sniping hes done on me for the past 2 years--is a jerk whose user name is: o***o. I snipe that jerk as much as I can-hence, some of the better pix that Skipper posts for me here ;-)) I still lose out on a few very good ones, but nothing like it was before, now that I have a new fast computer.
     
  9. AndyPants

    AndyPants Ace

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    Hmmmm Carl, I'd nearly suspect you were the one who sniped me.......only you don't collect British medals lol :D
     
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  10. freebird

    freebird Member

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    "Sniping" works, so if you suspect that other bidders will be doing it, don't bid stuff up, wait until the last 15 sec or so an bid your max.
     
  11. C.Evans

    C.Evans Expert

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    Heh heh, just the German ones ;-))
     
  12. C.Evans

    C.Evans Expert

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    Ive done that too but lost out on more pix than I want to admit to, only because someone else bid much higher. At any rate, THEY wind up "paying" for it more than just money -- evil aint I? :lol::lol:
     
  13. Victor Gomez

    Victor Gomez Ace

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    Gosh........now I have to open my good eye......to learn.....didn't know bidding was still like the old auction days when the auctioneer had somebody setting in the bleachers just to help bid up the price....seen that many times at furniture auctions....even livestock auctions. Now electronically instead of being more honest (sigh) there are just more advanced techniques in the electronics.
     
  14. GE 999

    GE 999 Member

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    If the item is something you really care about its best if you can be online at the time of the auction end. Watch the countdown and when it outbids you by 50 cents with 10 seconds to go you place another bid for a dollar or two more and hopefully snip the sniper.

    To keep the price down when you find something thats miscategorized or uncategorized don't bid on it until at the earliest a day before the auction ends, if possible try to wait as long as possible before placing your bid. People will frequently pass over items with 0 bids in they're in a hurry as they think that since there no bids, it wasn't worth bidding on and move on. Bid too early and you can attrack attention and then the price can just get out of hand.
     
  15. Vitesse

    Vitesse Member

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    I can never understand the griping about snipe bidding. I don't buy much on eBay these days, but I used snipe tools all the time when I did as it's a very good way of not being tempted to overbid and pay far more than you intended. Simple method:

    1 Decide - calmly and well in advance of the auction close - how much your maximum bid in round dollars/pounds/euros would be.
    2 Add a random number of cents/pence. Don't pick a likely number like 10, 25 or 50 - go for 16, 29 or 57: that way you win if you and someone else make closely-matched bids.
    3 Set that amount in your bid sniper.
    4 Forget about it until you hear from eBay and/or your snipe service. If you won, you almost certainly won't have paid the full amount you bid. If you lost - someone wanted it more (or had more money) than you did and would probably have won any bidding war. If your snipe didn't go in, it had already gone over your pre-determined limit. Whichever - you haven't overspent!

    But the most important point is that if you lost and had put in a bid up to your maximum you weren't going to win it anyway, sniper or not.
     
  16. C.Evans

    C.Evans Expert

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    Sadly, that bidding too soon always happens and on most of the good stuff too. I always place an item on my watch list then watch to see what garners interest then i decide what im REALLY intested in. I sometime bid on other stuff I really dont want but, thats to throw the dogs off my tail---so to speak.
     
  17. C.Evans

    C.Evans Expert

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    I do what you suggested above, I never place a bid using a "normal" amount. I might place a bid for $1.93 or $4.72--etc. Most of the time I win what I want.
     

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