Ebay auctions and snipers

[severinatalyn]

I've been using Ebay for awhile, and I have not had such a huge problem with snipers as I have had since I started bidding on BPAL. It really bothers me that people who haven't bid on a certain auction come in during the last minute of the auction and steal it from you. I just lost an auction that had no other bids when someone bid from $9.99 to $

Comments

[ambersarchives]

I got into trouble during my first year of college for using Ebay. I bid early and got into bidding wars all the time - and ended up in debt.

Now I bid at the last possible second. It saves me a lot of grief if I just bid at the last minute, with my largest bid. That way, the most I pay is what I think it's worth, and I have no chance to bid higher.

[shipwrecked]

I also only tend to bid at the last instant -- mostly because I'm never really sure if I actually want something until the last minute. I'm like that when I shop in real life too... I never buy something when there's actually a decent supply left -- I have to wait and wait and hope it's still there.

I just figure there's no harm in bidding my maximum late in the game. If someone else is willing to pay more for it, good for them. I know it's frustrating though -- I've been outsniped on several things lately. I just didn't want it badly enough.

[ex_carnaval_619]

My policy has always been, for the most part, not to bid on anything that someone else has bid on already, unless it's something I really want. So if I see something good, I'll either bid ahead of time or the last minute if there aren't any other bids because I know people are probably watching the item. I have sniped before but generally only on something that again, I really coveted. I've also lost a goodly amount of auctions to other snipers - my much sought after Lump of coal was taken out from under me by $1 - I was physically sick afterwards. I'm with everyone else, bid at the last minute, it's easier if you want to keep the price down (7 day auctions are awful!); however, I've seen items go from $5 to $70 in a matter of seconds, gah! The Buy It Now option has indeed worked wonders for me too, but I do prefer here or the forum. Ebay is the devil.

[vivalda]

The same thing happended to me, I started to think all I did was drive up auction prices. Now I use Auction Sniper to bid on things on Ebay. It basically bids for you at the last few seconds. This way I get Bpal and other stuff waay cheaper than if I got into a bid war. Heres a link,

[misslynx]

It's not just BPAL - the majority of eBay auctions I've watched or bid on have followed that pattern. I used to bid early, but I never won anything that way - either someone else would snipe it at the last minute and/or the price would get driven up beyond what I could afford