To the SOB that outbid me on Ebay...

[Turbo Tim 1]

E-mail the seller through that auction that way it goes directly to the actual seller, make double sure it's him.

 

[Matt400]

Sniping is the only way to go, otherwise you give someone a lot of time to think about how much they really want the item.

That clears up the difference of just plugging in your highest bid, interesting thanks.

 

[Rebel Ram]

I got snipped out of a sweet 92 D350 CTD with a cabover camper with 5 seconds to go. I was ******. Its a chezzzy and cowardly thing to do. I don't care who doesn't like the sound of that. But as fate would have it the p**** backed out and left the seller hanging and I ended up with it anyway.

I bid in good faith with the intent to buy if I win. I believe that snipping shows the true character of the man or lack thereof and is done just to jack people.

PS. I hope they read this. They will know who they are.

 

[Koa Man]

Sniping is the smart way to bid. A bidding war causes the price of an item to sometimes go higher than you can buy it at retail. I have watched people bid up the prices of used bicycles and mopeds at the local police auction higher than they could have purchased the same item new at a retailer. The last few minutes of an Ebay auction is when there is the most activity. That is because the experienced bidders, even those that don't snipe, wait till the last minute to shoot in a bid. I often times cannot be monitoring an auction, so I put in the highest price I am willing to pay, and have the sniping service put it in 5 seconds before the bid ends. If I win the auction, then obviously I wanted the item more than you did, otherwise my snipe would still have been out bid by you if you had a higher max. The whole purpose of a snipe is to not give another bidder the chance to think that I really want that item more than I thought I did at first. I often times set my max. bid as a snipe 48 or more hours in advance and then forget about it. Even with sniping, I only get about 25-30% of the items I bid on. Quite often I get an email from the sniping service that my snipe was not placed because the item has exceed my max. bid. I sometimes get this hours before the auction ends. Just because you set a snipe is no guarentee you will win. Whoever put in the highest max. bid will win the auction. So the bottom line is, how badly do you want the item you are bidding on?

 

[rrausch]

Rebel Ram, that may have been the seller's shill, who was testing to see how high your bid was. With big ticket items it is not uncommon for sellers to have their buddies keep bidding to drive up the potential buyer's bid as high as possible. He probably thought your high bid was higher than it was. If the seller did not give the high bidder neg. feedback for not going through with the sale, then it was probably his shill.

 

[ACoyle]

I am not a big e-bayer. I have won four auctions. I got bad product on three of them. One was even illegal product. e-Bay only gives lip service to trying to police the community. It is truely a seller's site. there are noumerous protections availabel to sellers. Not really complaining. This is teh nature of free commerce. However, a buyer only really has one tool available and that is sniping. Be that electronic or manual. While I have not done a lot fo research, I presume that sniping is as old as actions themselves.



Unless sellers are willing to be more accountable for their actions, why don't we all relax and accept reality.



Just my tow cents - AC

 

[J Shocik]

I've bought almost 90 items on eBay & never got stuck. (yet) The trick is to look at the sellers feedback. If it's lower than 98%, then I stay away. As for sniping, the best thing is to be an educated consumer. Know the product you're buying. If you want it that bad, "watch" the item, then with about 5 min. left, "babysit" the auction. Put your bid in with about 8 sec. left. If it's high enough, you win without getting sniped! My best was winning an item with 2 sec. left. I usually win with 4-8 sec left.

 

[TheWolf]

I usually wait until the last hour or minute to bid, why should I bid up the item I want over 7 days?? sounds stupid to me. all your gonna do is get it to a price that I could go buy a new one for. I am not gonna use ebay or any auction to buy something for regular retail price, esp if it is a used item. so don't blame me for looking out for myself and not the seller.

 

[Holysmokes]

Revenge of the snipe

If I see a item that im interested in I have a set bid... . Ill bid and bid bumping the price WAAAAAAAAY UP. I looked at a jeep that was 2500 bucks,no reserve, and the "buy it now" was 10K,with 14 min left. Every bid I put in I was out bid. So I bumped him up to paying $6800 and quit biding . :-laf

 

[RDupree]

you need an exhaust brake? email me at -- email address removed --. .

 

[Koa Man]

If I see a item that im interested in I have a set bid... . Ill bid and bid bumping the price WAAAAAAAAY UP. I looked at a jeep that was 2500 bucks,no reserve, and the "buy it now" was 10K,with 14 min left. Every bid I put in I was out bid. So I bumped him up to paying $6800 and quit biding . :-laf

Hmmm, what happens if no one had a higher bid??? Would you have been willing to buy the Jeep for that price?