[Photobill]

I almost exclusively use a sniping service when bidding on items

What sniping service do you use if you don't mind sharing.

[vonBaloney]

What sniping service do you use if you don't mind sharing.

gixen is a good service

[BigMackCam]

Tell me more please!

What sniping service do you use if you don't mind sharing.

I've used AuctionStealer: Free Online eBay Auction Sniper successfully for a number of years now. The free service, which is the one I use, has changed a little over time in terms of usage allowance. Currently, it's limited to four auction wins per month, but that's mostly fine for me. Also, it places your bids around 10 seconds before the auction close, but the paid service allows for a much shorter, configurable buffer. It's a very good service, both in free and paid configurations.

[Aaron28]

But when I bumped up my offer to $70.00, the message went away.

interesting that 0.01 would do the 'trick'......good luck and hope ya score! happy shooting

[MarkJerling]

I've used AuctionStealer: Free Online eBay Auction Sniper successfully for a number of years now. The free service, which is the one I use, has changed a little over time in terms of usage allowance. Currently, it's limited to four auction wins per month, but that's mostly fine for me. Also, it places your bids around 10 seconds before the auction close, but the paid service allows for a much shorter, configurable buffer. It's a very good service, both in free and paid configurations.

Cool. Thanks fr that Mike. Sniping does not work on Trademe (our favourite local auction site) as auctions automatically extend the closing time of the auction by two minutes if bids are placed within the last two minutes of the auction.
But, seems like a good plan for E-Bay.

[ChrisPlatt]

Sniping does not work on Trademe (our favourite local auction site) as auctions automatically extend
the closing time of the auction by two minutes if bids are placed within the last two minutes of the auction.

I like that feature/policy. It gives us humans a fair chance!

Chris

[.a.t.]

interesting that 0.01 would do the 'trick'......good luck and hope ya score! happy shooting

Thanks, Aaron. If I succeed, I'll let you know.

[ZombieArmy]

I tend to lowball best offers to have the seller respond back with an offer themselves. A lot of the time it'll be quite a bit below budget, or they'll just accept the lowball offer.


Also sniping services are pointless in my eyes, as long as you have a good internet connection you can easily snipe yourself.

[kevinWE]

You're offer is significantly lower than the asking price (30.00 under what the seller listed the item for), that is why you received that message. Ignore the message and bid what you are willing to spend.

[vonBaloney]

I tend to lowball best offers to have the seller respond back with an offer themselves. A lot of the time it'll be quite a bit below budget, or they'll just accept the lowball offer.


Also sniping services are pointless in my eyes, as long as you have a good internet connection you can easily snipe yourself.

They are good when you are not going to be around to do it, or just don't want to bother.

[BigMackCam]

Cool. Thanks fr that Mike. Sniping does not work on Trademe (our favourite local auction site) as auctions automatically extend the closing time of the auction by two minutes if bids are placed within the last two minutes of the auction.
But, seems like a good plan for E-Bay.

I like that feature/policy. It gives us humans a fair chance!

Chris

Sniping tools are only detrimental to human bidders if they're bidding reactively and incrementally. The best strategy when doing things manually is to place just one bid as near to the auction close as possible and for the *maximum* amount you're prepared to pay, then leave well alone (sniping manually, as it were, albeit with less of a time advantage).

The real value of using a sniping tool is to take the emotion out of your bidding - i.e. to stop you bidding above the limit you decided rationally - and to avoid letting others see that you're bidding, and what you're prepared to pay, until the closing seconds of the auction. In this latter respect, it's leveraging the fact that most folks bid reactively and incrementally...

[Rondec]

I tend to lowball best offers to have the seller respond back with an offer themselves. A lot of the time it'll be quite a bit below budget, or they'll just accept the lowball offer.


Also sniping services are pointless in my eyes, as long as you have a good internet connection you can easily snipe yourself.

A lot of people don't have good internet and/or don't want to sit around watching an ebay auction when it is close to completion. Otherwise, you are correct about sniping services.

[disconnekt]

Well, due to the bad influence everybody here is (lol) I decided to try the "make an offer" option on a Rikenon K mount lens Ive been on the lookout for a while, now to see if the seller accepts or not.

[Tonytee]

Thanks for the replies.

For what it's worth, in my case the threshold for an offer triggering the "increase" message seems to be about 70% of the asking price. The Buy It Now price on the item I was considering was $99.99 and my (prospective) offer was $69.99. But when I bumped up my offer to $70.00, the message went away.

As a long time member on ebay, I do on occasion receive the same notification. I am confident that it is exclusively generated by ebay alone. Not to change the subject, but

the one that I find utterly absurd and somewhat insulting is the notice that an item offered for sale at, let's say $39.99 is now trending towards $48.99. Some members

actually buy into this strategy. The fact of the matter is, once a seller posts an item at a specific price, it cannot be adjusted in any way. Well, there is the exception of

removing the listing. It all comes back to the old adage: Caveat Emptor. Buyer Beware.

TT

[disconnekt]

Well, due to the bad influence everybody here is (lol) I decided to try the "make an offer" option on a Rikenon K mount lens Ive been on the lookout for a while, now to see if the seller accepts or not.

Oh yeah, update on this. The lens (a Ricoh Rikenon XR 35mm f2.8) the person was selling was priced at $37, I made an offer of $25, which the message of "psst, the seller may like it if you upped the offe amount" which I ignored, and the seller agreed to my offer.