What is your bidding style?

Very true.

 

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Auction sniping is the practice, in a timed online auction (such as on eBay), of placing a winning bid at the last possible moment (often seconds before the end of the auction), giving the other bidders no time to outbid the sniper. This can be done manually, or by software. The software can run on the bidder's computer or on an online sniping service accessible through a website. Use of an online service is said to decrease the failure rate of the snipe, because the website has more reliable servers and a faster Internet connection with a less variable delay in sending data (latency), thus enabling the bid to be placed closer to the deadline, even arriving within the last second.
A bid sniper is a person who, or software agent which performs auction sniping.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auction_sniping

 

The danger of sniping software is when two buyers are both employing it. They can easily over pay for an item.

 

I'm simple and old fashioned.

I decide what a coin is worth, bid that amount, and accept whatever happens.

*shrug*

 

Much of the time, I bid ahead of the end time, and whatever happens happens. Sometimes I'll go back and bid up until I reach my limit, and if someone wants to keep at it, either I get it or someone else gets it for more than I'm willing to pay. Sometimes, though, if I know I really want it, and I have the time off, then I'll watch it and snipe my bid at the last minute if I can. But that's assuming that all is well, and nothing messes up my ability to do so (like power failures, etc.). I've never used a sniping service.

But I don't really buy that much on eBay now.

 

Im in the snipe crowd...don't want to antagonize anyone...just wait till 2 or 3 seconds left and try to swoop in without bidding up the price

 

:sniper:

 

I don't do much bidding on e-bay but do tend more toward Heritage and Teletrade. With Heritage I set it (pick my highest bid price) and forget it. I don't win there much. With Teletrade I wait for the last minute and then place my highest bid. I'm much more successful there.

 

With the exception of Heritage, I essentially always snipe. I typically loose 90% of my snipes to someone else at 1 bid increment over my max bid. The exception is where I really want a coin that is seldom offered & I place an obscenely high bid by snipe. Sometimes I get them cheap & sometimes I pay dearly for the obscenely high bid.

With Heritage, I no longer bid on the floor. I just place my max bids with the auctioneer & walk away.

 

The real key and benefit I find with sniping is you can always cancel the snipe. You evr get "lucky" and win more bids than you planned on, and have still more bids out there? Well, if that happens you can always cancel snipes that have not been executed yet. You cannot cancel an outstanding bid. I find myself at times reviewing outstanding snipes and second guessing if I really want an item or not. This is a luxury that you "bid max early" bidders cannot ever have.

This is a very important luxury to have. Not all of us snipers are jerks trying to steal an auction at the last second, many of us use it since its a more effiecient way to manage funds and be able to change our minds if we wish.

Chris

 

I have two methods depending on the situation: Situation 1: The coin's starting price plus shipping is already at my upper limit for that coin. In this case I'll just bid, knowing I'll probably be outbid, but I don't want to pay any more. The other time I might bid early is if I'm pretty sure it's something that only I will be interested in, so no one else should bid on it.
Situation 2: The starting price is low: I watch it and then bid with 5 seconds left. I never used to do this, but I believe it gets me the coin cheaper. I still bid no higher than I wanted to go, and if the price gets too high beforehand I don't even bother bidding. I think that if you bid too early it allows other bidders to have second thoughts and increase their bid. If you bid at the last second, they can't do that.

 

I used to either roam the section of my choosing with an ending soonest list(Bidiot?), but found I never had enough time to do my homework on value, grade, rarity, etc. Now I work with a select few sellers & almost exclusively use the best offer or buy it now format. If there is a specific coin that I want, I'll either see if it's available locally, or select from a seller with a return privelege(sp?).

 

yeah - just as soon as the one I wanted is lost, I discover a dozen more just as, if not nicer, then the one I was looking at...and usually better off for it...

 

I dont really go for auctions, more so buy it nows with a OBO. If the seller accepts my OBO then it's all good. The coin really has to be good for me to bid on it.

 

Normally, I check the newly listed items for anything I want, and then place any auction items on my watch list. About seven hours beforehand, I place a bid in for what I think the coin is worth and can afford. After placing the bid, I do not change it. Why snipe let someone else meet or surpass me as they wish. I have won items by 12 cents before. No matter when you bid it always comes down to the highest bid.

 

How can you cancel a snipe?
Being a last second bid, there's not time enough to cancel.
At any rate, the object of bidding in an auction is to win.
eBay has made sniping the best way to do that.
Nothing about sniping makes a bidder a jerk.
If anything, those who don't snipe are the foolish ones.
Sniping keeps me from getting into bidding wars and paying more than I really should.
I put in my best bid at the last moment and hope for the best.
Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose. But in any event I don't spend more than my "best offer".

 

You enter a bid using a bidding service ahead of time (a day, week, what ever). If you change your mind anytime before the bid is placed, you cancel your bid with the bidding service.

 

I do a bit of it all, just depends on the auction. For example, today I negotiated a lot of coins from a BIN / OBO and got a nearly 25% discount from the original BIN price and the negotiated price is at the low range for the current selling price of the coins.

Like others, if I lose out no big deal another one will come up for sale in the future. I try to get the best deal possible and am okay chasing a coin over several auctions until I get it or below the price I am willing to pay.

 

I guess you could say I don't really have a planned out approach. If I want something I may just wait and not place any bid at all. Then at the very end like the last few minutes when the bidders think they have it in the bag, blamo!! The Mad Sniper strikes again!!