To buy on Ebay or not?

You are just plain wrong here. I can't really add anythign new here, that hasn't already been said, but let me try to re-phrse it. First off, there are all kinds off bidders out there. It is not important if you agree with their logic or not. I certainly don't agree with your logic, but to deny you exist would be foolish.

Now bidder A wants a coin. He looks it up in the guide or whatever and says, I like the coin and I am willing to pay $125 for it, that is what it is worth and he enters a max bid of $125. He is the leader and the bid stands at $105. A few days go by and nothing has changed, bidder A is still the leader and he is thinking he will get the coin. He is picturing how nice it would look in his collection. He really wants the coin now, in his mind he has already taken possession of "his" coin. Now bidder B comes along and says, hey I need that coin to fill a hole. He puts in his max bid of $140 and is now in the lead and the bid stands at $126.

Bidder A is distraught, "What's this, someone outbid me on my coin" This is human nature, someone is taking what he mentally considers his, and the competetive juices kick in. He really wants the coin, logic is pushed aside and he changes his max bid to $135. Oops, still no good, so he changes it again to $145 and winds up winning the auction at $141. That is how the human psyche works.

Now if bidder B had used a sniper approach and sniped his max bid of $140, the whole story would have been different. Bidder A would have been content with his max bid of $125. When the snipe bid was entered, Bidder B would have been in the lead at $126, and Bidder A would have no time to react, Bidder B would have won the auction at $126 instead of lsoing it at $141. That's just the way it works

 

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Last things first, only if he bids more, enough more to beat the increment. Advantage: 'firstest with the mostest'. Sniper will never get well below mostest bid, or even below or equal. I simply depends on who bids what and when. last bid is a disadvantage if everyone just bids their max. If you are willing to pay your max bid and you win, you got a deal according you and your standards, or why else did you bid that?

That scenario requires the ND guy to never place his supposed max bid. But in reality, his max bid was $100. What does "max bid set " even mean? This is something you think was in his mind? And you assume "even though the nickel and dimer would have gone higher." about this intent and behavior you need to impute on ND guy. His last and highest bid was his max bid, that is, all there is to it. He loses each time for not being the high bidder, he is not even relevant in the first example. We have no way to back the mythical magical concept that he would have gone higher, the evidence in this examples says he didn't - which is very consistent with would NOT have.

That is unlike the example in my car where the sniper thought he was using the technique to keep prices low and just plain didn't bid enough to get a steal. I'd bet most here would have out bid me on that vehicle had you known - simply because of what a fantastic deal it was. i could have flipped it and made $10 grand right then. But I like driving it It was the fact the he sniped that disallowed to him to have the information which would have been useful to him had he just bid instead. That is a real experience not a scenario we have to magically know what others are thinking, their plan, their behavior and what they are going to actually do so we can trick them in to not placing their max bid (which by definition is disqualified from being there max bid but instead becomes some concept we make up and impute that in his mind he had intended to bid more - lets call it his 'supposed intended max bid had he not conveniently screwed up so someone [even a sniper] could eventually outbid him if they hadn't already)..

Gimmie a break

 

I don't deny the existence of real tangible things that ACTUALLY exist. Can you point out what I said to give that impression so I can have the mods edit it? I do not believe in all the assumptions you need to impute to mythically magically know all what the others are thinking and doing and will do etc. You need that to conjure up that scenario.

Bidder A (sounds like he is a sad sap nut case anyway) failed to bid what you assume would have been his ultimate max bid in time. Both times. Damned fool he was. Had he done it in your first example he would have won at $140 instead (unless you want to further conjure that sniper would have somehow magically known to further increase his bid )

In the second case he simply screwed up by not putting in his max bid. In both cases qualified high bid won. Market place.

Dead simple: if someone wants to win an auction over me they need to beat my bid plus the increment. If I win I am happy with the price what ever it is. If I do not win - so be it someone else wanted to pay more.

 

I've never won a Morgan or Peace off of ebay because the prices are insane. You are much better off getting those from a coin shop IMO.

 

Like I said, you are just plain wrong, there are plenty of folks just like bidder A and they are not nut cases. This justs shows a lack of experience on EBAY by your part. If Bidder A's logic befuddles you, because that is not the way you think, so be it, but not believing that logic exists will cost you money on the 'Bay

 

Define magic? Do you mean using a secondary E-Bay account to enter a false high bid and then a bid retraction? Come on E-Bay pro, give us your E-Bay ID so we can learn from your conquests.

At least I have the answer to my Sci-fi/fantasy question. I bet your a big WotC fan huh?

 

Bidder A didn't express any logic in your construction of him. In both cases he screwed himself.

 

Hi, I'm Bruce from his ^ wireless company.

Your entire 'argument' (gasp) thing is made up and based on mythical magical whatever. You fill in the blanks, I have no idea how snipers work, that is your area. I see what you are getting at though, and I bet ebay frowns on that. I have no need for that because I out all the other bidders with my real bid. Problem solved. This also lets me be done with the listing if I am not in the lead, where as the sniper sitting there clueless doesn't know his standing until the end. Seems like another disadvantage to sniping.

Not sure what you want to learn, but try this: be the high qualified bidder and you win.

And I don't even know (or care frankly) what any of that other stuff you are trying to divert from the topic at hand with is. And I am not going to waste time googling it. Why all the tangents?

Back to the topic. I have nothing against snipers. They certainly never bother me. I asked about them to see if it might be a good idea, useful or something and so far I am leaning no, at least for me. Perhaps there are 'certain' listings where snipers self justify its use more than others and apply it selectively? People do things all the time because they believe in them if for no actual provable or even logical benefit. Sounds good to me.

Dad-"Its a new phone smell it smell it."
Daughter-"I did it smells like lies."
Bruce-"Smells good to me."

 

What does that have to do with the price of tea in China ? Absolutely nothing. The point is if Bidder B snipes it works out better for him, it makes no difference if Bidder A is hosing himself or not, whether you agree with his logic or not It is just something that Bidder B needs to deal with and a snipe is the best way to handle it. I know you see the error in your ways, it is laid out right in front of you, so why don't you just do something that practically no one ever does, admit your wrong and suck it up like man!!!!! Anything else is just plain silly!!!!!!

 

You really are special, aren't you? I don't know how E-Bay views bid retractors, but I do know that some E-bay buyers will place false bids and bid retractions in order to determine the current auction bid amount and they will use that information to their advantage. It it is not mythical or magical.

So now you are claiming that you know your standing in an auction before the end of the auction? All you know is whether or not you are the high bidder at the time you place your bid. Since the snipers don't bid until the last few seconds, you don't know jack! In other words, you are clueless (in more way than one)!

What is wrong with tangents? You are a self described noob when it comes to coins, yet you present yourself in this thread as an E-Bay expert. You are challenging the opinion of very experienced E-Bay users but are unwilling to provide us with proof of your expertise on E-Bay. If you have nothing to hide, why not simply share your E-Bay username with the good members of this forum?

As for the Sci-fi/fantasy question, I just want to get to know you a little better. Seems like a very innocent question to me. I would have no problem answering that question. I am a fantasy guy all the way, hate sci-fi stuff. How about you?

 

I would agree that this type of thing happens quite frequently. But, there are exceptions to the rule.

I've been like Bidder A, and put down a max bid to start. However, I will not go over that max. I'm not going to puff my chest out once I get outbid, which happens quite a bit at live auctions. Gotta let er' go and move on. I bid like Bidder A mainly when trying to get silver coin close to melt.

When I bid like Bidder B, I put on the watch list, hope not to forget about it and snipe as close to the deadline as I can. Never re-bid.

 

This thread is too much. I don't even understand what AWORD is arguing at this point. What is your point in regards to this whole topic in 2-3 concise sentences? (That question directed specifically to AWORD)

Now this is how I bid, and yes there is quite a bit of psychology involved. You have to consider what your maximum bid is, what others consider the value of the item to be, how much you actually have to spend, what the item in question is, how much you want the item, etc.

I set maximum bids all the time on SOME items, other items I place a marker bid so I can revisit it after some consideration on the item (ya know cause Im definitely not an expert on every single ebay listing out there) and still others I enter into bidding wars on, and then I also manually snipe (I don't really need a program) auctions, too.

I consider each auction and utilize all my different strategies. Sometimes I engage in a bidding war to establish dominance and back a weak bidder out of the game. That usually happens when I place a 'marker' bid and we enter into a bidding war with me going as high as I feel as necessary (and sometimes bowing out myself).

I've been known to show no interest in an item until the final seconds and snipe or put in a high bid really late. That's simply to keep people from seeing a lot of interest in the item in hopes they will not pay attention to it near the end.

Some items are sorta low priority to me and I set a comfortable bid and walk away. If I win, I win. If I lose, I lose.

It all depends on the item, really. I would max bid a silver bicentennial quarter. There's plenty out there and not super collectible. On the other hand if I seen a mislabeled item that was sort of scarce I wouldn't show much attention until near the end. The other bidder/bidders may not even realize someone else is keeping an eye on the item and I swoop in at the end with a high bid that is leagues ahead of theirs.

You also have to factor the collector into the scenario. A young collector without a super coin fund will try and nickel and dime, trying to spend the least amount on the coin as possible. Whereas the seasoned collectors with retirement funds to burn can just set a max and forget it and just pay whatever the bill ends up being. Although that annoying YN may make them pay more then actually necessary if that other bidder wasn't testing the waters.


Sniping software really avoids all of that mental gaming that occurs on eBay every single second on their site. I enjoy playing the mental side myself, it's entertaining. I can also see where sniping software is beneficial and saves both time and money. If I didn't have my iPhone on me at all times I would probably consider using software like that but eBay is at my fingertips all day everyday.

So again, what's the issue? What is your argument AWORD?

Oh and one other caveat. You do realize there are people out there who will bid an item up just to keep someone else from getting a good deal right? They have no intention of winning the item or ever forking over any money, but they can push bids up incrementally just to be an aggravation to others and prevent a deal from being had.

There are also shill bidders who bid up for the sellers.

So lots of reasons to utilize sniping programs

 

Of cource not, not everyone is like that, and there are some people that are like that only sometimes when the coin really strikes then. The point was that out of the millions and millions of bidders out there, the scenario does apply in a lot of situations. Some folks are very "controlled" about their bidding and some are not. I am by no means saying everyone is like that.

 

I will admit I have been guilty of doing this once... (Cue boos from the peanut gallery)
If I realize I'm going to lose, might as well make the winner pay a higher price so I feel better about myself...

 

Ive done it too in some of my earlier days, not necessarily coins but I was highly protective over a certain area of items and bought almost everything of value that would come up until i had everything.

 

Also, if this were a live auction scenario at an auction house, making the winner pay more may eliminate future competition that day, as they are shorter on cash. So you may have a higher chance of winning auctions after that if Mr. Moneybags has to outbid you by a lot to win an item.

 

Please, Simon... don't go all Detecto on us, okay?

 

Why...how dare you! The very thought!

 

Asking a question cannot make me wrong, neither can questioning the received 'responses'. Good lowered.

Your scenario, for sniper bidder to win at some price (that he feels is magically below market, although in truth is market at that instant in time when the gavel contacts the electrons on the podium surface.) requires the same thing for anyone else to win at a nice price - lack of competitive bids, or being outbid. Happens to all sorts of bidder on all sorts of auctions.

If you want to prove your claim that sniper bidding software causes bidiots to quell and not bid, then formulate some null hypothesis , for example "the use of sniper bidding software results in statistically significant lower prices being realized at auctions" or some such. Then, design a simple experiment designed to elicit if indeed the claim is true. Perform the experiment with a large enough sample (terms for which are clearly laid out the design) population. Then do some math.

I'd love to see that package.

I always admit if I am proven wrong, but I get so rusty at it between occurrences ...

Prove something, then we can talk about it.

 

(___delete___) was gonna ... but management, ya know?

Now that I think about this, and the fervor with which users "defend" the use of this thing, It seems like crack. I wonder, how much information is divulged to these software peeps? They got your passwords, or how else do they bid for you? What if they get hacked? What is your recourse if they are villains? What are the disclaimers like in their user agreements, ever read it? Is the bid placed form your computer over your connection ( which doesn't give you any protections from connection issues) or does it go from their server to ebay ( then you are at the whim of their server)? Where do we find the advantage in this? Almost sounds scarey, there would need to be a real identifiable concrete advantage before I'd start taking on those kinds of risks.