Key date in lot and I mised it.

I was the highest bidder on this lot for a while. I missed the 1886 key in the lot and a sniper got it, too bad. The whole lot of 29 coins including that key and a couple 1883 with cents went for $40 with shipping. I was wondering why people were going crazy bidding the last seconds of the auction. The auction title was written wrong.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120998458842&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBUAA:US:3160

 

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I am not fan of bid war. I always end it with sniper bid. Why I like it? I don't have time to sit down and waiting for it to be near end and try snatch it. Sniper bid save my time and money, too.

 

Up for auction are 29 issues of Liberty Head "V" Nickels. Dates are 1883, 1884, 1886, 1887, 1890, 1892, 1893, 1895, 1897,1898,1899. 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909,1910,1911,1912 and 1912d.
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Yes, the title though says "1897-1912". I saw the coins in the picture but missed the fact that 1886 was a key date. I didn't read the bottom and am not too familiar about the keys of this series and didn't realize it till it was too late. Of course there were bidders before me and bidders that tried to outbid my max bid that didn't notice the key date either. Of course it would have been great if I got the auction along with a key date at a buck piece. I bought one of this sellers lots that was an actual 1897-1912 lot. My coins look better than many in that lot though. I hope I got a 1912s mixed in with my lot. If it is any consolation, the key is in bad condition, looks like FR/AG.

 

Sometimes I am glad to be sniped though when there was something I didn't notice like this one coin is bent pretty badly:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/280989278233?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1426.l2649

I also was outbid on a polished coin. I thought maybe the coin was glossy because of the camera phone but if that was true, all the other coins the seller listed would look like that and they didn't. Sniping can be a bad thing but also can save you the trouble of buying a coin you don't want.

 

Post to wrong thread.

 

1886 isn't the key, It is a semi key and at that an over rated one. A decent 94 is harder to find than an 86.

In low grades 85
In mid grades 12s

 

Well that is good to know since my auction got swiped seconds before ending. The 86 was really low grade and ugly, FR/AG along with many of the early years. The lot I got had nicer coins overall.

 

The pictures for this auction were awful which leads me to believe that either the seller didn't realize what he was selling, or was trying to hide some major details. But, if the '86 was real, the winning bidder got a decent deal.

 

Yes, they did. They got it for $10 more than my max bid and they bid with seconds left.

 

The winner bid way too early, thirty seconds before the end of the auction. That gave both of the other two underbidders the chance to react to his taking the lead and to each enter another bid. If he had delayed his bid to the last few second he would have had a fair chance of buying it almost $10 cheaper.

 

I might be weird, but I seriously cannot comprehend anyone who bids with anything but sniper software. I bid automatically with 4 seconds to go my max bid. If it goes over then it wasn't meant to be. When I used to bid manually I always second guessed myself and raised my bid if I was over bid. Sniping allows you to bid and not let anyone realize another serious bidder is interested until its too late.

 

Yep. Sniping is great for bidders, because it discourages emotional overbidding, and lets you conceal the value you see in the lot. In fact, it can encourage emotional underbidding -- "I'm pretty sure this lot is worth $200 because of that one coin, but nobody else seems to think so. Maybe they're seeing a problem that I'm missing."

For the same reasons, sniping is terrible for sellers. But there's not much to be done about it -- the best bet is to end your auction at a busy time (Sunday evenings are often good), when lots of live bidders are likely to be present.

 

If you don't want to get emotional and over bid, just put the price you willing to pay for as your high bid on a auction days before it ends and walk away you win if you lose you lose. Also you prevent the seller from pulling switcharoo and changing any description on the auction (which software bid snipers fall for).

 

Yes, but this strategy gives other people time to reconsider their max bid and decide if they're willing to pay a little more. Or, as in the case of this auction, allows people to go back and examine the auction a little closer to figure out what they're missing that's driving the price up. I know, it sounds fair, but some people aren't interested in fair.

 

It's worse than that -- not only do you give others time to reconsider, but you give them time to probe your bid, by making a higher bid and then retracting it.

The "switcheroo" issue might be important, since I think you get protection from eBay if the description changes after you've placed your bid. All I can say is that it's never come up as an issue in the many hundreds of auctions I've sniped. Then again, I tend not to establish my snipes all that far in advance.

 

You are assuming those of us who set snipes never look at the auction after we set the snipe. I do all of the time, sometimes cancelling my snipe, (another advantage since you cannot cancel a bid).

 

Yes, this is a problem. One of the many flaws in FeeBay's system that they don't seem to care about because they stand to profit from higher bids.

I would think it best to set up your snipes after someone else has placed a bid. If nobody else has, then place the initial bid for the starting price yourself. Not much harm in that, especially if it's an item that you know will sell for more than the starting bid. (eg. $0.99 starting bid on a silver dollar)

 

Most often the max bid is not hit till last day or so of the auction so that is not really the case, also it gives you plenty of time to retract your bid in case you make mistake . IMO often bidding in last second or setting a software snipe you tend to make more mistake since you are not following of the flow of the bids.

Just last week i noticed Krause made a mistake on their guide and listed a Nauru coin that is 14k as 22k (Friedberg had the correct info) so the coin was worth 200 not 275+ i worked with seller and he retraced my bid. But however in last 2 minutes, 2 snipers out bid me and ran up the bid to close to 300.

Jeffb
You can't change your listing after a bid has been placed so it forces the seller to cancel the listing, but the problem is people set up snipes when auction are listed failing to see any changes in the listing. In this case since bid was placed post auction listing change, ebay would side with the seller.

Medoraman
You can retract your bid as long as it is not within 24 hr before auction closes, also most sellers will gladely cancel your bid if you ask them. You may be doing your due diligence but from my exp most of people who have over bid on items have been snipers even though they make portion of those who win auctions.

 

"Overbidding" is a pretty subjective term. Depends on whether you know the value or not. I am not saying, especially for cheaper things, Ebay buyers do not many times overpay, but I am sure the other bidders thought I "overpaid" for the group a week ago I paid $355 for. The retail value of those pieces combined is probably somewhere around $1400.

Most knowledgable collectors I know, who still buy anything on Ebay, do so by sniping. To each his own. I do it since I chase rare things not available elsewhere but do not wish to sit at my computer all day waiting for an auction to come up. I have more stuff to do, so I peruse the auctions, set up snipes, on MY schedule, and then are assured I will participate in the auction regardless of my schedule. For the same reason I usually use agents at live auctions. I don't always have time to participate myself, and they are better at executing bids than I am.

Btw, jeffb's point about others probing your bid is an excellent point also. Besides my convenience, its the other reason I switched to sniping. I got sick and tired up putting up a bid for say $44 when the other bid was $10, but after I lost seeing some guy place 8 bids against mine until he was finally a couple of dollars higher. With snipes, he doesn't know what hit him, and if he didn't place his first bid high he is just out of luck.