RE: Subject: [Harp-L] Sniping on Ebay

["M. Erickson" <erickm001@xxxxxxx>]

Please note, there is a difference between "sniping" (placing a bid in the
last few seconds of an auction), and a "sniping program" (an automated
software program that places bids in the last few milliseconds of an
auction). E-bay's help mentions "sniping", but say nothing about 3rd party
sniping programs.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Wayne Stennett
> Sent: Monday, May 09, 2005 11:15 AM
> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Subject: [Harp-L] Sniping on Ebay
>
>
> M. Erikson wrote:
>
> E-Bay should make bidders aware of sniping programs. It
> should be in big bold print. Otherwise, the whole bid process
> is fraudlent. I only found out about snipe programs by
> watching items myteriously bid out from under me, and then
> doing a google search and finding a whole array of e-bay
> cheat programs. It's BS, and E-bay has a resonsiblity to let
> it's customers know. I've wasted a lot of time on e-bay
> thinking I was engaged in an honest, open auction.
>
>
> I have nothing to do with ebay, other than getting things there every
> once in a while, but here is their (ebay's) take on sniping.
>
> A note on sniping, from the ebay website:
>
> "Sniping means placing a bid in the closing minutes or seconds of an
> auction.
> Any bid placed before the auction ends is "legal" on eBay.
> There is a
> way to protect yourself from snipers and prevent being outbid at the
> last moment. If you bid the absolute maximum you are willing
> to pay, our
> proxy system will do the work for you.  Human nature
> sometimes makes us
> resist making the highest bid within our spending limits, but proxy
> bidding *does* work.  There is a common misconception that snipers
> always win. The truth is that they don't. To win, they must
> outbid you.
> By placing a proxy bid at your maximum limit, someone else can outbid
> you *only* if they are willing to spend more for the item
> than you are.
> If someone places a last-second bid that isn't high enough,
> they almost
> never have enough time to get back in and place a winning bid
> before the
> auction ends."
>
> My experience: If you are bidding on an item on ebay, and place a
> maximum bid for what you are willing to spend, no sniping
> will get the
> product out from under you, unless that person is willing to
> spend more
> than you.  That is what proxy bidding is all about.  If I want a
> harmonica and am willing to spend 30$ on it, and I bid 30$, if nobody
> else wants to spend 30$, I'll get it.  If someone wants to spend 32$,
> they'll get it.   Where is the problem with this?  Unless I change my
> mind on how much I'm willing to spend, I'm covered.
>
> Wayne
>
>
>
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