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

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

Tell you what, the next couple of auctions you're on, watch for snipe
software. If it's there, you tell me if you can get that last bid in. If
you can, I'll buy you a beer (maybe a case of beer).

> -----Original Message-----
> From: harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx 
> [mailto:harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Joel Fritz
> Sent: Monday, May 09, 2005 4:53 PM
> To: harpl
> Subject: Re: Subject: [Harp-L] Sniping on Ebay
> 
> 
> Two things:
> 
> AFAIK no sniping software can place a bid that close to the end of an 
> auction.  Some of the software will test your connection 
> speed and some 
> other variables and suggest an interval.  At home with cable 
> the average 
> suggested time for the bid to originate for me is around 3 seconds 
> before the auction closes.  I don't think the web based 
> sniping services 
> can do much better. The software still has to connect to 
> Ebay, log in, 
> and place the bid.  The software types faster than a human, but Ebay 
> takes the same amount of time to validate the signon and 
> process the bid 
> regardless. You'd be surprised how close you can come to 
> doing the same 
> thing manually.  You just need to know what time Ebay thinks it is.
> 
> The second thing is that you can't win an auction unless you have the 
> highest bid.  It doesn't matter that much when you placed the highest 
> bid as long as your maximum is high enough to win the 
> auction.  If your 
> max is $51, the high bid 2 sec before the auction ends is $35 and 
> someone snipes with a $51 bid you still win because you bid 
> first.  The 
> sniper doesn't know your max unless it's what you've already bid.
> 
> In the days of rotary phones there was a sniping method for radio 
> contests where they took the first x calls.  Predial 
> everything but the 
> last digit and dial the last one when they said go.  Then the 
> stations 
> started taking the fifth and eleventh caller or something similar.
> 
> 
> M. Erickson wrote:
> > 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.
> > 
> > 
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