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Q: EBay Sniping ( Answered 4 out of 5 stars,   3 Comments )
Question  
Subject: EBay Sniping
Category: Computers > Internet
Asked by: spurious-ga
List Price: $5.00
Posted: 09 Sep 2003 11:48 PDT
Expires: 09 Oct 2003 11:48 PDT
Question ID: 253910
I am trying to choose an on-line service (not software that depends on
the PC being on and connected) that will allow me to snipe. I will buy
on ebay primarily, but possibly other auction sites.

The services I am evaluating are:
bidrobot.com
bidtamer.auctionstealer.com
snipeswipe.com

Please do a cursory check and see if there's any complaints of fraud
or data theft/loss associated with these that should stop me handing
over my account details?

If you come across such data - for additional Stars, Tips and
apprecitaion - does any one service appear to be most popular, most
effective, have the best features or otherwise seem to be an obvious
choice?   This could include services not listed above.

Previous questions (including one with the same Subject) have been
asked and may be a helpful starting point.
Answer  
Subject: Re: EBay Sniping
Answered By: webadept-ga on 09 Sep 2003 12:30 PDT
Rated:4 out of 5 stars
 
Hi, 

I looked through several news services and didn't find much of
anything about these 3 you listed. I expanded to see if I could find
any bad marks on any service and found null as well. Seems to be
pretty clean or at least not news worthy.

The real point here is that even if a whisper of a possible fraud were
to occur for a service like this, they would shatter and burn in a
very short time.

Jumping down to the Rumor level I searched around a few Groups and
Blogs. Here are some of the more interesting links I found.


http://groups.google.com/groups?q=bidrobot.com&hl=en&lr=lang_en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=active&selm=2f0665c8.0212281524.48a34ce5%40posting.google.com&rnum=1


http://groups.google.com/groups?num=100&hl=en&lr=lang_en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=active&q=bidtamer&btnG=Google+Search

://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=lang_en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=active&q=ebay+sniping+%2Bfraud+site%3Ablogspot.com

As you can see, even at the rumor level, we don't find any specific
accusations of account stealing.


searches used 

Searched on Google News for each of the services
Searched on Google Groups for each of the services

blog service searches (Rumor Mill) 
ebay sniping +fraud site:blogspot.com
ebay sniping +fraud site:radio.weblogs.com

Using the site: syntax on a Google search limits the search to a
specific site. A very nice way to search out large blog or weblog
areas.


thanks, 

webadept-ga
spurious-ga rated this answer:4 out of 5 stars
Thanks for the peace of mind.

Comments  
Subject: Re: EBay Sniping
From: drtandem1-ga on 09 Sep 2003 20:51 PDT
 
Unless you have to bid on many items or you just can't be around when
the auction is coming to an end, there really is no need for such
software or services.  I too would be leery of giving third parties my
account information.  Not just for the possibility of theft, but they
also would be privy to know how much you are willing to bid to get the
item.

It would be better to go to eBay's official time.  I'd give the URL,
but I get my hand slapped for spamming by Google when I do.  You can
find it by searching through eBay.  Then simply calculate the time
difference to the second between their time and your clock/watch. 
Build in enough time for your transaction time.  This will mostly
depend on how fast your upstream internet conection is.  You can time
this by looking at an auction that is a few minutes from closing and
hitting the reload/refresh button on your browser a few times to see
the amount of elapsed time.  Then, near auction closing time, log into
eBay and enter your bid.  Don't click the confirm button until the
right moment.

Remember, the highest bid always wins, so theoretically, you can
simply place a bid at the highest amount you want.  eBay will then bid
it up as people bid against you.  In other words, a sniper can not
beat you unless their bid is higher.
Subject: Re: EBay Sniping
From: baylink-ga on 11 Sep 2003 12:45 PDT
 
I've always thought that eBay should end auctions at the scheduled
time, *plus or minus 30 minutes*, at random.  Then proxy bidding would
actually *work*, since sniping would be impossible.
Subject: Re: EBay Sniping
From: drtandem1-ga on 12 Sep 2003 13:52 PDT
 
Sniping is actually beneficial to the buyer and by that I don't just
mean the sniper.  The typical eBay auction is seven days.  Some are
shorter and some are longer, but I think the default is one week.  In
any event, during the time of the auction the item is exposed to
people searching for that particular item.  A savy bidder (excluding
the "Buy-It-Now" auctions) will not put in a bid until close to the
end of the auction.  Not necessarily sniping, but close to the end.
Unless the bidder is going to be away or isn't sure, if he'll be
available near the close of auction, there is every reason not to bid
too soon.

What tends to happen in some auctions is some in-experienced bidders
(or possibly shills) start bidding the item up.  It can get to a point
where the winner actually becomes the loser because they bid more than
the item is actually worth.  Sometimes this type bidding attracts
others that would not normally even bid on the item.  A type of frenzy
can ensue.

A true sniper will see an item that has a currently reasonable high
bid.  He will wait until the moment before the auction ends to bid. 
Unless his bid is the highest, he will not win.  He will not have time
to bid again.  He has one shot to place a high bid.  If everyone
waited towards the end of the auction to bid, you would see more
reasonable pricesas they would not have time to become emotionally
inflated.

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