Hi,

I'm looking for an eBay bidding service that's smart, feature rich and reliable.

My priorities:

1. Reliable.
2. Easy.
3. Smart added features.

Thank you.

-Mao

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Request for Question Clarification by justaskscott-ga on 17 Aug 2005 12:58 PDT

Do any of the services mentioned here meet your needs?

"Auto-Bidding with Snipers" (04.20.05)
PC Magazine
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1790255,00.asp

Of course, there are more services where those came from.  See:

"Computers > Software > Internet > Servers > Shopping > Auctions >
Assistance > Web Based"
Google Directory
http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Software/Internet/Servers/Shopping/Auctions/Assistance/Web_Based/

But I figured it would be especially helpful to give you a recent
review from a reputable source, so that you could decide which service
suits your priorities best.

If this information is sufficient, please let me know, so that I may
post it as an answer.

Hello Mao

Thank-you for your question.

As a self-confessed eBay addict I have used many sniping services over
the years, I see no reason in bidding on an item only to drive up its
asking price - bidding in the last second is the way to go!

The first service I used was eSnipe but I have trialled most of them
to test their services too.  My first tip to you would be to trial as
many of these services as possible, not only will this give you a feel
of each service and its reliability you normally get a few free snipes
too!

My favourite service is http://www.snip.pl.  In my experience they
have been the most reliable and I have *never* missed a snipe because
they couldn't place the bid in time (a problem with many of the
services).  Snip allows you to place all your bids in groups (so you
only win the number of items you require), allows more complex tasks
via scripting (for instance, only bid on this item if I won this one),
has the ability to add notes to your snipes and is fully compliant
with all the eBay sites.  Snip.pl also regularly publish statistics
showing the average time it takes to bid at different hours of the day
on eBay, this is useful when deciding how near the end of the auction
to schedule your snipe. This is definitely one you should investigate.
http://www.snip.pl/en/help/

The other major players in this field in my opinion are eSnipe,
AuctionSniper and AuctionStealer.

When deciding which site is best for you, you must also look at the
way each sites charge you.  Some require a credit per snipe, some only
take a credit if the snipe is succesful and some charge you a
percentage of the final auction price.

Snapshots of the sites:
eSnipe allows you to place your snipes in bid groups and organise your
bids simply in folders.
http://www.esnipe.com/eSnipeHelp/

AuctionSniper has fewer features but claims to have the best
reliabilty (how accurate this is and who measured it is not stated).
http://www.auctionsniper.com/products.aspx

AuctionStealer has a number of advanced features but also has a two
level service meaning if you are not a member of its priority service
you cannot bid in the last second.  Why pay extra for this when other
sites give this feature to you for free?
http://www.auctionstealer.com/info.cfm

Other sniping services worth trialling include:
http://www.snipeswipe.com/faq.html
http://www.phantombidder.com/PhantomBidder/Default.asp?Page=Features
http://www.stealthbid.com/
http://www.powersnipe.com/faq.cfm
http://www.ezsniper.com/compare.php3
http://www.bidnip.com/faq.html
http://www.snipeman.com/index.php?p=faqs
http://proxypal.com/faqs.htm

If you require any further information on this subject please ask for
clarification and I will do my best to respond swiftly.  Happy
sniping!

Thank you Politoy, I've started to test them out. :)

-Mao