EBay Snipers

[Dakratfink 967]

Ok , this is nothing new to me or any of us . I’ve been using the EBay platform since I was on dial up internet. But I feel like griping nonetheless.

I had a stellar deal on a ARTR grasshopper with Traxxxas brushed ESC , basically throw in one of my fly Sky RX and it would have been a runner. I wasn’t  going to sit and camp on the listing  on a weekday. I ran a work errand and check my phone after I got the back in my car. And the Outbid notice was timestamped the exact minute of the day the auction was set to end. 
My wife also got sniped last second on vintage sewing machine this weekend.  
Not sure if it’s just bad luck or a sign we should both take a step back from spending on our hobbies lol . 

[67CamaroSS 304]

I snipe and sometimes I get sniped.  The only way I can make myself feel better is to know I bid the most THAT I WAS WILLING TO PAY,  that way if I lose, i know it just wasn't worth that much to me.  More often than not, I am pleasantly surprised and still get a good deal.

[InsaneJim69 1584]

Personally I don't use the snipe tools. I prefer to do it the old way, I set my highest bid right away and if U don't win then it's fine. No big deal. Tbh some of eBay's deals ATM are very poor, seller's listing things wrong or misleading etc. I much prefer Facebook marketplace far more genuine bargains imo, picked up a Holiday Buggy red edition with RX and battery and charger last year, built but never ran for £35 !! My son loved it for his birthday and there was no bidding, just first come first served. 

James.

[BelknapCrater 179]

My wife sniped someone for a Champion juicer back in 2003, just because she didn't like the high bidder's user name (it was something kinda arrogant like MOMGets or the like) . That's the only thing we've ever won on eBay.

I've been sniped repeatedly for bicycle stuff (mostly track and cyclocross), and as 67CamaroSS said I took it as not being worth THAT much to me. 

Another deal will pop up, and you'll be there for it. As mentioned in the above post, expand to FB marketplace or OfferUp, far more civilized. Just set search alerts and let it ride.

[Dakratfink 967]

25 minutes ago, BelknapCrater said:

, expand to FB marketplace or OfferUp, far more civilized. Just set search alerts and let it ride.

Wife uses FB marketplace pretty often. I have considered getting a fb account so I can use marketplace. 

[87lc2 2666]

14 minutes ago, Dakratfink said:

Wife uses FB marketplace pretty often. I have considered getting a fb account so I can use marketplace. 

I have no interest in FB and don't have an account myself, but buy & sell all the time using my wife's account.  Funny when people show up to buy something expecting her...I've gotten some really good deals on there as well.  I used to use CL to sell a lot, but that has all but died since Marketplace came along.

[Nikko85 3455]

Bid as much as you'd be happy to pay, and then just live with it.

It's snipe proof. If anyone snipes you, and you are upset, you should have bid more!

It really doesn't matter when someone bids, it's how much.

[Dakratfink 967]

11 minutes ago, 87lc2 said:

I have no interest in FB and don't have an account myself, but buy & sell all the time using my wife's account.  Funny when people show up to buy something expecting her...I've gotten some really good deals on there as well.  I used to use CL to sell a lot, but that has all but died since Marketplace came along.

There’s a local site I have used extensively for selling the mowers  I fix up. However , in a place with a sparse population as here RC section is usually limited to Traxxas and Arrma bashers that someone expects to get $15-20 less than new price for. In other words no selection or deals to be had 

[Tbird232ci 333]

With eBay, I give myself two limits. I have a limit of what I would be happy to pay, and then what I am willing to pay. If I get outbid on the happy price, I bump it to the willing price. After that, it just wasn't meant to be. 

[GeeWings 2830]

I’ve completed over 500 transactions on eBay, everything from a bit of thread to very expensive Leica camera gear. I still find it utterly annoying!

Like others have said I generally put my max bid from the start. Any ‘gaming’ of the other bidders you try to do is nonsense.

When it comes to sales I generally prefer to list with Buy it now or Best offer. It allows me to gauge interest and consider my selling price.

All that said, I now try to use Facebook marketplace instead to avoid Ebays ridiculous fees. I even say as much on my listings!

[Rich_8717 114]

Most people use bots on ebay to bid for them at the last second, they don't sit there like the old days and do it manually.

As above, I usually just put on what I'm willing to pay and leave it at that, if it's something I really want I'll watch it and try to bid last second but you have to be lucky these days as you can't often beat a bot/tool.

Unfortunately ebay isn't what it used to be as it's second hand market base has been erroded byfacebook and gumtree. I personally refuse to use FB and gumtree is such hard work it's hardly worth the effort so I've accepted the fact I'll just have to miss out on future bargans - this might be better in the long run as I've been on ebay since 2002 and dread to think how much i've spent on there!

[nowinaminute 2815]

Highest bid wins at the end of the day. If someone comes in at the last 2 seconds but bids less than your maximum then you will still win.

If you don't put your maximum in when you bid, you leave time for others to outbid you. Could be seconds before or hours or days. 

I tend to always bid in the last few seconds. If someone else is bidding and they are the type to keep upping their bid only when someone else outbids them, why should I give them loads of warning so they can come back and bid higher again? If I bid late, and they haven't already put the maximum they are willing to pay, that's their loss. You snooze you lose.

Even ebay tell you to enter your maximum price when you bid and let them do the rest for you, whatever point in the auction you decide to bid.

[moffman 5752]

Yeah Ebay isn't what it used to be that's for sure! And I don't do Facebook or any other of those social media sites (I actually have a life and don't have my head in my phone) mind you I've sold more stuff on Ebay lately more than I have ever done! And i must admit it's much better now PayPal isn't taking its cut and the money goes straight into your bank account👍

[JeffSpicoli 1363]

FeeBay has made the platform for the buyers, and not for the sellers.

Sellers get screwed all the time on shipping, last minute bidders, sniping tools, I'm not a fan of it anymore.

It was great when it first started because you had to sit there at the last minute and compete to win.  

And leaving negative feedback about a deadbeat bidder is almost frowned upon by FeeBay.   

They've tilted the decks.  And it's another tech monopoly.   

[BelknapCrater 179]

3 hours ago, Dakratfink said:

There’s a local site I have used extensively for selling the mowers  I fix up. However , in a place with a sparse population as here RC section is usually limited to Traxxas and Arrma bashers that someone expects to get $15-20 less than new price for. In other words no selection or deals to be had 

What's up with that!? Not that I have any interest in either, but those sellers actually think they're going to recoup their outlay by including an off-brand battery or "upgrading" to a generic sensorless brushless system.

The RC drifters are guilty of it as well. $300 for a TT-02 with a couple extra cracked body shells?

I'll just buy new, good luck with sale.

[Wooders28 4723]

I've always 'sniped' on eBay, on stuff I really wanted,  (not using programmes, that's cheating..) thought everyone did! 🙄

Pretty much everything I've listed,has been 'won' in the last second.

What has got me recently, is stuff I wanted to bid on, just disappear! I'm guessing they got sucked in by the inevitable,  "do you have a buy it now?" message, not knowing I was going to fire a decent bid in ,right at the last second...😳

(Still looking for Ansmann parts...)

[Mazduh3 12]

5 hours ago, Tbird232ci said:

With eBay, I give myself two limits. I have a limit of what I would be happy to pay, and then what I am willing to pay. If I get outbid on the happy price, I bump it to the willing price. After that, it just wasn't meant to be. 

Same here. 

[yogi-bear 2329]

I might as well put in my 2 cents. I snipe, and I snipe for a couple of reasons.

1. it means I don't have to worry about forgetting to bid

2. I can set a limit.

now I can do both of those with just a normal bid, which brings me to reason 3

3. it tends to keep prices down. So the highest bidder will always win, but if there are more bidders on an item, and other bidders know this, I have noticed that the bids tend to go higher, its like people get carried away and have to have the item at any cost. So if I leave any bids until the last moment, there is less of chance to drive bids up. Best was to leave bids at the last moment is to program it. Sure some people might think it's sneaky, I think its just smart and its completely within the rules. If Ebay didn't like it, the could just extend the auction if say a bid comes in, in the last minute for example. That would kill the sniper industry overnight and I am surprised they don't do this. This is roughly how normal , traditional auctions work anyway.

[Problemchild 2149]

As a seller - snipe is your friend 

as a buyer - you need to either snipe or not main

 

in real auctions, the bidding goes until people stop bidding 

that’s what snipe is (in computer speeds)

somas has been said above - put in what you would pay and that’s all you can do

 

if you do that through snipe and someone snipes a higher price then you still lose!

 

however I would never put my highest bid in at the beginning of the auction if not using snipe - always 30 secs before it ends 

JJ

[Saito2 6686]

12 hours ago, Dakratfink said:

However , in a place with a sparse population as here RC section is usually limited to Traxxas and Arrma bashers that someone expects to get $15-20 less than new price for. In other words no selection or deals to be had 

I wish they were $15-20 less on my local sites. When I went looking for a used Traxxas Bandit they more always more than a new one. Idiocy. If its Tamiya, its pricey because everybody and their grandmother knows they are "rare collectables" now. Yet, strangely, when I make attempts to sell things at 1/2 to 2/3 their price I get zero hits so I only assume those other folks are as well. Selling RC went ok for awhile with some patience, but after the last couple years, it seems like interest dried up in my area.

[Room335 738]

I got sniped on a Kyosho Nostalgic Cobra last night

A NIB unassembled kit

I tried to be the sniper...but got out-sniped

[alvinlwh 5895]

I don't think snipers are the issue here as eBay will bid automatically up to the max you are willing to pay. If someone snipe you, it means they are paying more than you are willing to pay, so what's the problem eh? 

What is a problem is, the seller use another account, get their friends, etc... to push higher and higher to find out your maximum bid, then withdraw, leaving you to pay the max you are willing. 

[Nobbi1977 1793]

I always use the software so I do not forget to bid.

I have a “I would cry if it went for less price” that I very rarely win on and a “I need this” price that often wins at less than my maximum.

The old maxim of don’t count your chickens comes in to play, it is not yours to buy until the bidding is over and it is not cheap until all the bidding is done.

I have had items go up more than a £1000 in the last seconds, always makes me gulp.

[Problemchild 2149]

6 minutes ago, Nobbi1977 said:

I have had items go up more than a £1000 in the last seconds, always makes me gulp.

Wow

as I said - snipe is the sellers friend 

JJ

[Mad Zero 316]

My best snipe was when I had my midlife crisis on the way to the supermarket - pulled over into a bus stop & won a Porsche with 20sec to go. What was all that about? Just bid on a Porsche. What a real one? Yep. Bright red is it? Yep. Thought it probably would be, did u win? Yep. Ok well I’ll go get the shopping then - try not to buy a Hawaiian shirt & a new girlfriend while I’m gone.