In article ,
D Murphy wrote:
Ignoramus15786 wrote in
:
The problem I have with last minute sniping, is that often you end up
passing on an otherwise identical item, only to be out bid in the
last five seconds on the auction you're in. Meanwhile the other item
sells for less than you were willing to pay for it.
Then, why did you not bid more onthe first item?
Usually the first item I bid on is on a nine or seven day listing, then
another comes along at a seven, five or three day listing. Or the item
ending first is listed wrong (that's when you can get a bargain)and I
didn't come across it until after I've bid on the other.
So -- that is one argument for postponing your bid until closer
to the closing of the auction. It gives you the freedom to move to an
alternate target without the risk of getting both. Only *after* that
earlier-closing auction is closed is the time for you to consider making
your bid on the later-closing time. And the closer to the closing time
you wait, the more freedom you have to shift your attentions to a
(possibly) better item.
Had I known some moron was going to pay too much for this item, I
would have had time to bid on the auction that already ended.
That could hardly be overcome if that "moron" bid 10 min before the
end of auction, as opposed to 10 seconds.
True.
Though, the earlier he outbids you, the more chance you get to
find and bid on the others.
It's a problem to any auctions, you pass one item and then someone
turns up who is willing to bid more for another item.
Especially on Ebay. The second item always seems to be in better shape
too.
:-)
I bid my maximum when I see the item I want. The way I see it is that
if I get outbid, then someone paid too much.
That's a good way to see, however, if you bid early, you give out
information that has value.
Not really. No one knows what you've actually bid but you.
1) You've given out the information that you are interested in the
auction, and thus the opponent knows that he needs to bid more
than he perhaps would have without this information.
2) Your bid may be shown only as how much it takes to overcome
other bids already out there, but it also opens it to someone
incrementally bidding, and thus pushing your *committed* bid up
until he either gives up, or your maximum is passed, and it is
how his (at least until someone else comes in and bids even
more.) If he does this early, after your early bid, the chance
of someone else doing the same to him is greater -- of from
looking at the increments of his bid tries, of predicting just
how much it will take to win it from him. Perhaps all to be
lost to a sniper with a serious bid.
I've won items
that I bid on as soon as they were listed, and had a dozen or more bids
at the end. The other thing to remember is that if there are two
identical bids, the first one in wins.
Agreed, so sniping has its own risks, and you have to balance
them out to determine which is better for you as a bidder. (Partially
controlled by how badly you want the item in question.)
Enjoy,
DoN.
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