I have been buying at online auctions quite a bit and would like to start
using a sniping service to place my bids. I'm looking for a service that is
free, secure, and reliable. Any suggestions?

Thanks

Dave

ACME Snipe has always worked for me. Or AAA Snipe.

-JBB

"Dave" wrote in message
news:iqRpc.62492$z06.8578633@attbi_s01...
I have been buying at online auctions quite a bit and would like to start
using a sniping service to place my bids. I'm looking for a service that
is
free, secure, and reliable. Any suggestions?

Thanks

Dave

Dave wrote:

I have been buying at online auctions quite a bit and would like to start
using a sniping service to place my bids. I'm looking for a service that is
free, secure, and reliable. Any suggestions?


The ultimate snipe:

Bid what your willing to pay.



--

Mark

N.E. Ohio

In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice
there is.

Never argue with a fool, a bystander can't tell you apart. (S. Clemens, A.K.A.
Mark Twain)

When in doubt hit the throttle. It may not help but it sure ends the suspense.
(Gaz, r.moto)

Mark writes:

The ultimate snipe:

Bid what your willing to pay.

Using a sniping service doesn't mean you will overpay. It just eliminates
the folks who will let emotion rein supreme and bid it up higher than they
had planned to pay.

Brian Elfert

Bidding early with what you are willing to pay works great. You will save
lots of money by not winning. I would recommend it to anyone interested in
the same things as I.

--
********
Bill Pounds
http://www.billpounds.com


"Mark" wrote in message
...


Dave wrote:

I have been buying at online auctions quite a bit and would like to
start
using a sniping service to place my bids. I'm looking for a service
that is
free, secure, and reliable. Any suggestions?


The ultimate snipe:

Bid what your willing to pay.



--

Mark

N.E. Ohio

In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but in
practice
there is.

Never argue with a fool, a bystander can't tell you apart. (S. Clemens,
A.K.A.
Mark Twain)

When in doubt hit the throttle. It may not help but it sure ends the
suspense.
(Gaz, r.moto)

On Sun, 16 May 2004 21:54:22 GMT, Dave wrote:
I have been buying at online auctions quite a bit and would like to start
using a sniping service to place my bids. I'm looking for a service that is
free, secure, and reliable. Any suggestions?

How about you bid what you're willing to pay, instead of trying to get
it as cheaply as you can? If it goes above your limit, you didn't
want it anyway.

If you have a computer with a reliable full time connection, then run
jbidwatcher locally.

Ed

On Sun, 16 May 2004 21:54:22 +0000, Dave wrote:

I have been buying at online auctions quite a bit and would like to start
using a sniping service to place my bids. I'm looking for a service that is
free, secure, and reliable. Any suggestions?

Thanks

Dave

Some of these snipers are real good. I was bidding on something the other day,
I looked at it and it said 0 seconds left and I was winning,. The next time I
looked I was outbid.
(I wasn't that dissapointed since my proxy max bid was really too high)
I'm not even sure how that happened. Ebay must really close bidding at -1
seconds.

On 18 May 2004 19:21:38 GMT, Dave Hinz wrote:

On Sun, 16 May 2004 21:54:22 GMT, Dave wrote:
I have been buying at online auctions quite a bit and would like to start
using a sniping service to place my bids. I'm looking for a service that is
free, secure, and reliable. Any suggestions?

How about you bid what you're willing to pay, instead of trying to get
it as cheaply as you can? If it goes above your limit, you didn't
want it anyway.


Dave, I agree with what you are saying, in principle, and wish that it would work that way. The problem is that there seems to be a
class of bidders that either:

a) consider an auction to be a "game" to either "win" or "lose" instead of a market to purchase some commodity.

or

b) don't know themselves what their maximum bid should be.

If a representative of this category is in the bidding, and you place a proxy bid with your maximum amount early in the bidding, a
"nibbler" will:

a) place a bid that is lower than your maximum.
b) decide that he/she is going to "win" come hell or high water - or - decide that "Well, if I was willing to spend X$, then X+1$ is
not that much more." and bump up their maximum bid.
c) repeat steps a) and b) until they exceed your bid

I've seen some auctions that show numerous consecutive bids from the same bidder. I don't recall the maximum number of nibbles I've
seen, but certainly more than 10. Not many with that number, but if I bid early, I can count on being outbid by someone who places
multiple, increasing bids. As I mentioned, I don't know what the rationale is, but it appears to be that they begin to think of it
as a competition that _must_ be won, or can't decide on a fair value for the item.

The only way to buy an item at auction when you are faced with that type of bidder is to optionally place a lowball bid to give the
"piranha" something to nibble on and wait until late in the auction to place your real bid. Of course, taking that tactic to the
limit, you wind up "sniping" the auction.

It would really be nice for everyone if all bidders would place a proxy with their "real maximum", but ...

Tom Veatch
Wichita, KS USA

Dave wrote:
: I have been buying at online auctions quite a bit and would like to start
: using a sniping service to place my bids. I'm looking for a service that is
: free, secure, and reliable. Any suggestions?

www.auctionstealer.com

Its a free service, but only allows 3 snipes per week.

Thanks to the few people who offered suggestions for an actual service (or
local software) to use.

I'm aware of all the opposition to sniping. I've even felt it myself
actually. I got over it when I decided that life is what it is and now I
snipe too. Of course I'll never outsnipe a person who placed a higher bid
earlier. I do find the extreme emotion this question raises to be
fascinating.

Dave
"Ed Beers" wrote in message
news
If you have a computer with a reliable full time connection, then run
jbidwatcher locally.

Ed

On Sun, 16 May 2004 21:54:22 +0000, Dave wrote:

I have been buying at online auctions quite a bit and would like to
start
using a sniping service to place my bids. I'm looking for a service
that is
free, secure, and reliable. Any suggestions?

Thanks

Dave

On Thu, 20 May 2004 20:29:41 GMT, Dave wrote:

I'm aware of all the opposition to sniping. I've even felt it myself
actually. I got over it when I decided that life is what it is and now I
snipe too. Of course I'll never outsnipe a person who placed a higher bid
earlier. I do find the extreme emotion this question raises to be
fascinating.

I think it's because, as a seller from time to time, I feel that I
am getting less for my items than I would if people would bid normally.
Also, as a buyer, I feel (rightly) that people are trying to sneak in
at the last second and buy an item, without giving me a chance to
counter.

Think about it in terms of a real auction - it goes until people stop
bidding. I would actually pay extra to list an item if I could be
given the option of saying "Bidding closes 15 minutes after the
last bid after a certain time". Some of the gun auction sites do
this, and it seems the most fair for sellers and the various buyers,
instead of being biased to the person with the best nework feed and/or
sniping software.

In article iqRpc.62492$z06.8578633@attbi_s01, Dave wrote:
I have been buying at online auctions quite a bit and would like to start
using a sniping service to place my bids. I'm looking for a service that is
free, secure, and reliable. Any suggestions?

Is somebody on a _snipe_hunt_ ??