Hate last minute bidders on ebay.

[SamIAm]

It's not surprising when it doesn't work. But it's also not surprising when it does.

I suppose it depends on the item. If it's this week's copy of Dracula X or whatever other high-demand, high-supply item, then sniping might not accomplish much. If it's a rare item with a low demand and an unclear market value, however, sniping can potentially spare "the market" (ie bidders) from driving up the price.

Also, I haven't used ebay for years. I live in Japan and buy my stuff from shops in town.

[Edmond Dantes]

I repeat, I am SO jealous of you guys who live in Japan.

I get the feeling I should try to establish contacts with some of you to help further my anime and sixteen-bit gaming habits.

[T2KFreeker]

Gougers and sniping programs are two of the main reasons ebay sucks anymore. People just want too damn much for their stuff. Although, if two people get into a bidding war fair and square, I have much more respect for that. Letting the computer do it for you though, that's cheap. It would be like going to an auction house and doing the same thing. Yeah. like that would ever happen.

[SignOfZeta]

I think eBay is fucking awesome. Two weeks ago I bought a model kit I've been looking for since 1989 for $20. I'm thrilled.

[BigT]

I think the advantage to bidding right near the end of an auction leaves little time for an incremental bidder to react.  If everyone just put one max bid in, it wouldn't matter when the bids came in.  But since there are many reactionary bidders out there, sniping works.

Exactly.  I'm kind of surprised that Nat, Zeta, and others don't think sniping is effective.  Dorky?  Yes.  Waste of time?  Maybe, but it certainly saves money.

I can't count the number of times I've seen fairly valuable items sitting in auctions for low amounts.  If there aren't many early bidders and the price remains unusually low, people begin to underestimate the item's value and don't expect sudden bid increases.  Every time I bid early and lose an auction, I look at the history and, sure enough, there was some reactionary idiot bidding away in the last two minutes: "$25? Nope...hmmm...$28.99?  Nope.  Golly, let's see here, $31.28??"
 

You people are fucking stupid.

Oh wow.  I think I'm in the wrong forums.

Don't take it personally.  Zeta's a stand-up guy, but he doesn't mince words.  I got into it with him once, but I've since realized he's always right.  This little discussion about hovering over our computers to snipe kids toys on ebay was due for a reality check.

Agreed.  Logically, one has a higher probability of winning an auction if he places his max bid in the final seconds.  This helps to avoid bidding wars, and more importantly, does not reveal any information to the opposition... so they cannot react... some people just want to win the auction, so instead of thinking rationally, they tend to bid and bid simply in order to out-compete the other person... last second bidding helps to avoid that...  If there is an item I really want, I simply place my desired price at the last second... if someone wants to pay more, they will have likely already bid higher and they will win... but, on the other hand, I may get an item for a price that I am comfortable with (or lower) and without participating in a bidding war.

[TheClash603]

I agree with some of the people on here that you should know your price and bid it and not bid more than that.  That's exactly what I do...  however, I do always try to place my bid at the last minute.  If I get outbid, I don't place another bid, but I just like getting my bid in at the end.  I have noticed that I am much more likely to win at my price if I bid this way, rather than if I bid early on.

[Damon Plus]

This is all taking into consideration that you are bidding for a unique item. If you're bidding for 2-3 or whatever, you have to know how many money do you have to spend. If I loose the first one, the money I would've bidded on it will be used in the next games.

[SuperPlay]

I use Yayhoo.Japan since there is no such thing as bid sniping and tool-bidding.

its worth the fees usually

Do people on here normally ship outside of Japan?

[RR1980]

I use Yayhoo.Japan since there is no such thing as bid sniping and tool-bidding.

its worth the fees usually

Do people on here normally ship outside of Japan?

I believe most sellers on Yahoo Japan do not ship outside of Japan so most guys not from Japan would bid with a mail forwarder's address so they will end up having to pay for shipping twice plus service charge by the mail forwarder.

[SamIAm]

That's right. I've even thought about snagging a couple of decent deals from some local shops to offer people around here, but between shipping costs, wanting a little scratch for my troubles, a strong yen and bank/paypal fees, it actually doesn't turn out to be much of a great deal. Something that costs me around $70 would wind up costing you like $120, and that's not with a huge gain for me.

[Bernie]

How do you know that people like myself, that do the last second bidding do not already know their max?  You dont, I do.  I find it crazy that you feel that you have figured "everyone else" out, and they dont know themselves.  However, I do feel that everyone has just about figured out that Zeta pops in mainly to offer something vulgar or sarcastic.  How can one call people "fucking stupid", in a forum thread and mods be ok with this? 

I think I've figured this sniping thing out. Its a classic Man Versus Self situation.

The reason you can't just bid your max and walk away is that you don't actually know what your max is. You should. You need to know yourself before you can know the world around you.

And here's the real mind fuck...

Most of the people complaining about snipers are....


...are you ready for this...?


...they themselves are the snipers as well. Its like Blade Runner up in this bitch!

Seriously, three morons bid 32 times in the last 5 minutes of an auction, all three of them complaining that the others are snipers. Like crabs in a fucking bucket, I tell you.

Figure out what your max bid is. Your max for what you will pay. Maybe its $20, maybe its $22.50, maybe is $225,250, whatever it doesn't matter. Enter the value, walk away, either win or lose. IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT ANY OTHER EBAYER DOES. If you truly bid your max, then you were truly outbid, and always would be, regardless of how many people bid what and when.

Its really is that simple. It really really really is.

Anything else is like...that guy you know who is always moving the gear lever in his automatic transmission-equiped car for no apparent reason.

[allyourblood]

As far as calling people "fucking stupid"  for the way they choose to use ebay; well thats just lame.  Maybe if someone cant understand that by entering the max you are willing to pay, that another bidder will just continue to bid until they are the highest bidder, even if only by a few cents, then that someone should inspect their own intelligence level.    Calling people stupid for the way they choose to try and bid on something is just not cool.

I have to agree. Whatever you think about peoples' bidding practices is entirely up to you, but to say something so negative and rude to a group that is otherwise having a mature and rational discussion is really disrespectful. Isn't there another forum for that sort of talk?

[NecroPhile]

I don't know what you two are talking about - he's Mr. Positivity!

[Bernie]

But back to the topic here.  I will sometimes, for certain items, put in a bid just to get in on the bidding.  I know what my max will be beforehand.  Then, if its something I know for certain is gonna climb, I will wait until the end.  I have found its the best way to try and get an item, without it sky-rocketing in price before the auction ends.  If it is something that isn't as rare or hard to come by, I enter a bid and walk away since I know there will be others offered at any given time.

[sirhcman]

I just wait until the last 5 seconds of an auction and put in my max bid.. If someone before me has a higher bid, so be it... Don't hate the player - hate the game

[VestCunt]

...

Believe it or not, I know what my max bid is.  Quite often the bidding gets too high when I'm waiting to snipe and I walk away.  And I don't think anyone in the pro-snipe contingent has been talking about bidding multiple times.  And I don't think any of the snipers have been bitching about other, single-bidding snipers.

The only difference between you and me is that you bid earlier.   I happen to believe in this crazy "cause and effect" notion where my actions, however minor, tend to change things.

[DragonmasterDan]

Quite often the bidding gets too high when I'm waiting to snipe and I walk away.

This happens to me a lot as well.

[Gogan]

90% of the time, I BIN.

if I do go for something, I put my max in at the very.end. This works better, I've tried both ways (early max/late max)

But I don't obsess enough about it and am usually away from the auction and forget.

That's why if it's something I want, I BIN (if the price is right, I'm not a fool)

[Gogan]

Speak of eBay, it'd be hilarious to see a gouged price on an uber-rare "f@ck eBay club card". Oh the irony

[SignOfZeta]

I don't know what you two are talking about - he's Mr. Positivity!

That's pretty funny since the point of this thread was to bitch about how eBay irritates the shit out of people...even though these issues they have are entirely self-inflicted.

eBay is awesome. I'm not buying their t shirt or anything, but it's pretty fucking great. If you'd rather buy your Turbo games and action figures by going on a national bus tour, then go for it.

So I am positive about that. The whiny bitches complaining about how they fuck themselves over? I'm not sympathetic towards that, it's true.

[NecroPhile]

Yep, placing a bid in the last few seconds identical to one that I would've made days earlier really fucks me over good.  I hope I grow up to be a smart as you.

[SignOfZeta]

But the other bidders will inturpurate that as "sniping", just as you will when they do it to you. It's a vicious circle of skewed perspective where the people complaining are doing the very thing they are complaining about. It's very hard to be sympathetic to the plight of the sniped, when they themselves are also snipers.

In short: you fuck yourself.

[NecroPhile]

That'd make sense if us bid snipers were complaining about the practice, but we're not.

[Bernie]

That'd make sense if us bid snipers were complaining about the practice, but we're not.

Thank You!!!  Exactly what I was thinking.

[SignOfZeta]

Are you guys reading the same thread I am?

[VestCunt]

Zeta - who exactly are accusing of being hypocrites in this thread?  I don't think there are any.  The OP is anti-sniping and there are lots of posts defending sniping, but I don't see any hypocrites.

[SignOfZeta]

Hypocrite is a strong world. I'm not really saying that.

I think its more like...a guy complaining about the cholera he contracted from drinking water taken from the same river he shits in. He probably doesn't make the connection, or doesn't realize he can do something about it.

As for who I'm complaining about. Well, to be honest its really some emotional baggage I had regarding the entire culture of complaining about eBay while at the same time spending tons of money on it. I'm just taking out my frustration over 10+ years of people bitching about high prices that they themselves contribute to by the very act of bidding at all (never mind actually sniping).

I mean, some 20 year old fuck with a big beard and a GI Joe tattoo complaining about how, I don't know, Dynastic Hero, a game he wasn't even aware of 3 years ago, is too expensive so now he'll never be able to complete his collection. Its not his fault, of course, its the fault of all the other shitheads on eBay...I'm really sick of that crap. This thread...is more of that crap.

[VestCunt]

I mean, some 20 year old fuck with a big beard and a GI Joe tattoo complaining about how, I don't know, Dynastic Hero, a game he wasn't even aware of 3 years ago, is too expensive so now he'll never be able to complete his collection.

[PunkCryborg]

I snipe when I'm by my computer and I just drop my max in and if I win awesome but if someone bid higher oh well. I don't really go after high dollar or high demand items though so I don't take it personally. I also put in low bids early on other items and forget about them and it's like a nice surprise when I win. I just won a Monster Lair complete in box for $10 the other day that way. I don't use ebay a whole lot and only when I get a deal cause most people want to spend way more than I do.

[Flare65]

I snipe when I'm by my computer and I just drop my max in and if I win awesome but if someone bid higher oh well. I don't really go after high dollar or high demand items though so I don't take it personally. I also put in low bids early on other items and forget about them and it's like a nice surprise when I win. I just won a Monster Lair complete in box for $10 the other day that way. I don't use ebay a whole lot and only when I get a deal cause most people want to spend way more than I do.

Same here.  I've probably bid on about five different copies of the same game in the past month.  Always out bid at the last moment.  My work schedule has been crazy as of late and I'm never near a computer when stuff ends.

Every once and a while I will get a nice surprise in my inbox from ebay saying that I've won.  I picked up a copy of Final Solder recently this way.

[NecroPhile]

Well, to be honest its really some emotional baggage I had regarding the entire culture of complaining about eBay while at the same time spending tons of money on it. I'm just taking out my frustration over 10+ years of people bitching about high prices that they themselves contribute to by the very act of bidding at all (never mind actually sniping).

It's not impossible for someone to like something on the whole whilst hating some aspects.  Most of us abhor the price gougers, but we love eBay's variety of games, the good deals that can be found from good sellers, and its relative security.

I mean, some 20 year old fuck with a big beard and a GI Joe tattoo complaining about how, I don't know, Dynastic Hero, a game he wasn't even aware of 3 years ago, is too expensive so now he'll never be able to complete his collection.

Close.  I'm in my mid-thirties and it's a Hello Kitty tattoo, but otherwise spot on.

I'm really sick of that crap. This thread...is more of that crap.

What about the words 'hate' and 'ebay' in the thread title confused you?