Bidding practices " At the AUCTION"

[lots of time]

Unfortunatly, a lot of auctions end while I am at work and have limited access to a computer. Sometimes I can snipe at the last minute, most times not. What I do is proxy bid the amount I am willing to pay and leave it at that. Unfortunatly, I lose a lot of good stuff for $1.50 to a sniper. Perhaps I should invest in sniping software!!!

[Jon Miller]

Just go to "esnipe" and register. If you win when they are bidding for you, you pay 1% of the purchase price for their service. You can set the time so that the bid goes in just seconds before the close. I use it frequently (often successfully) because I don't want to bid openly and drive the price up, and because I don't like to play around trying to get in a last-second bid with a quirky internet connection.

At some point, if everybody snipes, it will lose its advantage; in fact, I guess the system would break down. But for now, it can be an effective way to use ebay.

[Holt]

The first watch I bid on, was bought out from under me in the last 10 or 15 seconds, I lost the bid by pennies! I'd never seen anything done THAT befor!

The only auctions I'd ever had anything to do with were livestock auctions, and you could'nt do that there!

I figured "O.K. I may be new at this, but I learn fast! Been "sniping' ever since! All it takes is an acurately set watch and a little luck, and you are right Sam, it is fun! At first I felt a little sorry about doing that to the person who lost, but then I figured "Wait a minute, I bid what I was willing to pay, the other bidders must have also, and if they didn't, perhaps they will next time."

If the only thing bidders were interested in was puchasing the item at hand, I believe they would place the maximum amount of money that they were willing to pay, and be done with it. But I think it's basic human nature for us to want to make an exciting "game" out of it! I know I do!

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Tommy
NAWCC #156317

[terry hall]

Ok, we're giving up secrets.......
There are two shareware/freeware utilities that help the sniping process.

One is T-Clock... it changes the display of the system tray clock to show HH:MM:SS or any other choice of display.

The other is Atom-Time. This will connect you to the atomic clock. You can syncronize your computer clock with the time server with a click of your mouse.

If you can't find these utilities, I will do a search and post the link.... "don't want to give it all away ! :wink: :wink:

This won't place the bid for you, but will help determine the time to bid.

[MIKE NARDICK]

Hi Guys,
I use Cricket Jr. Sniping Software.
It works Great! :biggrin:
Never lost an auction yet!
I bought it over 2 years ago, Think I paid $14.95, Well worth the money.
I can give you the guys email: deccles@pacbell.net

Just ask for Cricket Jr.

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Mike Nardick
#144409
Chapter #37 Allegheny

[Tom McIntyre]

I would endorse Cricket also. However I have stopped using it because I am on the road too much and my laptop was often in an airplane when it should have been making a bid. http://www.nawcc.org/ubb/eek.gif

I now use eSnipe and have yet to lose something I really wanted with it.

Another neat thing about sniping with software is that your bid may never even appear if other snipers come in high just before you.

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Tom McIntyre
Past President, NAWCC Chapters 174 and 87
Member Chapters 8, 87, 149, 159, 161 and 174
NAWCC: Crafts Committee, Web Committee
Pocket Horology Web (http://www.pocketwatch.org)
Tommy the JOAT's Web (http://www.AWCo.org)

[Paul Anderson]

I am in agreement with Wayne: you decide what you are willing to pay, you bid it, and you are snipe-proof.

Now a person who bids higher than I do and wins the item by a bid increment (a Dent staple balance chronometer comes to mind) may think they have sniped it, but they haven't. They just bid more than I was willing to pay. Now it may be that they were only willing to pay that one bid increment over me, but I'll never know that. That's one of the things that makes auctions so interesting.

Paul Anderson

[John Cote]

Paul,

Your system works at an old time farm auction, but with eBay, it just gives the next guy time to think about bidding more. It just drives prices up. It seems to me to be an especially bad practice if you have a fairly well known eBay name. When your name shows up, everyone and his 3 brothers and sisters gets the idea that this item is something worth bidding on.

I am with the rest of them, if you are a buyer, there is no good bid before the very end.

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JohnCote
President, Indiana Chapter 18 - NAWCC
Member Chapter 149 (Member #105)
http://www.interstatetime.com

[Paul Anderson]

If you think you have the ability to move the market, then there is reason to not signal your interest by bidding late. Most of what I've acquired via auction is from live auctions, not eBay. I find relatively few items of interest on eBay with the result that I don't bid enough there to worry about becoming a "marked man".

To Sam: I read what he said. He said "If you are worried....then snipe". I'm not worried about the things he mentioned.

Paul

[Tom McIntyre]

The primary difference between an eBay auction and a live auction is that the time to bid is very long. Therefore a competitive bidder may agonize over the item and eventually decide to bid again. In a live auction you have to make up your mind in real time.

Of course, sniping is not available in a live auction because the auctioneer will keep the auction alive. Many on-line auctions besides eBay have an automatic extension mechanism that closes the auction some fixed period of time after the last bid is received. If eBay wanted to do away with sniping, they would implement such a policy.

On the Dent with the staple balance my snipe was quite a bit above the final price. The same was true of the Waltham 5 minute repeater earlier this evening.

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Tom McIntyre
Past President, NAWCC Chapters 174 and 87
Member Chapters 8, 87, 149, 159, 161 and 174
NAWCC: Crafts Committee, Web Committee
Pocket Horology Web (http://www.pocketwatch.org)
Tommy the JOAT's Web (http://www.AWCo.org)

[Larry S]

Tom, nice purchase on the repeater. A relative bargain when compared to the Elgin discussed a few threads down. :smile: I really must follow your bids. :wink:

http://www.mwt.net/~check/larry1.gif