ARGUMENTS
PRO & CON
By
TipTie
The two sides will never agree. The snipers feel they
raise prices above what would be if they did not exist.
The majority of sellers agree. A few sellers feel
the snipers would still be there but that they would
cause other bidders to get the "bidder frenzy" and
bid more if an A-E (automatic extension) scheme was
enacted.
The
true-blue snipers respond that they would not bid
on an A-E scheme and therefore the argument that other
bidders would have the chance to out-bid them becomes
moot because they simply will not be there. Also,
an AE scheme requires all bidders to be at their computers
and watching the auction. Back and forth it goes.
It comes down to this.....the snipers bid a lot, win
a lot and spend a lot. Other bidders can either join
this tactic or enter a high Proxy bid ANYTIME
during the auction.
eBay
suggests a Proxy bid at the start.
Not the best tactic.. However, you do not have
to be a "Last Second Sniper" to win either. If you
are worried about eBay or Internet outages, you can
place an early Proxy bid. And remember, that even
within the last few minutes you can go back in and
increase your proxy without generally changing
the current bid, unless your increased Proxy is at
the Reserve price or higher (if it is a reserve auction)or
if the current bid is an uneven increment. Then and
only then would your new Proxy jump your bid up to
the next even increment or the seller's reserve. If
you feel your current Proxy is too low then it can
be increased to stop a sniper's bid, AT ANY TIME.
At that point, the only way a sniper wins is if he
is willing to pay more than you. Period.
If
you are a procrastinator that needs to see other bidder’s
bids before you can decide how much to go.......then
where is your limit? Is there a limit? Or do you continue
upward forever?.....I think not...Everybody has a
limit!!!.
The
sniper knows that ahead of time and snipes with his
Proxy limit and hopes that is enough. Anybody can
beat a sniper if they Proxy-bid to the limit they
set for themselves AND that Proxy is higher than the
sniper's Proxy. If the sniper’s Proxy is higher, then
and only then, does he win.
The
fear that the bid placed will be needed to win keeps
the incremental bidder from actually finalizing the
value of the item in their minds. It is easy to look
at a $50 item and bid $20, thinking that you are saving
$30. It is much harder to bid $51.07 and hope to get
it for $20 and save $30.
"Anti-snipers
bid for a bargain and hope to win.
Snipers bid for
a win and hope for a bargain"
We
snipers have had increasing requests for the basic
mechanics of sniping. I have tried to put some
of them down here. While there might be the endless
debates on the "ethics" of sniping, the fact remains
that we feel it is the most efficient way to win
a bid. All snipers have their own little variations.
But the steps listed below will get you going
and you can then invent your own style.
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