How
to Snipe
By
Phil
You
should be able to enter a bid with a minute to go
using the normal bidding techniques. You should be
able to get under 30 seconds. But when you get down
to entering a bid in the last few seconds, you have
to take some time-saving steps:
- I
recommend that you turn off graphics loading. You
don't need the pretty pictures to snipe, and it
makes the page updates much faster. Or, you can
watch the Bidding History page. It doesn't attempt
to load the item description, and it's more entertaining
to watch in case a bidding war breaks out.
- Starting
about 20 minutes before the end of the auction,
go up to the top of the page and click where it
says 'Sign in'. Then sign in.
- Browse
to the item you're bidding on.
- Enter
a bid. It should be the highest amount you are willing
to pay for the item, plus a little extra. Consider
this number carefully - you will get only one chance.
Click the button to tell eBay your bid. You get
taken to the Bid Confirmation screen. Don't
click anything else in this window just yet.
- Open
another window. (How you do this depends on your
browser.) Browse your way back to the same item.
For better results go to the Bid History page.
- Start
hitting 'refresh' about once a minute. Watch the
time left in the auction. Remember to breathe.
- If
the high bid changes, don't panic. Keep refreshing.
If the high bid goes above your maximum, you can
stop -- you've been outbid.
- Once
the auction time remaining gets down to less than
a minute, speed up your refreshes. Keep breathing.
- When
you get below 15 seconds or so, flip back to the
other page, the one with the 'bid confirm' button.
Take a deep breath, count to 5, then confirm your
bid.
TAA
DAA! A snipe. Give yourself this medal.
There
are also Internet sniping services, which will enter
a snipe on your behalf for a small fee. Some are:
These
sites connect to eBay as you, bidding on your behalf.
In order to do this, they need your eBay password. I
cannot speak to the trustworthiness of these sites (nothing
positive or negative; I just don't know). If you plan
to use these sites, you'll have to make that judgment
yourself. If the thought of somebody else having your
eBay password makes you nervous, consider changing your
password after you use a snipe site. You
can also use a bidding program. This is a program
that runs on your computer, connecting to eBay and
placing a bid for you within a few seconds of the
auction close. An eBay search on snipe
(that's a link, so you can click on it)will bring
up several ongoing auctions.
Note:
I'm not endorsing any of these programs.
Some
bidding programs are:
If
you have concerns about giving out your eBay password,
these programs might be more to your liking.
If
you have any other info on last-second bidding services
or software, email me and I'll add them to this list.
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