Sniping on eBay, okay or not?

[Evelien]

I am watching a doll on eBay and the auction is ending in 30 minutes. There has only been one bid (of course I can't see the max bid) and I really want to have it, so I wanna snipe in like the last 20 seconds... but I feel a bit guilty... what say you?

[Alopecia No Hime]

Go for it! Don't feel guilty I scored a bunch of stuff in the last few seconds without any regret!

[Lexagon]

Personally I think its acceptable, its part of the "Ebay Experience" point is you ARE bidding against others and increasing your chances to win isn't horrible, just playing the game.

Perhaps instead of 20 seconds, 30 or 40 so if they were paying attention to it they could in theory bid against you again.

[Evelien]

Hmm, I don't know. I may not be the only sniper sitting on that auction... If I'm gonna go for it in the last minute, I shouldn't take any risks.

[Evelien]

I bid with 15 seconds on the timer, WITH a max bid that was much higher, but I still got outbid . Meh. Bad karma

[AlmySidaKay]

You talked about it. The first rule of Ebay auction, is you don't talk about Ebay auction.

[Greyhaunt]

LOL - sometimes there's a more desperate sniper than you - but I believe in sniping if I want something bad enough

The next one will be meant for you!

[richila]

You talked about it. The first rule of Ebay auction, is you don't talk about Ebay auction.

LOL That is why I didn't answer this earlier. I had an auction out. My bid was double the start and the most I was willing to pay. Luckily , my sniper ran out of time before I was outbid. The Bitty Bitsus have apartment furniture coming home.

[K2!]

As has been said, sniping is part of the game. If you do snipe, be prepared to lose an item because you didn't bid high enough and don't have enough time to place another bid.

As a seller option on Yahoo Japan Auctions, after the opening bid, if some one places a bid within the last 6 minutes, another 10 minutes is added to the auction. This will continue (I think) till someone gives up. I know for certain that it will go at least 3 times.

[SetsunaKou]

As a seller option on Yahoo Japan Auctions, after the opening bid, if some one places a bid within the last 6 minutes, another 10 minutes is added to the auction. This will continue (I think) till someone gives up. I know for certain that it will go at least 3 times.

Oh, that drives me crazy!!!!! Yahoo Japan is more like a real auction, but I really like eBay's 'time's up' limit better. ^^ On YJ! once my friend had to keep bidding like an hour after the initial ending time because last minute bidders kept adding 10 minutes to the clock!!!! ARGH!!! So, I really dislike the YJ system of adding more time. For another auction, she had to leave because she had an appointment about 20 minutes after the auction was supposed to end. Because of the 'added time', she gave up and couldn't wait for the end and was outbid. I think if people know an auction is supposed to end at a certain time, they'll be there to bid, if it's important to them. And sniping is perfectly fine! If you are willing to pay a certain amount, there's nothing wrong with bidding at the last minute to make sure your odds are better. ^^

What I usually do is bid the initial bid early (as soon as I see the auction), so that way, you have a hand in, and also if you forget the auction, there's always that small chance no one else bids and you win it at the base price.

But then, when the auction's almost over, I always bid as absolutely maximum sky high as I'm willing to pay, with just 10 seconds left. That way, even with other snipers, they rarely can outbid me in time, because they mostly bid just a couple of dollars at the last minute.
However, even with this system, it's not failproof, since there may always be another buyer who wants the item(s) at an even crazier price!! ^^;;

The other problem is if your computer crashes at the last minute and then you lose due to the glitch! That has happened to me more times than I care to think about!! (Luckily, it hasn't happened since DSL internet, but when it was Dial-up, oh my!!! ^^