Auction stealer warning

[tenney]

Although it does happen sometimes that I'll win an item bidding an hour or more before the end of the auction, it is much more common for me to win when I bid right near the end.

As for automated sniping sites... I just never understood why folks feel comfortable giving their ebay userid and password to some arbitrary / random person out on the net. It just seems like you're opening yourself up for problems.

[Jon Szanto]

I just never understood why folks feel comfortable giving their ebay userid and password to some arbitrary / random person out on the net. It just seems like you're opening yourself up for problems.

In the 4-5 years I've used my particular one, I've never had an issue. I'd know it the first time an unauthorized purchase came up, and I'd raise the issue with eBay and change my account. They don't have any link to payment information, so even if an unauthorized bid was submitted, I would simply show documentation that I did not initiate it, cancel all use of the site, and do something different. I never give the sniper authorization or information for payment, just submitting a bid. I see no issue.

[KrazyIvan]

I snipe. I do not use a service. As already mentioned, it has more to do with paranoia related to handing out my credentials to an unknown entity and trusting them to keep them safe more than any possible ethics or ego boosting arguments. I also snipe because I do not like to put my max bid out there early so others can inch up my bid. I watch an item, if it goes past what I am willing to pay, I remove it from my watch list and start looking again. I have lost potential auctions just because I did not have time to bid on it at the last second but that is a risk I am willing to take. I have also won some auctions for really good prices so in the end, it all evens out. The person willing to pay the most is going to win if I snipe or proxy bid, so it is all good.

[pengeezer]

I snipe. I do not use a service. As already mentioned, it has more to do with paranoia related to handing out my credentials to an unknown entity and trusting them to keep them safe more than any possible ethics or ego boosting arguments. I also snipe because I do not like to put my max bid out there early so others can inch up my bid. I watch an item, if it goes past what I am willing to pay, I remove it from my watch list and start looking again. I have lost potential auctions just because I did not have time to bid on it at the last second but that is a risk I am willing to take. I have also won some auctions for really good prices so in the end, it all evens out. The person willing to pay the most is going to win if I snipe or proxy bid, so it is all good.

+1 on that one.I like to watch the auction just to see how much one is
willing to overpay.


John

[david i]

I snipe. I do not use a service. As already mentioned, it has more to do with paranoia related to handing out my credentials to an unknown entity and trusting them to keep them safe more than any possible ethics or ego boosting arguments. I also snipe because I do not like to put my max bid out there early so others can inch up my bid. I watch an item, if it goes past what I am willing to pay, I remove it from my watch list and start looking again. I have lost potential auctions just because I did not have time to bid on it at the last second but that is a risk I am willing to take. I have also won some auctions for really good prices so in the end, it all evens out. The person willing to pay the most is going to win if I snipe or proxy bid, so it is all good.

+1 on that one.I like to watch the auction just to see how much one is
willing to overpay.


John

What if one underpays?

regards

d

[pengeezer]

I snipe. I do not use a service. As already mentioned, it has more to do with paranoia related to handing out my credentials to an unknown entity and trusting them to keep them safe more than any possible ethics or ego boosting arguments. I also snipe because I do not like to put my max bid out there early so others can inch up my bid. I watch an item, if it goes past what I am willing to pay, I remove it from my watch list and start looking again. I have lost potential auctions just because I did not have time to bid on it at the last second but that is a risk I am willing to take. I have also won some auctions for really good prices so in the end, it all evens out. The person willing to pay the most is going to win if I snipe or proxy bid, so it is all good.

+1 on that one.I like to watch the auction just to see how much one is
willing to overpay.


John

What if one underpays?

regards

d

Then I silently congratulate them on a sumgai buy. Already have seen several this month.


John

[mhosea]

I have lost potential auctions just because I did not have time to bid on it at the last second but that is a risk I am willing to take. I have also won some auctions for really good prices so in the end, it all evens out. The person willing to pay the most is going to win if I snipe or proxy bid, so it is all good.

I've manually sniped and used JBidwatcher, which isn't an on-line service. My connections are quite good, and it has worked well for me in the past, though lately it has problems fetching my watch list, so I've had to add auctions to it manually. I do like manual sniping for the fun of it, though. For me this is all entertainment, anyway. Sometimes I will admit to tossing in early and mid-auction bids on various items that I have no intention of making a serious snipe for. This is for fun and just on the off chance that a "miracle" will occur. Sadly, there have been no miracles yet on Montblanc 149s, although I was the non-sniped high bid on one recently that didn't make its reserve price. I would guess that at $175 less than the BIN price, my high bid was probably a good $75 below the reserve price. I sort of won it.