Fu***ngs jackass who sniped that auction

[Rollef]

Thanks for the offer Booster, but I allready have a 2x so I think I'm gonna stick to that.

by reflex on Thu Sep 25, 2008 3:23 am

...

Let's get this straight: You're used to winning auctions on a particular site, but this time someone outbid you at the last moment.

Can't argue with that!

by reflex on Thu Sep 25, 2008 3:23 am

...

Is that really worth whining about here?

Why did i open pandoras box by starting this topic you ask? Hey, I like Super8 and super8 related stuff. So sue me.

marc
You have to fight fire with fire. You can be a sniper too for free. There are sites that give you a certain number of snipes per week free of charge!

As i'm thinking about this now I think I'm not going to be using any sniping software. After all, part of the fun is the the rush in winning the auction.

With risk of beeing bashed, here's something to argue about; The usage of sniping software is like using dope in the olympics. It's cheating.

Here it comes...

[granfer]

What an involved catalogue of confessed addiction to internet auction sites! It makes me wonder what kind of mental age some people have.

There is only one safe and sensible method of buying from Ebay.....
1. you decide whether you realy want to buy the item,
2. you decide what is the maximum sensible amount you are prepared to pay,
3. you place that as your maximum bid straight away.

If you win it, fine! If you don't, you can congratulate yourself for not being stupid...and wait for the next opportunity. At least the bidder that was prepared to pay more is out of the way.

[reflex]

As i'm thinking about this now I think I'm not going to be using any sniping software. After all, part of the fun is the the rush in winning the auction.

Here it comes...

Online auctions are not battles between royal knights fighting by arcane rules of chivalrous conduct. They're bloody shopping trips, and your goal should be to pay as little as possible for the online equivalent of potatoes and breakfast cereal. The trouble is that humans don't have hundreds of thousands of years of evolutionary experience with shopping, so they get hopelessly confused by emotions and illogical delusions of fair play.

Sniping is the same as sitting by your computer and clicking "Bid!" with only seconds remaining, except that a program is clicking the button instead. You still have to enter a high enough proxy bid to win, and there's no magical cheating involved. I've sniped many auctions that I didn't win because my bid wasn't high enough.

There is no need to shout, "Hey everybody! I'm really interested in this thing! You'll have to outbid me if your want it!" for days before an auction closes. It's a fool's game.

[StoneBuilder]

I'm a bottom feeder on ebaY - and bid on four items and buy just one of them. Get paranoid in case all four come up and I become skint. Here's a good one that's just left the murky bottom and is just out of my range ( Item number: 220282228803 ).

[camera8mm]

is that the anamorphic lens?

ebay is turning into amazon with the buy it now - so there!

[Rollef]

...

I have no problem relating to what you are saying, and in fact I agree with you. As you said I'm used to winning auctions and this time I did not. I didn't see the sniper coming, and was surprised that I had lost when the auction was over. That's simply it. Now I know better, and I'm not whining about it.

There is no need to shout, "Hey everybody! I'm really interested in this thing! You'll have to outbid me if your want it!" for days before an auction closes. It's a fool's game.

"nobody" understands this. As long someone has placed a first bid there is no need to out bid each other, but often I see bidding -wars, driving the price up, days before the auction is over. This is of course great from a seller p.o.w, but pointless from a buyer p.o.w. I guess some buyers just feel the need to have the highest bid. In the auction regarding this topic I had the one and only bid.

is that the anamorphic lens?

ebay is turning into amazon with the buy it now - so there!

No, that is a d-mount for a 8mm Bolex or similar camera.

[granfer]

Well Rollef, you started it off, now you say,

"I guess some buyers just feel the need to have the highest bid."

Yes, there are some people that have such an inflated sense of their own importance that they can't bear the thought that somebody else might also want what they think it's their RIGHT to have, woudn't you agree?

Granfer

[reflex]

As you said I'm used to winning auctions and this time I did not. I didn't see the sniper coming, and was surprised that I had lost when the auction was over.

Gotcha. I'm used to losing auctions, so any time I win is a pleasant surprise.

In fact, I usually don't bid on things over $100. The one exception recently was a Nikon D40 DSLR, which I won for $255 on eBay. The seller had listed with a poor photo and description, but he answered my questions about the camera in an honest and straightforward manner. I was one of the few who risked bidding and it was a very nice surprise to win.

I think that the satisfaction and surprise of winning an auction is what drives a lot of people to go into a bidding frenzy - it's like a casino, except at least they walk away with something at the end of the night.

[Rollef]

Yes, there are some people that have such an inflated sense of their own importance that they can't bear the thought that somebody else might also want what they think it's their RIGHT to have, woudn't you agree?

Granfer

To bad for them. If they don't realise that engaging in a bidding war just because they feel the need to have the higher bid long before the auction is over is unneccesarily going to drive the price up, then what you going to do? They obviously dont understand the simple consept of how the price is getting higher.

[BolexPlusX]

Online auctions are competitive and predatory. When you place a bid, especially the first one you get the idea that the thing is "yours", and somehow the next guy along has violated your rights when he bids against you. When it gets personal like this you can wind up regretting what you pay when you actually do win.

Some people say that when there is a bid in the last minute, the clock should automatically throw in another minute or more to allow counter bids. This would make it more like a live auction.

As it is I almost never bid early. When you do this you are just letting other people know you are out there and encouraging them to bid higher to climb up over you. I've seen it more than once where a bid stands there, gets counter bid several times by the same other bidder as if they are searching for the top of that proxy, and then nothing happens until the last minute when there is a storm of bids.

When I bid early it's for something I don't want that much so I'm not motivated enough to be there at the end. I usually don't bid very high in these cases either.

I'm seeing more and more auctions where everybody snipes. It's as if those first 6 days were just invitations to a one minute battle at the end

[sciolist]

I'm seeing more and more auctions where everybody snipes. It's as if those first 6 days were just invitations to a one minute battle at the end.

I've noticed this trend, too, and it's unnerving when I'm the seller. Sometimes there's a flurry of bids in the last minute and the item sells for a decent price; sometimes there isn't and the item goes for a song. Although one can set a reserve price, a higher starting price, or a Buy-it-Now price to avoid this pitfall, these 'safeguards' often drive away potential bidders/buyers.

As a buyer, it's useful to keep in mind the fact that a lot of stuff appearing at eBay will appear again. Patience is usually rewarded.

[super8man]

Unfortunately, most of the small stuff will disappear with ebays new push to go in a different direction (attic sellers no longer welcome basically). Craigslist is the new black as are forums where you can sell directly to someone as long as they have enough street cred...