Ebay Fees

[Ian M]

I once was trying to bid on something & I was outbid by someone using a sniping tool. The person who won then got in touch with me to try & sell me the same item at double the price he had paid for it. It was in the days when you could see the names of the people who had bid. I think Ebay should get rid of the sniping tools as this would make it a lot fairer to all.

[JSR]

Bidder 1 enters a max bid for £70 starting price is £20 so their first bid is £20. Bidder 2 at last few seconds enters £68 max bid.
Bidder 1's bid goes to his max of £70 he wins.

What does that have to do with sniping? It doesn't matter whether bidder 1 put in a bid of £40, £70, or £140 - the sniping tool always beats them by one bid in that last second. It can't make dozens of bids in a second, surely? How does it know what the bidder's highest bid was?

[John G]

I'd thought I'd explain ebay here as a few are blaming sniping tools when in fact it is just the way ebay works

Just say there was a mug press going at auction for £50.00 - I'd be prepared to go to £80.00, but I put in a bid at £60.00
After your bid is placed, and ebay confirm you as the highest bidder, EBAY ask you if you would like to increase your bid.
You increase your bid and input £80.00 as that's the max you want to pay.

Now the clever bit - the auction is still going at £60.00 even though you have bid £80.00
Every time someone puts in a bid above £60.00, they will automatically be outbid by yourself upto your increased bid of £80.00

So, it doesn't matter how many seconds are left on the clock - if the bid the other person places is below your maximum, THEY WILL BE OUTBID AUTOMATICALLY.
If no one bids - you get it for your first bid of £60.00

Hope that explains it

[JSR]

Hope that explains it

It doesn't need explaining.

If an item is currently at £20 and you want to bid on it, you might place a high bid of, say £60, thinking that gives you plenty of scope to stay in the game.

If someone bids £70 and the price now goes up to £62, ebay emails you to let you know. You then have the chance to increase your maximum bid. You may reconsider your original bid, and bid £80. The price is now £72.

This repeats until the end of the auction.

Until you get to the sniper.

You see the item at £20 and you place your high bid of £60. No one else bids. You think you've done enough. The last second clocks down, and you're sniped for £62. Ebay emails you to recommend increasing your bid, but now there is no time. The auction is over. You have no chance to reconsider.

So, next time, you remember that you lost the auction for the sake of £2. You see the item again, starting at £20. This time you decide to place a higher maximum bid of £80. No one else bids. You think you've done enough. The last second clocks down, and this time you're sniped for £82. You still can't place a higher bid, regardless of ebay's "you're outbid" email reminding you to "not let it get away" because the auction is over.

The next time, you may place a maximum bid for £100 - but then you'll be sniped for £102.

With sniping, it doesn't matter what your maximum bid is because you'll be sniped by one bid no matter what you put in - unless you put in something so ridiculously high that you're paying more than you would if you bought it new (I've seen some sniped auctions in which the final price is more than the "new" price would have been). In either case, there is just no point bidding on an ebay auction.

[John G]

It doesn't need explaining.

Well I think it does - if you lost by £2, and it was £2 more than your highest bid - then it was too much, and £2 more than you were prepared to pay.

You have to know how much your prepared to pay before you bid and not every auction will have someone sniping.

[JSR]

Well I think it does - if you lost by £2, and it was £2 more than your highest bid - then it was too much, and £2 more than you were prepared to pay.

You have to know how much your prepared to pay before you bid and not every auction will have someone sniping.

All the auctions I've tried recently have been sniped. I have tried for the same item more than once, each time putting in a higher maximum bid. Sniped each time.

That's why I don't tend to bother with ebay auctions any more if I actually want to buy the item. There's no point when it's close to impossible to win an auction.

I've got to the stage of treating it like a game - increasing my maximum bid to something that no sane person would pay, knowing that I'll be sniped each time. If people are going to snipe, I don't see why they should get it cheap. They may as well snipe a high bid rather than a low one, making them pay more. That can be fun.

The most recent one I did ended last night. It was a bit nerve-wracking for a while because I'd bid a full £20 higher than I wanted to. No one had bid for about four days, and I thought I might actually have to pay for the item. I shouldn't have worried - I was sniped in the last second. It's comical.

[John G]

I was sniped in the last second. It's comical.

It certainly is - one good thing though, you've made the OP pay through the nose for the item :biggrin:

[Zipdorf]

The thread has gone a little off subject. I just wish the people who ran Exchange & Mart years ago would think about running it online as competition to Ebay. It was a great publication of its time. We need some competition for Ebay. Many years ago I published a music magazine aimed at collectors. For 3 years my competitor couldn't put up their advertising costs. Then they made me a very nice five figure offer saying they would continue the magazine and so I sold it to them. They buried my magazine and put up their ad rates. They probably made their money back within 3 or 4 months.

[bigj2552]

JSR the sniper killer lol

got to admit, i have used sniping tools before, and it can be very useful indeed for winning auctions.
But i feel it has taken away the essence of what ebay was/is about.
buying stuff cheap(er) and the FUN of the bidding.:rolleyes:.

ebay is gonna be left with only the big boy sellers if they carry on the way they are going.:rolleyes: