That's the way it's supposed to work. Unfortunately, not everyone uses it that
way. For instance, suppose the starting bid is $25 and I decide that the
maximum I'll pay is $100. So I make my bid for $100, and the price starts at
$25. Over the next few days, the price gradually goes to $45. Then, in the
last few minutes of the auction, it goes to $96. Checking the bidding history
shows that one person bid $55, then $65, then $75, then $85, and finally $95
before giving up. I still win, but I pay nearly the full amount of my maximum
bid. Had I waited until the last possible moment, the other bidder would have
had time for only one bid. The winner of the auction (me) would still be the
same, but the final price would have been $56 and I would have saved $40. That
kind of thing happened to me over and over when I first started using eBay, and
that's why I started sniping. I bid exactly the same amount that I *would* have
bid at the beginning of the auction, so sniping doesn't improve my chances of
winning -- or at least, it wouldn't if everyone bids their true maximum at the
start. It does, however, help keep the final price of auctions I win lower than
if I bid earlier. If all bidders would make *one* bid with their maximum price,
then sniping would be pointless. But as long as people keep making multiple
bids at the last minute and driving the price up in small increments, then
sniping is the best way for buyers to hold the price down.
If there is going to be a change in the way eBay operates, then I'd prefer that
each bidder be limited to a single bid per auction. That would force everyone
to bid their maximum up front and there would be no need to snipe.
Guy HPTraderOnline <[log in to unmask]> on 06/03/2002 04:23:47 PM
Please respond to Guy HPTraderOnline <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
cc: (bcc: Wayne Brown/Corporate/Altec)
Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] OT: German Enigma machine
I thought you just put down your maximum bid, and then let the software take
care of the rest. If your bid won at a figure lower than you anticipated,
you got a steal. Otherwise it's all timing.
Guy
----- Original Message -----
From: "david h. floyd" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, June 03, 2002 1:33 PM
Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] OT: German Enigma machine
> that kind of sniping is unfortunate. it reminds me that we should all
> petition ebay with stan's "ebay idea":
>
> http://www.sieler.com/ebay_idea.html
>
>
> david h. floyd
> tSGi
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: HP-3000 Systems Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> Behalf Of Wayne Brown
> Sent: Monday, June 03, 2002 3:22 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] OT: German Enigma machine
>
> Well, it's over. The Enigma has been snatched up for the bargain price
> of
> $32,100. (I tried to imagine my wife's reaction if I spent that much on
> eBay,
> but perhaps fortunately, it's unimagineable. :-) There was some pretty
> high-powered sniping going on, as the price rose from $21,000 to the
> final
> figure during the last 24 minutes of the auction. There were 30 bids
> altogether, with 15 of them coming in those last 24 minutes. (11 of
> them were
> from the same bidder!) The winning bid was made about two minutes
> before the
> auction ended. (There were a couple of later bids, including one less
> than a
> minute before the end, but they weren't high enough to beat the winner.)
> Whoever was selling it must be pretty happy right now.
>
> Sheesh, and when I bid $75.00 on a slide rule, I feel like a big
> spender!
>
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>
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