24 Apr
2003
24 Apr
'03
6:10 a.m.
Hi
I have no problem with sniping, other than that
I can't always be around at the last minute.
The only time I didn't like being sniped was the
first item I lost to this method. Once I understood
what was going on, I couldn't understand why bidders
would make incremental bids. I usually will post
a lower bid, early on. This way, other savy bidders
will check what I've previously bid on items and
they will either back out or, in those cases that
they just have to have an item, they will out bid
me. I think it tends to even out the play field.
I always look to see what other bidders have been doing.
I wouldn't mind having a combination of open and
sealed bits. I could then snipe without having
to wait till the last minute.
Dwight
From: "J.C.Wren" <jcwren(a)jcwren.com>
Why sniping is good:
Many people get upset about having auctions sniped. All this garbage
about
extending auctions an extra minute, blah blah blah, is
just a dumb idea.
The reason I regularly snipe is purely psychological: If you enter a bid
early on in an item, you're expressing an interest. This likely drives the
price up, since *most* people seem unwilling to set hard prices and stick to
them.
My procedure it to set the price when I notice the item, basically,
what's
worth to me. I then track the item, and don't
bother bidding if it goes
over my limit. However, if the closing time comes around, and it's still
below my limit, I want until about 3 seconds before close, and submit.
If you're not fast enough, or haven't set a higher price, you lose. I
have
no moral quandries about this. There is nothing that I
have, do, or know
that makes me a better bidder than anyone else. Simply the ability to stick
to my price, and not show early interest, driving prices up unnecessarily.
And as for the "no interest" technique, no one can gripe about that.
I've
seen plenty of buyers at junk stores, hamfests,
auctions, etc, that
desparately want an item, but make it seem like "eh, whatever". Why?
Because they *know* if you say "Damn, this is the coolest widget ever, one
of only 5 ever made, I *have* to have it!" they're quite likely to clue the
seller in, or in any case, drive the price up.
Buy low, sell high. To do otherwise is a Enron-esque business model,
and
just plain nuts.
--John