24 Apr
2003
24 Apr
'03
4:18 a.m.
Hello Mike,
This hurts the seller and should make no difference to the bidder.
NO ONE should ever bid more than they are willing to pay. But with
sniping, people often bid a little higher just to protect their bid. If
there is an extention bids will still not rise higher than anyone is
willing to bid.
I have seen auctions go for $400 on items that normally wouldn't sell for
$300. One bidder contacted me because two people bid that $400 and he
said, "I guess I got stuck. I was just trying to protect my bid." He
paid the auction but clearly bid more than he ever expected or wanted to
pay.
The people that whine the most about sniping, NEVER win auctions, unless
they are the first to see a "low" buy-it-now, on popular items. They just
NEVER bid high enough and would lose anyway.
But with sniping, people often bid a little higher
just to protect their
bid.
That might be the case some of the time, but with extensions, a bidder
has the opportunity to re-evaluate their decision, and go higher if they
want to. With the snipe, you calculate what you think might do it, enter
the bid, and then see how it ends ( for the seasoned bidder anyway ).
"I guess I got stuck. I was just trying to
protect my bid."
That "protecting the bid" strategy can backfire on the bidder just as you
saw.
The people that whine the most about sniping, NEVER
win auctions
I hope you don't interpret my discussion as whining about sniping. I
always snipe and usually win whenever I really want to.
The people that whine the most about sniping, NEVER
win auctions, ...
they just NEVER bid high enough and would lose anyway.
You're generally right. Most buyers that might whine about sniping are just
expressing their disappointment that they couldn't buy the item as
inexpensively
as they had wished to. But from the sellers perspective, the exact ending time
and the sniping would sometimes prevent their from being able to reach their
best potential selling price.
At 08:12 AM 4/24/03 -0700, you wrote:
a much preferred model for me. It is where the sale is
extended by a
minute or two
when each bid comes in at the end of the auction.