eBay sniping - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

24 Apr 2003

Hi Mike,

...
  What you are trying to do is have a completely new
format for an auction.
 Specified end time with extended provision.  You don't have any such
 "NORMAL" auction like this. 
Yahoo auctions, GSA auctions, and a local one ( that ceased operations )
called Bidzilla had the extending auctions format.

...
  and the winners will be those that place last second
bids (i.e. not seen  by others)

Not necessarily so. An early bidder that enters a high enough proxy bid 
will still
win. Sniping sometimes backfires on the snipers, if they miscalculate what it
will take to win ( if it was something they really wanted ) and enter too 
low a sniping
bid.

At 12:54 PM 4/24/03 -0700, you wrote:
...
   At 18:23
24/04/2003, you wrote:

 All this garbage about
extending auctions an extra minute, blah blah blah, is just a dumb idea. 
 I dispute that - the "extension" idea is what happens in a "normal"
 auction. The auctioneer will take bids until all competing bidders back
 out, leaving the one winner. This, naturally, maximises the sale price
 (which is good for the seller & the auction house). 
Absolute nonsense!  In a normal auction, there is no specified "end time."
  These are two completely different formats.  In a normal auction,
everyone shows up at the same time and bids.  Bidding is only for a few
minutes.

In an eBay auction (a completely different format) everyone has a very
long time to decide.

If you had an extended time feature (or pathetic idea) no one would bid on
a 10 day auction until day 10.  There would be no need to, unless you just
couldn't be around.

What you are trying to do is have a completely new format for an auction.
Specified end time with extended provision.  You don't have any such
"NORMAL" auction like this.

The only reason people place early bids on eBay is because they are
thinking like this is a "NORMAL" auction, which it is NOT.  This is like a
sealed bid auction because the auction ends at a specified time and the
winners will be those that place last second bids (i.e. not seen by
others). 