Is This A Shill?

[Alan Perry]

> On May 2, 2018, at 8:58 AM, Cory Heisterkamp via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
> 
> On Wed, May 2, 2018 at 10:22 AM, Chuck Guzis via cctalk <
> cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
> 
>>> On 05/02/2018 08:06 AM, Eric Christopherson via cctalk wrote:
>>> 
>>> When you say you snipe with a bot, do you mean you use eBay's highest-bid
>>> functionality to do it? Or do you use third-party software?
>>> 
>>> I've never been clear on how the built-in highest-bid functionality
>> works.
>>> I often see things where the same person has several consecutive bids,
>>> which doesn't make any sense to me in the absence of other people's bids
>> in
>>> between them.
>> 
>> When you submit a bit do eBay using the traditional method, your bid is
>> really a proxy bid--it's increased by specified increments until it's
>> outbid by another bidder.   If you prevail, you win by the minimum
>> winning proxy bid.
>> 
>> For example, I was looking for a cheap HDMI cable.   There were a few
>> available for a starting bid of $0.50.   I submitted a bit for $1.00 and
>> won with a final price of $0.69.
>> 
>> Sniping simply reduced the amount of time that a competing bidder has to
>> submit a bid when he discovers that he's being outbid.  There's nothing
>> unethical about it--auctions end at a specified time and you get your
>> bid in at the last possible moment.
>> 
>> There's software for this, but since I'm an original member of the
>> eSnipe service, I use them and haven't paid them a fee for years, since
>> bids under a certain amount aren't assessed for a commission.   Later
>> subscribers don't have the same deal, I believe.
>> 
>> When I'm interested in something small, I'll submit a snipe bid for what
>> I'm willing to pay and then forget about it.  If I win, great, if not,
>> no bother.
>> 
>> One thing that many eBay subscribers overlook is the "Make offer"
>> feature of some auctions.  In my opinion, that's where the real gold can
>> be.  If the BIN price looks too high and you really want an item, make
>> an offer.  You never know--the seller just may be want to be rid of the
>> thing and will take any offer.
>> 
>> 
>> FWIW,
>> Chuck
>> 
>> 
> Chuck makes a good point about the Make-Offer feature, and it should be
> noted that sellers have this option available to them within the eBay
> messenger system even if the button isn't present in the auction, so if you
> have your eye on something and feel the price is too high (or your search
> of completed auctions shows the item has been relisted several times with
> no takers), there's no harm in sending the seller a message with a dollar
> amount in mind. -C

YMMV. There is a type of system that I am interested in adding to my collection. An eBay seller has a bunch in a number of BIN/Make Offer  auctions over months. I asked an expert on the systems his opinion on the auctions, including what he would offer. I offer 50% more, but it was still 2/3rd the BIN price. They countered by taking a bit over 10% off. I countered by splitting the difference but they didn’t go for it. The auction closed and I looked at the auction history. I saw that the systems had previously been offered at a price less than my split-the-difference offer. When they came back up for auction again, I offered the split-the-difference price and noted that the lower price in a previous ‘no-takers’ auction run. They countered with a higher price than their counter to my initial offer. They went unsold again and I waited for the next auction run. I offered the split-the-difference price again and they countered even higher. I got the message and have stopped bidding. That was a couple months ago and they still have sold any of those systems.

alan