Okay, I am a sniper newbie and, I can be a bit slowwwww, but could someone please help me make sense of this? My snipe went exactly as prescribed. The winner outbid me by an incremental increase on a bid placed one day before the auction ended, though they had no previous bids. Huh? Here is the final part of the bid sequence...
Ended: Sep-13-04 11:26:05 PDT
cleitzsey ( 23) US $84.67 Sep-12-04 20:40:44 PDT
littlenorthfork ( 20) US $83.67 Sep-13-04 11:26:02 PDT
brianlauro ( 7 ) US $65.00 Sep-13-04 09:23:56 PDT
brianlauro ( 7 ) US $60.00 Sep-13-04 09:22:11 PDT
dana1752 ( 46) US $51.26 Sep-10-04 05:59:28 PDT

Item No: 7100545429

They bid (at least) $84.67 on 12-Sep-04 at 20:40:44 PDT

You bid $83.67 on 13-Sep-04 19:26:02 BST

They won due to the eBay Proxy Bidding system.
more >>>

In simple terms, you were outbid despite sniping at the last second.

R2

Thanks R2. If I understand correctly, the proxy bidder's bid does not appear in the bid history until the end of the auction nor does it affect the bidding... sort of an unbid. Maybe they should call it 7up bidding.

littlenorthfork . . . cleitzsey could have bid $90 or $900, but prior to your bid at $83.67 it showed that cleitzsey was winning the auction at $66.00 (which is $1.00 above brianlauro's highest bid of $66.00 at that time) . . . your bid of $83.67 pushed cleitzsey up to $84.67 (which is $1.00 above your max bid) but it still doesn't reveal just how high cleitzsey was willing to pay for it . . . cleitzsey made his bid the night of 9/20/2004 and basically was daring to see if anyone would bid higher than him . . . he is probably pissed to see your bid as it cost him $18.67 (which is $84.67 minus $66.00) extra than what it would have cost his if you hadn't showed up. . . . at least you got your pound of flesh out of cleitzsey and you know that it didn't slip away for less than what you were willing to pay. regards, steve

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Originally posted by littlenorthfork:
Thanks R2. If I understand correctly, the proxy bidder's bid does not appear in the bid history until the end of the auction nor does it affect the bidding... sort of an unbid. Maybe they should call it 7up bidding.

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The bid appears during the auction, but not the full amount, only the amount that is one increment ahead of the second-highest bidder.

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Originally posted by Chatter:
The bid appears during the auction, but not the full amount, only the amount that is one increment ahead of the second-highest bidder.

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There is one itsy-bitsy exception to that. Should the high bid *not* be above the second high bid by the increment amount (less .01), then you know the high bidder’s bid.

And, of course, in reserve auctions, the bidder that reaches the reserve amount first, can be well over an increment amount in relation to the second-highest bidder.

Can I ask a potentially daft question based on the previous comments - What's the difference between ebays proxy bidding and AS then?

It appears to me to be a cheaper option to use Ebays PBidding than AS - or have I misunderstood?

Perhaps more importantly, is it possible to 'beat' EPB with AS? Or is it entirely dependant on value?(IE Time is not a factor)

?

The answer is that the highest bid always wins, regardless of when it is placed. But the reality is that many, if not most, people do NOT place their highest bid at any one time; they bid what they HOPE to pay, just enough to stay ahead of the competition. These pesky folks are called nibblers.

Consequently, if a nibbler has the high bid while the auction is going on, he leaves it as is and does nothing. But the minute someone comes along and outbids him, he comes back with a higher bid, and the bidding war ensues. The price is driven higher, often outrageously so.

But if no one else outbids him, the nibbler leaves his bid alone--until a sniper comes along at the last second and swoops the auction with a nice snipe. Had the sniper bid the same amount during the auction, the nibbler may well have come back even higher. But since no one else came along until it was too late to bid again, the sniper gets the prize.

This obviously does not always happen; it does not when the proxy bid is higher. But most nibblers are not willing to admit that they will actually pay $100 for that item; they prefer to bid $20, and then keep bidding higher, even past the $100. If they simply decided the amount of the snipe and walked away, they would avoid the bidding war, and maximize their chance of acquisition. That is the point of sniping.

Ahhh. Now you put it that way, "I see the logic captain"

Thanks for all the great replies. So I just put my maximum bid in on an item that was higher than the required incremental bid and was instantly outbid by a "new bidder" by the required increment. His bid was placed before mine but did not show up until mine forced it. Now I get it. Wonder if this person minded being used for a little experimental learning.

Glad your experiment revealed those pesky little critters called nibblers.


They need to be exterminated.