I set a snipe for $100, you set one for $110, the next highest bid is $10. If AS were to only place the higher of the two snipes, then you would get it for $11 (or whatever the increment is) instead of $101. Why should we compete with each other?

Not to be rude, but isn't this pretty much the same issue you brought up on another topic?

(Is that you, Clark?)

I'll answer his question: why shouldn't you? What subscribing snipers pay, or don't pay, is not any of AS's affair. Its job is to enter snipes as set by people who pay it to do so (when they win). The only legitimate concern AS has is that as many of its subscribers as possible win.

In the situation you describe, only one subscriber can win, but that's no skin off AS's nose. The most possible winners any auction for one item can have is one.

No Rick, you are NOT being rude. Yes it is the same topic. That was a question so it was in the question section. This is a suggestion so it is in the suggestion section.

The ANSWER to the QUESTION in the QUESTION SECTION was NO. So I am making a SUGGESTION in the SUGGESTION SECTION to make is a new FEATURE. Am I using the forums incorrectly?

Isn't the reason that people snipe to get a better price on the auction? If it were just about winning, I could just big $10,000,000 on everything. If I were willing to pay the money then it would not matter WHEN I bid. So the reason people use AS is to get the items they want at a better price by bidding at the last second and not give someone else the chance to up their own bid and drive the price up.

Yes only ONE person can win, but why pay more money for the item? You are doing a DIS-service to the users placing both bids and drving up the price. This benefits the seller AND AS but NOT the user of your system.

I don't care whether it's user-friendly or not. All this stuff you're writing is completely beside the point. When are you going to get it through your head that AS is NOT in the business of seeing who might be bidding against whom? What's more, it never will do that. If you don't like it, then you can always quit AS and use a snipe service that does that -- and good luck finding one, anywhere. In the meantime, jumping from category to category in the AS Forum while you flagellate a moribund equine (beat a dead horse) isn't going to win you any converts, and there's a good chance it'll make some people sore. Think about that before you come into this Forum looking for help with something.

How can the things I am writing about be "completely beside the point" WHEN IT IS MY POINT.

What you do not seem to understand is that I asked a question. You answered it. I was hoping that it could be the other way, so I made a suggestion hoping that it would change so I moved it to a more appropriate forum.

I am just a little confused. Steve is this your site and you make the decission on what does or does not get put in (not trying to be a smart guy, just wanted to know)

No, this isn't my site and I don't make any decisions about how AS does business. I've been around AS for a long time and was the crash dummy for the beta testing of the initial program. That was even before the current tech force came on board. I'm not an employee of AS or anything like that.

Well, we'll let your point stand and see whether we can get Sara B. to give us some input on it, OK? Sara, you following this?

quote:

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Originally posted by sonofagunk:
I am just a little confused. Steve is this your site and you make the decission on what does or does not get put in (not trying to be a smart guy, just wanted to know)

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WRONG!
Steve is a member of the Illuminati. He knows where Hoffa is.

Hate to keep bringing this up, but you keep reminding me of clark.


Steve, how are you the only one to be accused of working/owning AS? I've tried everything and I have yet to have that honor. JUST WHAT THE F. DO I HAVE TO DO?

I haven't been around quite a long as Steve, but it has been quite a while. I don't post as often as Steve or Rick or Chatter, but I've got a LOT of sniping experience. And I don't know of a single sniper who signed up for this service with the intention of having only some of their snipes placed. To have a chance to win an auction, my bid MUST be placed. The only time I have NO chance is if my bid is NOT placed.

I respect my fellow snipers, but if I don't win, I at least want my bid to make the other person pay more. I also know they feel the same way. That's just the nature of things.

I also know EVERY time a there's been a problem with eBay not registering snipes on time snipers complain. If they already complain about their snipes being missed (whether they would have won or not), why would you think that the rest of the AS community would ever want AS to change and submit only some just to suit you?

I don't work for AS, but looking at this realistically, why would AS alienate practially all of it's customers just to satisfy your request? And, if as you point out, AS make more money on higher bids, why would they want to cut their revenue?

You are of coarse allowed to make your suggestion. But if you stop and really think about what your asking, you'll see it's just not realistic to even hope it will happen.

[This message was edited by star_trkr on May 22, 2003 at 08:04 PM.]

Ringing is a system whereby a group of people proposing to bid at an auction get togetehr and hold a private auction to see who will win an item on the basis that thereafter only the "winner" will bid at the real auction. The aim of course is to keep the price low for the benefit of the ringers.

In the UK at least, this is a serious criminal offence and fraud.

The suggestion is basically for AS to be an automated auction ring. It will not fly!

Rick asked, "Steve, how are you the only one to be accused of working/owning AS? I've tried everything and I have yet to have that honor. JUST WHAT THE F. DO I HAVE TO DO?"

I think the requirement is that you have to look like me, and believe me, that's a price you don't want to pay.

quote:

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Originally posted by Rick:
[QUOTE]QUOTE]
WRONG!
Steve is a member of the Illuminati. He knows where Hoffa is.

Hate to keep bringing this up, but you keep reminding me of clark.

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Everyone knows that Hoffa is with Elvis. I am sure that SonofaClark knows this.

Nope, only I know where Jimmy Hoffa is. Bu-wahhahhahhah!

This is only a simulated post. Had this been an actual post, you would have been informed....

hey, sorry to break in here, but that is just a horrible suggestion. whoever talked about ringing had it right. Auction sniper is already kinda shady in my eyes already since it defies the purpose of the Ebay bidding system. It bids late so that people have no chance to outbid you. That's already kinda low and dirty, and hurts sellers. So now you want them to reconcile competing bids so that sellers are hurt even more?? And then when will it stop? AS could tell you someone else on AS will beat you, so you up your bid a little, then AS will tell the other person that THEY will be outbid and they up THEIR bid. Pretty soon you've got bidding wars on AS alone!

I'm somewhat against AS in the first place cause it gives an unfair advantage to those who use it, But on the other hand, if everyone bid their true maximum amount for their "maximum bid" on ebay directly, then there would be no problems.

If you noticed, or you should have, no one on this forum agreed with SonofaClark.

"I'm somewhat against AS in the first place cause it gives an unfair advantage to those who use it" - It's available to everyone, so anyone that doesn't use it shouldn't say it's unfair.

Yep. People who are smart enough to study have an advantage in school, and people who are smart enough to snipe have an advantage on e-Bay.
--Christine

SonofaClark never gives up.

(sonofagunk. but I had to make a new username because the other was cancelled).

Thanks for all the info. Got me to do research and find better options than AS. Steve is doing a real service to whom ever is running the company.

Just so you know, sniping requires 6 lines of perl code
1) to retrive page with the with the end time.
2) to calc the end time
3) to sleep that time
4) to retrive page with "bid confirm" that has the "key" in it
5) parse that page to get the "key"
6) retrive page that places the bid (i.e. place the bid)

seeing what is around here, I think this is the way to go. I am 5 for 5 with my system and saved myself $10-$20. My friends are very happy using it too.