I have found the a number of auctions I run don't get any bids until then end, then there's a snipe bid. Usually people look at the auction early on then enter a snipe bid in some sniper tool and forget about it. This gives the seller the option to change the auction, up to 12 hours before the close. Since most snipers don't check the auctions their snipe will go in under their assumption that the terms are what they read early on.

I found this out by accident, I was selling a wholesale lot of 25 of something in a 7 day auction. About 5 days into the auction there were no bids, and I had sold some items another way. SO I changed the auction to 5 items, I was in a hurry and I left the starting bid and S/H the same.

Someone sniped it, I got the best price I had ever gotten for those items.

So I tried it several more times, generally increasing the S/H charge. This is less noticeable since S/H rip offs are so rampant on ebay, it's not a big deal. SO I list the auction with a reasonable S/H. Wait for the snipers to set their bids, then jack up the S/H 12 hours before it closes.

J.T.

Love to watch one of your auctions in action – need a link.

This is dishonest, not at all the type of trading the Ebay community supports. You will be caught and when you are, your reputation will suffer as the feedback power now lies in the hands of buyers. It's only a matter of time.

What a w@nker! Comes here, 1 post just to gloat at his amazing ripoff technique and away s/he goes.

try johntartar@yahoo.com

R2

This technique would not be honoured by ebay, besides doesn't ebay alert the buyer by email that the description on the item they have bid on has changed, or at least in a material way. Still, his or her technique will suffer as the buyer will not have to honour their bid as the terms of the contract changed after they placed their bid, therefore making the contract invalid. Simple contract law. The buyer will also suffer much negative feedback. My pet hate is sellers hiding hidden postage One seller had it hidden in her "about me" section which you had to click on to read. I didn't pay it nor did ebay expect me to as it was not disclosed in the main description

quote:

Originally posted by region2:
What a w@nker! Comes here, 1 post just to gloat at his amazing ripoff technique and away s/he goes.

Not so much a w@nker – perhaps more like a goat-getter, and looks like s/he bagged one or two goats.

quote:

besides doesn't ebay alert the buyer by email that the description on the item they have bid on has changed,

No, because the bidder hasn’t bid, so there’s no protection. J.T. may, or may not, be trying to actually warn snipers to check the auction 12 hours before to make sure there are no major changes. If that isn’t J.T.’s intention, that’s the result, so Thank You J.T.!

quote:

Originally posted by john_tartar:
...snip... Someone sniped it, I got the best price I had ever gotten for those items.

So I tried it several more times, generally increasing the S/H charge. This is less noticeable since S/H rip offs are so rampant on ebay, it's not a big deal. SO I list the auction with a reasonable S/H. Wait for the snipers to set their bids, then jack up the S/H 12 hours before it closes.

You, sir, are a useless thurd!

I was talking to a UK seller today. He says his sales have been down since AS went on the blink. He reckons sniping often puts up the final price. For example: Starting price of item is $1.99; "normal bidder" enters $7 but, at this stage, price is still $1.99.

Along comes a sniper and puts in $6. OK, so in this example, sniper doesn't win but seller gets $6.50 (or whatever the increment is on eBay).

Snipers are not bad news but they sure as hell annoy the shillers etc.

Anti-antisniping technique: The best way to avoid this underhanded maneuver is to place a REAL bid on the item, and then place a snipe on it also. The seller cannot change the auction once someone has bid on it; they can only ADD to the description.

quote:

Originally posted by Dave:

quote:

Originally posted by john_tartar:
...snip... Someone sniped it, I got the best price I had ever gotten for those items.

So I tried it several more times, generally increasing the S/H charge. This is less noticeable since S/H rip offs are so rampant on ebay, it's not a big deal. SO I list the auction with a reasonable S/H. Wait for the snipers to set their bids, then jack up the S/H 12 hours before it closes.

You, sir, are a useless thurd!

I don't think this works at all. A buyer can now leave the seller a negative and all 1's for DSR's. Basically it's not in a sellers interest to try this.

It's hard to believe that any seller would use this method. They may make a few extra bucks in the short run, but doubtful the seller would be around for very long.