quote:Ok, in the above example user B would've won whenever siweb's snipe was placed; but what if user B wasn't playing? User A placed a bid and wasn't winning so immediately bid again. If siweb's snipe hadn't already been placed (early) user A might well have sat back expecting a win and not placed that second bid.
I have to say that I've experienced this situation, albeit self-imposed.
I had already set a snipe through AS, but when the first bid came in on the item a few days before the end, I recognized the bidder as someone I've bought from *and* sold to on ebay. So out of a personal sense of honor, I canceled my snipe and bid early, deciding to give the other bidder a fair chance.
Here's how it played out:
1) Starting bid was $14.99. The other bidder's max was $15.01.
2) Upon deleting my snipe, I manually entered my max of $41.00.
3) Down to the wire, the other bidder tried to snipe twice: he entered $20.01 with 20 seconds left to go, and then with 10 seconds left, he entered $25.01.
So I won at $26.01 BUT -- because we were the only two bidders, I would have won the item at $16.01, had I stayed with my originally planned snipe. I'm not complaining, of course, about paying more money - after all, it was my decision to play fair this time. But the conclusion is clear: If your snipe goes in too early, then at best, your final price can go higher, and at worst, obviously you can lose the auction entirely.