Reply to "Fed up with loosing snipes ..."

quote:

perhaps someone can explain what I'm missing here?

What the hell – nothing ventured; nothing gained (or lost).

quote:

Cannot see how his bid going in at 7 or 3 secs makes any difference to anything as no-one can react that quickly

“Probably”, and “most likely”, none. I think it’s more a question of expectations. The user specifies 3 seconds, and that’s what they expect. In actual practice, the reality is that it will, or should, make no difference. But, and I know this is a more heated subject than whether to delete one’s cookies, rightly or wrongly, “some” people evaluate AS’ performance on how close it hits the lead-time mark. And, for some people, it would appear, that’s more important than winning the auction (“some” and “appear” are the operative words).

To me, an early snipe is preferred over a late one. But not all of us think alike, and not all of us have the same opinions and tastes (I can’t stand Brussels sprouts, and no amount of cheese will change that). The issue isn’t, “I think this way, therefore you should also”. The issue is, “This isn’t working to some of the users expectations”. Telling them it’s not important is similar to telling them they are wrong. That works for some users, and doesn’t for others. And, since this is a reoccurring theme, there’s a chance that the users that it doesn’t work for leave. There is also a chance that for those users that try another service, the same things will happen with the other service.

Personally, I think the reason behind not allowing 1 and 2-second lead-times, and the reason AS adjusts the lead-time (so as to hit the moving target of ebay’s response time) should be addressed in the FAQ’s. By definition, “Frequently Asked Questions” are just that – and this is something that’s fairly frequent.

If these 2 issues were covered in the FAQ’s, AS could better manage the response, or provide a response more consistent with their management views, then their currently depending on forum users. It would also be available to those that don’t visit the forum. And, it would eliminate complaints from those that accuse AS of providing misleading claims, or of not providing full discloser.

It appears that the policy/belief at AS is that earlier is better than not-at-all. If AS were less hesitant to make that policy known, I think there would be fewer problems. Those snipers that agree with that opinion would tend to lean towards using AS, and those snipers that disagree would tend to lean towards another service or method, assuming there IS one that thinks not-at-all is better than early.

Perhaps the lead-time field should be removed? At times it reminds me of having the steering wheel on those little cars that are on a track at Disneyland – it provides “some” control, but the track has the final say. If AS is the final arbitrator of the lead-time, then why do users have to take the time, and brain cells, to determine what value they are going to use? In the final analysis, the sniper REALLY only controls which auctions he’ll snipe and the amount he’ll bid – which is fine by me.

Oh well – another post that won’t get read.

P.S. There is this FAQ:
http://www.auctionsniper.com/faqbasics.aspx#basics16
But, it leaves a bit to be desired.