Bid Groups

Have you looked at this?
http://www.auctionsniper.com/faqbid.aspx

Dear Diety, I have read those topics, and the tutorial, but they assume you know what a bid group is and what it does. Therefore, their questions and answers don't clear things up for me. If I place only one bid, how can a bid group help me? I feel like an idiot asking these questions, for normally, I am reasonably intelligent. So sorry. Thanks for your help.

Oops. You’re right. The FAQ’s don’t explain what bid groups are. There is even the question, What’s a Bid Group and can I learn more? in the FAQs, but then the answer seems to dance around an actual definition.

How about this:
BID GROUPS – use them.
Auction Sniper’s Bid Group feature is under-utilized. It’s a simple procedure to set-up and exceptionally time-saving. Bid Groups allow you to bid on the same item from different sellers. As soon as you win one auction at the price you want, we'll automatically cancel the rest of your bids.

That above quote is from AS’ tips:
http://www.auctionsniper.com/TipsSheet.aspx

Even that quote is misleading. A bid group isn’t limited to “one” win, but that’s the default. And, a bid group need not be from “different” sellers, but can also be the same seller(s). And, the “same item” is a little misleading, but probably that’s how most people use bid groups. Other then that, the description in AS’ tips seems accurate.

Hope that helps. Happy bid-grouping.

P.S. Call me Rick - all my friends do (both of them).

OK, I think I have figured out why I was (am?) confused. The items I bid on most are snuff bottles, which are often antique and one of a kind. You cannot find two or more of the same bottle, and if you did, it would severely limit one's interest in it. I think bid groups would help if I were bidding on a digital camera. Am I right, or is there something I haven't yet seen?
Stephanie

PS I was calling you Diety with tongue in cheek, although I shouldn't assume you are not one.

PPS That cat looks just like one I have right here. It's movements are amazingly like a real one. Maybe you are a diety after all. :>

quote:

I think bid groups would help if I were bidding on a digital camera. Am I right, or is there something I haven't yet seen?

No. That’s accurate. For items that appear one at a time, bid groups don’t make much sense. They’re more for things that appear frequently. If there were several auctions for the same kind of item, without bid groups, a sniper would have to monitor the auctions more closely. A sniper would either have to register a snipe for the next auction AFTER the close of the first auction, or place multiple snipes and cancel the open ones once an auction was won. And, if the different auctions had close ending times, then that might be difficult on a sniper’s schedule. With collectables, there’s probably a fair amount of time in-between auctions to make bid groups less beneficial.

quote:

Maybe you are a diety after all.

If I am, that particular religion has no followers. Usually I’m viewed as a deity’s counterpart.

Gotcha. Thank you. Although I cannot use a bid group for many items I bid on, it is good to know they are there, just in case.

I really like the AS function, and this site in particular. I get prompt, intelligent answers, and that is often rare in the Web World. And a diety counterpart, to boot.

OK, I have a question. What if the 2 items I have in my bidgroup end 8 seconds apart? If I win the first, is there a chance I'll end up with the 2nd also? Should I be playing with the lead time?
-Janie

I think the minimum is 30 seconds. Anything shorter than that makes it pretty impossible for them to see if you won the first one.
From FAQ:
Can I add two or more bids with the same auction ending time to a bid group?

Sorry, no. It is impossible for us to detect to see if you have won a snipe, and then cancel the rest of the bids, if they end at the same time. You should allow at least 30 seconds between bid group items to give us enough time to determine if you've won the first item. We don’t actually prevent you from ignoring this recommendation, but what will happen is that if a bid group snipe hasn’t heard from the previous snipe in the bid group, it won’t fire, to ensure you don’t win more than you specified. What that means in practice is that a second, third, or later bid group snipe on auction end times too close together won’t fire, even if you might have won with a high bid. And the more time you can get between auction end times the better your chances this won’t happen to you.

quote:

I think the minimum is 30 seconds. Anything shorter than that makes it pretty impossible for them to see if you won the first so you could end up with a second.

Oops! Last I knew, if AS could NOT determine if the first item had been won before it was time to bid on the second, then it would NOT snipe the second item. Has something changed?

quote:

Last I knew, if AS could NOT determine if the first item had been won before it was time to bid on the second, then it would NOT snipe the second item.

That’s how I understood it. If it couldn’t determine if a user lost the previous auction, it wouldn’t bid again. Errors on the side of caution.

From other threads:

quote:

Originally posted by Sniper Sara B.:
When we can't determine for 100% that you didnt win the previous item we cancell your bids on the next items in the group until we know.

quote:

Originally posted by Sniper Sara B.:
Using longer lead times may result in us canceling the bids because we dont have enough time to determine if you are the winner before the next snipe is to be placed.

quote:

Originally posted by Sniper Sara B.:
If we cant determine whether you won or lost the first item, we wont bid on the second. So the worst case is that you lost the first item, but we cant tell you lost beucase there is only 6 seconds to find out, and thus we skip bidding on the second item.

Those quotes all support Jabber's last-he-knew.



This also appears in the FAQ's text quoted above: but what will happen is that if a bid group snipe hasn’t heard from the previous snipe in the bid group, it won’t fire, to ensure you don’t win more than you specified.

Hey guys..that is what I said and then I quoted from Faq, the same!! ??!!!

OIC, Jabber. You must have been sitting there reading as I posted because I posted and corrected it within seconds! So, if you reread what I said, I even posted the faq to back it.

OK, I get that part now. Now, to get more picky-oo-nee, if my 2nd item has a lead time of 8 seconds, and, if, with 3 seconds to go, AS "knows" that I didn't win the 1st item, will AS go ahead and try to place my bid, even though I'd specified an 8 sec lead time? Or,should I reduce my lead time on item #2 to be 3 seconds?

Sounds like I should just plan on realistically bidding on 1 of the items, so I should just choose which one I really want and go for that one.

hanemcm,

Support has commented about reducing the lead-time to improve the chances of AS being able to determine the outcome of the prior bid group auction. BUT, on the other hand, if AS senses that your lead-time isn’t long enough due to ebay’s response time, which may or may not be an issue at the exact time your auction ends, then AS will pad your lead-time. If it pads it, then using 3 seconds would have little impact.

Gut instinct, and that’s all this is based on, if it were me, I’d picked just one of the auctions and go for it. But, it depends on whether you want to put all your eggs in one basket, or try for a deal. The bid group appears to be better suited for getting a deal, but with such a short amount of time between the auctions, the safer bet would be to bid on just one. Of course, you could always place non-bid group snipes and place one of them real low and one high, and hope that you don’t win both.

At this point, you might be well advised to ask support, assuming someone from support doesn’t come to the forum and make a ruling:
http://support.auctionsniper.com/