Fed up with loosing snipes ...

Ian,

Here are some other threads on early snipes:
https://community.auctionsniper.com/eve/forums/a/tpc...021/m/5181096021/p/1
https://community.auctionsniper.com/eve/forums/a/tpc...5608021/m/5721097231
https://community.auctionsniper.com/eve/forums/a/tpc...8021/m/948105845/p/1
https://community.auctionsniper.com/eve/forums/a/tpc...8021/m/273102445/p/1

As you can see, those thread were closed (but NOT deleted). So perhaps those links will provide you some info.

Also, if you do a search on the forum on "early", you should find some other posts.

Happy Sniping

P.S. Personally, the early snipes don't bother me, but it does seem to drive some batty. I support the belief that early is better than late, but not everyone agrees with that. AND, 7 seconds isn't bad.

That is a little strange because I almost always set my snipe at 8 seconds and I do not recall ever having had anyone bid after me. The only times I have lost is when my snipes were too low and I was outbid me with eBay proxies. I have won many auctions through AS and saved loads of money.

quote:

Can someone please SORT THIS OUT

I reviewed all your snipes this month and saw zero instances of this having any effect. Only once did a person bid after you and they bid $23+ more than the current high bid at that time, and it was their first bid, also a snipe.

Basically you're only losing because other people have bid more than you, not because of your snipe time.

Thanks Sara for checking this out. (And other members for the other replies)

What has happened previously is I have been able to win a sniping war by bidding in the last few seconds.

It seemed as if multiple bids including proxies were being generated right up to the exact moment of close.

In other words I was winning a bid EVEN IF SOMEONE HAD A HIGHER PROXY BID due to the "cross-firing" of multiple bids and proxies. I accept that it was sometimes a matter of luck whether I was ahead at the exact end of bidding.

Now that snipes are consistently going in early - I'm no longer winning in this situation.

One final question.

Can't we have an option to turn off Auction Snipers clock ajustment - so that if I want a bid to go in 3 seconds before the auction ends - it goes in at that time - not some AS created adjusted time? (i.e. transfer the risk of a late bid due to delay to the user)

quote:

In other words I was winning a bid EVEN IF SOMEONE HAD A HIGHER PROXY BID due to the "cross-firing" of multiple bids and proxies. I accept that it was sometimes a matter of luck whether I was ahead at the exact end of bidding.

Sorry, I don't think I quite "get it" ! If all this is so, why do I win on a fairly regular bases at 8 seconds??

Mrs. M - I don't think we're talking about the same thing.

Sure, I've won lots of things at 7 or 8 seconds, if my max price (bid limit) was the highest.

What I'm talikng about is a "bidding war" where the price is going up and up just before the end of auction - and it's a matter of luck who's on top at the exact time the auction ends.

I guess I'll just have to find another way of dealing with this rather special set of circumstances.

Ian,

Perhaps you’re bidding on more expensive items? The cheaper items, which is what some of the users on this forum have experience buying, don’t tend to get into bidding wars or last minute sniping, so it’s harder for these users to understand your concern.

quote:

Originally posted by Ian Henderson:
Can't we have an option to turn off Auction Snipers clock ajustment - so that if I want a bid to go in 3 seconds before the auction ends - it goes in at that time - not some AS created adjusted time? (i.e. transfer the risk of a late bid due to delay to the user)

This has been brought up several times, and AS doesn’t seem open to discussing this. Here is support’s latest response to that request:

quote:

We arent changing our policy on this. More users would be mad at missed bids than are mad about early bids.

https://community.auctionsniper.com/eve/forums/a/tpc...311077231#7311077231

There are similar responses in the threads that I linked to above.



Good luck.

Thanks Rick

Now I now know AS policy on this - I'll look for an alternative solution

It's a shame as I've had some great results with AS - untill they started messing arround with clock adjustments and minimum lead times.

quote:

It's a shame as I've had some great results with AS - untill they started messing arround with clock adjustments and minimum lead times.

Ian,

An FYI – AS has ALWAYS (at least as long as I can remember) adjusted the lead-times. That’s nothing new. And for those snipers that would rather see an early snipe versus a no-snipe, that’s a selling point. On the other hand, it must be frustrating having a snipe get placed 40 seconds early, and watch someone else place multiple retaliatory snipes, but I have a feeling that’s more the exception.

The discontinuation of 1 and 2 second snipes is somewhat new (5 months ago). Here’s the thread:
https://community.auctionsniper.com/eve/ubb.x/a/tpc/f/38...911093801#7911093801
As you can see, for a while AS didn’t allow less than 5 seconds, but they did reinstate 3 and 4 seconds due to requests from users. I actually think that not allowing 1 and 2-second snipes was a wise decision, but like most things on this forum, that’s just an opinion. But, that opinion is based on previous complaints about snipes not getting placed, mostly from those 1 and 2-second snipes, and that kind of complaint hasn’t been posted for a while.


Good luck.


P.S. If you do find an alternative, be sure it has a forum.

I agree with rick on this one. I would certainly rather have As bid a little early than be shut out. Again, I do see where you are coming from, Ian. I bid on expensive and small items. I set my snipe at 8 seconds. I win if my bid is high enough. I don't see anywhere where I was cut out because I bid too early, although I am sure it may happens to some on rare occasions. A perfect sniping service, I doubt you will find, but a great one...AS is it in my opinion.

quote:

I bid on expensive

I must have a different definition for "expensive".

What do you mean by that, rick?

quote:

In other words I was winning a bid EVEN IF SOMEONE HAD A HIGHER PROXY BID due to the "cross-firing" of multiple bids and proxies.

An eyebrow-raising comment that no one has questioned or addressed thus far.

First, how would one know that someone else's proxy bid is higher than own winning bid?!? Second, if ever the highest bid (proxy or otherwise) was NOT winning the auction, would this not be perceived by eBay as a serious problem to be fixed pronto irregardless or perhaps coincidental with any changes made by AS?

There is one slight (very slight) exception to Jabber’s “first” – if the high bid isn’t a full increment away from the 2nd highest bid, then one can determine the full proxy bid. Doesn’t happen all that often – and I’m probably being anal by bring it up.

Of course, one other way is to place a real high bid and expose the proxy bid, then retract the bid. But, who would do that?

No idea what Ian's on about. In a proxy tie situation then the 1st bid in wins. Otherwise, the highest bid wins. Cannot see how his bid going in at 7 or 3 secs makes any difference to anything as no-one can react that quickly - perhaps someone can explain what I'm missing here?

R2

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.

quote:

An eyebrow-raising comment that no one has questioned or addressed thus far.

I thought about it for a nano-second Jab, then decided against it as very rarely do we sway their opinion that this kind of thing never happens.

But Ok....

quote:

In other words I was winning a bid EVEN IF SOMEONE HAD A HIGHER PROXY BID due to the "cross-firing" of multiple bids and proxies. I accept that it was sometimes a matter of luck whether I was ahead at the exact end of bidding.

Sorry Ian, this is not possible. The person who did have the higest proxy bid or snipe ALWAYS wins.

Ebay just doesnt decide that you were the winning bidder at the exact second that the auction was scheduled to finish, it accepts ALL bids/snipes placed and just keeps processing until the highest bidder wins.

Also, how can you prove that there was a higher proxy bid in the system that you beat with a smaller bid?

Sorry, ebay just doesnt work like that.

As a Sniper "newbie" I must bow to your greater knowledge.

Can I "prove" it - no. But what I said is how it appears. On 2 occassions I've had people contact me and say they had a higher proxy bid and was I interested in selling.

Who knows what the truth is.

quote:

Originally posted by Ian Henderson:
As a Sniper "newbie" I must bow to your greater knowledge.

Can I "prove" it - no. But what I said is how it appears. On 2 occassions I've had people contact me and say they had a higher proxy bid and was I interested in selling.

Who knows what the truth is.

Hey again Ian,
I dont have any greater knowledge and its nothing to do with being a *sniper newbie*, its all ebay, not Auction Sniper.

Its just very weird that you have had people saying they had higher proxy bids in, but you won.

I just dont see how that happens...considering how ebay processes the information.

Anyways, I actually came in to apologise to you for sounding condescending not usually my style, but I was in a hurry to get the rugrats to swimming.

I shouldnt start something when I havent the time to finish it properly.

I lost for the first time with what would have probably been an adequate bid, but my snipe was placed 14 seconds, rather than 5 seconds, before the auction close and my competition got in 2 bids after. I thought that was no longer likely to happen. Does anyone know (on a Monday night closing at 7:30pm) how that could have gone in so very early?

Maxine,

Maybe this is related, or a factor?
https://community.auctionsniper.com/eve/forums?a=tpc...1094731&r=8801094731

I only spotted this one whan I saw the subject loosing snipes and visualised snipes becoming like a plague of locusts!
Then I realised it was a typo for losing.

I cannot see what difference there is, as far as ebay is concerned, whether the bid is placed 'manually' or by sniping -ebay does not know which.

I use both AS and manual bids - some I win, some I lose - that is the nature of the beast; no need to waste adrenalin on it at all.

quote:

I only spotted this one whan I saw the subject loosing snipes and visualised snipes becoming like a plague of locusts!
Then I realised it was a typo for losing.

Mike, I’ve been curious about this. It’s been commented before that Brits and Yanks have some different approaches to spelling. The one that comes to mind is “u” after “o” (ex: honour and colour). There also seems to be some difference between the use of “s” and “z”. Us Yanks use “realize”, but Brits seem to prefer using an “s” in place of the “z”. I’ve seen this in several posts, and it’s usually from Brits, Aussies or Scots (you know what they say – “You all look alike.”). Here’s the list:
https://community.auctionsniper.com/eve/forums?a=sea...Type=0&search=Search
There’s 41 more using “realised” and 10 more using “realising”.

Now, not only does “realise” appear to be popular, but “visualise” looks to be added to the list. Is this just one of those things where us Yanks are behind the time? Or is it just another thing that’s been Americanised?

I apologise if I sound like I’m criticising.

quote:

Originally posted by Rick:

quote:

I only spotted this one whan I saw the subject loosing snipes and visualised snipes becoming like a plague of locusts!
Then I realised it was a typo for losing.

Mike, I’ve been curious about this. It’s been commented before that Brits and Yanks have some different approaches to spelling. The one that comes to mind is “u” after “o” (ex: honour and colour). There also seems to be some difference between the use of “s” and “z”. Us Yanks use “realize”, but Brits seem to prefer using an “s” in place of the “z”. I’ve seen this in several posts, and it’s usually from Brits, Aussies or Scots (you know what they say – “You all look alike.”). Here’s the list:
https://community.auctionsniper.com/eve/forums?a=sea...Type=0&search=Search
There’s 41 more using “realised” and 10 more using “realising”.

Now, not only does “realise” appear to be popular, but “visualise” looks to be added to the list. Is this just one of those things where us Yanks are behind the time? Or is it just another thing that’s been Americanised?

I apologise if I sound like I’m criticising.

Fascinating subject, Rick! Some of the USA spellings have been 'simplified' like dropping 'ou' for 'o', and removing double letters, such as jewellery vs jewelry.
Mediaeval vs medieval, although the original ae was a diphthong.

Others are replacing 'c' with 's', as in: vise vs vice, defense vs defence.
I am not sure of 'license' on USA - one of the web sites got the UK version wrong on this. It is 'licence' for the noun, and 'license' for the verb here.

The 'loosing' problem is sometimes due, as are many errors, to spell checkers.
Loosing (letting something loose) is a perfectly valid word, but means something totally different from 'losing' (incurring a loss)

The ones that really drives me up the wall are apostrophes in plurals and 'oriogonal' or 'origional' - it doesn't even sound like 'original' That's Ebayese for you!