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Newbie needs help! Auction ends 2morrow!

E emanMember
Hi. Just joined AS yesterday and I find this forum as a great help for us newbies! I've been reading other newbies' questions and I love that they always get help by the wise ones.
I've been trying to understand how the whole thing works for the last two days. Very little I've improved, so bare with me.

There are 5 auctions I'm really interested in and I NEED to win them.
They're all items from the same seller and all of them, except one, have already 1 bid by the same guy. The auctions end tomorrow midday and in seven days there's still only one bid for 4 of 5 of these items, so that means there's only two of us interested in them -this guy who's already placed his bid and me, who hasn't.
Based on this, is it a good idea to set 5 snipes for every item with a very high max bid (around $35 or more), when the initial and current price is $9.99, to ensure that I'll outbid this guy and any other bidder who might place a bid on the last minutes of the auctions
?
I guess what I'm trying to do is to let the bidding war be between this guy and whoever may show up and bid in the last minutes, outbiding each other with possibly small bid increases (Bidder A bid 9.99, Bidder B outbids with 10.50, Bidder A outbids with 11.25 and so on) to just outbid them all at the last moment, via AS, with a much higher bid.
Or if at the end of the auctions no one else has bid, I could outbid the first guy in all 5 auctions and win them all. Wink

It's been driving me bunkers not to be sure if it works this way! Confused

So am I right? Is that how most people use AS? Will my whole 'plan' work? Is there anything I need to know?

Also, they're 5 auctions ending this Saturday at around 2pm Pacific time. Do I need to set more than 5 seconds as the lead time for every item due to internet traffic?

I WANT these items!!!

Any help will be very appreciated.
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rickrickMember
quote:
Based on this, is it a good idea to set 5 snipes for every item with a very high max bid (around $35 or more)
As long as you are willing to pay that amount, then that’s what you should bid. Don’t forget, there might be someone else that’s thinking the same thing and will bid $34.99. So, if you don’t mind spending $35, then have at it.

Here’s an interesting post that may give you some food for thought:
https://community.auctionsniper.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/985608021/m/4161044271

The item will mostly likely appear in another auction, and it’s very likely to sell for less, especially with the big spenders spending big. If winning is the most important thing, then bid high. If price is the most important thing, then bid low. A good rule of thumb: if you are winning all, or a high percentage, of your auctions, you are probably paying more then you need to, unless money is no object and time is. Also, although patience takes time, on ebay it can save money.

If you have already, here's some good reading:
http://www.auctionsniper.com/TipsSheet.aspx

Good luck sniping
E emanMember
quote:
the item will mostly likely appear in another auction, and it’s very likely to sell for less...

well actually, I had looked for the same items and only found 2 of 5 (the other three are really rare, I'm a fan and I never saw them before!) and I also checked the completed listings and saw that in those 2 won by someone else in the past the final price exceeded the $50 (the current price in 5 of them is $9.99 so far!), so I might really have a good bargain here, specially saving money on shipping all items at once. That's why it's so important fro me to win. It's stuff more like a must have for fans. But I don't know if the auction will look as quiet as it does so far. I don't know if more fans will come and the bids will start to flow. Has it happened to any of you, that an auction seemed quiet and at the very last moments boom! all of the bidders showed?! Help!!! Please comment!!!
cameracameraMember
I am afraid this is not an encouraging reply.

If the item is rare and those after it are serious collectors, they will tend to be snipers (except German collectors, for some obscure reason) and will not show their hands.

I faced exactly this situation with a 1932 Schneider Trophy air race catalogue with original lap times pencilled in making it truly rare. Hardly a bid on it when I first noticed it and standing at around the £10 mark. I had not seen another one (though you can buy a modern reprint) In the end I just had to guess what I thought it would make. I also put in a manual bid just to make doubly sure.

Four bidders in total - at £10 £25 £70 £84. I thought it would go around the £70 mark, but as I was determined to have it (My Uncle was flying the plane that won the race) I simply set a snipe for double the most likely price e.g. £140.

Most items are not that rare and I normally set a relatively sane maximum. Tonight, a late 19940s Leica catalogue came up. I set AS to $15. It went above that figure and though it was rare, I am certain another will turn up.

It is a trade off between rarity, your desire for the good and your pocket! If you must have these items, then set a Snipe at double what you think the item will go for ($101.78 say) and make a manual bid, rather than rely on AS.

If it is something you think will appear again, then just bid a sensible amount $52? (If thats around the figure the last ones went for)

Paul
E emanMember
Ok, i just checked and there's 10 watchers for 1 of the items and 5 watchers for each of the other 4 items, so far at 9 hours of the end of the auction. Still 1 bid for each one of 4 items, 3 bids now for the 5th item (this one's really taking the attention). In the case these watchers are also snipers and have already set their snipes, do you think I should modify the default lead time? I think I'll place a considerably max high bid.
Also, just to be sure, ebay only shows the current bidders, right?
E emanMember
Oops! I meant to write "In this case IF these watchers are also snipers..."
I'm about to set my snipe, but I've read one must rather place odd numbers instead of round ones. How many cents should I add to my bid? I'vre read the proxy bidding thing on ebay and i've seen the chart, but I haven't completely figured it out. My bid + .50 maybe? This is a hard subject for us newbies! Mad
E emanMember
quote:
If you must have these items, then set a Snipe at double what you think the item will go for ($101.78 say) and make a manual bid, rather than rely on AS.


Why should i set a snipe AND make a bid??? I read in a thread that it was confussing and pointless, since you already made a bid via AS.
Please explain this, I'm intrigued!

By the way, thanks a lot for the help, all of you.
cameracameraMember
Very, Very rare:

I would stay up (all night if necessary!), set AS to $102.78 and just in case AS is running slow, place a manual bid for say $87.78 as late as you can in the auction. With manual bids that could mean 20 seconds before the auction ends! This is only if it is so rare you have never seen another one. I have only done this twice in the last three years. "Belt and braces" where I must not lose!

Rare:
Rely entirely on AS, but have a bid loaded and ready to go, if at the last minute, the price igoes higher than your pre-loaded AS bid, because you underestimated the market price, but still must have it even if it means exceeding your original limit.


Moderately Rare:
Rely entirely on the bid you put into AS in the first place. If you lose it you will find another one, perhaps with difficulty. If the market wants to give more than you - let it!

These are my three sort of value judgements based on my experience. Other snipers here may disagree, but you did ask me to explain my actions.

As R2 frequently says, there is always another one round the corner.

Paul

P.s. Always exceed obvious "benchmarks" $100 bid $103.78 You will find that most people bid $1 or $2 at the most over benchmarks like $59, $100. So just take it a bit higher and always
bid between .55 cts and 95cts in an auction that looks like it is going to be faught over.
Last edited by camera
E emanMember
I found that 'chart' you put there to be really, really helpful right now!
I was looking for someone to share something like that, their 'own' personal way to use AS and manual bidding for rare items.
I'll go for the second one, 'Rare'. To have a snipe ready but to be there as the auction ends to react if the price goes higher. My snipes are set and I'll come back in a couple of hours to, hopefully, win! Smile
Thank you all!
Wish me luck, my auction ends in 6 hrs! Red Face
Regards.
cameracameraMember
quote:
if you figure 95 cents

On reflection, I didn't mean that.

Like all bidding, one tries to introduce the random element.

Most people used to bid in multiples of 5 or 10s. Most don't now, they add 1. Lots now do that. So where do the rest go? My hunch is that they tend to be 6.35 or 11.35 (generally under 6.50 or 11.50) So where does one go now? 5 +2 & 10 + 2. OK that gives 7.35 or 12.35, but are the still going to stay under .50? Maybe not - so thats why I now inhabit the region 7.50+ and 12.50+

Just my thoughts on other people's bidding behaviour for everyday objects. I find rare objects with the real professionals entirely random! If it is rare I just look at past behaviour and add as much as I can afford - i.e one stops trying to second guess others moves and operate as AS should be operated, with my real affordable max!

What are your impressions? I'd love to know. I hope the answers are truly different from mine - it will re-inforce my behaviour and yours!

Paul

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