quote:
Originally posted by LyleCrumbstorm:
Rick,
Thank you for your time & the links you posted. They were helpful in continuing to further understand the mentality of this angle.
My new (maybe rhetorical) question is why wouldn't e-Bay make this whole idea part of their system? Why not hide the dollar amount that an auction has reached & leave it up to everyone to submit their one & only proxy. It seems to me to all boil down to your proxy. What is the point of providing a proxy if you are only going to raise it once someone outbids you?
I lost an auction today because my proxy was not as high as a sniper's. I should have known what the most I was willing to pay was and then forgot about it. Instead I bid low hoping I would not have to spend as much as I was ultimately prepared to spend. Someone else bought the item for considerably less than what I would have paid for it. Serves me right.
There have already been some very good responses so far. To these I shall contribute.
1) Lyle, why is it a "mentality" that is involved in sniping, and not simply a "strategy"?
2) EBay works as EBay works. None of us can control the format of how their auctions work; we can only analyze the format and determine how to maximize our own online experiences. That is, after all, the purpose of eBay, is it not? I mean, no one signs on to eBay hoping NOT to win auctions.
3) Your question about making a proxy bid is, I feel, the crux of the issue. You ask what the point is of providing a proxy bid, if someone is only going to outbid you. That is THE point here.
For whatever reasons, many (even most?)people do NOT bid their max. When they leave a proxy bid, more often than not, they come back later and make an even higher bid, after someone has outbid their proxy. BUT, if no one outbids it, they leave their (often low) proxy as is. We snipers come in at the last second and submit a higher bid, but there will not be sufficient time for the former high bidder to come back and make a counterbid. Our chances of success are greater.
Sometimes the nibbling proxy bidders are new to eBay; more often they have the belief that if they bid as little as possible, they will win for the lowest price possible. That works sometimes, but not others, and certainly not where there are snipers. And sometimes they are just plain cheap.
4) You have referred to the "ethical" questions of sniping, and of "exploiting a loophole." You are obviously new to sniping, but I wonder if you are also new to eBay. It seems to me that you have not taken the time to analyze how eBay works, or observe the typical behaviors of so many of its bidders. Believe me, snipers have done so, and we are quite at peace with ourselves.
If we were using software that prevented eBay's computers from operating normally, if we were hacking into eBay or the applications of its members, if we were making side deals with sellers to cancel existing auctions in our favor, if we were expressly violating any eBay rules--if we were doing any of these, then you would be correct. But we do none of these. We simply observe and analyze the behaviors of bidders--especially bidders of the auctions that interest us--and we time our bids at what we believe to be the most advantageous time. ANY eBay member is free to do this; the information to be used in making these evaluations are available to any and all. It is simply a matter of making the time and effort to do so. As has been pointed out here, this is what is typically done by winning bidders at live auctions.
After football games, coaches review tapes--not only of their own team's games, but of the other teams, as well. In so doing, they observe patterns and tendencies, and plan their strategies accordingly, so that when they face off against those teams in the future, they will be as prepared as possible. Is this "exploiting" the loopholes of the other teams? Once upon a time, less emphasis was placed on this aspect of preparation, but once this type of information became readily available through film and videotape, only a foolish coach would not make use of it.
I submit that you formed an opinion as to what is "fair," based on a somewhat incomplete analysis. All we do is time our bids to the best moment we think possible. But all of us bid on auctions while they are underway, and anyone, repeat ANYONE, can plan in this way if they so choose, using software to place the bid, or not.
"Shop" and My Snipes
Well put. 
