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19 replies

To snipe, or not to snipe?

S snipesnakeMember
Hello folks,

Up until now, I've always been a manual sniper. However, I am getting more active on eBay and this manual sniping business is taking it's toll: I'm tired of refreshing eBay until I'm blue in the face and just can't take it anymore. So I went searching for sniping services and found AuctionSniper first. After some research it looks like this place has the best fees, so I'll probably use it from now on. However, I have a concern:

The products I buy most are incredibly expensive at retail and way out of my price range. However, I find them on eBay all the time for pennies on the dollar. I've spent about $2k building a system out of various components that would have cost me at least $20k new. What this means is that I am at eBay's mercy when I want to upgrade my system, replace failed components, etc, since there's no chance I'll be paying retail here.

So there are times when I absolutely must have an item, even moreso when that specific component doesn't show up on eBay very often. An item I'm watching now shows up about once every 6 months or so, and I really want to get my hands on this one. I've placed an appropriately high snipe here for the item with a 10 second lead time. Item ends Sunday a few minutes before 7:00pm.

My question: Would you rely on AuctionSniper in a situation such as this? If someone outbids me, I'm fine with that. But it would be the end of the world (in my mind) if someone picked this item up for a fraction of what I was willing to pay because the stupid snipe didn't go through as I expected.

What do the rest of you do? And how reliable is AS?

Thank you in advance for your advice. Smile
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region2region2Member
If you browsed this forum then you might think that AS is a bit unreliable. But I'm sure that for every problem flagged up with a Mad icon there are 1000's of succesful snipes.
You might also notice that often a failed snipe is down to 'finger trouble', too short lead times at busy periods, wrong passwords, re-using Bid Groups etc etc.

Let me tell you - AS has never let me down. I set it with 8 seconds lead time, the passwords match and it works fine. Every single time! I'm mean so I often get beaten by a higher bid but that's OK! Wink

Also, that must-have item will keep appearing on eBay so if you miss one, set up an eBay search and wait for it to come up again.

Good luck

R2

C chatterMember
I have used AS successfully for 676 auctions over two years. They are ALWAYS reliable.

If you are at the computer for this particularly rare item, you may wish to snipe manually, as well, for your piece of mind. But that certainly is not necessary.

You mentioned the item ends on a Sunday night. Be sure to add 15-20 seconds to your regular lead time (15-20 seconds, instead of of 5-8 seconds), as the Sunday night eBay traffic is the heaviest of the week. Do the same whenever an item ends exactly on a quarter hour (x:00, x:15, X:30, X:45) on any day, since eBay's scheduling offers these specific times to sellers, and enough choose to end their auctions at those times that it creates Sunday-night type traffic). Otherwise, I use eight seconds all the time, without problem.

You know you are going to get only one shot, so be sure it is the absolute max you are willing to pay. It sounds like you have that covered well.

Good luck and come back and tell us how you fared. Wink
S shirleyMember
...that if you place a snipe through AS and ALSO snipe manually, and you win the auction, AS takes the credit for the win even if you would have won without AS's snipe. If you have free snipes, one of them will be used, and if not, you'll be charged.

Personally, I think that's completely fair and appropriate (they did what you asked them to do, so they should be compensated) but some new users seem to get a little touchy about it...
E edearlMember
I've used ebay and AS search and concluded that stuff comes in bunches, like some cosmic force suggests to everyone that has what I'm looking for, that it's time to list it on ebay.

I'm lazy with more projects then I have time for, so I let technology do what it can do.

Just set up AS searches, stuff what AS finds into bid groups, set your snipe time 7 to 10 sec, the max bid at your absolute max, and then go do something productive.

Works for me
S snipesnakeMember
Thank you for your replies.

AS worked like a charm for me tonight. Two items I didn't win (bid too low - I expected as much but wanted to try anyway), but the important item I did win. I'm somewhat ashamed to admit that I also sniped it manually with 30 seconds to go because I was paranoid after reading some of the posts here. But you might have done the same in my situation - I got a rare (on eBay) item for half what I was willing to pay.

I refreshed the auction between 30 and 40 seconds left to go and didn't see the snipe from AS yet (I had changed to a 30 second lead time). So I hit "place bid" on a page I had preloaded. AS sniped with 33 seconds left to go exactly like it should. eBay was running so slow that my manual bid came in with 4 seconds left to go.

Would have been too close for comfort without AS on my side. I'll most definitely be using AS from now on to place my bids. For those rare items I may throw in a bid manually at the last second just to make sure, but even tonight AS saved me time. Usually I'd be glued to the computer for half an hour before the auction ended. I was able to go to the store and do other things with the knowledge that if I didn't get home in time I'd still get my item.

Cool service, and a nice friendly community behind it, too. I've been reading a lot of your posts here and I have to say this is a great bunch of people.
C chatterMember
Glad to hear of your success, which is an entirely typical AS story.

If I happen to be at a computer when the auction is ending, and I remember, I will sometimes bid manually, just as a back-up to AS. (Notice it is not the other way around.) I do this for extra insurance, so to speak. But I have NEVER needed to do so. And most of the time I am not at the computer, so AS usually does its thing for me perfectly. Big Grin
C chatterMember
I have said here many times that I occasionally SNIPE manually, as a back-up to AS, if I happen to be sitting at the computer when an auction ends, and I remember. I only do this in the last minute of an auction, never before, and I do so with the full knowledge that AS will still bid and charge me a fee if I win (which I usually do). Cool
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