Victory!

scuba,

I hope you'll stick around. Most people are quick to complain; few people are quick to complement.

Scuba1014, I notice that you placed a total of seven bids in that auction alone. In consequence, you helped to run the price up much more than you might have had to pay if you had simply remained incognito until the last 10 (or 13) seconds.

Yes Steve, I was very nervous as it was my first auction ever. I was trying to see how much the maximum bid that one of the other bidders placed was. It was a very foolish mistake but I was nervous and was not thinking. Thanks to auction sniper I won anyways and the amount I had to pay was less than my maximum bid. I will definately not be as foolish when I bid on my next auction.

I must say that bidding on ebay is very exciting for me. In the last minute of the auction my heart was literally pounding.

"In the last minute of the auction my heart was literally pounding."

I don't think that ever goes away. It reduces a bit, but as others have pointed out, that's part of the fun.

Scuba, let me suggest another way to research an opponent: look up his bidding record (including closed auctions) under the eBay "Search" function. This will often give you some idea of what his maximum bid is likely to be. It'll also tell you whether he too is a sniper or whether he's just a nickel-and-dime, bid-it-up-one-increment-at-a-time eBayer of the sort that drives Rick and me out of our respective gourds. Look at his wins and his losses.

Scuba,

I just realized something. You had only been on ebay for 2 days before you started using AS? If that's the case, you're fast. I think most of us wasted a lot of money and time first being proxy bidders (hate the nickel-and-dime people) and then being manual snipers (feel sorry for those people) before we found AS.

I'll bet that all the old timers were proxy bidders when they started.

Yep - I was a proxy bidder, then a manual sniper, then a automatic sniper using another software tool that resided on my computer, then back to a proxy bidder when the tool on my computer wasn't useful due to the fact that my computer now is a laptop and I travel a lot, then back to a autosniper when I trial ran three different tools, then finally to an AS user when I selected this tool as the best one available.

Me, too...I'll bet "the other Steve" also remembers when sniping was unheard-of. In the 90's everybody was a proxy bidder. Then some sharpie figured out how to avoid the bidding wars and we had manual snipers, then some other sharpies made software out of the technique, and pretty soon...voila! AS was born. Sorta like Darwinian evolution, eh? AS Snipers are the fittest!

But I hope natural selection doesn't turn everyone into snipers. Actually, that might not be so bad. What would it be like if everyone had to decided their "actual" max bid in advance and could only place one bid?

1) No nickel-and-dime bidding wars.

2) We wouldn't have to take time checking an opponent's bid history (aka "researching the competition").

3) We wouldn't have to increase our snipes because of some deep-pocket proxy bidder.

4) Advantages to ebay:
4a) Instead of auctions lasting a week, they could, perhaps be reduced to, say, 2 days? Shorter auction durations; quicker turn around.
4b) Each bid takes resources, and WE ALL KNOW how those proxy bidders can't be happy unless they've placed several bids. As snipers, they would only have one bid. And as snipers, they wouldn't have to tell their spouses, "Dear, I spent a lot more money than I should have."
4c) Less outbid notices would have to be sent.

5) "Harden" proxy bidders would probably stop bidding because the discipline it requires to be a sniper would be beyond their level of intelligence.

6) Ex-proxy bidders (now snipers) might end up spending more time with their families. This could be either good or bad. It's most likely, considering the mentality of proxy bidders, that their families might prefer them spending time on ebay and not being around the other family members.

7) Ex-proxy bidders might have more or less money. They would win (hate that word) items cheaper, but they would win (hate that word) more often. Their win(hate that word)-to-price ratio could be better, but overall, they might spend more money.

8) Ex-proxy bidders would have more time on their hands, since they would spend less time on bidding, bidding strategy, competitor's bid history, and what ever else proxy bidders do. As it did for me, that extra time might be filled by obsessive posting to this forum.

9) Ex-proxy bidders might live longer. It has to be more stressful being a proxy bidder. Never knowing when they will get the dreaded "Outbid notice". Having to decide for the 10th time if they should increase their bid (which they will). Always being subject to another proxy bidder's bid. Then at the last second, watching the item get snatched by one of us. Snipers decide, and therefore, they do.

10) Ex-proxy bidders might have more pride. When I look at someone that was willing to bid $25 on Monday, and by Friday they are willing to bid $125, I have to ask myself, "ARE THEY THAT INDECISIVE?" I would be embarrassed if other people saw that I couldn't make up my mind. It's true that snipers may do the same thing. The difference is that no one knows we're indecisive because they don't know we've changed our snipe.

It shouldn't cause ebay to be congested, because auctions close at different times (Except those ending on the hour and half hour. Remember, you've been warned). Although, Sundays might be a problem. But, on the other hand, look at a typical auction. How many multi-bid proxy bidders are there (typically)? How many snipers are there (typically)? If everyone sniped, wouldn't the overall number of bids be less?

"AS Snipers are the fittest!" - So true.

P.S. I looooove bashing proxy bidders.

Hehe, thanks for all the tips guys. I had actually bid on an auction for the same item previously. That was my first bid ever and near the end my friend told me about AS. I still lost the auction because my max bid was too low. I think it is great that I have learned about auction sniper so early. It will definately spare me most of the grief of losing auctions on items I really want.

Wow - Rick never tells his spouse "Dear, I spent a lot more money than I should have".

I end up telling my with that ALL the time - fortunately she's very understanding. The way I look at it is that if I can save some money with sniping, then I can spend it on other things that I want! Unfortunately I think there are way more things that I want than money that I save by sniping - so sorry "Dear, I spent a lot more money than I should have" happens with a fairly regular basis in my house.

Rick's not the only one who doesn't tell his wife "Dear, I spent a lot more money than I should have." I don't either. Perhaps being unmarried has something to do with that.