I am a new user at Sniper, and want to know what happens if someone else is intending to snipe the same item as myself. Does sniper inform me of this when I select to snipe an item? Any advise to avoid missing out please
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
Samantha, I presume you mean two AS snipers, as opposed to someone using different snipe software (there are several kinds out there). No, AS won't tell you if another AS sniper has "your" item in his or her gunsights. All I can advise you to do is give it your best shot -- bid your maximum when you snipe. That way you'll have fewer regrets if you're outbid. 
Thanks for the helpful advise Steve.
1.) if both bid the same amount then the first bid accepted by eBay wins
2.) if they bid different amounts the highest bid wins.
The later is the most common of course.
2.) if they bid different amounts the highest bid wins.
The later is the most common of course.
Just curious (I'm so sad I registered to make this post, lol) what would happen if say two AS users each put down exactly the same for the same item, ie:
User A puts a max bid of $80 for item #xxxxxxxxx to be placed 5 seconds before auction end
and
User B also puts a max bid of $80 for item #xxxxxxxxx to be placed 5 seconds before auction end
who would win?
User A puts a max bid of $80 for item #xxxxxxxxx to be placed 5 seconds before auction end
and
User B also puts a max bid of $80 for item #xxxxxxxxx to be placed 5 seconds before auction end
who would win?
The sniper whose bid eBay recognized first would be the winner, unless a third sniper snuck in an $85 bid with three seconds left. 
is it just pot luck as to who ebay recognised first?
It's a matter of which signal hits eBay's receiving terminal a nanosecond before the other. You could call it pot luck, I guess.
ya 2 bids at the same time for the same amount with have a random winner. eBay has computers called "load balancers."
When your two requests to bid hit eBay it first goes to one of those computers and those computers then figure out which eBay computer has the most free time to spare. They then send the bid to that computer.
But since those computers are balancing the load it's more than likely that each of your bids will go to 2 different computers at eBay to be placed. At that point one of those computers will have had more free time than the other and thus will be able to place your bid more quickly. The bid that gets placed first will win.
When your two requests to bid hit eBay it first goes to one of those computers and those computers then figure out which eBay computer has the most free time to spare. They then send the bid to that computer.
But since those computers are balancing the load it's more than likely that each of your bids will go to 2 different computers at eBay to be placed. At that point one of those computers will have had more free time than the other and thus will be able to place your bid more quickly. The bid that gets placed first will win.