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Why doesn't eBay eliminate sniping?

G gjensenMember
Why doesn't eBay eliminate sniping altogether? If you look at competing online auctions, such as qxl.com, you'll find that they automatically extend the ending time of auctions by 5 minutes (yes, 5 minutes, not seconds), whenever a bid is placed whinin 5 mins of auction end time.

This strategy eliminates sniping altogether, and if implemented on eBay would put Auction Sniper and all similar services out of business.

Presumably the management at eBay has already thought very hard about this question and come up with the conclusion that if they were to eliminate sniping, they would also loose too many customers who like sniping.

However I believe it would be quite easy for eBay to implement the above. Does anyone know if eBay has made any statements about this matter?

Gert
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S steveExpertSniper
Gert, US eBay has a written statement somewhere in its policies which says that sniping is an acceptable practice. I think they realize that even a sniper has to bid more than anyone else to win. As for the practice by other auction sites of extending an auction for 5 minutes any time there's a snipe (defined as how much lead time?), I'd drive them nuts by sniping repeatedly just to drag the auction out. That's not advice for anyone to go do that; it's just something I'd consider doing. And why do you think all those other auction sites have a miniscule fraction of the number of bidders eBay has? Wink

I just searched eBay and found the following:

"Bid Sniping (last minute bidding)

"We always recommend bidding the absolute maximum you are willing to pay for an item. eBay uses a proxy bidding system, so you may bid as high as you wish, but the current bid that is registered will only be a small increment above the next lowest bid. The remainder of your Maximum Bid is held, by the system, to be used in the event someone bids against you."

That's all. It's not illegal to snipe; eBay simply recommends that proxy bidders enter their maximum bids as protection against sniping. But snipers know that most proxy bidders are "nibblers," trying to buy something for the absolute minimum amount not only to save money, but because, paradoxically, bidding wars are a challenge to them. Go figure. Roll Eyes

[This message was edited by Steve on July 14, 2003 at 05:35 AM.]
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