eBay blocking snipes?

[VintageTechnologies]

I agree with Curt. I have used www.gixen.com for years with perfect success.

[US PHONO]

My last few snipes using automated bot service, auctionsniper, appears to have been blocked by eBay with a "more verification for authentication needed" response. When I bid without using auctionsniper, the bid goes in fine without any authentication request. Anyone else had this happen lately? I know that sniping is an emotional topic with people on both sides of whether it is fair or not to use snipes...hopefully this question won't degenerate to that discussion but rather on the topic of whether eBay has figured out a way to monitor IP address of known sniper services and blocking them.

Anil

Hello, I had the same thing happen to me a few weeks ago - I may have mentioned this in a previous post. Ebay obviously gearing up to launch their own sniper....every $ that they can get.

[Zeppy]

Hello, I had the same thing happen to me a few weeks ago - I may have mentioned this in a previous post. Ebay obviously gearing up to launch their own sniper....every $ that they can get.

I'd think less gearing up to launch their own sniper than trying to get people to snipe in person. Sniping software gives no benefit to ebay, but every time an individual personally logs in to bid, whether to just bid, or snipe, it increases the chances they'll see something else they like (note how ebay automatically shows related items, or what other individuals who bid on the item also bid on). Thus leading people to bid more on other items, creating more traffic to similar items, leading to higher final bids, and higher revenue for ebay. If a bid is generated automatically by software, there is no chance it will lead an individual to bidding for another item. They're just trying to convince people to spend more time on ebay. Smart business move from my perspective.

[n2wheelies]

I've used esnipe within the last week with no problem.

+1 esnipe !!

[Retrograde]

I used Auction Sentry faithfully for years until it turned into an online subscription service. When I bought the software, I went from losing auctions most of the time to winning them close to all of the time. Since then I've gone back to just hitting the button at the last few seconds or just doing "Buy It Now".

As others have mentioned eBay really isn't a true "auction" in the traditional sense because the "auctioneer" doesn't control the hammer, the clock does it. Sniping is a natural outcome of the process that eBay created for bidding.

[Raphael]

In a true auction, the hammer comes down when the auctioneer decides that there are no more bids. This is an inexact process, sometimes determined by time constraints, value of the item being sold, favoritism, etc. eBay,on the other hand, ends an auction at a precise, pre-determined moment. I wonder if they will eventually change their protocol to extend the auction until a certain time gap occurs after the last valid bid, for instance 5 seconds. This could potentially raise the hammer prices, and thus their commission revenue.
Raphael

[pictureroll]

dON'T GIVE THEM ANY IDEAS,WHEN MY FEW SNIPES ARE BOTHERED WITH THAT IS WHEN i CUT OUT OF eBAY.

[bart1927]

Actually, I'm very happy with sniper software, and I really don't think it's unethical at all. I remember my first years on Ebay, when more often then not, auctions would end in the middle of the night (for me, at least, being based in the Netherlands). Sometimes several items ended during the same night, with 30 minutes in between. So I had to set my alarm clock, start up my computer, log in, open two separate windows (one with the item description, the other one with my maximum bid), hitting "refresh" every 5 seconds in the description window, with my index finger hovering over the "place bid now" button in the 2nd window, hitting it 5 seconds before the auction ended and then, often, my crappy dial-up connection dropped out.

So sniper software has been a blessing for me. No more getting up in the middle of the night (sometimes more than once), and no longer having to rely on an unstable internet connection. Also, if your maximum bid isn't high enough, there usually isn't enough time to place a higher maximum bid. This forces you to think hard about how much the item is really worth to you, and at the same time prevents you from getting carried away at the last moment and bidding more than you want to (or are able to) pay.

Sometimes on Ebay you see these people who either have never heard of sniper software or don't want to use it, bidding up against each other like crazy, driving up the price, while the auction still has days to go. Now, that's something I really don't understand.

Also, it seems that most buyers use sniper software nowadays, I see it all the time, items with zero bids, and then in the last 5 seconds, it starts raining bids.

So since apparently almost everybody uses this software I really don't think it gives me an unfair advantage, so I don't think it's unethical.

[briankeith]

Not everyone has access to a PC or smart phone, etc, especially when you are at work or on the road. I snipe and I do not feel guilty doing so......