I'm looking for a cheap and reliable one so I don't have to sit in front of the computer all day and wait to place my last second (losing) bid.
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That tactic of setting a proxy bid might work sometimes, but it brings attention to your desire to get the item. If you decide to use a proxy bid, only submit it 5 seconds before the end of the sale (I don't refer to eBay as an "auction", because it is not). I prefer something like poker, where I don't show my hand until the end... If you place a proxy bid you also usually pay more than you might have had to for an item, because of OCD bidders, who can't stand getting the "outbid" notifications five days (or whatever) in advance of the end. It starts "feeding frenzy" in some of them or, more importantly, the seller might use it to maximize their price using "straw bidders". They will tap your bid by $10 or so, over and over and over, until they either reach their limit or discover your maximum bid and then top it by $10 or less... Either way, you are encouraging bidding behavior that is not in your best interest...epigramophone wrote:I see no need for a sniping service. If I want an item badly enough I decide on my maximum bid and submit it immediately. This tactic usually unsettles the opposition, who quickly tire of getting the "Outbid" message every time they increase their bids by small instalments. If at the end I am outbid, so be it. You win some and you lose some. That's life.
I have done the same in the past until I noticed that always some bidder bids in small increments against me until they surpass my maximum bid. Then they retract their last bid because of some "error" and I always have to pay the high price. Of course this is against the rules, but they always find loopholes. This has pretty much taken the fun out of ebay for me. I used to be on there all the time, but not anymore. I either use Buy It Now or try to proxy bid a few seconds before the end.epigramophone wrote:I see no need for a sniping service. If I want an item badly enough I decide on my maximum bid and submit it immediately. This tactic usually unsettles the opposition, who quickly tire of getting the "Outbid" message every time they increase their bids by small installments. If at the end I am outbid, so be it. You win some and you lose some. That's life.
This has never happened to me. Perhaps I have just been fortunate. I accept that there are circumstances where submitting a maximum bid early might alert the opposition, and that is partly why I do it. It sends a message to everyone else that they are up against someone serious.alang wrote:I have done the same in the past until I noticed that always some bidder bids in small increments against me until they surpass my maximum bid. Then they retract their last bid because of some "error" and I always have to pay the high price. Of course this is against the rules, but they always find loopholes. This has pretty much taken the fun out of ebay for me. I used to be on there all the time, but not anymore. I either use Buy It Now or try to proxy bid a few seconds before the end.epigramophone wrote:I see no need for a sniping service. If I want an item badly enough I decide on my maximum bid and submit it immediately. This tactic usually unsettles the opposition, who quickly tire of getting the "Outbid" message every time they increase their bids by small installments. If at the end I am outbid, so be it. You win some and you lose some. That's life.
Andreas