ggggrrrrrr bloody snipers

[Divastrop]

i just need to rant cos i nearly got a brownie uniform for £6 then it went in the last 10 seconds.they shouldnt be allowed snipers,its not bloody fair.

what's a sniper? Someone who bids in the last few seconds?

That's what it's all about - standard auction technique. But blardy annoying if your internet connection's not up to the job.

It is v v v annoying but... if you can't beat em join em. I hate it but couldn't get stuff I wanted so joined auctionsniper, I feel bad tbh, but why should we miss out on the bargains?

I snipe in the last 8 seconds. I do it myself, no programme for me. I do it because its the best way to get things for the cheapest price

If anyone's using a computer programme then that's not playing fair and it shouldn't be allowed IMO. I didn't realise that was happening. But I tend to agree with pamplemousse.

just enter your maximum bid. you are less likely to pay more then you want if it is snipered, they are doing you a favour! if you were willing to pay #10 and no one else was your bid doesnt go all the way up, dont see how they are much of a problem tbh

I don;t use a programme at all, I know people who do use them, but Ilike the thrill of not knowing if my max. bid is enough and yes I have missed out on things

chamaeleon the annoying thing with that is people win for 20p more than you and all people I know who use ebay (they are obsessed, seriously one person has done up her whole house in a vintage style from ebay) all use a sniping programme, tis cheating true, but there literally isn't time (i've tried a lot!) to outbid it, so why not do it if everyone else is?

I don't tend to use snipers, but I don't buy much on Ebay, just sell

The thing is, if they only beat you by 20p, that doesn't mean that you'd have won it if you'd bid £5.25 rather than £5.05. They might have bid up to £10.

it's not cheating, put in the highest amount you can afford, if someone beats you that's just the way it is.

i prefer to do it myself in the last seconds too, the thrill

exactly what laura said! the next bid is 20p more than yours, they could have bid way higher but it only goes up in bits. if you put in an earlier bid at the same amount as their highest bid then you win so there is a downside to sniping. so many people bid more than the item is worth because they get competetive, you have to be very careful not to get silly if a bidding war breaks out and if someone snipes you there is no chance of that. if you really want an item have a look at completed listings, see what they are going for and bid a couple of pounds more

use of programs is against the rules
but getting your bid in there right at the last minute is what its all about

Trinity - was that a joke? [confused emoticon] Just checked ebay help section under sniping, and there's nothing saying it's not allowed.

Sniping is allowed but if you use a programme I think you can only use the ebay one.....???

I buy quite a few things on eBay. Isn't sniping the norm, from what I observed anyway? I don't know if people are using programs. But for popular items, it does make you think very carefully about your maximum price.

Tis' a free market. It goes to the highest bidder.

Why is it cheating? If you put in what is genuinely your top bid then there won't be a problem -- they may win by 20p but you weren't prepared to pay even 20p more than you bid so that's OK. If you are putting in a "top bid" that is actually lower than the maximum you're prepared to pay then surely that's your problem rather than something to blame other people for?

every time i enter a highest maximum bid it comes up that someone has put one in higher than me already,even if theres days left on the auction.i thought the sniper programmes were designed to put in a bid about 20-50p higher than the current bid in the last few seconds?

anyway,i know thats just the way it is,i was just a bit pissed off last night and needed to rant.i would consider using one myself if dh allowed me

bid your maximum then if you get outbid, it was going for more than you wanted to pay anyway
no-one else is going to hang around saying "I say, do you mind awfully if I put in a bid that is higher than yours? I'll wait and see if you want to outbid me afterwards, old chap"

just BID what you are prepared to pay - as late into the auction as is practical for you - then the person prepared to pay the most, gets the item
how is that unfair?

Diva if you keep getting a message saying someone else has bid higher, it's because someone has bid their maximum early on in the auction
eBay increases their bid automatically each time someone else puts in a lower bid
it would do the same for you if you put your maximum bid in when you bid, rather than trying to go up 20 or 50 p each time

I'm sorry I assumed
I would have thought it would have been normal for them not to allow third party 'sniper' programs to be used
I would be surprised if they though it ok

I thought they just want you to use the ability you have from ebay to enter your maximum bod and then ebay sorts it for you accordingly

"i thought the sniper programmes were designed to put in a bid about 20-50p higher than the current bid in the last few seconds?"

No, a sniper just puts in your max bid in the last seconds. the only advantages are 1) you don't miss the end of the auction and 2) you don't push the price up earlier than necessary.
If I "snipe" with a bid of £12.75 and your max bid is £13, I won't win.

and, in fact, if both our max bids are the same, you will win as your bid went in earlier than my sniped bid.

i have successfully bid at last minute lots. got a designer outfit for few pounds the other day.that's just the way it goes

pick up lots of bargains this way - i recommend it

Didn't realise that there were sniper programs [luddite]

I find though that if I am willing to pay, say, £10 I will bid something random like £10.26 then if someone else also has a max of a tenner then I will still win the auction

I always bid in the last few seconds-all part of the fun, surely!