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Author Topic: Beating the Snipe Tool  (Read 4763 times)

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baz parkes

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Beating the Snipe Tool
« on: March 14, 2016, 11:08:49 AM »

Just wondering if this is possible....

Had my eye on a very nice A/D yesterday...lost out in what must have been less than a second.

Is it possible or do we just have to accept that sniping is the way to go?

On the plus side, it saved me having to explain why I needed another melodeon...
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xgx

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Re: Beating the Snipe Tool
« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2016, 11:14:40 AM »

Is sniping the issue or is it simply that t'other fellah's max bid was higher?

(I know nowt about this 'ere sniping lark )
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Thrupenny Bit

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Re: Beating the Snipe Tool
« Reply #2 on: March 14, 2016, 11:22:49 AM »

Possibly you need a quicker snipe, if that is possible?

Thought this might be a northern version of the 'Hunting of the Wren' custom...... where I supposed you'd need  a bigger spade to hit it withbut obviously not  ::)
Good luck mate!
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Graham Spencer

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Re: Beating the Snipe Tool
« Reply #3 on: March 14, 2016, 11:35:20 AM »

I've also missed boxes by a second or so. On the other hand, I've also been lucky enough to pip other bidders and nab a box in the last second of bidding. I don't use any kind of sniping software, just rely on timing it right. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  And speaking of acquiring yet another melodeon via eBay...........

Graham
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Malcolm Clapp

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Re: Beating the Snipe Tool
« Reply #4 on: March 14, 2016, 12:14:52 PM »


Thought this might be a northern version of the 'Hunting of the Wren' custom...... where I supposed you'd need  a bigger spade to hit it with...


Love it  ;D ;D ;D

Then again, to me, it conjures up an image of an irate driver lashing out at his broken-down classic Humber with a tyre iron rolled up in a copy of The Financial Times....

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John MacKenzie (Cugiok)

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Re: Beating the Snipe Tool
« Reply #5 on: March 14, 2016, 01:10:39 PM »

I use a sniper, I decide on my top price, and then wait to win, or lose, the item. Watching an item closely, is the route to overpaying.

Sir John
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Graham Spencer

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Re: Beating the Snipe Tool
« Reply #6 on: March 14, 2016, 02:11:04 PM »


Thought this might be a northern version of the 'Hunting of the Wren' custom...... where I supposed you'd need  a bigger spade to hit it with...


Love it  ;D ;D ;D

Then again, to me, it conjures up an image of an irate driver lashing out at his broken-down classic Humber with a tyre iron rolled up in a copy of The Financial Times....

Ah,my uncle had a 1953 Super Snipe .... fabulous motor.  Developed a whole 113bhp from 4 litres - makes you think!

Sorry about the thread drift!
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Among others, Saltarelle Pastourelle II D/G; Hohner 4-stop 1-rows in C & G; assorted Hohners; 3-voice German (?) G/C of uncertain parentage; lovely little Hlavacek 1-row Heligonka; B♭/E♭ Koch. Newly acquired G/C Hohner Viktoria. Also Fender Jazz bass, Telecaster, Stratocaster, Epiphone Sheraton, Charvel-Jackson 00-style acoustic guitar, Danelectro 12-string and other stuff..........

Squeezing in the Cyprus sunshine

Davy R

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Re: Beating the Snipe Tool
« Reply #7 on: March 14, 2016, 05:14:12 PM »

I always bid the maximum I'm prepared to pay for an item, as early as possible. That way, your bid wins if somebody else bids the same amount at the last moment, and if you're still outbid, the item was more expensive than you were prepared to pay. You never know how much the winning bidder was prepared to go up to, so no point in thinking you've been outbid by only a tiny amount.

Sometimes you're lucky and get a bargain, most times you end up paying what the item is worth to you - but you never end up in a bidding war and over-paying!
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baz parkes

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Re: Beating the Snipe Tool
« Reply #8 on: March 14, 2016, 05:59:35 PM »

I always bid the maximum I'm prepared to pay for an item, as early as possible. That way, your bid wins if somebody else bids the same amount at the last moment, and if you're still outbid, the item was more expensive than you were prepared to pay. You never know how much the winning bidder was prepared to go up to, so no point in thinking you've been outbid by only a tiny amount.

Good tip...ta
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Grape Ape

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Re: Beating the Snipe Tool
« Reply #9 on: March 14, 2016, 09:01:43 PM »

I always bid the maximum I'm prepared to pay for an item, as early as possible. That way, your bid wins if somebody else bids the same amount at the last moment, and if you're still outbid, the item was more expensive than you were prepared to pay. You never know how much the winning bidder was prepared to go up to, so no point in thinking you've been outbid by only a tiny amount.

Sometimes you're lucky and get a bargain, most times you end up paying what the item is worth to you - but you never end up in a bidding war and over-paying!

Exactly how I do it!
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squeezy

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Re: Beating the Snipe Tool
« Reply #10 on: March 15, 2016, 12:54:23 AM »

I think given that snipers exist and other people are using them - it's the way to go for bidding on rare things you don't want to miss out on.  You put in your absolute top price and then wait for the end of the auction ... using a sniper means that you don't get in to a price war too early and keeps the prices down to some extent.

Fine to do the manual bidding on things you only want to get at a bargain price because that will rely on no-one else really competing with you for the item and you have to let those go if the money goes crazy on it at the last minute.

The only downside to using snipers is that they can go wrong ... I missed out on a box I would have killed to have owned, a pristine Hercule 2 row 12 bass, that happened because of a malfunction on the sniping service I used.  Very disappointing.
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Graham Spencer

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Re: Beating the Snipe Tool
« Reply #11 on: March 15, 2016, 05:05:55 AM »

Fine to do the manual bidding on things you only want to get at a bargain price because that will rely on no-one else really competing with you for the item and you have to let those go if the money goes crazy on it at the last minute.


Exactly - that pretty much sums up my eBay buying.

Graham
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Among others, Saltarelle Pastourelle II D/G; Hohner 4-stop 1-rows in C & G; assorted Hohners; 3-voice German (?) G/C of uncertain parentage; lovely little Hlavacek 1-row Heligonka; B♭/E♭ Koch. Newly acquired G/C Hohner Viktoria. Also Fender Jazz bass, Telecaster, Stratocaster, Epiphone Sheraton, Charvel-Jackson 00-style acoustic guitar, Danelectro 12-string and other stuff..........

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BJG

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Re: Beating the Snipe Tool
« Reply #12 on: March 15, 2016, 08:54:07 AM »

I always bid the maximum I'm prepared to pay for an item, as early as possible.

Exactly how I do it!

Nope.

I use a sniper, I decide on my top price, and then wait to win, or lose, the item. Watching an item closely, is the route to overpaying.

Sir John

^^^

This.

Putting in an early bid is like showing everyone your hand in a poker game. The only way to get bargains is by sniping.
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JimmyM

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Re: Beating the Snipe Tool
« Reply #13 on: March 15, 2016, 10:07:22 AM »

i dont use snipers but am curious. Do you have to pay to use them?
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BJG

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Re: Beating the Snipe Tool
« Reply #14 on: March 15, 2016, 11:23:22 AM »

There are paid and free tools.

I currently use the free version of Justsnipe...

https://justsnipe.com/

It has a minimum time of something like 8 seconds. Someone else might use a snipe tool with a shorter time, but it doesn't make any difference, as the auction will be decided by the maximum bid rather than the timing. (Unless the bids are very close I guess.)

Someone could also potentially watch the auction, see that bid, and make the decision to dial in a higher bid at the last moment...but, well, 8 seconds is good enough for me. I suspect most auctions are decided by the highest snipe, set some time before. The main thing is to avoid the steady price-building that takes place with bids made days or hours before the auction ends.
« Last Edit: March 15, 2016, 11:30:24 AM by BJG »
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Peter Savage

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Re: Beating the Snipe Tool
« Reply #15 on: March 15, 2016, 02:11:42 PM »

I have been using Goofbid's free sniper successfully for several years: http://www.goofbid.com/

Where snipers really come into their own is where you are up against one other bidder who is not using a sniper, and they haven't put their maximum bid in the system. 
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JimmyM

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Re: Beating the Snipe Tool
« Reply #16 on: March 15, 2016, 08:39:04 PM »

Thanks, ill check them out
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911377brian

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Re: Beating the Snipe Tool
« Reply #17 on: March 15, 2016, 08:53:10 PM »

as I will never, ever, ever bid for a melodeon on EBay ever ever again it's of little interest to me.... ::)
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Helena Handcart

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Re: Beating the Snipe Tool
« Reply #18 on: March 15, 2016, 10:48:24 PM »

as I will never, ever, ever bid for a melodeon on EBay ever ever again it's of little interest to me.... ::)

Yeah! Me neither Brian *crosses fingers*
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vof

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Re: Beating the Snipe Tool
« Reply #19 on: March 16, 2016, 12:20:22 AM »

I always bid the maximum I'm prepared to pay for an item, as early as possible.

Exactly how I do it!

Nope.

I use a sniper, I decide on my top price, and then wait to win, or lose, the item. Watching an item closely, is the route to overpaying.

Sir John

^^^

This.

Putting in an early bid is like showing everyone your hand in a poker game. The only way to get bargains is by sniping.

Agreed. There is a lot of analysis of online bidding strategies on the net and it shows it is not as simple as you might think. Google for ebay sniping analysis for more detail than you probably want to read, or start with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auction_sniping.

I use paid-for sniping software (Gixen @$6pa) and think it pays for itself many times each year. However, the main benefit is not the last-minute bid giving no-one else time to respond but the fact that I do not show my interest until the last minute. Even sniping can't win you an item where someone else bids at least one bid increment above your maximum bid before the end of the auction (either before or after your snipe).

So, the best strategy is to decide the maximum you are prepared to pay (taking care you understand the likely relevant bid increment at the end of the auction) and schedule a last-few-seconds snipe of this amount.

Vince
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