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Auction snipe did not work!!!!! Very upset!

 
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thingznthingzinc
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 6:45 am    Post subject: Auction snipe did not work!!!!! Very upset! Reply with quote

I put in a snipe a couple days in advance for a listing on ebay. My bid was $22.99, someone else won the item for $22.50, and when I checked the bid history, my bid never even showed up!
What gives?
This was an important one and I lost it!
Troy
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thingznthingzinc
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 6:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

By the way it closed Aug. 14 at 18:21:17
Do you need any additional information?
Thanks,
Troy
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mario
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Joined: 03 Oct 2006
Posts: 7111

PostPosted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Please post here or email me the item number and I'll take a look...
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mario
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 2:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Found it - ebay increment in this price range is 0.50$, so you were 1 cent short. See http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/bid-increments.html.
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 2:18 pm    Post subject:

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the3coopers



Joined: 12 Aug 2007
Posts: 19
Location: Sydney, Australia

PostPosted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 3:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

2 hints when sniping... Understand the Bid Increments, and also understand the numbers that people "normally" bid.

1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, etc - these are the prices that people generally offer.

When you set up your snipe, always set it up on the higher side of the "normal bid" - for example, don't bid $24.99 !

And always set up the snipe for at least one Bid Increment above that "normal bid" price that you chose.

For example, on the Australian site the Bid Increment is $1 for items between $25 and $100. If you think that you'd like to pay $25, then place a snipe for (say) $26.10.

This is because you need to snipe at least 1 Bid Increment higher than the opposition. If you bid $25, then the earlier opposition bid of $25 will win.

And there is no use bidding $25.60, because the "normal bid" would be $25... and therefore your snipe would fail because it was not 1 bid increment ($1) more than $25.

And the extra 10c ??? That is just to beat the other snipers that know the trick and offer $26.00

In all cases, the highest bid wins... but because you are bidding "late" you MUST always bid at least 1 x Bid Increment higher than your opposition.

This is extremely hard to explain, so I will give up now Confused
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juangrande



Joined: 09 Aug 2007
Posts: 890
Location: San Diego, California, USA

PostPosted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 2:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think you explained that very well, the3coopers! The bottom line is that the higher bid always wins, not the last bid. I was reminded of that just the other day when an earlier proxy bid beat my snipe by only 5 cents! See eBay auction 260147063341 to see my frustration...
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the3coopers



Joined: 12 Aug 2007
Posts: 19
Location: Sydney, Australia

PostPosted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 5:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

We won a snipe tonight COMPLETELY by good luck... My girlfriend wanted an item that was at $17.02 or some wierd amount like that, and with 1/2 hour to go. There were 2 other bidders.

I set up a snipe in Gixen for $20.60 - my rationale being that this was 10c more than the next Bid Increment (50c) higher than the "Normal Bid" ($20) - see my post above for details on my terminology.

Anyway, about 4 minutes to go my girlfriend said to change the snipe to $21. I quickly edited the snipe to $21.60.

When the auction ran, I found that the other bidder was a sneaky one - they had a max of $20.15 rather than the $20.00 that I had expected.

Now, if I had left my original snipe at $20.60 I wouldn't have won, since it was only 45c above theirs and thus not a full Bid Increment - so ebay would have rejected the snipe "bid too low".

But, we won it for $20.65, with a neat 5 secs to go. Laughing

Take a look : http://offer.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=170139525064
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Cupid



Joined: 09 Aug 2007
Posts: 7576
Location: Bristol, UK

PostPosted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 8:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hmm,

Well sorry to burst your bubble but with 5 seconds to go the bid stood at 17.02, so any bid above 17.52 would have been accepted by eBay, the only time bid increment comes into it is when the current bid price is within 1 increment of your bid/snipe.

So unfortunately if you had left it as it was you would still have won at 20.60, your last minute actions just cost you 5c... but I'm sure you can afford it... if your bid had been 20.16 you would have won at that price too.

Had there been another snipe at say $20 then you would be more correct with your scenario... I guess there was a fair chance of that so the extra 5c that it cost you was probably worth it.
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cross3_16



Joined: 08 Aug 2007
Posts: 22
Location: Perth, Australia

PostPosted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 6:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think Cupid is right:

Quote:
Note: A bidder may be outbid by less than a full increment. This would happen if the winning bidder's maximum bid beats the second highest maximum by an amount less than the full increment.

If you were bidding against another bidder's maximum bid, your bid had to meet the other bidder's maximum bid plus one cent to become the current high bidder on the item.

(eBay bid increment help)

I find it amusing how easy it is to out-think myself with the bidding amount. E.g. I'll consider $26.10 instead of $25, then realise that people know about that trick so consider $26.90, then realise $26.90 will fail against a nice round number like $27, so up the bid to $29, then realise that will fail against the normal amount of $30... etc. etc. ad infinitum ad nauseum. Smile
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Cupid



Joined: 09 Aug 2007
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Location: Bristol, UK

PostPosted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 4:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes you are right it is easy to think yourself into a higher snipe.

Personally I approach from another perspective, that being:

1: What do I believe its worth?
2: What is the maximum amount I am prepared to pay.
3: Convert that maximum to the currency of the auction.
4: Reduce it by the amount that I will be charged in postage/shipping.

... and that is my snipe amount, if its beaten I consider others value the item higher than I do at present, it may in time change my view on the value of such items, but for this auction I made the correct decision and there are no regrets.
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cross3_16



Joined: 08 Aug 2007
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 3:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, but step #2 is the hard part Smile. No one likes being outbid by a few cents.
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threemilechild



Joined: 16 Aug 2007
Posts: 6

PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 1:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The thing to remember is that you're not /really/ being outbid by only a few cents, most of the time -- it just looks that way because you don't see what the actual bid was.

(This is the situation, I think, that really bugs non-snipers. Obviously, they think, they would have been willing to pay more than the winning price of 15.42; they have no way of knowing the auction was actually sniped with a bid of 52.00.)
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cross3_16



Joined: 08 Aug 2007
Posts: 22
Location: Perth, Australia

PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 5:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, you're right of course. I meant it more theoretically. Smile

I've heard it recommended to people that don't like snipers (or that find it hard to come up with a maximum bid) to imagine the auction in your head as a traditional auction. Once you imagine the bidding going too high for you, you've found your maximum.
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