How to Set Offset/Mirror

[KingEdward]

I'm a new user and have a question for how to select the appropriate number of seconds for Offset/Mirror. I just won an auction for a single item having them both set to 2 seconds - does that mean both serves bid simultaneously? Is there any advantage to setting one at 3 seconds and the other to 2, or some other strategy that works better?

Also, can someone give me an example of when someone would use the Group feature?

Thank you for any assistance anyone can provide.

[Cupid]

The setting of offsets is allowed to be changed by users because there are differing opinions as to what works best, and indeed depending on the scenario different settings can provide different outcomes. There isn't any consensus though, so any recommendations tend to get challenged. Personally I prefer larger offsets than the default of 6 seconds because that gives me the advantage of the bid increment rule, but I tend to bid on auctions with many other snipers who often value the items quite similar to myself.

Having different offsets for the different servers just means that the one with the larger offset is more likely to win since that one will be trying to place its bid before the other one. The one with the lower offset most often won't get its bid in at all since it will be effectively blocked by the bid already having been placed. Only when the other server fails to place its bid will the server with a lower offset come into play, which only happens rarely.

Standard Grouping is used when there are many similar items and you only wish to win one of them. Once you win one the rest of the snipes in the same group are cancelled.

I also recommend that you read the FAQ tab, above as that has many other useful answers for those that have not used the service for long and/or are new to sniping on Ebay.
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Mark

[KingEdward]

Cupid,

Thanks for all of the information -- I really appreciate it. If you wouldn't mind, can you elaborate/expand on what you mean by,

"...Personally I prefer larger offsets than the default of 6 seconds because that gives me the advantage of the bid increment rule, but I tend to bid on auctions with many other snipers who often value the items quite similar to myself."

I understand the bid increment changes depending on the amount of the bid (i.e., there are ranges .01-4.99, $ 5.00-24.99, etc.). Are you saying that if there is a longer offset time, there is more time for the computer to react to someone else's bid, adjusting the increment etc., or something else? I'm not sure that I follow. Also, how does the fact that other are valuing things similarly change your bidding strategy?

Please understand that I am new to all of this, but want to make sure I am doing everything to maximize my changes of winning. Thanks.

[Cupid]

If people value things more than a bid increment more than you do and are prepared to bid that much more than you are then it makes no difference when you (or they) bid, you won't win. The highest accepted bid always wins on Ebay no matter when it is placed. This is why I talk about other bidders that value things similar to myself, because these are the only ones I can get an advantage over by changing when my bid is placed.

The later you bid the higher the auction price is likely to be, auction prices rise on Ebay as more bids are placed, when there are other snipers this is happening in the last few seconds of the auction, so when your bid is placed makes a difference.

If there are no other snipers then the price is not changing in the last few seconds of the auction, so again the timing does not really matter, you are either going to win or lose, based on whether or not your bid is higher or lower than the bids already accepted, and that outcome is not changed whenever the bid is placed.

The bid increment rule on Ebay dictates that in order to be accepted your bid must be at least one bid increment more than the current auction price. Since prices rise as explained above, the later your bid is to be placed the more likely it is to be rejected because it is no longer high enough to be accepted, even though it may be a bit more than the auction price (but less than one bid increment more). It's disappointing to lose an auction for this reason. If your bid is earlier then there is more chance it will be accepted and that other snipers, that have their bids scheduled later, will find that it is their bid and not yours that gets blocked by Ebay for this reason. This is why I favour larger offsets, so that I, more often, win against other snipers that want their bids placed later but are only prepared to pay less than one bid increment more than I am.
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Mark