Bidder reacted to a Gixen bid

[dreamaholic]

This was the first auction I had where it appears a bidder reacted to my Gixen bid. I've read claims in the past that this was not possible, that there isn't enough time to react after Gixen snipes, but in this case it seems to be true.

A competing bidder placed a bid of $16.16 at 08:31:09. My Gixen bid had me as the high bidder at $16.66 , placed one second later at 08:31:10. The auction ended at 08:31:15, so there was only 5 seconds left when my Gixen bid went through. Yet somehow the same bidder got another bid in of $21.21 at 08:31:15, the exact time the auction ended. How can you get a bid in with 0 seconds left?

According to eBay, this other bidder used the "click once" button to submit another bid before the auction ended, but the bid recorded as being at the time the auction closed. They explained that the bid went through just tenths of seconds before the auction ended.

So it seems that it is possible to respond to a Gixen bid before the auction ends, and that 5 seconds is too much time. I'm not complaining, I still won the auction by bidding more. I was just startled to see the price jump $5 from a bidder who shouldn't have had time to respond.

Item# is 111239880090

[darkzero]

5 seconds is plenty of time to react to a bid if you're prepared to. Whoever told you that you can't react with 5 seconds to go is a moron. You may have misunderstood the idea of sniping, which is most people won't react at that late stage and there isn't time for people to bid each other up in a cycle.

I've seen more of this behavior with people nibbling in the last seconds of an auction, although it's entirely retarded, since all it means is that you're willing to bid an increment above the top price, regardless of what it is, and you may not even see the price you're going to bid in some circumstances. It also often doesn't work if someone bids while your increment bid is being processed.

This sort of thing is one of the reasons I always bid 3 seconds before the end of auctions, an I'd bring that down to 1 or 2 seconds if I could.

[mario]

The point here is not if 5 seconds is enough if you are prepared to bid. The question is - is it enough to notice a bid, and then *change* your opinion on what your maximum is, and submit that bid.

I think that it's not. Many users disagree with me, and for that reason 3 second offset exists. Personally, I *always* use 8 seconds for all auctions that I snipe.

[darkzero]

I think it's true that it's not enough time if you're not prepared, but from my experience there are more and more people who are sitting there at the end of the auction ready to bid up the price at the last minute using 1-click. I guess they think it's a cure for snipers.

The problem isn't people who happen to be watching the end of the auction and are surprised by a late bid, the problem is people who are using 1-click as some sort of strategy.

Although 8 seconds helps you with minimum increments, it's just an invite to these "nibbling snipers".

[Gixen]

[Cupid]

It is because there is no universal agreement about what is best that the offset can be set individually for each snipe.

I'm sure the debate will continue here forever, and that's not a bad thing.

I think it probably depends what type of items you are sniping which strategy actually works best.
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Mark

[Sumflow]

The "click once," button pusher had no way of knowing your highest bid. They would have been real surprised if you had automatic bid another $100.00 higher.

If you had bid higher it would not have cost you anything, but it sure would be a lesson to blind click once bidders, to push that button an a sniper.

[Cupid]

Bidding high to win auctions is a risky strategy because sooner or later you may come up against someone else with the same strategy... and then someone might be looking to pay more than the item is actually worth.
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Mark