Mirror saved the day on 3 second bids - twice?

[powdernpaint]

This is the second time the main server didn't get a bid in at 3 seconds. I'm thankful for the mirror, but I had thought the efficiency rate was better than this. The last auction ended today and was 331323571292. I'm sorry, but the other was a few weeks ago and I didn't save the #. I don't know if this is usual or something that should be looked into.

[mario]

This is completely normal - both servers were set with the same offset, and in 50% cases mirror bid will arrive first. It's completely normal to see "WON" on one server and "BID UNDER ASKING PRICE" on another. In this case mirror did not save anything.

If you really want to test the main server, set the offset on main higher, e.g. 6 seconds, and on mirror lower, e.g. 3 seconds.

[Guest]

If you really want to test the main server, set the offset on main higher, e.g. 6 seconds, and on mirror lower, e.g. 3 seconds.

Thanks Mario. Glad everything is OK. If I did what you suggest though at 6 seconds, there might be a higher bid after, and I wouldn't have a higher bid to counter with. That's why I had wanted the option to place a higher bid at 3 seconds. With both set at three seconds hopefully there isn't time for someone to bid higher again. I understand that we should place the bid at the highest we want to go, but sometimes I wouldn't mind going a few $$$ higher to win if needed.

[Ramona]

You really need to place your snipe at the HIGHEST that you would be happy paying for the item. Whether you snipe at 3 or 6 seconds is almost totally irrelevant - at the end of the day the highest bid placed will win the auction.

Whenever I place a snipe, I always ask myself "would I be happy to lose this auction if it sold for 1 pound/euro/dollar more than I am about to bid?" If my answer is "no", then I know that I need to place a higher snipe.

[Gixen]

[mario]

Ramona, this is known as "indifference price", with good reason. When bidding on unique items, this is exactly how much one should bid.

For items that are easy to replace, it makes sense to bid less than the indifference price and to use groups, in order to get the best possible price.