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Is ebay about to end all sniping?

Started by dekeuk,

322 posts in this topic

dekeuk

dekeuk

Posted
Posted

 

It looks like ebay is about to make yet another colossal blunder, maybe even bigger than their buying Skype blunder. It looks like ebay has banned sniping on ebay.uk, probably as a means to test the market before they introduce it on every ebay site.

 

Ebay probably thinks this will force people to bid sooner, and then they will get outbid, and have to place another bid, thereby driving the ending price higher, and boosting ebay percentage fees. But I predict it will backfire horribly. Rather than bid early, most people like me will choose not to bid at all on most stuff, or place an early bid at a much lower price than I would normally bid and just hope nobody else bids.

 

Ebay manages to continuously annoy both its sellers and now its buyers too. Hardly a path to long term success. It's only a matter of time before somone like Google takes their auction business away from them completely.

 

Here is the message in reference to ebay.uk and sniping:

 

==========================

 

 

Hello,

 

Thank you for writing us again. I understand that you are being asked to

enter a verification code while bidding on an item. I am sorry to learn

that this issue is still not resolved. I am happy to assist you further

in this matter.

 

We have introduced this security measure to prevent inappropriate use of

sniping softwares on eBay.

Why did we do this?

 

It has been brought to our attention that some members have been using

sniping softwares to place bids in the last minutes of auction and

outbid other members. The security confirmation is intended to prevent

such bids from being placed using sniping softwares by requiring a

manual input of the numbers displayed. A number of other eBay functions

also use a confirmation code to prevent their misuse. Security measures

like this are a common practice.

 

We can understand that it may be tedious to enter a code every time.

However, we are confident that these changes will restrict the usage of

sniping softwares to prevent members from bidding in the last seconds of

the auction.

 

I hope this information answers your question. Thank you for using eBay.

 

Kind regards,

 

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abracadabra

abracadabra

Posted
Posted

I agree with you. As with everything Ebay, I am sure it is money related. Some genius says this will make people bid earlier, higher, and more often. The only problem is, if people are like me, they will want to put their own manual snipe in but will often forget to (or not be around their computer to do so).

Just wait, they will ban all sniping, and then introduce an Ebay owned service....for a fee of course.

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chromium

chromium

Posted
Posted

Interesting... but then again sniping has been banned on eBay Germany since 2002...

 

# Germans may not snipe eBay Germany auctions. There are potential repercussions, including account suspension.

# Germans may snipe any other non-German eBay site.

# It’s unlikely you have any recourse with eBay if you snipe an eBay Germany auction and the seller refuses to sell to you because you sniped.

 

People have been saying eBay was going to implement this globally since 2002

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awe4one

awe4one

Posted
Posted

From a business standpoint, I think it's a great move. It'll force members to browse eBay more often resulting in a boost to hits and associated ad revenue.

 

Also, sniping has made the eBay experience a mostly impersonal matter compared to the early days. Someone sees an auction, sets the snipe, and never returns to until it's over...if ever. Sounds to me like they're trying to regain some personal input into the process.

 

Will there be a backlash if this is implemented? Sure. But I don't think it'll last long...

 

Jim

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TupennyConan

TupennyConan

Posted
Posted
Interesting... but then again sniping has been banned on eBay Germany since 2002...

 

# Germans may not snipe eBay Germany auctions. There are potential repercussions, including account suspension.

# Germans may snipe any other non-German eBay site.

# It’s unlikely you have any recourse with eBay if you snipe an eBay Germany auction and the seller refuses to sell to you because you sniped.

 

People have been saying eBay was going to implement this globally since 2002

 

Geez, talk about picking-on someone. The Germans are getting the shaft. :sorry:

 

As for Google going into the auction biz, I think the competition would be super. Slash all fees in half!! :headbang:

 

What about yahoo auctions? Do any board members ever participate in those? I've never even browsed them. (shrug)

 

 

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dekeuk

dekeuk

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  • Author
Posted

using sniping software is cheating.

 

there would be no need to snipe if ebay ran auctions that ended when people stopped bidding, not at a specific exact time.

 

there is no point in bidding early, someone will just come along and make sure their snipe bid is higher than your current leading bid. so either you lose the item, or you end up paying more. either way you lose if you don't snipe.

 

 

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TupennyConan

TupennyConan

Posted
Posted
What about yahoo auctions? Do any board members ever participate in those? I've never even browsed them. (shrug)

 

I thought Yahoo ended their auction service in the US?

 

Jim

 

Maybe so. Shows how much I know about 'em. (shrug)

 

So, but for Heritage & CL for comics, does eBay pretty much stand atop a monopoly in online auctions? If so, why hasn't some big gun gone after them yet?

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snitzer

snitzer

Posted
Posted
using sniping software sucks. I hope they can end the practice.

 

If you want an item...bid on it and sit your tail in front of the computer til the auction ends.

 

using sniping software is cheating.

 

(thumbs u

 

(thumbs u (thumbs u

 

Why should the unfair behavior of software sniping continue? How is this a blunder by eBay? I know a number of people, new and old to eBay, who once they learn about this practice actually stop using eBay. That raises prices.

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dekeuk

dekeuk

Posted
  • Author
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Interesting... but then again sniping has been banned on eBay Germany since 2002...

 

 

 

Geez, talk about picking-on someone. The Germans are getting the shaft. :sorry:

 

 

 

Maybe it is meant to be a continuation of the Treaty Of Versailles hm

 

 

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ArAich

ArAich

Posted
Posted
using sniping software sucks. I hope they can end the practice.

 

If you want an item...bid on it and sit your tail in front of the computer til the auction ends.

 

using sniping software is cheating.

 

 

Sour grapes from a loser... :makepoint:

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backtomarvel

backtomarvel

Posted
Posted

Yup, Yahoo ended the auctions. There's plenty of chatter about high level purchases. I think instead of anyone trying to create competition for eBay -- a decidedly uphill battle, unfortunately -- rumors are flying that Yahoo may "buy" eBay (parenthesis because eBay is worth more than Yahoo right now.)

 

The story.

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THE_BEYONDER

THE_BEYONDER

Posted
Posted
using sniping software sucks. I hope they can end the practice.

 

If you want an item...bid on it and sit your tail in front of the computer til the auction ends.

 

using sniping software is cheating.

 

 

Sour grapes from a loser... :makepoint:

 

:sumo:

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greggy

greggy

Posted
Posted
using sniping software sucks. I hope they can end the practice.

 

If you want an item...bid on it and sit your tail in front of the computer til the auction ends.

 

using sniping software is cheating.

 

 

Sour grapes from a loser... :makepoint:

 

:sumo:

jonesper :whistle:
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