The Shiller Speaks

[Darkowl]

If an auction runs for 7 days, which is 168 hours, or 10,080 minutes, or 604,800 seconds...

 

What's the difference in which second you put your bid in? The auction has a set run time. Second #604,795 is no different that second #11. All seconds are available to all bidders. Why some of them get their own special designation is

 

That right there is the probably the main reason why I don't have a problem with sniping. An ebay auction gives buyers the freedom to bid whenever the hell they want.

[ItsJustRyan]

If an auction runs for 7 days, which is 168 hours, or 10,080 minutes, or 604,800 seconds...

 

What's the difference in which second you put your bid in? The auction has a set run time. Second #604,795 is no different that second #11. All seconds are available to all bidders. Why some of them get their own special designation is

 

Because if a snipe goes through with 3 seconds left there is little time for another bidder to react, thus gives the sniper a better shot at a lower ending price. If you enter your max bid with a minute left, that's a hell of a lot of time for bidders to keep one clicking the price up to your max bid.

 

Understand now?

[Darkowl]

If an auction runs for 7 days, which is 168 hours, or 10,080 minutes, or 604,800 seconds...

 

What's the difference in which second you put your bid in? The auction has a set run time. Second #604,795 is no different that second #11. All seconds are available to all bidders. Why some of them get their own special designation is

 

Because if a snipe goes through with 3 seconds left there is little time for another bidder to react, thus gives the sniper a better shot at a lower ending price. If you enter your max bid with a minute left, that's a hell of a lot of time for bidders to keep one clicking the price up to your max bid.

 

Understand now?

 

Isn't that the name of the game?

[Hulksdaddy1]

If an auction runs for 7 days, which is 168 hours, or 10,080 minutes, or 604,800 seconds...

 

What's the difference in which second you put your bid in? The auction has a set run time. Second #604,795 is no different that second #11. All seconds are available to all bidders. Why some of them get their own special designation is

 

Because if a snipe goes through with 3 seconds left there is little time for another bidder to react, thus gives the sniper a better shot at a lower ending price. If you enter your max bid with a minute left, that's a hell of a lot of time for bidders to keep one clicking the price up to your max bid.

 

Understand now?

 

What stopped another bidder from putting in their max bid with 2 seconds left? It was available to them, as it was to every other bidder.

 

What I understand is an auction has a set time. You're not entitled to any extra time because you don't know how it works.

 

 

[1Cool]

If an auction runs for 7 days, which is 168 hours, or 10,080 minutes, or 604,800 seconds...

 

What's the difference in which second you put your bid in? The auction has a set run time. Second #604,795 is no different that second #11. All seconds are available to all bidders. Why some of them get their own special designation is

 

Because if a snipe goes through with 3 seconds left there is little time for another bidder to react, thus gives the sniper a better shot at a lower ending price. If you enter your max bid with a minute left, that's a hell of a lot of time for bidders to keep one clicking the price up to your max bid.

 

Understand now?

 

I think he was defending the pro-sniper side of the argument.

 

I agree - sniping is in the rules for E-Bay auctions while shilling is not. But if I'm not mistaken there are auction where shilling your own auction is ok where as sniping would not work at a live auction. Would shilling still be wrong if its allowed?

[1Cool]

Most of my sniping activity benefits ebay sellers because I am usually just increasing the amount others end up having to pay....

 

 

You actually make a really great point here.

 

There's time's when I snipe, and I don't win, because a previous bidder actually had a much higher bid then I was willing to place. In turn, the seller receives a nice price for his item, and the high bidder get's the item for what his max bid was. It's a win win.

 

The same price increase would occur if the bid was placed 10 minutes before the auction ended. I don't bid on many auctions but when I do I place my max bids on certain books and forget about it. If I win good but if not then someone else gets it. The few times I've sniped before I've felt like I'm just playing the system which left a bad taste in my mouth.

[ItsJustRyan]

Yes, bidding on your own item is a conflict of interest.

 

 

[Hulksdaddy1]

If an auction runs for 7 days, which is 168 hours, or 10,080 minutes, or 604,800 seconds...

 

What's the difference in which second you put your bid in? The auction has a set run time. Second #604,795 is no different that second #11. All seconds are available to all bidders. Why some of them get their own special designation is

 

Because if a snipe goes through with 3 seconds left there is little time for another bidder to react, thus gives the sniper a better shot at a lower ending price. If you enter your max bid with a minute left, that's a hell of a lot of time for bidders to keep one clicking the price up to your max bid.

 

Understand now?

 

I think he was defending the pro-sniper side of the argument.

 

I agree - sniping is in the rules for E-Bay auctions while shilling is not. But if I'm not mistaken there are auction where shilling your own auction is ok where as sniping would not work at a live auction. Would shilling still be wrong if its allowed?

 

The issue seems to be that some people think that ebay auctions are/should be the same as other types of auctions. In some ways they are, in others they are not. Ebay auctions are what they are, and everyone knows how they work. You have a set time frame, and you can bid at any time within that frame.

 

Easily understood.

[1Cool]

I should start selling pitchforks and torches instead of crummy comics - I think I'd do better here.

 

Get your torches! Get your pitchforks!

 

[A.Romeo]

beezid.com may be more the type of auction your looking for 1cool? Unfortunately they don't do anything with comic books, however it gives everyone a chance to get a final bid in, snipers are allowed but every time a bid goes through, it resets the countdown timer to the end of the auction.

 

With that being said, I think these types of auction sites are more of a scam than someone shilling on ebay.

[HarveySwick]

Most of my sniping activity benefits ebay sellers because I am usually just increasing the amount others end up having to pay....

 

 

You actually make a really great point here.

 

There's time's when I snipe, and I don't win, because a previous bidder actually had a much higher bid then I was willing to place. In turn, the seller receives a nice price for his item, and the high bidder get's the item for what his max bid was. It's a win win.

 

The same price increase would occur if the bid was placed 10 minutes before the auction ended. I don't bid on many auctions but when I do I place my max bids on certain books and forget about it. If I win good but if not then someone else gets it. The few times I've sniped before I've felt like I'm just playing the system which left a bad taste in my mouth.

[Chadwick]

If an auction runs for 7 days, which is 168 hours, or 10,080 minutes, or 604,800 seconds...

 

What's the difference in which second you put your bid in? The auction has a set run time. Second #604,795 is no different that second #11. All seconds are available to all bidders. Why some of them get their own special designation is

 

Because if a snipe goes through with 3 seconds left there is little time for another bidder to react, thus gives the sniper a better shot at a lower ending price. If you enter your max bid with a minute left, that's a hell of a lot of time for bidders to keep one clicking the price up to your max bid.

 

Understand now?

 

I think he was defending the pro-sniper side of the argument.

 

I agree - sniping is in the rules for E-Bay auctions while shilling is not. But if I'm not mistaken there are auction where shilling your own auction is ok where as sniping would not work at a live auction.

 

eBay isn't a live auction, it's a time based, proxy bid. If you lose to a sniper and would have paid more, you bid the wrong amount. Anyone placing a lower bid than they are willing to pay is just not doing it right. The only thing sniping does is stop the emotional bids. There's plenty of times I lose when I bid my max in the last 3 seconds and it wasn't high enough.

[Logan510]

I'm so happy I don't play in the Ebay pool,one less headache in my life.

 

I'm glad you don't either, less competition

[1Cool]

 

 

I agree that a shilling is basically a hidden reserve for a book which some sellers utilize since books with reserves do not get a second look. I don't know of any shillers but wouldn't they just set a "hidden reserve" price via their shill and not care if bids get posted at the last second or days in advance. Or do shillers keep bumping up a book above their reserve price in the hopes is squeaking out every cent. Not too familiar with the process.

[Bill1]

The rest of the people are left scratching their heads wondering what the heck just happened.

Here, I'll simplify it for you.

 

Book is worth $30

Person A bids $10

Person B bids $11

Person A bids $12

Person C bids $20 with 5 seconds left

Person A + B

Person C

 

Question... If the book was worth $30 and both Person A and B would have paid $30...

 

Why didn't they just make their max bid $30?

 

Are you saying Person C should have allowed Person A and B to compete with him and increase their bids? Should everyone get a "Thanks for participating" medal?

 

I don't know - I guess people just do not always post their max bid. They are stupid. The book was still purchased for $20 when there was a buyer sitting right there who would have bid $30 if a $29 bid would have come through 10 minutes before the end. Sniping (or silent auction format) artificially decreased the final auction end price by $10.

 

So, in your mind, the only way to avoid this is to not end the auction until all bidders decide they are done? How would that be possible? Call them all up and ask them if they are sure? Change the scenario to a basketball game. Some of the players still have points to make, if only the buzzer hadn't gone off?

[InvstmntComcSuply]

 

Book is worth $30

Person A bids $10

Person B bids $11

Person A bids $12

Person C bids $20 with 5 seconds left

Person A + B

Person C

 

I don't know - I guess people just do not always post their max bid. They are stupid. The book was still purchased for $20 when there was a buyer sitting right there who would have bid $30 if a $29 bid would have come through 10 minutes before the end. Sniping (or silent auction format) artificially decreased the final auction end price by $10.

 

This would have been sold for $12.50 on ebay. Not $20

[1Cool]

The rest of the people are left scratching their heads wondering what the heck just happened.

Here, I'll simplify it for you.

 

Book is worth $30

Person A bids $10

Person B bids $11

Person A bids $12

Person C bids $20 with 5 seconds left

Person A + B

Person C

 

Question... If the book was worth $30 and both Person A and B would have paid $30...

 

Why didn't they just make their max bid $30?

 

Are you saying Person C should have allowed Person A and B to compete with him and increase their bids? Should everyone get a "Thanks for participating" medal?

 

I don't know - I guess people just do not always post their max bid. They are stupid. The book was still purchased for $20 when there was a buyer sitting right there who would have bid $30 if a $29 bid would have come through 10 minutes before the end. Sniping (or silent auction format) artificially decreased the final auction end price by $10.

 

So, in your mind, the only way to avoid this is to not end the auction until all bidders decide they are done? How would that be possible? Call them all up and ask them if they are sure? Change the scenario to a basketball game. Some of the players still have points to make, if only the buzzer hadn't gone off?

 

Other sites have tried extending the bidding time-frame for a set time before ending the auction. I'm just going to avoid auctions all together and be happier for it.

[Logan510]

 

Book is worth $30

Person A bids $10

Person B bids $11

Person A bids $12

Person C bids $20 with 5 seconds left

Person A + B

Person C

 

I don't know - I guess people just do not always post their max bid. They are stupid. The book was still purchased for $20 when there was a buyer sitting right there who would have bid $30 if a $29 bid would have come through 10 minutes before the end. Sniping (or silent auction format) artificially decreased the final auction end price by $10.

 

This would have been sold for $12.50 on ebay. Not $20

 

Exactly. His logic makes no sense to me. If I put in a max bid for $125 but I win it for $75, he makes it seem like I've somehow ripped the seller off for $50.

[Darkowl]

Most of my sniping activity benefits ebay sellers because I am usually just increasing the amount others end up having to pay....

 

 

You actually make a really great point here.

 

There's time's when I snipe, and I don't win, because a previous bidder actually had a much higher bid then I was willing to place. In turn, the seller receives a nice price for his item, and the high bidder get's the item for what his max bid was. It's a win win.

 

The same price increase would occur if the bid was placed 10 minutes before the auction ended. I don't bid on many auctions but when I do I place my max bids on certain books and forget about it. If I win good but if not then someone else gets it. The few times I've sniped before I've felt like I'm just playing the system which left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

I see what you're saying, but by nature, I'm not one to place my max bid with 10 minutes remaining...it's far too risky. I take my chances and bid at the last 2 seconds (seems backwards doesn't it?) I may lose or win the auction, but one fact remains, the seller now has a higher bid than he would have If the auction had 10 minutes to go, and no one else would have bid (which happens). For auctions like these, It's the sniper who raised the final bid.

 

 

[Chip Cataldo]

I love snipers. When my auctions are ending I pour myself a glass of wine and sit back to enjoy the show. It's exciting to watch.

 

Peace,

 

Chip