Is manual sniping more effective than sniping programs? 2 2

[kav]

Is manual sniping more effective than sniping programs?

 It all boils down to how many seconds before auction end do sniping programs place bid?  There is a delay between when a bid is placed and ebay accepting the bid.  This delay time also varies based on computer slow downs.  A few seconds at least.  So a program cannot say bid one second before auction end, because that is not enough time for ebay to process the bid.  So how many seconds leeway do sniping programs allow?  

[jcjames]

If a manual sniper bids one penny more than the max-bid set by the user of the sniping program, then I'd think the manual sniper will always win. IOW, whoever has the highest max-bid regardless of manual or program, they should win.

 

[kav]

4 minutes ago, jcjames said:

If a manual sniper bids one penny more than the max-bid set by the user of the sniping program, then I'd think the manual sniper will always win. IOW, whoever has the highest max-bid regardless of manual or program, they should win.

 

Oh yeah...

[valiantman]

24 minutes ago, jcjames said:

If a manual sniper bids one penny more than the max-bid set by the user of the sniping program, then I'd think the manual sniper will always win. IOW, whoever has the highest max-bid regardless of manual or program, they should win.

 

Yes, the but the sniping program is a "set it and forget it" situation, where the highest max-bid is a planned dollar amount.  Manual snipers won't beat the sniping program unless they decide, in the final second (literally) that they want to increase their max bid because they aren't highest yet.

Spending up to $50 more than your plan with one second of thought is a good way to have buyer's remorse.  Not to mention how much of your time is wasted by trying to be at a computer or staring at your phone at the exact ending time of an auction.

Manual sniping won't save you any money... it may cost you more money... and it certainly won't save any time.

What's the benefit?

Set it and forget it.

[Aweandlorder]

Birth control works better than pulling out to me

[jcjames]

23 minutes ago, valiantman said:

Yes, the but the sniping program is a "set it and forget it" situation, where the highest max-bid is a planned dollar amount.  Manual snipers won't beat the sniping program unless they decide, in the final second (literally) that they want to increase their max bid because they aren't highest yet.

Spending up to $50 more than your plan with one second of thought is a good way to have buyer's remorse.  Not to mention how much of your time is wasted by trying to be at a computer or staring at your phone at the exact ending time of an auction.

Manual sniping won't save you any money... it may cost you more money... and it certainly won't save any time.

What's the benefit?

Set it and forget it.

What's the difference then between the sniping-program and just putting your highest bid in through the normal bidding process which is also basically "set it and forget it"?

An automatic sniper program with a max-bid set below a regular bidder's max-bid will still lose to the regular bidder, wouldn't they?

Maybe I'm missing something special about what the sniping program does.

 

Edited June 8, 2017 by jcjames

[Gaard]

26 minutes ago, jcjames said:

What's the difference then between the sniping-program and just putting your highest bid in through the normal bidding process which is also basically "set it and forget it"?

An automatic sniper program with a max-bid set below a regular bidder's max-bid will still lose to the regular bidder, wouldn't they?

Maybe I'm missing something special about what the sniping program does.

 

I believe setting a max with a sniping program eliminates the chance to be outbid by the bidders that valiantman described (those who contemplate upping their max at the end of the auction).

[bc]

2 hours ago, kav said:

Is manual sniping more effective than sniping programs?

 It all boils down to how many seconds before auction end do sniping programs place bid?  There is a delay between when a bid is placed and ebay accepting the bid.  This delay time also varies based on computer slow downs.  A few seconds at least.  So a program cannot say bid one second before auction end, because that is not enough time for ebay to process the bid.  So how many seconds leeway do sniping programs allow?  

Mastering that delay and understanding inherit packet latency of the network connection has worked well for manually sniping both eBay and CLink for over a decade. Useless for ComicConnect.

Also multi-boxing (using multiple devices each honed to a different auction item on your watch list, GPA, census or other data sites) - I use 2 devices each with 3 monitors all connected via 1Gb wired Ethernet (no wireless as a sniper). Reduce your hops in your home network, disable any background apps, etc, etc.

Then practice and record your results on low value items of interest. I know I can snipe a CLink auction at XXX seconds and an eBay auction at YYY seconds (not giving that away and it would be specific to my location & setup anyway).

You've now graduated from Sniper School 101.

It's still about how much you're willing to spend on any given item (hence the multiple monitors of data). Let's say the 90-day GPA of an item is $700, if someone puts in a max bid of $1,000 but the current high is $400 and I place a snipe bid for double that ($800), I still lose in the end. I just lose really fast.

-bc

[jcjames]

30 minutes ago, Gaard said:

I believe setting a max with a sniping program eliminates the chance to be outbid by the bidders that valiantman described (those who contemplate upping their max at the end of the auction).

Howso?

If you set your sniping-program max to $106 and someone either manually-snipes or early-bids with a max of $107, you still get outbid.

If someone is truly manually sniping and sees that they're still outbid, it's pretty dang hard to up their bid again because, well they're sniping and they probably have less than 2 seconds to get that "increase max bid" entered. That's the idea of "sniping" - you get one shot to outbid the highest bidder.

 

 

[kav]

1 hour ago, jcjames said:

What's the difference then between the sniping-program and just putting your highest bid in through the normal bidding process which is also basically "set it and forget it"?

An automatic sniper program with a max-bid set below a regular bidder's max-bid will still lose to the regular bidder, wouldn't they?

Maybe I'm missing something special about what the sniping program does.

 

The difference is the psychology of bidding.  If an item has no bids or one bid and bidders are watching it, they might wait till the last moment and make some nominal bid thinking they are he only one interested and they will get the item.  If everyone is putting their max bid the item may be at $100 with days left to go in the auction.  Now the cards are on the table and people realize what they may have to bid to get the item.  An experienced sniper will wait in his gilley suit with his max bid ready-then when people place their nominal bids his max bid swoops in and grabs the item.  Example is a 3 pair of soccer socks I just sniped.  Bid was at 99c for days, then jumped to $5.  I knew if I bid my max of $13 with plenty of time left in the auction, someone would probably outbid me.  The socks retail at $20.  So I waited and 4 sec before auction bid $13 and got the socks for $5.50.

Edited June 9, 2017 by kav
removed boobies

[bc]

12 minutes ago, kav said:

The difference is the psychology of bidding.  If an item has no bids or one bid and bidders are watching it, they might wait till the last moment and make some nominal bid thinking they are he only one interested and they will get the item.  If everyone is putting their max bid the item may be at $100 with days left to go in the auction.  Now the cards are on the table and people realize what they may have to bid to get the item.  An experienced sniper will wait in his gilley suit with his max bid ready-then when people place their nominal bids his max bid swoops in and grabs the item.  Example is a 3 pair of soccer socks I just sniped.  Bid was at 99c for days, then jumped to $5.  I knew if I bid my max of $13 with plenty of time left in the auction, someone would probably outbid me.  The socks retail at $20.  So I waited and 4 sec before auction bid $13 and got the socks for $5.50.

Close enough to still get full credit - "ghillie" suit

See your point, but its still based on each persons perceived point of when they get a "deal". To my grandmother, driving 20 minutes to save 5 cents on a gallon of milk is a "deal". If I can get a comic I want at or below GPA, that's a deal to me.

-bc

[ADAMANTIUM]

23 minutes ago, kav said:

The difference is the psychology of bidding.  If an item has no bids or one bid and bidders are watching it, they might wait till the last moment and make some nominal bid thinking they are he only one interested and they will get the item.  If everyone is putting their max bid the item may be at $100 with days left to go in the auction.  Now the cards are on the table and people realize what they may have to bid to get the item.  An experienced sniper will wait in his gilley suit with his max bid ready-then when people place their nominal bids his max bid swoops in and grabs the item.  Example is a 3 pair of soccer socks I just sniped.  Bid was at 99c for days, then jumped to $5.  I knew if I bid my max of $13 with plenty of time left in the auction, someone would probably outbid me.  The socks retail at $20.  So I waited and 4 sec before auction bid $13 and got the socks for $5.50.

Perhaps the automated has better timing to snipe idk once I forgot how much time there was and put it in to early? That's not dirty or anything but speaking of which lag is going to happen either way automated or manual. I still prefer manual.

 

Edited June 9, 2017 by ADAMANTIUM

[kav]

22 minutes ago, bc said:

Close enough to still get full credit - "ghillie" suit

See your point, but its still based on each persons perceived point of when they get a "deal". To my grandmother, driving 20 minutes to save 5 cents on a gallon of milk is a "deal". If I can get a comic I want at or below GPA, that's a deal to me.

-bc

Well before I started sniping I would spend like $40 on a $40 item.  Sometimes $50.  Now I often get it for $5

[jcjames]

38 minutes ago, kav said:

The difference is the psychology of bidding.  If an item has no bids or one bid and bidders are watching it, they might wait till the last moment and make some nominal bid thinking they are he only one interested and they will get the item.  If everyone is putting their max bid the item may be at $100 with days left to go in the auction.  Now the cards are on the table and people realize what they may have to bid to get the item.  An experienced sniper will wait in his gilley suit with his max bid ready-then when people place their nominal bids his max bid swoops in and grabs the item.  Example is a 3 pair of soccer socks I just sniped.  Bid was at 99c for days, then jumped to $5.  I knew if I bid my max of $13 with plenty of time left in the auction, someone would probably outbid me.  The socks retail at $20.  So I waited and 4 sec before auction bid $13 and got the socks for $5.50.

Okay that makes sense for how waiting to enter your max bid could keep auctions low until just before close.

But I still don't see the advantage of snipe-software vs manual sniping, unless the auction closes at an inconvenient time (like 11AM during a work meeting or 3:15AM).

 

[kav]

2 minutes ago, jcjames said:

Okay that makes sense for how waiting to enter your max bid could keep auctions low until just before close.

But I still don't see the advantage of snipe-software vs manual sniping, unless the auction closes at an inconvenient time (like 11AM during a work meeting or 3:15AM).

 

No it's just a convenience.  I manually snipe.  I like to look my target in the eye before I pull the trigger on em.

[Martin Sinescu]

I manually snipe. Internet is fast enough now that you can really get down to the wire and eBay was smart to have that window pop up with options to let you up your bid again with preset amounts in the buttons for those of us too rattled to type actual numbers in with 1 second left. That little window has cost me money but I've also managed to win a lot more.

I knew a guy who used a sniping program, but he also had a habit of making people on eBay angry, so I heard numerous stories about how he'd set up a snipe only to find out with 1 second left that he'd been blocked by the seller.

[kav]

9 minutes ago, Martin Sinescu said:

I manually snipe. Internet is fast enough now that you can really get down to the wire and eBay was smart to have that window pop up with options to let you up your bid again with preset amounts in the buttons for those of us too rattled to type actual numbers in with 1 second left. That little window has cost me money but I've also managed to win a lot more.

I knew a guy who used a sniping program, but he also had a habit of making people on eBay angry, so I heard numerous stories about how he'd set up a snipe only to find out with 1 second left that he'd been blocked by the seller.

Bwah ha ha!

[jcjames]

40 minutes ago, kav said:

No it's just a convenience.  I manually snipe.  I like to look my target in the eye before I pull the trigger on em.

[Martin Sinescu]

No way I'd let a cat do my sniping. That's just asking for it.

[kav]

7 minutes ago, Martin Sinescu said:

No way I'd let a cat do my sniping. That's just asking for it.

cats actually do a lot of buying on ebay