E-Slay!

[stanley k]

Chas,
I have a viewer at home that I never use. I forget what brand it is, but it is one of the manual types where you crank with your right hand to see something. I'll let you know exactly what brand and model it is. Are you interested?

S


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[chas_ucla]

Possibly.
It depends on the condition.
Send me an e-mail and we'll make a deal!

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[chas_ucla]

I was so close to getting this MINT condition Minnette S5 viewer...I posted the highest bid with 8 minutes left in the auction...4 minutes, 2 minutes...30 seconds...it was still mine...
THEN
with 8 seconds left, someone named *reedsturtevant*
bids one buck more than me!
*Crap*
Almost had the damn thing for $65.00!

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[This message has been edited by chas_ucla (edited October 03, 2001).]

[#Pedro]

What?s about sniper software?
I?ve used a trial version of one, it worked very well, you put in your max bid and the software places it in the last seconds, even during your absence. But I did not purchase the software... the risk to buy things you don?t really need, only as a kind of sport, is too big...
Pedro

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[Alex]

Proxy Bids and Sniper Bids are different animals.

Generally, if you are going to proxy bid.... you should bid the absolute most you are prepared to pay.

The one problem with this approach is sometimes an unscrupulous seller could have a buddy "pick at the scab" so to speak and counter bid.

It becomes a sleazy win win for the seller.

If you put a really high price on an item because you really want it, a "secret friend" of the seller could counter bid you with no intent on buying, they just want to "test the waters" and raise your bid by bidding against you.

Of course, if they bid higher than you, than they blew it.

But if they don't get greedy, they could artificially jack up the price of the auction item just enough to burn an extra hundred bucks out of your wallet.

If the "buddy bidder" inadvertently outbid you, they just let the auction end and re-list the item again.

I'm not saying this goes on, but it could.

Even with sniper bidding, (bidding at the last possible moment before the auction is over...)

You could walk into a landmine if you do a last second bid and the "secret buddy buyer" has already put down a rather large bid, perhaps even days earlier...but their bid price appears much smaller because no one has counter bid yet.

So you see a camera for $100....make a last second bid at $500.00, then discover the person who bid the $100.00 actually had bid $450.00, but since no one had bid up the price, it appears as if their high bid is around a $100.00, when in fact, their reserve bid is actually $450!

You end up winning the auction..but at a price somewhere above $450.00!

By sniper bidding ONLY the most you care to spend, you really can't go wrong...although it means you have to track the auction and be at the computer just before the auction ends.



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Alex

[Alex]

I've heard of sniper software...E-bay does not favor the idea of "sniper" bidding.

It's not illegal or anything but E-Bay is not a big fan of it.

Sniper software...

...what if two sniper software users met and they forget to cap their bids!

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Alex

[MovieStuff]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Courier, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Alex:
I've heard of sniper software...E-bay does not favor the idea of "sniper" bidding. It's not illegal or anything but E-Bay is not a big fan of it.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Are you kidding? Ebay actually lets the software synch up to their own countdown and timing software! I've seen the very software you're talking about for sale on ebay. If they don't support it, they sure do a mean dance with the devil!

Roger

[cameraguy]

Why would ebay be against "sniper" bidding? It's simply how you win. If ebay ever went to the stupid auto-extend like Yahoo to offset late biddings then you would see prices go out of control. Knowing there are people who think last second bidding is unfair makes me all the happier to snip them off at the end.

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[Alex]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Courier, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by MovieStuff:
Are you kidding? Ebay actually lets the software synch up to their own countdown and timing software! I've seen the very software you're talking about for sale on ebay. If they don't support it, they sure do a mean dance with the devil!

Roger
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

What do you mean ebay "lets" it synch up. Does E-bay have a choice in the matter?

About a year ago an E-bay rep said they don't acknowledge (or words to that affect) sniper bidding.

Perhaps they don't like to acknowledge software they can't sell themselves and it may have nothing to do with sniper bidding at all, just whether or not they are making money off of the software.

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Alex

[This message has been edited by Alex (edited October 04, 2001).]

[Alex]

Wow, I actually found the e-mail about sniping! Here it is......

Date: Thu, 09 Mar 2000 14:17:24 -0800
To: <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: bidding (KMM10088573C0KM)
From: eBay Customer Support <[email protected]>
Reply-To: eBay Customer Support <[email protected]>

Hello,

Thank you for writing! Unfortunately, there is no method of sniping
without being present on our site. We have heard that there is sniping
software available that will perform that function for you, but eBay
does not promote such software so I will be unable to provide you as to
where you can get such software.

I'm sorry that I could not be more helpful! Should you have any other
questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Regards,

Stephanie B. M.
eBay Customer Support
______________________________
eBay
Your Personal Trading Community (tm)

*******************************************
For our latest announcements, please check
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/announce.shtml

*******************************************

Original message follows:
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What if I want to wait to bid until one or two minutes is left before
an auction is closed, but I won't be near my computer then......

Is there a way to proxy bid, AND select how many minutes before an
auction ends that I want that proxy bid to be publicly declared.

-Alex

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Alex