Win More Stuff on eBay by Being a Good Sniper
Auction sniping is the process of watching a timed online auction (such as on eBay) and placing a winning bid at the last possible moment (often seconds before the end of the auction) giving the other bidders no time to outbid the sniper. Some bidders do this manually and others use software designed for the purpose. A bid sniper is a person or software agent who performs auction sniping.
There are also online sniping services where the software agent is run from a website rather than the sniper's own computer. This decreases the failure rate of the snipe, because the website is expected to have more reliable servers that might be quicker to react.
The Successful Sniper
Experienced online auction bidders prefer to enter bids as early in the auction as possible. If the item is popular then you will more than likely be outbid which is O.K. Do not increase your maximum bid yet! If you've already bid on an item then you will be offered the chance to make a "one click bid" as the auction draws to a close. Having the "one click bid" button available is crucial to being a successful sniper. If you haven't already made a bid then you will NOT see the "one click bid" button and you'll be forced to go through a lengthy process to submit your bid which will put you at a distinct disadantage in the closing moments of the auction.
Let's say you've placed a bid on an item and someone has outbid you. Revisit the listing about 10 minutes before the auction ends and you'll see the "one click bid" button. When you click on this button a small box will pop up that shows the current bid and the time left in minutes and seconds. These values will update automatically. You'll see the time tick down and you may see the minimum bid increasing in the last few minutes of the auction as other buyers get in on the action (if bids start jumping up with more than a minute to go then it's a sure sign that you're up against amateurs.) Make sure you know the maximum you're willing to pay for the item and wait about 5 seconds before the auction ends and then place your bid. If too many other buyers start jumping in then a bidding war may ensue and the item could fall out of your price range. I've successfully sniped many items in the last 5 seconds because the other bidders placed too low a maximum bid and they simply didn't have time to react. If you jump the gun and place your "one click bid" 10 or 15 seconds before the auction ends then you WILL get sniped yourself. (By the way - Dialup users can forget about being good snipers.)
What does Maximum Bid mean? Wait for the 5 second countdown!
When you place a bid you specify the maximum you want to pay for a listing. This doesn't mean you will wind up paying that amount. You'll pay an incremental price above what other bidders have entered as their maximum bid on the listing. For example: if you enter a maximum bid of $55 for an item and the maximum bid set by all of your competitors was only $40 then you will only pay slightly over $40 and not the $55 you entered as a mazimum bid. I use bids like $55 or $105 - adding that extra $5 since most people will use a round number like $50 or $100 for their maximum bid.
How Can You Win More Often?
- Get a bid in as soon as an item is listed and only bid the very minimum
- Hope someone bids over you so that YOU won't get sniped
- Don't increase your maximum bid again until the auction is almost ended
- Use the "one click bid" button to increase your maximum bid
- Wait until the last 5 seconds to make your "one click bid"
- Yell BOOOYA and berate all the amateur bidders in the world!