An excellent idea, Chuck, if everyone would bid the full amount they are willing to pay. I get sniped so often because I bid what I can afford or what's fair, and then I don't change. (But I still don't understand how every auction ends with the winning amount one increment higher than my max!)However, I suspect that many bidders are bargain hunting, and bid what they think will win, not the maximum they will pay, and then try to re-bid at the last second when they get sniped. For example, there was an auction for a Hetchin's on Yahoo Auctions UK a while ago that I followed. Yahoo auctions had the automatic extension feature for bids made at the last minute. The frame was at $450 with 30 seconds to go. It finally closed 90 minutes later at $750, with about five more rounds of bidding. Two guys kept trying to snipe only to have the auction extend on them again. I derived much bitter satisfaction from watching them suffer (my max was $400.) So what would the maximum sales prices be on eBay with automatic extension? I suspect they would be a fair bit higher than they are now. You would see your reasonable price sniped, see the price sit there $1.00 more than your max, and then have 5-10 minutes to decide if you wanted to bid just a little bit more---.
PS Chuck: Good luck with the Left Coast vintage soiree, Velo Rendezvous. All the cool kids will be there. I was going to send you a note on the bike I would bring if I could come, but I didn't see an AWOL division (It would have been my Raleigh Professional).
Tom Adams, Kansas City
"Tom Adams" wrote:
>
> (the subject is auto extension of the end of an auction)
>
> (snip)...Morally or philosophically, I suppose it's a good idea because who wins an auction shouldn't depend on who has the fastest modem...(snip)
This is incorrect Tom. The winner isn't decided by bidding at the last possible moment. This just masks from others the maximum amount you are willing to pay. You still must bid with the maximum amount you are willing to pay to win.
I don't have a fast modem and have no problem placing a bid with between 5 to 15 seconds of the end of the auction with the help of a $49 Radio Shack atomic clock.
There is actually no point in placing a bid before the last 20 seconds of an auction except to let your friends know that you're bidding on something or to let the guy tracking the things you're bidding know, so he can jump in on the bidding ;)
Chuck Schmidt
South Pasadena, Southern California