doug beat me to it. i was just about to post saying that i use a sniping service for bidding on a lot of items that i want but don't need. in fact, the set and forget aspect of using a sniping service has me bidding a lot more than before i used the service, so although the service may or may not disccourage higher sale prices, it certainly forsters more bids on more items.
when it comes to items i really, really, but really want, i use a combination of regular bidding and sniping service. first i place a regular bid, sort of like "planting my flag" - the illusion there being that some people will not bid against me :). then i schedule a snipe at the highest price i'm willing to pay, which also ensures that i don't miss my chance to bid even if another friggin hurricane comes through and knocks out my power and internet connection for a few days, or i just blow the deadline. but like i said, if it's an item i really want, i monitor the auction, and if my snipe amount is outbid, i can raise it, and i have many times. in those cases, it's not "set & forget," it's more like "set & reset."
therefore i would say that in general, at least for me, sniping does not discourage higher auction prices. it certainly hasn't prevented me from paying more than i probably should have on a couple of occasions, and i have actually spent more money on ebay than before i used the sniping service, since i'm placing more "set & forget" bids.
on the masi subject, thanks to all who have written to me about my masi. several people have specifically indicated that they like the modified brake levers, and want to know more about how they were modified. so i will take some photos of the guts of the levers and create a separate album for them in a few days. the only person who didn't like them is nick zatezalo, who doesn't feel they deserve the sweet world-logo gum hoods on them :) fortunately, in case he is right, i have the perfect pair of really toasted hoods for them - which nick sent me as joke not long ago! how did he know?
thanks again,
ray dobbins
miami florida
> Howdy folks.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> I use a low tech free snipe a lot of the time on things that I would
\r?\n> like t
\r?\n> o
\r?\n> have, but don't really need. I like it not so much for the last 10-20
\r?\n> secon
\r?\n> d
\r?\n> bid, but because it is automatic and I can't forget to bid. I have
\r?\n> had
\r?\n> enough auctions where I got side tracked, forgot when it ended and
\r?\n> then saw
\r?\n> a low winning bid that most of the time I snipe now to prevent that.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Doug Van Cleve
\r?\n> Chandler, AZ
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> On 10/27/05, oroboyz@aol.com <oroboyz@aol.com> wrote:
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Sniping does indeed limit maximum selling price in many cases..
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > In the case of sniping, the potential buyer enters the maxiumum
\r?\n> price
\r?\n> > they are willing to bid, then sits back and lets the electronics
\r?\n> take
\r?\n> > over.
\r?\n> > Once the dust has settled and the item is sold to the highest
\r?\n> bidder, a
\r?\n> > quick query to the loser is often (almost always!) that they in
\r?\n> fact
\r?\n> > would have paid more, especially now that they have lost that
\r?\n> auction.
\r?\n> > Some dispassionate bidders may say no, but most would have squeezed
\r?\n> the
\r?\n> > piggie bank a little harder to take the prize. Conventional
\r?\n> auctions
\r?\n> > use this factor to drive the prics ever upward but eBay and other
\r?\n> > "timed" inline auctions eliminate the upward spiral that emotion
\r?\n> could
\r?\n> > play by stopping all bidding at the end of that proscribed time.
\r?\n> Hence
\r?\n> > the logical (and legitimate) tool called sniping was created....
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Some of us use a sniping tool precisely because of that, i.e. it
\r?\n> > prevents us from being stupid and impulsively bidding higher than
\r?\n> we
\r?\n> > really should!
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Dale Brown
\r?\n> > Greensboro, NC USA
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > -----Original Message-----
\r?\n> > From: John Thompson <JohnThompson@new.rr.com>
\r?\n> > To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
\r?\n> > Sent: Thu, 27 Oct 2005 08:43:09 -0500
\r?\n> > Subject: Re: [CR]re: first gen TA - Snipe service no Difference!
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > hersefan@comcast.net wrote:
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > > I am somewhat baffled by the assumption that a sniping service
\r?\n> would
\r?\n> > > result in lower purchase prices. A sniping service actually turns
\r?\n> > > the auction into the equivelent of sealed bid auction where the
\r?\n> bids
\r?\n> > > are opened in the final moments.
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > It's frustrating. After losing out on more than a few items because
\r?\n> of
\r?\n> > last minute sniping, I reluctantly started using a sniping tool. I
\r?\n> don't
\r?\n> > particularly like it, but sometimes it's the only way...
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > --
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > -John Thompson (john@os2.dhs.org)
\r?\n> > Appleton WI USA